: : Or, why does anything at all exist? : : : : Wouldn't a state of nothingness by itself remain : : itself? : : : : Therefor, the existence of something from nothing : : requires an extingent entity that is transcendent : : along the bounds of time.

: I don't understand why so many people believe we : were created at all, via the big bang or creation. : Until someone sets up an experiment which creates : matter/energy out of a vacuum, I will stick to what : logic suggests which is that things have always : existed, and always will.

The major problem with this thinking is that matter and energy cannot have existed for an eternity. This sets itself up for an immediate paradox, which I won't go into detail for lack of time. But if you have an interest, study the first and second laws of thermodynamics. Also, if you like to read, check out, "Scaling the Secular City" by: J.P. Moreland

: But I'm not a scientist so I could be wrong. Can : they create matter out of nothing? (no sarcasm). : Or is matter disappearing or being added to the : universe by an internal/external force?

And no sarcasm taken. I think the pinnacle point here is the assumption that nothing is merely a vacuum. I'm not playing semantics in stating that "nothing" is not justified nor qualified as a vacuum. You need to understand that the presence of space is made manifest because of matter, and likewise matter is able to be manifest because of space. Space is a creation. It is not eternal. Think of 3D space as a fabric that the dimension of time flows upon. Space is tangible. It is directly affected by the four forces in physics.

-nåte