Zygote
09-26-2005, 10:47 PM
Notready brought to my attention that a core belief of Christianity is that the universe is made of absolute laws. This, also, obviously includes absolute morals. In fact, if i'm not mistaken, i believe this is one of the fundamental reasons Notready is confident in his beliefs. Without absolutes, the world appears nonsensical to him. I'm curious , though, what kind of success have any theistic scholars had in uncovering an observable absolute law? If the bible is such a brilliant guide to the absolute truths of the cosmos, you'd expect the book to uncover at least one that is observable! Before anyone attempts to answer this question, i suggest only offering suggestions that meet the following criteria:
What it takes for something to be a absolute or physical law:
(from wikipedia.com)
* true. By definition, there have never been repeatable contradicting observations.
* universal. They appear to apply everywhere in the universe. (Davies)
* absolute. Nothing in the universe appears to affect them. (Davies)
* eternal. Unchanged since first discovered (although they may have been shown to be approximations of more accurate laws—see "Laws as approximations" below), they appear to be unchanged since the beginning of the universe. It is thus presumed that they will remain unchanged in the future. (Davies)
* omnipotent. Everything in the universe apparently must comply with them. (Davies)
* "omniscient" (loosely speaking). The behavior of everything in the universe is automatically and immediately "known" to the laws. (Davies)
* generally conservative of quantity. (Feynman)
* often examples of symmetry. (Feynman)
* simple. They are typically expressed in simple terms. (Davies)
What it takes for something to be a absolute or physical law:
(from wikipedia.com)
* true. By definition, there have never been repeatable contradicting observations.
* universal. They appear to apply everywhere in the universe. (Davies)
* absolute. Nothing in the universe appears to affect them. (Davies)
* eternal. Unchanged since first discovered (although they may have been shown to be approximations of more accurate laws—see "Laws as approximations" below), they appear to be unchanged since the beginning of the universe. It is thus presumed that they will remain unchanged in the future. (Davies)
* omnipotent. Everything in the universe apparently must comply with them. (Davies)
* "omniscient" (loosely speaking). The behavior of everything in the universe is automatically and immediately "known" to the laws. (Davies)
* generally conservative of quantity. (Feynman)
* often examples of symmetry. (Feynman)
* simple. They are typically expressed in simple terms. (Davies)