Answers to tough questions that I've had

Can God Philosophically exist? Was God created by mankind? What about Santa Claus? Whats the difference between Santa Claus and God? Is there a way to show a difference at all?


God: Invented in the Image of Mankind?by Rich Deem
Introduction
Atheists commonly claim that humans invented God to satisfy some of his fear of death, therefore, wishing God into existence. According to the theory, man realized his limitations and fears and projected an image of God to calm these fears. In short, God is what man wishes to be - a kind of super-man. This model matches the gods of the pagan religions quite well, and possibly explains the origins of these religions.
Christianity
However, if people were to have invented the God of Christianity, it is unlikely that it would be the demanding God of the Bible. The God of the Bible is described as holy1 - without sin and without the ability to commit sin.2 The holiness of God is described as being above anything that humans can attain, such that no human can stand before Him as holy.3 Behaving more morally upright than most other people is not sufficient to escape the punishment of the God of the Bible.4
Salvation
In nearly all religions, salvation is attained through human effort. Only in Christianity does salvation come solely as a gift from God5 - it cannot be earned through human effort.6 Clearly, in doctrines such as the nature of God and the way of salvation, there is very little common ground between Christianity and the religions of the world.
Transcendent God
The God of Christianity also differs from the gods of the world's religions in terms of His nature and existence. Most of the religions of the world describe their god as existing within the universe. In many cases, these gods even have parents. Both of these attributes are logically inconsistent with the reality of our universe. Only a God who is transcendent to both space and time, like the God of the Bible, is logically possible.
God vs. mankind
The God of the Bible is quite unlike humans. Therefore, the idea that humans "created" God is unlikely. A comparison between God and mankind is shown in the table below:
A Comparison Between God and Humans
Characteristic
God
Humans
Power
Omnipotent7
Very Limited
Knowledge
Omniscent8
Limited
Presence in Universe
Omnipresent9
Restricted to Solar System
Form
Extradimensional10
3 Dimensions
Size
Larger than Universe11
~6 ft
Composition
Spirit (no body)12
Body of Carbon, Oxygen, Hydrogen, and Nitrogen
Lifespan
Eternal13
~120 years
Morality
Absolutely Holy14
Sinners
Dios: ¿Inventado en la Imagen del Género humano?
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References
'For I am the LORD, who brought you up from the land of Egypt, to be your God; thus you shall be holy for I am holy.'" (Leviticus 11:45)"Speak to all the congregation of the sons of Israel and say to them, 'You shall be holy, for I the LORD your God am holy. (Leviticus 19:2)"There is no one holy like the LORD, Indeed, there is no one besides Thee, Nor is there any rock like our God. (1 Samuel 2:2)But the LORD of hosts will be exalted in judgment, And the holy God will show Himself holy in righteousness. (Isaiah 5:16)
Thy way, O God, is holy; What god is great like our God? (Psalms 77:13)Let no one say when he is tempted, "I am being tempted by God"; for God cannot be tempted by evil, and He Himself does not tempt anyone. (James 1:13)in the hope of eternal life, which God, who cannot lie, promised long ages ago, (Titus 1:2)"Bring your worthless offerings no longer, Incense is an abomination to Me. New moon and Sabbath, the calling of assemblies-- I [God] cannot endure iniquity and the solemn assembly. (Isaiah 1:13)
And the men of Beth-shemesh said, "Who is able to stand before the LORD, this holy God? And to whom shall He go up from us?" (1 Samuel 6:20)
A jealous and avenging God is the LORD; The LORD is avenging and wrathful. The LORD takes vengeance on His adversaries, And He reserves wrath for His enemies. The LORD is slow to anger and great in power, And the LORD will by no means leave the guilty unpunished. In whirlwind and storm is His way, And clouds are the dust beneath His feet. (Nahum 1:2-3)It is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God. (Hebrews 10:31)For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles in one point, he has become guilty of all. (James 2:10)For all who have sinned without the Law will also perish without the Law; and all who have sinned under the Law will be judged by the Law; (Romans 2:12)
For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 6:23)
For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, that no one should boast. (Ephesians 2:8-9)
"Thine, O LORD, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the victory and the majesty, indeed everything that is in the heavens and the earth; Thine is the dominion, O LORD, and Thou dost exalt Thyself as head over all. (1 Chronicles 29:11)"Can you discover the depths of God? Can you discover the limits of the Almighty? (Job 11:7)...Lord Jesus Christ; who will transform the body of our humble state into conformity with the body of His glory, by the exertion of the power that He has even to subject all things to Himself. (Philippians 3:20-21)
in whatever our heart condemns us; for God is greater than our heart, and knows all things. (1 John 3:20)... Christ Himself, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. (Colossians 2:2-3)
The eyes of the LORD are in every place, Watching the evil and the good. (Proverbs 15:3)But thanks be to God, who always leads us in His triumph in Christ, and manifests through us the sweet aroma of the knowledge of Him in every place. (2 Corinthians 2:14)
The Extradimensional Nature of God
"But will God indeed dwell on the earth? Behold, heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain Thee, how much less this house which I have built! (1 Kings 8:27)
"God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth." (John 4:24)
Abraham planted a tamarisk tree in Beersheba, and there he called upon the name of the LORD, the Eternal God. (Genesis 21:33)"But as for you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, Too little to be among the clans of Judah, From you One will go forth for Me to be ruler in Israel. His goings forth are from long ago, From the days of eternity." (Micah 5:2)
"There is no one holy like the LORD, Indeed, there is no one besides Thee, Nor is there any rock like our God. (1 Samuel 2:2)"But you disowned the Holy and Righteous One, and asked for a murderer to be granted to you, (Acts 3:14)
http://www.godandscience.org/apologetics/invented.html Last Modified March 8, 2005

Invisible Pink Unicorns, Santa Claus and Godby Rich Deem
Introduction
One of the most common objections to the existence of God comes from arguments about the existence of Santa Claus and invisible pink unicorns. Although it is not possible to prove absolutely the non-existence of Santa Claus, most people cease to believe in his existence by age 10. Although the existence of Santa Claus has not been disproved, the weight of evidence suggests that he does not exist. Likewise, although we cannot prove invisible pink unicorns do not exist, we tend to reject their existence, since none have ever been detected. Shouldn't the same logic apply to the existence of God?
God created by mankind?
Most skeptics believe that humans invented God as a means of comfort against an uncertain world that is filled with peril and disappointment. However, if people were to have invented the God of Christianity, it is unlikely that it would be the demanding God of the Bible. The God of the Bible is described as holy1 - without sin and without the ability to commit sin.2 The holiness of God is described as being above anything that humans can attain, such that no human can stand before Him as holy.3 Behaving more morally upright than most other people is not sufficient to escape the punishment of the God of the Bible.4
It also seems unlikely that people would believe in the existence of a being who is known not to exist. For example, most of us believe in Santa Claus as small children, but give up that belief by age 10.5 People do not believe in false things, even if those things make them feel better. If people routinely believed in things just to make them fell better, we would all continue to believe in the existence of Santa Claus.
In addition to the above problems, believing a lie contradicts the beliefs and teachings of the Bible. In fact, Luke, in the introduction to his gospel, says that he has carefully investigated everything so that the truth may be known.6 Christians are told to believe and practice only truth,7 and warned against believing and practicing lies.8 So, the idea that they would violate their conscious and beliefs just to feel better makes no sense.
Invisible pink unicorns?
Can we determine the existence/non-existence of invisible pink unicorns? Actually, the answer is "yes." Unicorns would be pink if they reflected pink electromagnetic radiation (i.e., light). However, in order to be invisible, the unicorns would reflect no electromagnetic radiation. Therefore, the term "invisible pink unicorn" is self contradictory. Therefore, we know absolutely that they could not exist. I don't know who invented the term "invisible pink unicorns," but they were obviously deficient in their physics education.
However, for the sake of argument, let's change the term and drop the "pink" part. Is it possible to determine whether or not invisible unicorns exist somewhere in the universe? Technically, it would be very unlikely that any organism would be invisible. The only reasonable chemical basis for living organisms in this universe is carbon-based life. This would ensure that unicorns would always be visible. Although possible that unicorns might be invisible due to being made of anti-matter, such existence would be problematic, since their interaction with ordinary matter would result in their immediate and spectacular destruction. Could unicorns be made of exotic matter? While possible, there is no evidence from physics that any creatures could be made of exotic matter. At present, it is possible to detect exotic matter only indirectly through particle physics and through its ability to bend light (only detectable through gravitational lensing of distant galaxies). At this point, we would be unable to detect a unicorn made of exotic matter. So, although we can be fairly certain that invisible unicorns do not exist in the universe, we could not take the strong aunicornist stance.
Is it possible that pink unicorns might exist somewhere in the universe? As of today, we don't know if life exists outside of our Solar System. No rocky planets have been discovered outside of our Solar System, although the ability to easily detect such planets will not be available until later this decade. Some scientists believe that life is common throughout the universe, while others think that all life or only advanced life is rare in the universe. The origin of life by naturalistic means seems extremely improbable. In addition, the earth seems to exhibit unusual design, since the existence of tectonic activity on such a small planet for such a long period of time is probably the result of an extremely unlikely collision early in its history. Without tectonic activity, the earth would be a waterworld, since continents would not form. Advanced life (beyond fish) cannot exist on such a planet.
Atheism requires that abiogenesis (a naturalistic origin of life) is at least possible, if not likely, and that habitable planets are common throughout the universe. Such a scenario, if true, would make it likely that pink unicorns do exist somewhere in the universe. Therefore, an atheist would be illogical to assume a strong aunicornist stance. The unicorn argument as an argument against the existence of God fails logically, since it is not possible to definitively show that unicorns do not exist somewhere in the universe.
God vs. unicorns and Santa Claus
Is the existence of God comparable to the existence of Santa Claus or unicorns? According to tradition, Santa Claus is a man who lives at the North Pole on planet earth. Explorers and satellite images have failed to detect the dwelling place of Santa Claus, so we can be fairly certain that he does not exist. Since the polar ice cap is likely to melt within the next 100 years, we will have further evidence that nobody actually lives at the North Pole.
The existence of invisible pink unicorns has been discussed above. The existence of such creatures has been hypothesized to occur within our universe. However, the God of the Bible is transcendent to the universe, since the universe cannot contain Him.9 The Bible says that no one can see God in His glory,10 since He is invisible.11 God is a non-physical being.12 In addition, God created the entire universe,13 including time itself,14 which did not exist prior to God creating it. Both Santa Claus and unicorns are contingent beings, whereas God is non contingent. Therefore, to make an analogy between God and either Santa Claus or invisible pink unicorns is logically flawed from the outset.
No evidence for God's existence?
Skeptics love to claim that there is no proof or evidence that any kind of God actually exists. However, such claims represent mere hand waving to avoid critically examining the evidence. I was raised as an agnostic, but became a deist in a secular college (University of Southern California) as a result of my training in biological sciences. It was obvious to this honors student that the "scientific" explanation for the origin of life was completely unreasonable. Since those days (the early 1970's) the evidence contradicting a naturalistic origin of life has become much stronger. Even more compelling than the evidence against abiogenesis is the evidence for the design of the universe. The scientific evidence shows irrefutably that the universe had a beginning. In contrast, atheism would predict that the universe would be eternal. In fact, this belief was prevalent among atheists until the evidence against the steady state theory became overwhelming last century. Although it is possible that the universe could arise by itself, the level to which it is fine tuned is contrary to this hypothesis. In fact, the degree of fine tuning is up to one part in 10120.
Further evidence for divine design can be found in our own species. We are the only species of mammal that exhibits consciousness, the ability to appreciate art, and the ability to make moral judgments.
Conclusion
The idea that God is a made-up concept to soothe our fears makes no sense, since we reject the existence of other made-up figures that might, likewise, make us feel better. A comparison between the existence of God (a non-contingent being) and the existence of Santa Claus or invisible pink unicorns (contingent beings) fails on many levels, not the least of which is that their fundamental natures (non-physical vs. physical) are vastly different. The idea that there is no evidence to support the existence of God is clearly false. The evidence was clear enough for me to convert from agnosticism to deism in the absence of efforts by theists. Anthony Flew, a lifelong proponent of atheism recently became a deist on the basis of evidence for design. In subsequent interviews, Flew stated that he "had to go where the evidence leads." Philosophical arguments like invisible pink unicorns are great ways to avoid examining evidence, but such an approach is ultimately dishonest.

What about a disproof of the Flying Spaghetti Monster:

Lets take a look at this creature.....the Flying Spaghetti Monster is everywhere and nowhere. ALREADY logically impossible. The existence of the FSM is not true. It fails philosophically. The FSM created the universe....he didn't exist, so he couldn't have. The world is not made of spaghetti is it? We are not forced to eat spaghetti. There are plenty of other delicious foods that God has chosen to provide for us, none of which should be worshipped as idols. We must now take a look at the rest of the nature of the Flying Spaghetti Monster:

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OPEN LETTER TO KANSAS SCHOOL BOARD:CC:
DOVER SCHOOL BOARD (PENNSYLVANIA)
OHIO STATE SCHOOL BOARD
RIO RANCHO SCHOOL BOARD (NEW MEXICO)
GRANTSBURG SCHOOL BOARD (WISCONSIN)
COBB COUNTY SCHOOL BOARD(GEORGIA)
SHELBY COUNTY SCHOOL BOARD(TENNESSEE)
CHARLES COUNTY SCHOOL BOARD(MARYLAND)
NAPERVILLE SCHOOL BOARD(ILLINOIS)
DARBY SCHOOL BOARD (MONTANA)
BLUFFTON-HARRISON SCHOOL BOARD (INDIANA)
TEXAS GOVERNOR RICK PERRY
KENTUCKY GOVERNOR ERNIE FLETCHER
SOUTH CAROLINA SENATOR MICHAEL L. FAIR
I am writing you with much concern after having read of your hearing to decide whether the alternative theory of Intelligent Design should be taught along with the theory of Evolution. I think we can all agree that it is important for students to hear multiple viewpoints so they can choose for themselves the theory that makes the most sense to them. I am concerned, however, that students will only hear one theory of Intelligent Design.Let us remember that there are multiple theories of Intelligent Design. I and many others around the world are of the strong belief that the universe was created by a Flying Spaghetti Monster. It was He who created all that we see and all that we feel. We feel strongly that the overwhelming scientific evidence pointing towards evolutionary processes is nothing but a coincidence, put in place by Him.It is for this reason that I’m writing you today, to formally request that this alternative theory be taught in your schools, along with the other two theories. In fact, I will go so far as to say, if you do not agree to do this, we will be forced to proceed with legal action. I’m sure you see where we are coming from. If the Intelligent Design theory is not based on faith, but instead another scientific theory, as is claimed, then you must also allow our theory to be taught, as it is also based on science, not on faith.Some find that hard to believe, so it may be helpful to tell you a little more about our beliefs. We have evidence that a Flying Spaghetti Monster created the universe. None of us, of course, were around to see it, but we have written accounts of it. We have several lengthy volumes explaining all details of His power. Also, you may be surprised to hear that there are over 10 million of us, and growing. We tend to be very secretive, as many people claim our beliefs are not substantiated by observable evidence. What these people don’t understand is that He built the world to make us think the earth is older than it really is. For example, a scientist may perform a carbon-dating process on an artifact. He finds that approximately 75% of the Carbon-14 has decayed by electron emission to Nitrogen-14, and infers that this artifact is approximately 10,000 years old, as the half-life of Carbon-14 appears to be 5,730 years. But what our scientist does not realize is that every time he makes a measurement, the Flying Spaghetti Monster is there changing the results with His Noodly Appendage. We have numerous texts that describe in detail how this can be possible and the reasons why He does this. He is of course invisible and can pass through normal matter with ease. I’m sure you now realize how important it is that your students are taught this alternate theory. It is absolutely imperative that they realize that observable evidence is at the discretion of a Flying Spaghetti Monster. Furthermore, it is disrespectful to teach our beliefs without wearing His chosen outfit, which of course is full pirate regalia. I cannot stress the importance of this enough, and unfortunately cannot describe in detail why this must be done as I fear this letter is already becoming too long. The concise explanation is that He becomes angry if we don’t. You may be interested to know that global warming, earthquakes, hurricanes, and other natural disasters are a direct effect of the shrinking numbers of Pirates since the 1800s. For your interest, I have included a graph of the approximate number of pirates versus the average global temperature over the last 200 years. As you can see, there is a statistically significant inverse relationship between pirates and global temperature. Pirates are no longer alive. What is this, a revival of pirates into the world? This is insanity. Changing the results? That doesn't describe our universe as having any kind of order. This is obviously not what Science has shown the world to be in any way. What written accounts? The only one I see is Bobby Henderson's imagination coming to life. This is clearly displayed in "The Gospel of the FSM." Clearly a horrible book, I would not recommend anybody buy it. We can have much more fun by looking at JP Holding's website and getting a bunch of good laughs from him. Plus he speaks the truth. I and many others? Who are the many others....do explain. The polls are out, and no one buys the FSM as anything more than a joke. Great humor Bobby, though, at this point, not even I am laughing. This is simply just getting old. What theory? Your theory isn't Scientific. It is unfalsifiable. Do explain how the FSMism is a theory of any kind. 10 million what? Pieces of spaghetti in the world? I have never seen any one person who really takes the FSM seriously as more than a load of crap.
Ummm, yeah your beliefs are not substantiated by ANY evidence, observable or unobservable. The only observable evidence we have is some idiot on the internet who thinks he's funny and really isn't too funny anymore. How old is the world Bobby? Do explain. I do believe your joke is getting even older than that. Noodley Appendage is delicious to eat. However, this fails as a philosophical paradigm for all of the reasons above. We do not live in an Italian Restaurant. We live on planet earth. We can only hope Bobby Henderson returns before his brain gets too fried to see its too late. This is not a religion. It is not a philosophy. It is not Science. It is not Truth. It is a lie. It was a joke. Now its just an old decaying process. I think we should see how much Carbon-14 is left in the Flying Spaghetti Monster. I'm sure at this point, its all but absolved. "One third time for Intelligent Design, one third time for Flying Spaghetti Monsterism, and one third time for logical conjecture based on overwhelming observable evidence." I see where this guy stands on Evolution...no wonder they love him so much. Of course, we're going to need to see how this logical conjecture stands up in the face of philosophy. Unfortunately, as we Creationists know, it fails miserably. We simply know as a matter of fact that Evos and FSMs have it all wrong and misconstrued.
Wow, that put it into perspective for me pretty well. Perception isn't truth. Our perception can't handle the actual truth that is only found in Jesus Christ. Neither can we live up to his objective morality. Though its still important to know and try to live the best lives we possibly can. God is tremendously great :).