quote:
The way I see it, this whole issue breaks down like this
Perhaps that is the way you see it, but it is illogical.
Logically, it actually breaks down like this:
A. God
A1. God has always existed.
A2. God has never existed.
A3. God did not always exist, but came into being or will come into being and then will exist forever.
A3. God did not always exist, but came into being or will come into being, but will one day cease to exist again.
A4. God has always existed in the past, but has ceased to exist or will cease to exist someday.
B. The Universe
B1. The Universe has always existed.
B2. The Universe was created as a special action on the part of God.
B3. The Universe came into being through natural processes that may or may not be understood someday.
You can pretty much match any of the choices of A with any of the choices of B and get a logical combination (except that A2 cannot be matched with B2, of course). There there are 3 x 4 - 1 = 11 different possibilities, not just the two you claim.
By the way, Jeremy, welcome to EvC.
"Intellectually, scientifically, even artistically, fundamentalism -- biblical literalism -- is a road to nowhere, because it insists on fidelity to revealed truths that are not true." -- Katha Pollitt