First of all, let's define God. I'll define God as whatever it is that has the power to create a universe out of nothing. This definition implies two things:

1) God is only necessary if the universe was indeed created. If the universe existed forever then it doesn't need a creator.
2) Whatever God is, it doesn't have any of the properties we associate with things that are part of the universe. That is, God doesn't have mass or energy, and is not located anywhere in time or space.

If you are comfortable with God being defined in such a way, then there isn't much left to think about. Since the universe was created, and it's easy to demonstrate that the idea of a universe existing forever in the past necessarily leads to a paradox, then God must necessarily exist. Also, since God doesn't have mass or energy, and cannot be found in time or space, that means it's impossible to gather material proof of his existence.

The debate on whether God exists is silly, it's akin to debating whether math exists, whether logic exists, whether the self exists. Nonsense. A more meaningful, and more interesting, question is, what is the nature of our relationship with God? Or, if the word God puts you off, why did the thing which created the universe also created us?

That's not an easy question, but it's not made easier by wasting time debating whether something which must exist out of logical necessity actually exists.

My $0.02

• Creation god - yanniru - March 28, 2002 - 22:14 UTC
  • No other way - aurino - March 29, 2002 - 16:24 UTC
    • One possibility - yanniru - March 29, 2002 - 20:11 UTC
      • Yes, check it out - pmartin - March 30, 2002 - 00:35 UTC
        • A link please(nt) - yanniru - March 30, 2002 - 17:04 UTC
          • Sure - pmartin - March 30, 2002 - 17:22 UTC
      • Yes, but... - aurino - April 1, 2002 - 13:39 UTC
        • The English language - yanniru - April 1, 2002 - 14:30 UTC