format_quote Originally Posted by
Isambard
Fair enough.
Take your time and present the evidence as you see fit. :)
To be honest I doubt very much I could present sufficient evidence that you would accept as proof. The reason being we will have a difficult if not impossible time in finding mutualy acceptable sources. My primary source would be the Qur'an. I believe the Qur'an is the word of Allah(swt). My reasons for accepting it as an authentic source is based on evidence I have verified to my personal satisfaction.
1. There are things written in the Qur'an people of that time era had no way of understanding. I won't waste either of our times by repeating any of them as you have most likely already read and disagreed with the various wonders in the Qur'an, such as the roots of mountains, separation of the seas etc.
2. Having spent much of my life as a student of linguistics. I have come to the conclusion that no man is capable of writing one original sentence in Qur'anic Arabic, yet the Qur'an has 114 Surahs written in it. My argument for that would take this way off topic. But, To me that in itself is sufficient evidence that the Qur'an is the truth.
I can see 3 possible scenarios to the concept of an eternal God(swt).
1. God(swt) does not exist.
That is an impossible statement to prove or disprove so the alternative is to examine other possibilities and see if any of them are probable.
2. God(swt) exists, but is not eternal and had a begining.
Logic at first dictates this is a probability. Further inspection raises the question as to what created the creator, so it becomes a very redundant unprovable statement.
3. God(swt) exists and has always existed. That makes the most sense in terms of the nature of what God(swt) is believed to be. The concept of a god would not be a god if it was a finite being created by some means.
So we are back to square one.
one of these statements is most probably the true statement.
A. God(swt) exists
B. God(swt) does not exist
B. is a negative statement and as such can be neither proved nor disproved.
The burden is upon proving A. God(swt) exists.
Evidence:
Throughout recorded history people of all nations have had people declaring that they have recieved a directive from a Supreme being.
Many witnesses have stated they have seen abnormal happenings (Miracles) that were revealed to show the presence of God(swt)
Nearly every if not all cultures have some form of worship of a superior being.
Matter exists, it was either a spontaneous event or it is the product of a creator. If it was the product of a spontaneous event, there should be evidence that the same conditions that caused it have occurred many times. That has not been found. If it was a spontaneous event the factors that caused it should be qualified and quantifiable. That has not been done. There is no evidence to show that matter can or did occur spontaneously.
There is evidence to show matter was created and it is unique in the space time continuum. It can be shown that all matter is of the same age. It can be shown that all matter is spreading outward from a single point of origin, indicating a beginning. There is no evidence that matter has ever originated in any other place or time.
The fact that matter exists, has a definite origin and is unique is in accordance and in agreement with what divine revelation has stated.
Based on that I submit that the preponderance of evidence favors the existence of an eternal creator.