Expert: Austin Cline - 7/16/2007

Question
Where do you believe that the earth and universe came from? Where did any of the viruses come from? I’m sure you’re not suggesting that nothing (the universe) created itself. It’s a stone-written philosophical law that "from nothing, comes nothing". And the theory that the universe has always been has been utterly refuted by the scientific community, due to many recently discovered factors, such as the observance of the expanding universe and its implications. So what does that leave? It HAD to have been created by something outside of itself. Why don’t you ask Anthony Flew about the existence of any realistic grounds for your refutation of creationism? Creationism is not based on theological pre-suppositions or biases. It's based on where ALL the facts point towards... an outside creator, and intelligent design.

Answer
"Where do you believe that the earth and universe came from?"

Stephen Hawking has done a lot to explain this.

"Where did any of the viruses come from?"

Same place as other life: self-replicating chemicals.

"It’s a stone-written philosophical law that "from nothing, comes nothing"."

No, it's not - there are no "philosophical laws." It's simply what we observe in the context of the universe. It's not, however, something that can be claimed about the universe as a whole. That would be a logical fallacy.

"It HAD to have been created by something outside of itself."

No, it didn't. On the contrary, the very notion of "outside the universe" requires a context of space which only exists as part of the universe. There is no more an "outside" the universe than there is a "to the north of" the universe. Such concepts are fundamentally incoherent.

"Why don’t you ask Anthony Flew about the existence of any realistic grounds for your refutation of creationism?"

I and others have explained in detail how Flew's reasoning is flawed.

"Creationism is not based on theological pre-suppositions or biases. It's based on where ALL the facts point towards... an outside creator, and intelligent design."

That's why only religious believers accept creationism.

Your questions here demonstrate absolutely no knowledge of philosophy, logic, and science. You do, however, demonstrate that you've read some evangelical Christian publications on philosophy and science - publications which routinely misrepresent the facts in the service of theology.