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[Ralphie]

Does a Creator Exist?

The universe we live in is finite. Everything about it is finite. The concept of infinity in the real world is absurd. Like if you try to imagine you have infinite hamburgers, no matter how many you imagine, it will never reach infinity. So, an infinite past is impossible. If you have an infinite past, that means every possible thing that could ever possibly happen has already happened an infinite number of times. It also necessitates that in the future, every possible thing that could ever possibly happen will happen an infinite number of times again. It's absurd. Infinity is not something you can count. It's not a number. It is a concept. A concept that is unattainable in the real world.

Also, if you have an infinite past, then it is illogical that it is now the present. Because it would take an infinite amount of time to get to where we are now, which axiomatically can't happen because infinity is unattainable. So, for an unlimited amount of time to have already taken place is ridiculous, because time is still taking place. Infinity plus 3 is illogical. It's just infinity, you can't add to or subtract from it. Also, we'd have infinity behind us as well as ahead of us. Two infinities back to back. Infinity plus infinity.

So, the universe is not infinite; not eternal. It couldn't have come from nothing because 0 + 0 as many times as you like, is still 0. It has to have come from something. Something has to have caused/created it. So a "creator(s)" exists by logical necessity.

How Many Creators?

If we say that this finite universe was created by another finite universe in a chain of universes creating each other, then we have the problem of an infinite past again. You will ask "what created the one that created us", then "what created that one", then "what created that one" an infinite amount of times. So, we have the same problem of the infinite past again. An infinite number of universes will have had to exist an infinite number of times in the past and an infinite number of universes will have to exist an infinite number of times again in the future. If you're falling forever, will you ever hit the ground? This will come up with any finite entity that might be thought to have created the universe. Even considering that projects the temporal rules that we observe within our universe onto reality outside our universe. We know from our knowledge of our universe, the universe can't be eternal. But, we have absolutely no information about what outside the universe is like. So, we must accept our temporal rules don't necessarily apply external to our universe. Therefore, it is perfectly reasonable to say an "eternal" entity could exist, external to our finite universe.

But, if something is eternal, it has to be the origin of everything else because it axiomatically precedes EVERYTHING else. So, there is literally nowhere else anything could possibly come from. Two eternal entities is absurd, because we're talking about something that existed before everything else. The start point to everything else. So, saying that there are two eternal entities is tantamount to saying that that something had two beginnings which is absurd. So, there must be one eternal originator/creator.

Must this Entity be Dependent or Independent/Self-Sufficient?

Because this entity is one and precedes everything else, it has to be independent of everything and entirely self-sufficient, because it will have existed before anything to be dependent upon.

Must this Entity be "All Powerful" or Just Powerful Enough to Create Our Universe?

Because this entity is eternal and the originator of everything else, anything that exists, only exists because the originator caused it to. So because ABSOLUTELY NOTHING exists without the originator causing it to, the originator is the only part of reality that must exist and everything else depends on it. So the originator, being the only cause of everything, can create/cause anything and do anything to what it has already created/caused because reality itself depends on the originator. This entity must have total power over everything.

Must this Entity be All Knowing?

This entity must know absolutely everything, because everything that exists comes from this entity. If the entity doesn't know something, that thing will never exist, and if the thing never exists then there is nothing to know about it.

Does This Entity Have a Will or does it Operate Randomly (Is it Alive)?

Since this entity is the eternal originator upon which reality itself depends, there is no reason it would create without a will. It would just exist and do nothing. Imagine the sun. It has no will, but it dispenses energy, light, solar flairs, etc. But, the sun is not one. Whatever the sun does is dependent on all the matter and energy within it interacting with each other. This eternal originator is only one. It can't be a ball of burning mass because even an atom is not one. It's made up of protons, neutrons, and electrons. Even protons and neutrons are not one. They're made of quarks. So, it is absurd to think this entity would or could create or do anything if it had no will. Because for something without a will to do anything, it has do it as a reaction to something else.

Is this Entity Like Anything It Creates?

This entity is totally unique in that it is eternal (preceding everything), independent, all powerful, creator/originator of everything, so it is illogical to assume it is like anything it creates since it is fundamentally unlike anything.

Everything living on earth is built functionally. Humans have ears to pick up vibrations in the air, hands to grab things, noses to smell things and breath oxygen, mouths to eat food and send vibrations in the air to communicate, etc. Every one of those traits comes with several things we are dependent on. It is ridiculous to think the independent originator of everything would have ears for picking up vibrations in the air or a mouth to eat food. He precedes air and food and every other thing in existence.

Can this Entity Procreate?

There is only one, eternal originator that is the creator of everything, therefore it is absurd to say it could procreate in any way. The entity is, by logical necessity, one and always one.

Conclusion.

The creator must be alive/have a will
The creator must be one
The creator must be eternal
The creator cannot ever procreate
The creator must be unlike its creation
The creator must be the creator of everything that exists
The creator must be all powerful
The creator must be all knowing
The creator must be that which everything else depends on
The creator must be totally independent/self-sufficient
How God describes Himself in the Qur'an:

Qur'an 36:82 "His command is only when He intends a thing that He says to it, "Be," and it is."
Qur'an 112:1 Say, "He is Allah, [who is] One,
Qur'an 112:2 Allah, the Eternal Refuge.
Qur'an 112:3 He neither begets nor is born,
Qur'an 112:4 Nor is there to Him any equivalent."
Qur'an 13:16 ...Say, " Allah is the Creator of all things, and He is the One, the Prevailing.
Qur'an 54:55 ...Sovereign, Perfect in Ability.
Qur'an 10:65 ...He is the All-Hearing, All*-Knowin*g.
Qur'an 2:255 Allah - there is no deity except Him, the Ever-Living, the Sustainer of [all] existence....
Qur'an 29:6 And whoever strives only strives for [the benefit of] himself. Indeed, Allah is free from need of the worlds.

[jimwalton]

This logic about God/Allah being the First Cause, being infinite, self-sufficient, all-powerful, all-knowing, independent from creation, alive, and noncontingent is a theology that Judaism, Christianity, and Islam all share. We all regard God/Allah in this way. As a Christian, I agree with everything you have said here, and all of these categories could just as easily describe Yahweh as Allah. As a matter of fact, there are many people who believe that YHWH and Allah are the same deity—the true question at hand is whether the Bible or the Qur'an is the truthful revelation of Him. I agree with your analysis that God as so presented must exist. I have no discussion or debate with you on that regard. The question between us would be whether the Qur'an is the truthful revelation of Him, or whether the Bible is the truthful one. After all, though for these items you mention we are in agreement, there are many ways that the Bible reveals God (YHWH) very differently from how the Qur'an reveals God (Allah).

[Ralphie]

> This logic about God/Allah being the First Cause, being infinite, self-sufficient, all-powerful, all-knowing, independent from creation, alive, and noncontingent is a theology that Judaism, Christianity, and Islam all share.

The others say he looks like a man. That we are "created in the image of God." The Bible says God changed His mind.

> and all of these categories could just as easily describe Yahweh as Allah.

Yahweh is Allah. Yahweh is a Jewish name for God. Allah is an Arabic word meaning "the God."

Although the other Abrahamic faiths are obviously as close as you can get to the Islamic concept, they still have problems that Islam doesn't.

I appreciate your feedback.

[jimwalton]

> The others say he looks like a man.

Judaism says that YHWH is unseeable. Christianity says that YHWH is spirit (Jn. 4.24). Allah is also unseeable and spirit, because he is everywhere, and yet Surah 2:210 says he will come in the clouds, so he must have some kind of spatial presence.

> That we are "created in the image of God."

Both Judaism and Christianity teach that we are created in the image of God, and by that we mean we have rule of the earth as God's vice-regents (Gn. 1.26, 28). It most certainly does not mean that we are physical as God is physical, or that God is physical as we are.

> The Bible says God changed His mind

The English translation you have selected is unfortunate because it conveys the wrong meaning. When the Bible speaks of YHWH making changes, He is adapting His actions in response to the decisions and actions of people. Numbers 23.19; 1 Samuel 15.29; Psalm 110.4 say categorically that YHWH does not change His mind. Jeremiah 18.1-12 show how YHWH is response to the actions of people so that He is always just.

> Yahweh is Allah. Yahweh is a Jewish name for God. Allah is an Arabic word meaning "the God."

As I said, "there are many people who believe that YHWH and Allah are the same deity—the true question at hand is whether the Bible or the Qur'an is the truthful revelation of Him." There are others, on the contrary, who see all the differences between YHWH and Allah in the Bible and in the Qur'an who come to the conclusion that they are not the same. Whether the difference is in God's nature or in determining which is the correct revelation of His being (the Bible or the Qur'an) is difficult to sort out. It is true that the Bible describes the Supreme Being in many different ways than the Qur'an describes Him. So either YHWH and Allah are different beings, or one of the two holy books is wrong.

> Yahweh is a Jewish name for God.

Elohim is the generic Jewish word for God. YHWH is a specific deity who has many different specific names to reveal His nature and character: El Shaddai, El Elyon, YHWH Yireh, etc.

> Although the other Abrahamic faiths are obviously as close as you can get to the Islamic concept, they still have problems that Islam doesn't.

This is worthy of discussion, but you must know that Islam has just as many problems as any other religion.

- There are different factions of Islam, at least Sunni and Shi'ite.
- There are different interpretations of Islam, as shown by those Muslims who embrace ISIS and those who deplore them.
- There are different views of the politicization of Islam, as shown by those who believe in Sharia law that should take over the world and all civilizations and those who believe Muslims should live peacefully in the cultures they reside in.
- There are different—alternate—versions of the Qur'an, notably the Syro-Aramaic Rendering of the text.
- There are textual variants in the Qur'an. Why did 'Uthman feel the need to destroy other copies of the Qur'an, unless they contained variants? Why did Ibn Ma'sud refuse to hand over his copy for destruction? How do we know that 'Uthman's copy was better than any of the others? There is evidence of change after 'Uthman. There are Hadiths that say the Qur'an is incomplete. There are Hadiths that refer to lost Surahs. There are even variants in the present-day manuscripts.
- Possibly up to 64% of the Qur'an's content is driven by the question of what to do with the Kafir. Kafir, in all of its grammatical forms, occurs over 400 times. Various texts recommend eradication and death, others all manner of jihad and political domination. Is Islam a religion of peace or of subjugation, domination, and killing?

Don't tell me that Islam doesn't have problems the other Abrahamic religions have.