What did Voltaire mean when he said that:
"If God did not exist it would be necessary to invent him"
What did Voltaire mean when he said that:
"If God did not exist it would be necessary to invent him"
I would have to study more of Voltaire's writing to get a better sense of what he probably did mean, but as a first cut: humanity has a need to believe there is something greater than itself. We deify whatever we put into that position.What did Voltaire mean when he said that:
"If God did not exist it would be necessary to invent him"
What did Voltaire mean when he said that:
"If God did not exist it would be necessary to invent him"
The rest of the quote goes on to say, "...But all nature cries aloud that He does exist."
Voltaire had quite a way with rhetoric. Here he is just being dramatic about his theism in addressing some anti-God pamphlet he must have read.
The quoted part about nature probably refers to St. Thomas Aquinas' fifth proof of the existence of God.
http://www.saintaquinas.com/belief_in_God.html
"Thomas Aquinas says that the order of nature presupposes a higher plan in creation. The laws governing the universe presuppose a universal legislature who authored the order of the universe. We cannot say that chance creates order in the universe. If you drop a cup on the floor it shatters into bits and has become disordered. But if you were to drop bits of the cup, they would not assemble together into a cup. This is an example of the inherent disorder prevalent in the universe when things are left to chance. The existence of order and natural laws presupposes a divine intelligence who authored the universe into being."
The rest of the quote goes on to say, "...But all nature cries aloud that He does exist."
Voltaire had quite a way with rhetoric. Here he is just being dramatic about his theism in addressing some anti-God pamphlet he must have read.
The quoted part about nature probably refers to St. Thomas Aquinas' fifth proof of the existence of God.
http://www.saintaquinas.com/belief_in_God.html
"Thomas Aquinas says that the order of nature presupposes a higher plan in creation. The laws governing the universe presuppose a universal legislature who authored the order of the universe. We cannot say that chance creates order in the universe. If you drop a cup on the floor it shatters into bits and has become disordered. But if you were to drop bits of the cup, they would not assemble together into a cup. This is an example of the inherent disorder prevalent in the universe when things are left to chance. The existence of order and natural laws presupposes a divine intelligence who authored the universe into being."
The problem is that God has been done our of a job. He is no longer needed to create the species, as we now know that natural selection created the species.
And it only get worse for God, for he is no longer needed to create our universe because our measurements of the background radiation show that our universe is flat, that is, the sum total of all the energy in our universe is zero, that is, nothing.
They keep on telling us that nothing comes from nothing, but we now know that our nothing came from nothing.
God is now unemployed. Sacrficing his son made no difference. The only option left for God is therapy. I know it is a bit of a come-down from the Creator of the Universe. Thank heavens the whole purpose of therapy is to shrink the ego, that's why we go to a shrink.
"We"? Would you have multiple personality disorder, by any chance?
Good heavens no. However I have stopped being a literate individual calling myself, "I", and, "We", have become a tribal members of Central.
So, "I", like God, is dead, and, "We", rises gloriously in its place.
Still, we respect your time of mourning for a God who has been with us for 200,000 years and only recently became ill and passed on.
We know how you feel.