Is there a God?

If (macro biological) evolution is true,

is it possible we were created by a Creator?

Pascal's Bet


If (macro biological) evolution were true, is it possible we were created by a Creator?

Should we seek to know if there was a Creator?
 
  • Do you think it is possible we evolved from lower life-forms?
  • Do you think humans can yet evolve to higher, more intelligent forms?
  • Do you think scientists may eventually be able to use their knowledge to make life from non-living matter?
  • If such an advanced scientist were to eventually travel to another planet, is it possible that scientist might start life there?
  • If such did happen, might that life evolve into intelligent beings? Would it then be correct to say that those beings were created by that traveling scientist?
  • If those intelligent beings one day realize they may have been created by an intelligent designer, would it be appropriate for them to seek to know the identity of their Creator?
  • Do you know for a fact that all life on Earth, including you, came about by accident and that no intelligent designer was involved?
  • Then would it be appropriate to pursue the possibility that life on Earth was created?
  • Some conjecture that their might be life on other planets and seek to find out. If it turns out there is not, was it a waste of time to investigate?
  • If there is life elsewhere and there is a Creator who is responsible for our existence, would it be a waste of time to investigate?
  • If this Creator were also a Benefactor for those who seek "Him", would it be a waste of time to seek that knowledge?


    • Pascal's Bet

    Should we seek to know if there is a Supreme Benefactor?

    From Pascal, the French Mathematician, we get this line of reasoning. I will expand on that reasoning here.

    Is there a reason to ask if there is a Creator who is also a Supreme Benefactor, a God?  (I refer to a conscious living entity, capable of sustaining your life, even after death. This entity can choose to be undetectable by modern scientific technology but there may be historical evidence.)

    If you heard that others were investing money in something and they were reaping great monetary benefits, would you investigate what they were doing? Not everyone gains a profit, there is a risk but would that stop you from using a little of your time to investigate? Would you be willing to spend 2 hours looking into something that just might bring you the greatest benefit in your life?

    Then check your watch and please read for 2 hours.

    Suppose you went out for pizza and when you get there they have many things to do for entertainment, various games and video game-machines to play. To playa game, you normally must buy a token, a coin, and deposit it in the game you choose.  But this time the restaurant gives you a coin because you ordered a pizza. You notice that one game in particular offers to players a reward of money. You see an encloser full of little black balls. The game rules say there is a white ball hidden in the glass enclosure and if you play the game and if you can grab the white ball in one minute, you get one MILLION dollars. Would you play the game? You might not win. It might be a waste of your time. There are other games to play that do not offer any reward. Should you avoid the aggrevation by ignoring any game that offers money?  The chances of getting the white ball appear small, and you don't even see a white ball. There is a risk, but what do you have to lose? The token was given to you so you could just give the token back or throw it away. But you must do something with it. What game would you play?

    Likewise, you have been given life. You could throw it away. There are some 'games' in life, ways of living, that clearly offer nothing. Some games seem to be profitable but cannot promise anything beyond death. If there were a way of living that claimed to offer something beyond death, would you investigate?

    There is a reason to seek God IF . . .

    1) If He exists
    2) If He is a Benefactor  . . . (If He is NOT a Benefactor, if there is no benefit from seeking Him, why do it?)
    3) If He helps those who seek Him . . . (If He does not help those who seek Him, why seek Him?)

    Some have conjectured that the supposed "Being" is not a nice person, not a Benefactor. Maybe He does not want people to seek Him, maybe He does not want to be "found". Maybe He hurts ONLY those who seek him. Or maybe He hurts only those with brown eyes. Or maybe he helps everyone who has ever lived regardless of what they believe or do. If this Being is not nice or does not respond positively to seekers, or ignores those who seek him, then there is no reason to seek Him.

    Consider a "Supreme Benefactor" who reacts positively to seekers of Him. Call Him BeingOne. Next, try to imagine as many Beings as you care to, other Beings who either help everyone regardless of what you do, or Beings who don't care, or are unwilling to help anyone. And yes, as critics would say, there are an infinite possibility of these other Beings. Next, either BeingOne exists or He does not. If there is no such Being, you do not lose anything by pondering on this, no more of a loss than if you were to spend 2 hours watching some fictional TV program. But if He does exist . . . then there are differences, consequences for what a person believes and does.

    This is summarized in the table below. For any one of the listed Beings, you can either believe or not believe, seek or not seek. If you are are an atheist, then you would mark them all as 'not seeking'. But calculate the consequences. If the Being is likely to exist but offers nothing, the resulting "payoff" is small. Likewise, if the Being offers much but is unlikely to exist, again the resulting "payoff" is small. But if there is any evidence for the existence of the Being and if there are both positive and negative consequences for human behavior, then you should estimate the values and calculate the consequences.

    Look at this comparison table:
     
     
    List of possible Beings . . . . Consequences for seeking

    For not seeking    		 Multiplied 
    by    		 The likelyhood or probablility of this Being's existence. They may all exist, or none of them, you estimate.  = likelyhood of good consequences

    likelyhood of bad consequences
    BeingOne - A Benefactor for those who seek Him  Infinite benefit

     Great unpleasantness     		 greater than zero = Infinite benefit

    Great unpleasantness
    Tooth Fairy small amounts of money

    zero    		 zero = zero

    zero
    BeingTwo - helps everyone in the afterlife Great benefit

    Great benefit    		 ?? = ??

    ??
    BeingThree - helps no one zero

    zero    		 ?? = zero

    zero
    Beings who behave in other ways ??

    ??    		 ?? = ??

    ??

    What will you choose? If you choose to not seek anything, you will find what you seek. If there is "Supreme Benefactor" you loose nothing by seeking Him. You might gain an infinite benefit. Further, if He exists, and you choose NOT to seek, the consequences could be very unpleasant. Why not continue to investigate? . . . continue . . .