On the possiblity of some physical element having no beginning.If a physical element has no beginning, it has always existed (i.e. an infinite amount of time has passed while it has been in existence). Consider the following timeline, where n is any measure of time, and the numbers corresponding to n are the number of n's that have passed, with 'I' representing infinity:
n0---n1---n2---n3---nI---nNOW
Please note that at any point on this timeline, an infinite amount of time has *already* passed, but we'll concentrate on the jump from nI to NOW (the present). IF an infinite amount of time has passed before the instant you are reading this, how could you be reading this? The present would never arrive!
The purpose of this elementary explanation is to debunk the concept that some matter existed 'always', the argument that is necessary for the Big Bang to be true. The universe must have begun, else, there would be no present.
posted by onceuponapriori at 11:21 ص
On the Omnipotence of God....
Often I come across the ages-old argument against omnipotence: if God was omnipotent, he could create a rock that would be too large for him to move, thus rendering him not-omnipotent. This argument is flawed in that it is guilty of equivocation; omnipotence, in this context, refers to the ability to achieve anything this *is possible*. Assuming this is true, it prevents any omnipotent entity from acting in an impossible manner: creating a square circle, creating another entity more powerful then itself, et al.
Thus, God is all powerful in that he can do *anything* that does not cause a concept to become contradictory. Granted, this is an oversimplification, but I'll expound on it later...
posted by onceuponapriori at 10:48 ص
