God and Logic

Contents:

1. Logic as a property of the universe or God
2. God can't be 'outside' logic
3. Conclusion

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1. Logic as a property of the universe or God

Logic is more powerful than God

• If there is a logical reason why God exists, then logic created God, is all-powerful and restrains God.

• If there is no logical reason why God exists, then it holds that the Universe could exist for no logical reason and therefore require no creator.

God's thoughts
If God has logical thoughts then logic is more powerful than God. If God chose to create anything it must have had reasons to do so, therefore logic will have been dictating God's thoughts from the moment of God's inception.

If God's thoughts are logical from our Human point of view, then Human logic (as we know it) is a more powerful governor than God; if God exists it must therefore be a product of logic and therefore did not create logic. If God behaves according to logic that we don't understand (i.e.: Human logic is limited) then God is still behaving according to logic, even if it is logic we don't understand.

If God's thoughts behave according to no logic, then there are no absolutes. It would be possible for god to create a square circle (an all-powerful being that doesn't obey logic would be able to) just as much as any absolute is also obsolete, but this makes a mockery of all our religion, afterlife, lives, thoughts, everything, if this is possible. It means we are completely unable to predict anything of god. It makes god worthless to us, inaccessible.

God, although all-powerful, did not create logic. God requires logic in order to think or create.

An example argument of God's thoughts requiring logic:
• The Universe cannot be younger than God or Logic is more powerful than God

If Logic is part of God
A counter argument could be that God is inherently a logical thinker and that logic is part of God and not something that exists on its own. God has properties such as "benevolent" and also "logical". But this defence of God doesn't work for the following reason:

If God can contain a property of "logical", then the following must be true: That the Universe, that requires no cause or creator, also can contain logic. This means that if this defence is true the Universe doesn't need God in order for logic to exist anyway.

Conclusions
If God thinks logically, then logic must have existed before God and God did not create logic. If there is a logical reason why God exists, then logic is more potent than God and restrains God. If there is no logical reason why God exists, then it holds that the Universe could exist for no logical reason and therefore require no creator. If it is true that God exists outside of time and therefore "everything has a cause" does not apply to God then it is equally possible that logic, not God, is what exists outside of time and requires no cause.

2. God can't be 'outside' logic

Outside of Logic
Some theists will make assertions that god is "outside of outside", "beyond logic", "transcends logic", "not subject to logical limitations" or that "human logic is limited" and other similar argument-stoppers. Although this does appear to throw all intellectualizing out the window, kick all theology out the front door and firmly garrison the houses of religion from scientific bailiffs, it actually opens up theism and, in particular, the individual theist, to some further criticisms.

• If "Human logic" is insufficient for metaphysics then debating for the existence of God is silly. Because it is by Human logic, thought and mentality that we arrive at the concept of God in the first place

• To say that god doesn't obey logical rules, to say that God could create a round square, for example, is to say that the abilities of god are abilities that cannot logically exist

• "Beyond logic" is a synonym for "irrational", and admissions of beliefs that are beyond logic is an admission that such beliefs are irrational and logically indefensible

If God is beyond logic, is it not true that atheists are at least somewhat more rational and logical in their beliefs? It seems to be!

The Unknown
Some theists will claim that because science cannot explain everything that God must exist. They plead that "the unknown" is cause for theism, and that new facts may come to light that suggest gods exist. However:

• The unknown, and new facts and new arguments, are just as likely to disprove any given theory than to prove it. Appeals to the unknown are unusable in argument because of this. In addition to this, it is certainly a historical trend that scientific truth and evidence has always encroached upon the beliefs of the godly and the religious, and the exploration of the unknown is largely bad news for religion, not good!

  "The consequence is that the conclusions of the science of religions are as likely to be adverse as they are to be favorable to the claim that the essence of religion is true."

  "The Varieties of religious experience" by William James, p468 [Book Info / Quotes]

• Appealing to the unknown appears to merely set a time-bomb on religious belief: At such a time when the unknown becomes explained their belief is no longer defensible. Clearly, this would not be the case and theists continue believing in their respective gods no matter what the evidence. This is because belief is psychological.

3. Conclusion

The conclusion is that the very existence of logic is troublesome for theists.

"With religious people themselves no longer believing most of what they used to, science has largely won and god has become a much more abstract, non-literal being and the same goes for angels, demons, Satan and the rest of the Western religious pantheon, retreating into a shadowy world of abstract emotional belief where science may never be able to shed light, but psychologists might"

Section on "Science" on "Anti-religious forces" by Vexen, 2003 Jun

And as hinted, that psychology (or perhaps even psychiatry!) continues where logical fact no longer explains theists' beliefs.

There is no god:
If God can make plans, think logically or exist, then logic is an arch-power that encompasses God and gives reason for god's existence which appears to refute the idea that God could be the creator of logic. The God as first-cause argument is partially undermined. If there is no logical reason why God exists then it is more likely that there no logical reason why the Universe exists, and that instead of assuming that the organisational force is a 'god', it's simpler and more rational to assume that it is the universe itself. It appears that whether God exists for logical reasons or not a fundamental contradiction occurs. The only answer is that creator-gods cannot possibly exist. Atheism is more logical. This is also true if God is placed "beyond logic". And if it is said that Human logic is incapable of realizing such metaphysical truths, then this also undermines any argument that can be made by one human to another, for the existence of god.