God didn't do it

[idav]

I see a lot of agreement that there is a cause and effect for most things we can account for. Where does the god of gaps currently fit in our ever increasing knowledge? Every time we fill a gap we find more that god didn't do. For theists, where would this filling of the gaps stop before we find that god didn't do anything?

 

[Storm]

99% of the time, the God of the Gaps is a strawman.

 

[outhouse]

99% of the time, the God of the Gaps is a strawman.

how so??

OP makes a great point, many of the thousands of gods man created in the past are now seen for what they are, because our gaps of knowledge have been filled.

Neil Degrasse Tyson explained it so well.

 

[Storm]

I've never met someone who actually believed in the God of the Gaps. Just because people aren't idiots about their religion doesn't mean that science is "winning" some manufactured war.

It's a misunderstanding at best.

 

[McBell]

I see a lot of agreement that there is a cause and effect for most things we can account for. Where does the god of gaps currently fit in our ever increasing knowledge? Every time we fill a gap we find more that god didn't do. For theists, where would this filling of the gaps stop before we find that god didn't do anything?

Sounds to much like a false dichotomy to me...

 

[idav]

I've never met someone who actually believed in the God of the Gaps. Just because people aren't idiots about their religion doesn't mean that science is "winning" some manufactured war.

It's a misunderstanding at best.

A good example is compatibilism when speaking of evolution and creation being compatible. So to say evolution is true but god still did it. Or like trying to find the spirit only to find a brain that works on chemicals and electrical impulses. Gods still hiding somewhere in there no?

 

[idav]

Sounds to much like a false dichotomy to me...

How so? Is there somewhere in between there being a god or not?

 

[Storm]

A good example is compatibilism when speaking of evolution and creation being compatible. So to say evolution is true but god still did it.

Theistic evolution proves my argument better than yours.

Or like trying to find the spirit only to find a brain that works on chemicals and electrical impulses.

That argument's based in scientISM, not science. Science has yet to even define consciousness, much less reveal its source(s).

Gods still hiding somewhere in there no?

God's not hiding, period.

Science tells us the how. Religion tries to tell us the why. They're not in conflict until they start ****ing on each others' turf.

 

[sandandfoam]

There will never be full knowledge of anything it's impossible.
Like Storm says - who has ever met someone who believes in the god of the gaps.

I never get this need to beat people around the head with 'science' - especially given that those at the cutting edge of most scientific disciplines appear so modest about their own knowledge.

People make sense of their world in a myriad of ways. It's perhaps more useful to attempt to understand them than attempt to prove them wrong.

There are those who would beat those who follow the scientific method about the head with the inadequacies of the scientific method, kind of funny really.

Anyone who thinks they have the key to all the answers is lacking in imagination

 

[Oneatatime]

I see a lot of agreement that there is a cause and effect for most things we can account for. Where does the god of gaps currently fit in our ever increasing knowledge? Every time we fill a gap we find more that god didn't do. For theists, where would this filling of the gaps stop before we find that god didn't do anything?

Since science can never claim absolute knowledge there will always be a place for God to hide in. The God of the Gaps arguement exploits the difficulties faced in proving a negative, hence why its generally not taken seriously except by those whose reality is little more than a reflection of their religious beliefs.

 

[McBell]

How so?

Because you seem to be making the assumption that the only thing god can do is what we cannot explain and that as soon as we can explain it, poof god has go.
Sounds like a false dichotomy to me.

Now what if I used your same argument and replaced the word 'god' with 'science'?

Sounds to me that you are pretty much saying that because man has been wrong about a few things concerning god, that god must not exist...
Seems to me that that would be a rather huge leap in logic.....

Is there somewhere in between there being a god or not?

How would I know?
Though I am curious why the non-sequitur...

 

[Storm]

Because you seem to be making the assumption that the only thing god can do is what we cannot explain and that as soon as we can explain it, poof god has go.
Sounds like a false dichotomy to me.

Now what if I used your same argument and replaced the word 'god' with 'science'?

Sounds to me that you are pretty much saying that because man has been wrong about a few things concerning god, that god must not exist...
Seems to me that that would be a rather huge leap in logic.....

Exactly. Frubals.

 

[idav]

There will never be full knowledge of anything it's impossible.

I agree.

Like Storm says - who has ever met someone who believes in the god of the gaps.

It isn't that they believe in a god of gaps they just believe in a god while still having gaps in knowledge.

I never get this need to beat people around the head with 'science' - especially given that those at the cutting edge of most scientific disciplines appear so modest about their own knowledge.

They are cautious about there findings only to find new questions to ask.

People make sense of their world in a myriad of ways. It's perhaps more useful to attempt to understand them than attempt to prove them wrong.

Yes I like to understand what our cultures used to think as we have been understanding more. Early cultures believed religions to hold answers which later became rubish. They may have been going more by their own ideas than sacred scripture only because of the prevalance of superstition. Now our superstition has been going away finding that there are answers and things aren't as mysterious as we like to think.

There are those who would beat those who follow the scientific method about the head with the inadequacies of the scientific method, kind of funny really.

We are limited in our perception so we do what we can and it has certainly worked thus far.

Anyone who thinks they have the key to all the answers is lacking in imagination

I agree

 

[McBell]

A good example is compatibilism when speaking of evolution and creation being compatible. So to say evolution is true but god still did it.

And?

Or like trying to find the spirit only to find a brain that works on chemicals and electrical impulses.

Define "spirit".

Gods still hiding somewhere in there no?

Careful, your hypocrisy is starting to show...

 

[Jose Fly]

I've never met someone who actually believed in the God of the Gaps. Just because people aren't idiots about their religion doesn't mean that science is "winning" some manufactured war.

It's a misunderstanding at best.

Wait a minute...you seriously haven't seen anyone put forth the god of the gaps argument? Have you been over to the Evolution vs. Creationism board? That's pretty much all that goes on there!

 

[idav]

Because you seem to be making the assumption that the only thing god can do is what we cannot explain and that as soon as we can explain it, poof god has go.
Sounds like a false dichotomy to me.

Now what if I used your same argument and replaced the word 'god' with 'science'?

Sounds to me that you are pretty much saying that because man has been wrong about a few things concerning god, that god must not exist...
Seems to me that that would be a rather huge leap in logic.....

The questions have to do with showing me where god is involved if we no the chain of cause and effect. Theists would believe that at some point god guides us through this which would mean a sort of supernatural or metaphysical interference in our world. Or would we just continue to see things as if they are happening naturally while god is actually doing something out of our detection?

One pressumption the OP does insinuate is that this trend will continue until there isn't much need for any theistic explanations for events so I ask when people will stop resorting to "god did it".

 

[McBell]

Wait a minute...you seriously haven't seen anyone put forth the god of the gaps argument?

How does putting forth a god of the gaps argument equate belief in the god of the gaps?

Have you been over to the Evolution vs. Creationism board? That's pretty much all that goes on there!

I have to disagree.
I see far more attempts at disproving evolution than all other tactics combined.

 

[Storm]

Wait a minute...you seriously haven't seen anyone put forth the god of the gaps argument? Have you been over to the Evolution vs. Creationism board? That's pretty much all that goes on there!

Miscommunication.

I've seen amateur apologists resort to it, yes. IMX doing so makes them misrepresent themselves as much as anything else. Poor arguments do not necessarily reflect crap theology.

As for YEC, well... crap theology. No defenses there. However, I don't know anyone irl life who believes it. Teh intertubes tend to bring out trolls, morons, and fools of all persuasions, so I take everything said by ephantoms with a bucket of salt.

Clear now?

 

[idav]

Define "spirit".


Careful, your hypocrisy is starting to show...

That we can't really define spirit is a problem in itself. To me spirit is our being in whatever medium it happens to be in whether in our brain or data packets in a machine.

I'm just as interested in finding god as the next theist but that proves to be a difficult task.

 

[idav]

I have to disagree.
I see far more attempts at disproving evolution than all other tactics combined.

For a creationist there seems to be a hidden agenda there. We have all the evidence but anything that can't be fully explained is explainable due to the fact that god must have interfered somehow. Not that I can get creationists to tell me exactly where god gets involved in evolution. That is why I ask. Kinda reminds me of some new-age thoughts on evolution where aliens must have come down and gave a certain ape pose-able thumbs to be slaves. That is the same as saying evolution is fact but, but aliens made humans. Filling the gap with aliens is no different than filling it with "god".