None of the things which you cite as leading you to faith bear up well under rational scrutiny. That does not mean you are wrong ot have faith, obviously, but if your faith is based solely upon “evidence” such as this, you do yourself a disservice.
first cause As others have mentioned, first-cause arguments are not new and have been attacked on logical grounds since before either of us were born. If you wish, we can get into specifics. If not, I will simply observe that there is absolutely no connection between an axiomatic first cause and any particular conception of God. The Big Bang itself satisfies first cause every bit as well as “God” does. This is by no means the only problem with the argument.
Bible & Big Bang common elements between Genesis and the BB are surface similarities at best. One could aply a similarly metaphorical reading of many other creatio myths and find similar “similarities”. [sub]personally, I vote for egyptian myths–masturbating the Universe sure sounds like a “big bang” to me ;)[/sub]
before the beginning of time Yep, I can find translations that use that phrasing. It seems a nice poetical phrase, to me. I see nothing startling that someone would use “before time began” to convey a sense of eternal grace.
tailored Universe If the Universe were not capable of supporting life, then we would not be here to marvek at how many factors allow the Universe to support life. In other words, the condition of living in a Universe capable of supporting life is exactly what one would have to observe whether God created it for us or we evolved without guidance within it. Therefore, that condition provides no support for either option. QED.
Hoyle and Wickramasinghe Do indeed present an argument through probability that bacterial life originiated extraterresrially. The numbers they use to derive their proability, however, can be attcked in multiple ways. One response can be found here.
Personally, I think the greatere problem with their calculation comes from the fallacy of converse accident (applying a specific example rather than a general case). Either way, the argument is analagous to the case above.
don’t believe evolution could produce humans in 3 billion years I suspect this is because humans find it very difficult to understand just how looooooooong 3 billion years is. Regardless, this is a statement of personal belief, not evidence.
111111111 x 111111111=12345678987654321
So? A pattern in decimal multiplacation is eidence of God? Why do you believe God uses base 10? Why not hex?
Or binary?
69F6BC7 * 69F6BC7 = 2BDC546291F4B1
110100111110110101111000111 * 110100111110110101111000111 = 101011110111000101010001100010100100011111010010110001
Jupiter I just love this one. By “being where it is” I assume you mean “in the Solar System”. I mean, you don’t think Jupiter’s orbit is in sync with ours so that it provides a continual “shield” against comets do you? Yes, having a planet of large mass in the Solar System means fewer comets strike the earth. Having an even bigger planet, or several planets the same size, would provide even better protection. Why didn’t our “tailored Universe” make us really safe? I can picture it now:
God: I’ll make a planet for my creatures. Let’s see, I like dinosaurs. I’ll make lots of dinoasaurs. Oh, and I’ll put a big planetary shield out there to protect them from the comets I am going to make. Wait – I’ll probably get tired of them after a couple of hundred million years. I’d better make the planetary shield not quite large enough so a comet can sneak by and clear away the dinosaurs once they get boring.
Or maybe not.
heavens as God’s work Please give some examples of these recent developments in astronomy. I doubt that they actually provide evidence for divine creation, but I can’t say for certain without details.
{Bolding fixed. I can send you my addy and you can mail a 4-pack to my home, Spiritus, and then you’re set for the next two times, eh? 
--Gaudere}
[Edited by Gaudere on 12-06-2000 at 12:22 PM]
