I go with Pierre-Simon de Laplace. Towards the end of the 16th century, Newton had found instabilities in the planetary orbits, and it was commonly understood that without the assistance of God, the planets simply weren't able to stay in orbit for a prolonged time. Laplace proved mathematically that the orbits were stable even if they wobbled a bit.
Napoleon Bonaparte came to read his work, and asked him what role God played in the construction and regulation of the solar system. "Sire," Laplace replied, "I have no need of that hypothesis." thanks, Jostein 2007/6/14, Tom C <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>: > > > >Ultimately, the concept of a designer also begs the question of who > >designed the designer. > > > >Jostein > > > > That's correct. And I believe we're in an area that we, I at least, am > pretty much unable to comprehend. We're stuck in a "What came before that?" > loop. Infinity is mind-boggling and for me especially so when one goes > backwards in time. > > Who knows what lies outside this apparent space-time bubble we exist in > called the universe? What is it's nature? We may never know. > > One is stuck with the same sort of question, whether one believes in a > creator or not. What came before? Acknowledging that there are things I will > never know or understand because they may very well be incomprehensible, I > still look at the evidence I am able to comprehend and ask, "OK, do I see > evidence of a designer?". I say "Yes". I don't ignore the evidence before > me, or throw it out the window, just because I am unable to comprehend or > get my head around the bigger question. > > So it seems to boil down to... > > 1. Did the universe have a beginning? > 2. If so, did that beginning have a cause? > 3. If so, was it caused by 1) something eternal or 2) someone eternal? > > Tom C. > > > > -- > PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List > PDML@pdml.net > http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net > -- http://www.alunfoto.no/galleri/ http://alunfoto.blogspot.com -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net
