Richard Carrier on the Argument From the Scale of the UniverseBy John W. Loftus at 1/12/2013For what it's worth, at least I'm not the only one who thinks Jeff Lowder's arguments don't work against my particular case. Here's Carrier from page 290 of my anthology, The End of Christianity:We cannot predict from “a very powerful self-existent being created life by design” that he would do this by creating trillions of galaxies and billions of light years of empty intergalactic space and then sit around and twiddle his thumbs for ten billion years before finally deciding to create life in just one tiny place. That’s not even expected at all, much less with 100 percent certainty.
For now
I’ll content myself with few brief observations. At a later date I may also
comment on Everitt’s argument, which Carrier footnotes.
i) There
are, of course, scientifically competent Christians who reject Carrier’s
timescales.
ii)
Assuming we grant his timescales, if God is timeless, then God didn’t wait for
10 billion years to create life. A timeless God doesn’t wait for anything. Even
if there’s a 10 billion year interval between the origin of the universe and
the origin of life, that’s not an interval in the experience or being of a
timeless God. Carrier is confusing what happens in or to the universe with what
happens to God. But although God makes everything happen (directly or
indirectly), nothing ever happens to God.
Carrier
can, of course, try to attack divine timelessness. My immediate point is simply
that his objection takes for granted a questionable, unstated premise.
iii)
Likewise, on the B theory of time, everything came into being all at once. One
can, of course, debate the scientific, philosophical, and theological merits of
the B theory. My immediate point is simply that Carrier’s objection takes for
granted a questionable, unstated premise.
iv) Why
does Carrier assume life only exists on one planet? That’s certainly not an
atheistic axiom. And that’s not a Christian axiom. Christian theology doesn’t
preclude the existence of biological organisms on other planets. Maybe it does
and maybe it doesn’t. That’s an open question in theology.
v) To
say God “finally decided” to create life 10 billion years later…is ambiguous.
That could be taken in either of two different ways:
a) God
decided to create life 10 billion years later.
b) God
decided 10 billion years later to create life.
Does
Carrier mean God originally planned to create life 10 billion years later, or
that God didn’t decide to create life until 10 billion years into the process?
Is it a delayed decision, or a delayed effect of a prior decision? Was God
undecided about when or whether to create life? Or did God decided to create
life all along, only save that development for a later stage in the creative
process?
Probably,
Carried just liked the sound of what he wrote, and didn’t bother to clarify in
his own mind what he was even thinking.
I dont think God is timeless, but even so, why couldn't God have waited 10 billion years to create life? Is he in a hurry? Does he only have a limited amount of time at his disposal to do things? Obviously he doesnt have to worry about time constraints. He literally has all the time in the world. He doesnt have to meets some deadline.
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