GLD (goal, logic, data): a second TSM

Three more cosmological-type arguments for the existence of God. They're more abstract, more like food-for-thought that iron-logic.

Goal: keep asking the question 'why' of any action, and see where you end up. For instance: why did you eat food today? To stay alive. Why do you want to stay alive? To enjoy myself. Why do you want to enjoy yourself? Because it's enjoyable, duh! Why should you obey that primal urge? Umm...because primal urges keep me alive. (now we're getting circular).

Anyway, the chain could take other courses too. The idea is that you should find a logical end to the chain. This would probably be a fact like, "I should give God glory because he deserves it. (In other words, I'm supposed to.)"

Of course I have not explored every iteration of the chain, but hopefully we are forced to end up with God.

Logic: this is standard cause effect theory. Two posts previous from this one I explained this in a little detail, and I've cut and pasted that below: Now we reach backwards using logic. All things have a cause; there's a mechanical position of the universe that preceded and cuased the current position. (oooh! this bring up so many ideas about intertia!) This method also deals with infinity. We either have an infinite number of mechanical states, or there was some 'first cause' that didn't/doesn't have a cuase, i.e. God. It would make sense that this first cause must be unaffected by/greater than time.

Data: supposing that the world is finite, we could theoretically sum everything about the world. Suppose that we measured the total mass of the universe and found it to be 8E241 kg.

Hm

Why not 7E241?

Of all the possibilities that this universe could have produced, why on earth (or why in the universe haha) did it 'chose' this one?

I could extrapolate, but I have to run to church.

believing when confused

Being often sleep deprived, I am often quasi-depressed and often confused about God, questioning his existence and stuff. I wonder (now that I am sane again) what is the best thing to cling to in those moments? Straight-up trust in God and his amazingness might be one. Another more practical one might experience. We've had moments like these before, and we've always bounced back like a yo-yo. A third is that evidence for God is all around us. (see 'trusting the obvious') We are living right now and within Gods gifts. re is amazing. God is upholding it constantly (see the material section of 'TSM'). Our life and every breath we take is a gift. That is pretty good evidence for Gods existence I think.

cause-effect vs. infinite time

I would like to make a distinction between the infinite time argument for the existence of God (see 'TSM') and the commonly cited cause-effect argument.

Time: if you reach backwards in the time dimension (as if time were a spatial dimension), time either began or never began, going on backwards for infinity. The dilemma is between an illogical starting point of time and infinite time. How could time start (an event happening using time) before time started?

We could think of a universe without time having some inherently necessary explosion which begins time, but without time to in the original universe, time doesn't seem all that necessary.

Cause effect: now we reach backwards using logic rather than a dimension. All things have a cause; there's a mechanical position of the universe that preceded and caused the current position. (ooooh! this brings up so many ideas about inertia!) This method also deals with infinity. We either have an infinite number of mechanical states, or there was some 'first cause' that didn't/doesn't have a cause, i.e. God. It would make sense that this first cause must be unaffected by/greater than time.

Both theories deal with a dilemma and both bring us back to the start of the universe. However, the reasonings behind the dilemmas seem to be different, and I know with great certainty that the methods of reaching back into time are different.

P.S. both of these arguments also have the potential to reach forward in time. Using the dimension, time must either end sometime (scary) or never end (depressing). Cause-effect logic demands results from each mechanical state, and hence another one after any given state. The chain does not seem to end.