Why is it assumed that when we say "everything was created by God" we reject knowledge?
After all, what is created by the Mind is by definition intelligent and can be understood intelligently, as opposed to spontaneously arising.Does the presence of laws not indicate a Legislator?
Because there are two ways to use this phrase. One way concerns metaphysics. “Why does everything exist? Because everything was created by God.” Cognition does not reject this method.
The second method concerns empiricism. “How did everything come about? Everything is created by God.” It is used by people who deny science to replace any scientific theories. “Evolution is a lie, everything is created by God. The big Bang is a lie, everything was created by God.” These are the most popular options, but then you can insert them everywhere. “Chemistry is a lie, molecules react with each other according to God's will”
That is, in one case we make God identical to any laws – but then the scientist gets the opportunity to say that he “did not need this hypothesis.” It doesn't need to call the laws God to work. Assume a “legislator” (i.e. specific characteristics of the root cause) also not required. The laws are given to us in empiricism, and the first cause is fundamentally metaphysical.
In the other case, we replace laws with God and divine arbitrariness, and in doing so, we make no sense of science, since we demand to replace any laws found that allow us to predict and explain something with “so God willed”, which does not allow us to explain anything. Why is hydrogen a gas? So God willed. Why is the water cold? Why is the apple green? So God willed. That is, a coherent system of scientific knowledge, when many things are connected together in a system, breaks down into a set of separate facts that are not connected in any way, which are united only by the divine will. After all, science is looking for a chain of causes, from the surface to the deep, and here any search ends without starting with the words ” this is God, the end.”
In fact, Galileo's argument with Pope Urban is precisely about this – ” what does it mean that everything was created by God?”. For Galileo, this means that by studying nature, he is studying God. For Pope Urban, this means that nature is incomprehensible, since God is incomprehensible. Modern, ahem, “urbanists” are not able to judge anyone, so they only complain online that scientists do not add “because God” to each of their statements, but should!
People who hear the words “everything was created by God” can hear the continuation to this phrase “and therefore in everything you can see the reflection of the Creator.” Such people see a reason to study creation in order to better understand God.
Others, who think in pagan terms of pantheism, say, ” everything is sacred, which means you can't study it.”
In addition to these, there are also completely illiterate people who, in the words “everything was created by God”, think out “and there is nothing more to think about”.
For some reason, it is widely believed among atheists that the Christian faith supports either the pantheistic sacralization of creation, or the frankly ignorant closing of the question of creation by saying “this is Creation.” But a huge number of Christian scientists clearly prove that Christianity is ” everything was created by God and therefore in everything you can see the reflection of the Creator, His plans.”
This is considered only by some. When we meet with such an opinion, these people simply want more detailed answers about the structure of something, their minds are saturated only from a detailed description of what they think they are learning. And when the capacity of their mind is full, and no more questions come to mind-they think that they have a “scientific answer”, although in fact they just have a head full of a lot of information. And this they proudly call” knowledge, ” even though they can't use it, nor can they prove or explain something with their own minds – hiding behind the authority of science is much more convenient. And to get pleasure from your knowledge is absolutely necessary, this is the way a person works 🙂
The question of where all this knowable set comes from in general is simply beyond their interest: it seems to them that if they know the “final answer”, everything that they consider “knowledge” will lose its meaning. And a meaningless existence is a burden even to an atheist, so they hold on to the scientific method as their own meaning, and will defend it with religious zeal.
And I hasten to agree with the fact that laws imply a legislator. After all, if we know any objective ideas, then there is also an objective source of them. If intelligence hadn't existed in the world from the very beginning, it would never have just appeared. The mind learns the rational.
Saying the phrase “everything was created by God”, many people mean that everything was decided for them – God (the Creator) once created this World and everything is already predetermined, so it is not necessary for a person to study it and understand the reasons, to learn the essence of this world, and it is better just to go with the flow. It is easier to shift the responsibility for everything to God than to understand the problem and understand your involvement in the creation of the World, life and society.
A person does not understand that we all together, as particles of God, create the Space in which we live with our thoughts, which means that we are RESPONSIBLE FOR OUR WORLD and must take actions in order to move forward in the direction of our own development. It's easier when everyone is on their own, but then it turns out that, in general, no one cares about the World that surrounds us. At the moment, there was a substitution of concepts, and the lie defeated the truth, now everyone is looking at the consequences, without thinking about the reasons that led to these consequences . THE REASON IS THAT the governance structure bestowed by the CREATOR HAS GRADUALLY BEEN REPLACED BY a pyramid of power and inequality, where knowledge of oneself, and therefore of God, has no place. A person is driven into the framework of everyday life and HAS FORGOTTEN WHO HE IS.
In fact, the meaning of the phrase is the opposite, and when we say that “Everything is created by God”, we must mean that man, like everything around him , is a part of God, which means that by knowing ourselves and everything that surrounds us, we know God. Man is created in the material world, as an instrument of God, as his creative likeness, helping him to feel and know our World. Knowledge contributes to our Self-development and expands our capabilities, and therefore the capabilities of God. This expression does not reject our knowledge, but, on the contrary, should force us to engage in this knowledge for our own improvement.
Here we should understand what exactly is meant by the concept of God… The wise man understands that we are not talking about a grandfather in heaven, but about the evolution of consciousness… Of course, consciousness (God) is intelligent and therefore it goes from simple to complex. )
Because formally, no one knows how the universe was formed. And by plugging this gap in knowledge with faith in the Creator, we refuse to fill it with knowledge.
But if you are interested in my subjective opinion, then it is impossible to fill this gap with knowledge, because the reason for the formation of the universe in relation to us is primitive, and we and the whole universe in relation to it are derivatives. And as you know, it is impossible to get an antecedent from a derivative. The unknown “C” (Tse) will always remain. Therefore, we don't give up anything. Because, strictly speaking, there is nothing to give up.
By saying that everything is already created by the Creator, we are only acknowledging our imperfection. Not more than that. Even those who have created something in their life can not all claim that their handiwork is perfect. And many simply lie. If you wanted to know about the Law-Giver, then analyzing the world religions, you can implicitly catch the idea of some always existing codes of Laws that everything in the universe obeys. Our God may not have to obey them, but He follows them. Because the Laws are aimed at creating perfection and harmony. And no Deity can exist and create in chaos. Chaos has always existed outside the law and should not have come to our perfect world) So in short
You can just TRUST the wisdom that is hidden from us. Which surpasses our cognitive abilities. And which does not interfere with our JOY. And it has a Face.
In answering this question, I do not claim that this is the case, and I am not going to argue or prove anything with anyone. I'm just expressing my opinion – as I understand it.
God is essentially a concept. And sometimes, very often-out of necessity, because of not being able, not knowing, not wanting, etc. to explain something, we replace the concept of God: created by God, God gave, will give, will reward, Thank God, God's Grace, God's “punishment”, etc., etc. And in essence we are all right. In turn, the word God itself is only a word, but it means something higher, not known, omnipotent, according to our development – not achievable. But this does not in any way exclude us from knowing that there is a God. In turn, we can replace the concept of God with the concept – the highest, superintelligent, omnipotent, super-special-energy, its some special kind (energy essence). Which we (humanity) will know. And we have already found the divine particle (Boson). Therefore, we do not reject” knowledge ” – it's just that many people are lazy, it's just easier to blame God, and there is not always enough knowledge, and in general there is not enough. Yes, indeed, the presence of laws indicates the presence of Legislators ! And the presence of even this theme indicates the presence of its cause – God ( his concept).
If that's what it's supposed to be, I don't agree with it, if we look at a great painting by a famous artist with admiration, do we have the thought:” I don't want to know anything about it.” But God's creations are more magnificent than any man-made masterpieces. God set in motion the laws for the existence of the earth and the entire universe, and allowed scientists to discover them. It is good that they did not believe in rejecting knowledge when they recognized God. It is the admiration of God's creations that has always been the driving force for new discoveries and the creation of masterpieces in art.
Your comment on the question is the first half of the answer.We will formulate the second half as deliberate discrediting of religions in order to reset public consciousness.I will quote Dostoyevsky who wrote:”So if there is no God, then everything is allowed.”Any thinking person understands that every revolution that overthrows the old world order seeks power and the establishment of its own regime.Science contradicts religion and vice versa!This thesis was promoted for the sake of popularizing atheism, which destroyed the religious consciousness of society.I will not specify here exactly which religion is being fought against because this is a separate issue.
Despite the fact that I am “ready to subscribe” to Nikita Kotov's answer, after reviewing all the other answers, I consider it necessary to add to Nikita's answer what he did not mention in his answer (although the description under the question clearly indicates that this is necessary in the answer “explain”).
We are talking about “intelligent design” or otherwise about the “anthropomorphic nature of the universe” (something that has been “noted” more than once and seriously even by leading atheist scientists).
Formal (and therefore “described”) the answer to this question will not change anything (I will give it “for reference”):
As you can see, both of these answers are equal (so neither of the “points of view” can either “win” or “convince the other”). Even from the standpoint of “metaphysics”, the answers to the question “Who created all things?” have two equal answers (differing only in “name” =name): “God” or “No One” who doesn't answer a really important question in any way – “And how did everything come out of nothing?“
This is a property of our “consciousness”, which believes that if we managed to name something = give it a “name” (even if this “name” is a “scientific term”) that “it immediately explains everything“. For example, we all understand “what is man”, but how many people I have never asked “to give a clear definition of man,” nothing more “worthwhile” than “two-legged animal without feathers” (Plato) in different “variations” have not heard back (if you understand “what it was”, that is worthy of my respect).
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A non-formal answer is associated with a very “deep” understanding of this very “reasonableness” and “harmony” (with an understanding of the real, not formal, “properties” of the Creator and his “creation”). This “understanding” is much more than an “explanation” (many of us are “extremely clear” even about what we sometimes do not have a real=”physical” idea. As an example,”absolutely all know right” only ignorant fanatics (they are so “all clear” that they not only do the “opposite” their “knowledge” either to see or don't want to hear, but also to learn=learn to understand and do not want, and right, why is the “who knows everything right?”).
In short, supporters of the “No” supporters of the “God” of any need “fully and authentically check” to describe the actual properties of the “Creator” (they believe) and “all things” in order to convincingly (I mean really, really, evidence, etc.) could “prove” your opponents a “rightness” (or “wrongness” of their opponents). I'm sorry, I won't take it up (just because such “properties” are indescribable = informal, you can understand and/or “see” them, but you can't “describe” them in any way). Who dares to “describe” that sincerely wish success!
That is why I myself do not “believe in…” (God or No One is important to me, because “what kind of Creator is he?”, and not “what should I call him?”), although I already see (in part, quite a bit) this “Creator” and “believe in the Creator” (but not “in Him”). I can only say one thing – whatever you call this Creator: “God”, “Nobody”, “Nature”, etc. you will not be one step closer to understanding anything “in this life” (this answer was given according to the legend of Confucius). Because (as an expert, I tell you, and not khukhry-mukhry!) “He” is equally similar and does not look like God, No One, and Nature at the same time. In the Tao Te Ching there are such lines:
Here is the “mother of all things” I can “call” you (even from a natural-scientific standpoint) – this is matter!
Now, anyone who wants to try to “give a definition of matter” (but without using anything from “being”, because the correct definition- “matter is all that exists” is a banal tautology and nothing more, and therefore does not “explain” anything). Good luck!