the debate is amazingly civilized.
something rare indeed when creationists speak ...

beside the historical clubber of the weapons-lobby
and the clumsy legends of hate and glory from neocons
usually one of the top 3 sources for time-wasting spaham
nowadays that about 90% of all emails are unsolicidated.

sharpening the issue, first of all my objection of the subject:
if god created the universe he knew that an earth will grow
solely by the statistical principles s/he defined, omnipotently.

theologists should not sulk too soon
if god was not necessary "in person"
for every detail they're overestimating.

neither responsible for every detail they might even not have
understood altogether in a translation of Word they worship.

religion and science are simply not comparable.
dualism as wave and particle in the material world.

have a blessed sunday. ~*~         
 

 

Disregarding all the random permutations that gave us the 'Goldilocks' planet, what bothered me about the God, Higher Being, Grand Designer theories is WHO made them!

They could not have materialised without having had a Creator of their own.  I believe that, at the present time, neither science or religion can give us an answer  on the subject.  We may only know some of the natural physical laws that govern the Universe. 

By Universe, I mean the dimension we know now as our  physical Universe, the dimensions that we suppect but have no evidence of, other universes (maybe?).

In the end, what matters is that we, as part of this Universe natural order, should fulfill our purpose by living meaningful lives on our Earth and be content with our insignificant status.

Our conscious state demands however that we remain curious, whence all the ensuing questions.  For some, if a god is at the end of their quest, that is fine by me.

Pierre

 

There is a universal intelligence.  Whatever one wishes to call it, it exists.  To think that the world happened by accident defies even scientific principles.  Man will continue to try rationalize and theorize but will not be able to prove any of it.  It is beyond explanation.  It is an unidentifiable intelligence that make it happen.  If we mortals want to give it a name, we can call it anything we wish.  We may call it, "IT" or we may call it "Thing" or we may call it "God."    
 

Hmmm...who knows if it was God (the one that exists in bibles and what not) who created the earth.  I honestly don't think that's the case, but... *thoughtful expression...

We know too much to actually believe that everything we know was created in 7 days by God.

We know that evolution is definately real.  It happens.  It is.  We can see it, study it.  There is clear and very obvious evidence of it.  So unless one is a religious fanatic it is much more credible to believe in evolution.

And we also know that the base of everything is the atom.  Everything we see is a makeup of atoms and cells and whatnot.

The perplexing question is...what created the atom?

So even if you don't believe that God created the Earth and you believe in evolution you still have to ask yourself...

How did the atom come into existence?  What, or who, created the atom?

God?  (therefore indirectly creating the Earth)

I guess we'll never know...

 

How many big bangs where there? A planet like ours could have been in existence and there fore be anilated by that big bang. Our star could die and we are gone, but in other worlds there are organisams like ours from the small molecular level. So why do we have to go to mars to prove we are alive and not alone. If earth was a percentage what is the caluclations of earth against the unknown amount of planets out there. We can therefore say yes it is possible that planets with biology like our is out there. But if we said no then we are not in exsistence.

Peace

 

Okay I'm not as knowledgable  but personlly I believe you can't have one without the other. Its unforseen actions that formed the world as we know it.
 

So far, I believe that Burgundy316 has the most intelligent response as yet...to the question Abdul has addressed 'Is there a God'? I love it when a person is willing to admit they don't know near as much as they could (no comparison to others here). I agree, as sometimes I know just enough to be dangerous. That being said, I agree that science and spirituality are not a dichotomy. A highly evolved and multiplaner/dimensional being(s) (call it/they/him or her - God if you will) who has the capability and understanding to manipulate matter and energy (aka science/technology), to create that which is desired = Earth and it's inhabitants. Voila! <> Harumph!
 

All things being equal in the world, I certainly hope God created the Earth. None of us were there during the creation of the Earth. There are people on either side who feel their version of how it all started is true. Did God simply create a primordial planet and allow things to happen on their own. Or were all living things placed here by God? Whatever the opinions of others, I have always respected their viewpoint.

I myself have an interesting view. God created a primordial planet. He or she allowed certain "natural" events to take place. At times some "divine" intervention was called for. I have felt that we have been allowed to "mature" in our own way. Freewill is the best gift ever given to mankind. It is freewill that allows us to ponder the nature of God, our planet, and the rest of the universe.

Whatever the nature of Earths creation, we are it's guardians. It is up to each of us to cherish and protect the Earth. It is also up to us to respect those we share the planet with. Love thy fellow man. Show compassion to those in need. Whether there is a God or not there is one thing I have always held true: You cannot expect to be shown love, mercy, respect, and compassion if you do not express it in yourself.

No matter which side you are on in this debate; you have my respect. Blessed be!

 

BRAVO Captain Dave! I agree wholeheartedly! This planet was created as an active classroom where our bodies, brains and spirits would be stimulated to grow, mature, and become. Without a God, a plan, a planet in a natural state, and free will...we would not have the opportunity to learn so much. When was learning, changing and growing ever a result of having it easy? All is as it should be...as Abdul dilineates so eloquently. Wouldn't the world be great if we all realized these simple Truths and just set out to be all we could be...loving and respecting the gifts before us? I have blogged a bit on the subject if you care to comment. These conversations are so constructive, especially when one approaches with an open mind and a willingness to feel the Truth that is in us all, and not so much dogma - be it religious our scientific. It is not a war of Science vs Religion. It is all part of the grand design, and we are all in this classroom together.
 

Thanks to everyone for these impressive comments. I am constantly humbled by the outpour of such wisdom of all my learned friends in this rich and fertile soil of cyberspace. (Captain Dave, have you ever considered becoming a published author?  )

 

Genesis 1:1 states, "In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth." The word create means to "make something new." Genesis tells us that God is the creator of all things. So the answer would be, YES!!
 

LET me tell u something kind of a secret.... There are NO coincedences, mistakes, except for the ones we make on our own. Man cannot create actual worlds, they can't even be good to this one. Man cannot form glistening meadows early in the morn, or the purple and blue sky at days end. We control nothing about this planet except of couse how we treat it,Trust me, theres somebody higher as a creator, more of a creator than any of us,He holds us close in times of trouble and of joy. How do you explain man having a concience? Emotions? LOVE, which a certain savior I know says that was the esscense of God, The greatest commandment of all. Love one another. [the gospels] He also made a book of life manual, called the bible. There's the only book I know with all the answers.To whatever your mind, body, soul desires to know about. AND how to fix it. So yes, the earth was ceated by God. Jehovah God [ezekial 20-21 in any translation, Im not Jehovah's Witness, God of the Hebrews, the father of Christ. Praise be unto the Lord Jesus. thanx, u just gave me, a sinner, a little special time with the lord. I know it'll be a good day.


 

I've heard a lot of people say there MUST be a god? Why is this exactly? I don't go around saying there MUSTN'T be a god. But I don't think that there is. And if there is indeed a god, it is not the god of the Bible...

Evolution, is of course, a fact. Taking that into account, everything did not come into existence in the way the Bible describes it...Strike one for the Biblical God.

The God of the Bible is supposed to be omnipotent, omniscient, and omnibenevolent. But it is obvious, due to the amount of suffering in the world, this cannot be the case. Strike two for the Biblical God.

The God of the Bible is "sold" as a moral character that we should mimic in our veryday lives. However, as a typical rule, we humans do not believe that genocide or slavery or discrimination is moral. The God of the Bible has no qualms about any of these things. Strike three for the Biblical God.

We could go on and on, but I'll leave it at that for now. I see that I have a rather unliked position on this page. We are currently reading a wonderful book, God: The Failed Hypothesis: How Science Shows That God Does Not Exist in the http://groups.myspace.com/rationalatheistbookclub">Rational Atheist Book Club. I'd suggest checking it out, it's an awesome read.

Since there doesn't appear to be a god like the one of the Bible, then I see no reason to believe in a god at all. Surely if there is a god, it is not anything that we can conceive of. The very definition of god-like is something we shouldn't be able to comprehend. It SHOULD be beyond us.

Some people like to say that we should BELIEVE just in case there is a god. But is FALSE belief. or HOPING a whole hell of a lot, better than being honest with yourself? I CAN'T believe, and see no point in pretending...

 

The consensus seems to be "yes, God did create the Earth", and I'm very happy with that view. The future of the Earth, however, seems to me to be largely in our own hands... at least for the time being...

We can make small, leisurely changes to our immediate surroundings like this  :

size=4>Four seasonal changes to my garden pond:

...Or vastly bigger scale changes to the planet as a whole as I exemplify here.

 

Yes God Created The Heavens and The A Earth and any thing else will be answered when we meet him come Judgement Day. So he is in charge of all things. That included the supposed Global Warming. Trust me when I say this, this Winter has disproved Global Warming very Loud, I may say. Snow, Snow,Snow, Snow, Snow and it is March 31st.
Spring is here????




I would rather live my life as if there is a God,
and die to find out there isn't,
than live my life as if there isn't,
and die to find out there is.

 

I was unsure where you were going with this one ... but I have to admit I am pleasantly surprised ... I believe without a shadow of a doubt that God created the universe. I absolutely believe in creation. Think about - all this marvellous universe can't have been just bought about by an explosion, or an accident. What is the result of an accident? ... A mess. Take a look at nature, at all the different types of animals, plants, flowers,... everything! It is not a mess.
Another way of looking at it is like saying that there was an explosion in a printery - and out of that great explosion the Webster's Dictionary materialised ... now if that sounds ridiculous to you - how much more ridiculous is it to believe that this breath-taking, awe-inspiring universe came about through an explosion?. Do you understand what I'm trying to say? The Dictionary didn't just "appear" by sheer chance - so to the universe was created by God and did not just "appear"!