Brian63
Veteran Member
- Joined
- Jan 8, 2001
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- 1,639
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- Michigan
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- Basic Beliefs
- Freethinker/atheist/humanist
Both the Fine-Tuning Argument (FTA) and the Argument from Miracles (AFM) are unsound arguments by themselves, but I am still confused about the relationship between the two---whether their premises and conclusions are consistent with each other, whether they contradict each other, if one renders the other obsolete, or something else.
The FTA essentially states that if the various physical features and natural laws of the universe were even slightly different from what they currently are, then we humans would not exist. Since we do exist, then the universe is fine-tuned to have those features and laws, and the best explanation for that fine-tuning is a divine or supernatural sentient being. God.
The AFM states that the natural laws of the universe are incapable of producing certain effects which have been observed (Jesus’s resurrection, Donald Trump getting elected as president of the U.S, someone getting over a really bad cold, etc.). For those events to occur, it must have required a divine and supernatural force to interfere with the natural laws of the universe, i.e. a "miracle."
So I am confused about whether God could, with his infinite power and knowledge, fine-tune the natural laws so that they could produce any outcome he wanted and he happened to want us---or whether the natural laws are incapable of producing us and so God had to override the natural laws to create us. In place of the FTA, the argument from intelligent design (ID) would probably serve the same role on a narrower scale, to just biological characteristics. Did God intelligently design life using natural processes he created, or did he override those natural processes by performing supernatural miracles?
Can anyone lend a helping hand here? Thanks.
The FTA essentially states that if the various physical features and natural laws of the universe were even slightly different from what they currently are, then we humans would not exist. Since we do exist, then the universe is fine-tuned to have those features and laws, and the best explanation for that fine-tuning is a divine or supernatural sentient being. God.
The AFM states that the natural laws of the universe are incapable of producing certain effects which have been observed (Jesus’s resurrection, Donald Trump getting elected as president of the U.S, someone getting over a really bad cold, etc.). For those events to occur, it must have required a divine and supernatural force to interfere with the natural laws of the universe, i.e. a "miracle."
So I am confused about whether God could, with his infinite power and knowledge, fine-tune the natural laws so that they could produce any outcome he wanted and he happened to want us---or whether the natural laws are incapable of producing us and so God had to override the natural laws to create us. In place of the FTA, the argument from intelligent design (ID) would probably serve the same role on a narrower scale, to just biological characteristics. Did God intelligently design life using natural processes he created, or did he override those natural processes by performing supernatural miracles?
Can anyone lend a helping hand here? Thanks.