• Question: Do you believe that there could be a God(s)? If so do you think that unexplainable occurances are caused by God(s)?

    Asked by butters to Amy, Drew, Julia, Kimberley, Sara on 22 Jun 2011. This question was also asked by 07douglasc, isaac, raushan, botter7r2.
    • Photo: Julia Griffen

      Julia Griffen answered on 17 Jun 2011:

      Hey again butters.. tough and emotive.

      .. I dont beleive in god, i dont feel the need.. I think that most things could be explained by science, or the far out things that are difficult to explain by science, e.g dark energy big bang (which tbh i struggle to get my head around) you can get on with life without knowing an exact answer, the tought of such complexities is enough 🙂

    • Photo: Drew Rae

      Drew Rae answered on 17 Jun 2011:

      Hi again Butters. The philosopher Hume put together an argument based on bayesian probability that goes something like this:
      Something can only be a miracle if it is incredibly unlikely to happen by natural means. That means that if you see something weird, the chance that a miracle is the correct explanation is very unlikely. This says nothing about whether miracles do or do not happen, but it does mean that you can’t use them to prove or explain anything else.

      There’s another more simple naturalistic philosophy that says that once you accept that there might be a God who can unpredicably break the rules of the universe, science goes out the window anyway. To do science, we have to assume that there isn’t a god, at least for the purpose of the exercise, even if we believe in a God outside of the lab.

    • Photo: Kimberley Bryon

      Kimberley Bryon answered on 17 Jun 2011:

      Hey Butters.

      Honestly, I am not sure what I believe. I would describe myself as spiritual, I find it hard to imagine that there isn’t a God. The more I inspect things at the molecular level, the more I am amazed by their complexity and how well they function. I find it difficult to imagine that they weren’t designed. However, I believe in evolution and the Big Bang Theory but I guess I believe that perhaps the Big Bang was caused by some force.

      Sorry if this is a confusing answer but faith is a difficult thing.

    • Photo: Amy MacQueen

      Amy MacQueen answered on 20 Jun 2011:

      Hi guys,

      Like many eminent scientists throughout history I do believe in God – specifically the God of the Bible as revealed in Jesus (for whom there is a lot of historical evidence). But I think that it is wrong to use God just to explain away things that we do not yet understand. You should believe in God because you are convinced of his existence in your own personal experience – not because there is a “need” to.

      Science is the exploration of the world around us and is only possible because the laws of the universe are logical, testable and consistent. What makes us think that they should work like this? Either they are just “like that” or someone caused it to be that way. I believe that God is a God of order who put the laws of the universe in place. Of course by making these laws this means that he transcends (is above) them and so can override them if he wishes to – but this is not the way he normally works.

      So my belief in God actually motivates my work because I know that scientific discovery of the world around us is possible because of his existence.

      What do you guys think?

    • Photo: Sara Imari Walker

      Sara Imari Walker answered on 22 Jun 2011:

      Hello butters, 07douglasc, isaac, and raushan!! I am not sure if I believe in God or Gods. I probably don’t, but I don’t rule it out. I guess I am what you would call agnostic. To me the universe just magnificent and that’s enough for now! I will keep asking questions, and keep trying to find answers. That is the beauty of being human, we get to think about these wonderful things!

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