Personally I doubt there was a time when the material universe did not exist in some form, even if if only as a singularity.
But let's assume that there was a time when God created the material universe and all that is in it.
If such a thing was created by an all-knowing creator, then I would assume that creator would have the most knowledge of material things.
Then whilst it would be difficult to distinguish between a person with great knowledge and God, nonetheless by having a great knowledge of material things a great many imposters claiming to speak on behalf of God could be ruled out on the basis of their lack of knowledge of material things, since if they were speaking on behalf of God they could relay God's knowledge.
Therefore I contend that even if you are only seeking to get into heaven, since you dont want to waste your time with imposters who claim to speak for God but can't really get you into heaven because they don't have access to God's knowledge, material knowledge is a great way of exposing frauds who don't really speak for the all-knowing creator of the universe.
Thoughts?
But let's assume that there was a time when God created the material universe and all that is in it.
If such a thing was created by an all-knowing creator, then I would assume that creator would have the most knowledge of material things.
Then whilst it would be difficult to distinguish between a person with great knowledge and God, nonetheless by having a great knowledge of material things a great many imposters claiming to speak on behalf of God could be ruled out on the basis of their lack of knowledge of material things, since if they were speaking on behalf of God they could relay God's knowledge.
Therefore I contend that even if you are only seeking to get into heaven, since you dont want to waste your time with imposters who claim to speak for God but can't really get you into heaven because they don't have access to God's knowledge, material knowledge is a great way of exposing frauds who don't really speak for the all-knowing creator of the universe.
Thoughts?