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Two More of Bob Dutko's Proofs for God's Existence Refuted.

Bob Dutko's Third and Fourth Proof for God's Existence Debunked.

Three: The Origin of Life: Life Cannot Come from Non-Life

As to the origin of life, that's a transition - life from non-life - that is still unexplained. But something currently unexplained doesn't of necessity translate into forever and ever unexplained. The history of science is full of multi-thousands of events once unexplained that are now taught as fully explained to even elementary children.

Once upon a time it was established 'fact' that you couldn't generate organic compounds from inorganic compounds. Then urea was synthesized. Highly complex organic chemistry, chemistry part and parcel of the life processes, has now been routinely synthesized under what we believe were natural conditions. There is no biochemical or organic chemical contained within living systems whose chemical pathway cannot be traced back to the foundations and fundamentals of inorganic chemistry. Against all expectations, highly complex organic molecules have been discovered in interstellar space.

If you take the vast amount of real estate that the cosmos presents itself has having, coupled with those most abundant of elements in the cosmos, elements that just happen to form the backbone of life (hydrogen, oxygen, carbon, nitrogen), coupled with billions upon billions of years for reactions to happen in, coupled with the concept of panspermia, well I believe a natural explanation for the origin of life is way more a realistic explanation than a theological one. Just saying "God did it" is just too easy an answer, and an answer that in and of itself hasn't been demonstrated as established fact. That God created life is as much a theory or a hypothesis as is abiogenesis, only the latter is subject to scientific investigation / experimentation. The God hypothesis is not falsifiable.

We may not have THE answer to the origin of life in our lifetime, but perhaps in a 100 years, 1000 years, any school kid might be able to create life in a test-tube as part of their biology class. Once the answer is actually known, it will probably seem obvious.

Four: Alternatives to God and the Burden of Proof: Explaining Life, the Universe and Everything

Two points here. Firstly, there are thousands of other religions, theologies and deities that all manner of societies and cultures have envisioned as explaining life, the Universe and everything. Collectively, that's one heck of a lot of alternatives. God is actually quite a late-comer and so you'll find God towards the back of the explanatory line.

Further, science itself has done a marvelous job of coming to terms with explaining life, the Universe and everything especially considering how young the field of what we would term 'modern' science actually is. Now that's not to say there are not unknowns yet to be explained and competing ideas in some areas yet to be resolved, but then too Rome wasn't built in a day.

As to the burden of proof, the proof of any pudding lies with the person or agency or institution that claims something is so, as in God exists. There is no burden of proof on anyone claiming that something is not so. In fact it is impossible to prove the negative. So the burden of proof that God exists lies with Bob Dutko, and from his ten examples of 'proof' given here, he fails miserably.

To be continued...

johnprytz 7 Apr 18
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While I am in agreement with much of your post, the last paragraph presents a problem.

<<As to the burden of proof, the proof of any pudding lies with the person or agency or institution that claims something is so, as in God exists. There is no burden of proof on anyone claiming that something is not so. In fact it is impossible to prove the negative.>>

I am withholding belief in the existence of “burdens of proof(s)” I see ZERO evidence for burdens of proof. One person can not prove anything to another person in the first place. The only burden, if there is one, is for each interested person to examine all the available evidence with an open mind. Through internal cogitation it is possible that an emotional sense of accordance or discordance might arise. That emotion is the business only of the individual and need not be justified to anyone else. I can make assertions all day long and there is no requirement for me to argue for those assertions. If there is a burden it is on the other person to analyze the evidence and form their own opinions.

The concept of proof does have meaning, but only within the context of logical systems such as in mathematics. Even there, every logical system is based on unproven assumptions, and there will always be meaningful assertions within a logical system that can be neither proven nor disproven. And even in mathematics, acceptance of an assertion is not mechanistic but psychological.

So far as the impossibility of proving a negative assertion, that idea is nothing but myth. Mathematicians prove negative assertions all the time, and in fact, assertions can be couched in either negative or positive language at will.

I agree on one point—the origin of life is a mystery. To say that God did it is to say nothing at all. Unless you can define and understand God it would be better and more honest to just say “I don’t know”.

Science as I read it says that time is an illusion, Therefore if we are arguing about the origins of things we are spinning wheels. If the concept of causality is sham our entire comfortable world view is shattered, or it should be for any honest and courageous person.

@johnprytz Yes, “burden of proof” is an important concept in the court system and that’s where it belongs.

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I totally agree. Another thing that is off the wall on these beliefs are those who hold an "either/or" view on god. Many times people call in to the Atheist Experience and try to disprove evolution. They appear to think that if they can do this it has to mean "god did it" and that creation is real. It means nothing of the kind. Which god and which creation?

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