I just want to ask these thought provoking questions from a neutral perspective to atheist and theists alike.
1. How did the idea of a 'god' first become conceived in the mind of the early man?
2. Why is man so attached to the idea of the existence of a 'god' that it has sparked thousands years of debate which is still ongoing?
3. Will there come a time when this debate will stop?
4. Will there be a time when the receding ignorance will cease to be and man will know all there is to be known? (note that at this point, man would be omniscience therefore, the debate of the existence of a 'god' will cease to be).
5. If there will be a time like that, will man be able to survive up to that time?
6. If possible, what are the chances that man will be able survive and achievements that feat?
7. If there is 'very low' or No chance that man will survive up to that time of being omniscience, then, why do man still debate the existence of a 'god' when he knows that he wouldn't live to proof or debunk it?
Pls, where have all the theists and atheists gone to? I need your inputs biko!
Lala, I know this is not a snake thread but helep me push am go front page biko. Thanks

seun osewa come out from you cave time for you to tell us your own side of the story.
shesweetdie#
do you have anything to say?

Religion is engraved in various cultures and as we know, cultures encompasses the way of life of people in a given society. It's therefore pertinent that one debates to support or rationalize ones stand on issues bordering on this aspect of ones life.

DeSepiero:
Religion is engraved in various cultures and as we know, cultures encompasses the way of life of people in a given society. It's therefore pertinent that one debates to support or rationalize ones stand on issues bordering on this aspect of ones life.

Nice input but it didn't answer the first question

.

delexy123:
Pls, where have all the theists and atheists gone to? I need your inputs biko!

it's too early for atheists discussion. Don't you know people are in their work place?

taoheedoriloye:
seun osewa come out from you cave time for you to tell us your own side of the story.
shesweetdie#
do you have anything to say?

seun osewa is not hiding but using a different account to commit weird stuff

delexy123:
I just want to ask these thought provoking questions from a neutral perspective to atheist and theists alike.
1. How did the idea of a 'god' first become conceived in the mind of the early man?

Humans have always wished to understand their surroundings. They however started off with next to no awareness or knowledge of things so did the best they could and created gods to fill in the gaps. Surely, they concluded, the earth with its huge expanse could not exist without it being created, so something must have created it. It appeared to them that there was more food when the rains fell, so they bowed down in awe at whatever it was that must have made it so. Thunder struck and someone told them the gods were angry - and in some places, hungry - and had to be worshipped and sacrificed to. Then some people found they could control others with it and a religion around gods was created. There's more to it than this, but basically, the idea of gods filled the gaps in human knowledge.

delexy123:
2. Why is man so attached to the idea of the existence of a 'god' that it has sparked thousands years of debate which is still ongoing?

There is still a lot that humans do not understand. But while some people in some nations seek better answers to explain their surroundings, the poor amongst us still cling to the gods. This is purely by design however. It does not sound popular, but education is actually the antidote to religious ignorance. And the more people.seek, the better informed they will become. It is not however the desire of those in charge that humans kill off their gods, for if they do, they "will become like us, knowing both good and evil" and extend their life. (That's supposed to be a bad thing by the way!)

delexy123:
3. Will there come a time when this debate will stop?

Not really, no, it will never stop. The arguments we have today are the same ones people always had as we seek better ways to exist. Even long after we kill off the gods as we know them today, we will merely have evolved the idea of the gods and debate those instead. An example is the communist/capitalist arguments of the 1950s in America, and the liberal/neo-con arguments there today. We Nigerians would probably get to the point when we will be arguing for the removal of gods from the public sphere and their relegation to the private, someday. But we will continue to argue over whatever we have evolved our gods into.

delexy123:
4. Will there be a time when the receding ignorance will cease to be and man will know all there is to be known? (note that at this point, man would be omniscience therefore, the debate of the existence of a 'god' will cease to be).

I don't think we can ever become omniscient, as in know it all. Knowledge, is like the universe, the more we see of it the less we know of it. Besides, we humans would never all agree that what we know is all there is to know and someone will always come up with new ways of seeing even the things we've always seen and thought we knew everything about. Then there's the fact that we will continue to discover what can be done with what we know which will push knowledge and it's search ever forward. Basically, like the poor, there will always be ignorance amongst us.

delexy123:
5. If there will be a time like that, will man be able to survive up to that time?

I don't think there will ever be such a time, but ask again on 1st January 210,018 (that's no typo!)

delexy123:
6. If possible, what are the chances that man will be able survive and achievements that feat?

We will survive a very long time if we do not manage to obliterate ourselves out of existence first. Humans, though, are rather resilient, and the universe even more so, so I doubt we can obliterate either, we just would never be omnipowerful enough. I personally expect the date to someday work it's way to 1st January 2,000,000 and beyond. Of course I expect humans would have evolved so much that they would look at present day humans and claim we are apes and they are in no way related to us. They will have gods and religion too but nothing like we have today.

delexy123:
7. If there is 'very low' or No chance that man will survive up to that time of being omniscience, then, why do man still debate the existence of a 'god' when he knows that he wouldn't live to proof or debunk it?

Your question is like asking why humans didn't stop seeking knowledge 2000 years ago? The reason we don't stop is simply because there is just so much we don't know and will always be seeking to know. And we do not have to be omniscient, as in know it all, we will just know a lot more and continue to learn more everyday. Just think, going to America seems like going to the moon for people in some countries, but someday, going to Mars would be as easy as going to Dugbe, eventually.

budaatum:

Humans have always wished to understand their surroundings. They however started off with next to no awareness or knowledge of things so did the best they could and created gods to fill in the gaps. Surely, they concluded, the earth with its huge expanse could not exist without it being created, so something must have created it. It appeared to them that there was more food when the rains fell, so they bowed down in awe at whatever it was that must have made it so. Thunder struck and someone told them the gods were angry - and in some places, hungry - and had to be worshipped and sacrificed to. Then some people found they could control others with it and a religion around gods was created. There's more to it than this, but basically, the idea of gods filled the gaps in human knowledge.

While I agree with some of the subsequent replies you gave, your reply hasn't answered the first question I proposed. There is quite a large leap between having an idea of a 'god' or 'spirit' AND attributing the existence the universe to a 'god' or 'spirit'. For the primitive man to credit the existence of things around him to a 'god' or 'spirit' he must have gotten the idea of 'god' or 'spirit'. This begs the unanswered question...how did the idea of 'god' or 'spirit' became conceived in the mind of the early man?

delexy123:
While I agree with some of the subsequent replies you gave, your reply hasn't answered the first question I proposed. There is quite a large leap between having an idea of a 'god' or 'spirit' AND attributing the existence the universe to a 'god' or 'spirit'. For the primitive man to credit the existence of things around him to a 'god' or 'spirit' he must have gotten the idea of 'god' or 'spirit'. This begs the unanswered question...how did the idea of 'god' or 'spirit' became conceived in the mind of the early man?

Basically, humans made god up. Just like they did fairies, aliens, spirits and ghosts.

budaatum:

Basically, humans made god up. Just like they did fairies, aliens, spirits and ghosts.

Hmmm...it is either you didn't get the question or you are willfully ignoring it...let me simplify this...if the early man could only relate with his physical world then how did the idea of the 'unseen' or 'spiritual' became conceived in his mind?

delexy123:
Hmmm...it is either you didn't get the question or you are willfully ignoring it...let me simplify this...if the early man could only relate with his physical world then how did the idea of the 'unseen' or 'spiritual' became conceived in his mind?

First your assumption that early man "could only relate with his physical world", is wrong. Early humans dreamed and understood the dreams to not be physical and real. The early human knew stones did not have life, and that the dead became like stones, and assumed that which left the living was the spirit which dwelt in the netherworld when the human died. Even elephants weep over their dead. The mind and body dichotomy has always been a part of consciousness.

How did they come to this consciousness, is therefore, what I think you are asking?

If I claim to know such a thing I'd have to be like omniknowitall or some arrogant dame! What I can assume is that an idea grew in the mind to become what we now know it to be today.

I hope I have not ignored the question, but let me know if I have misunderstood it.

delexy123:
Why Do Man Debate The Existence Of A 'god'?

Here's one question I haven't answered!

We debate the existence of god because it is a topic that speaks to our existence. We perceive the world around us and cannot conceive it could exist without it being created. We also cannot conceive how we came into existence since our consciousness came long afterwards. We therefore look back and place a god in the gap, or a big bang (god in another guise) hence my, "Basically, humans made god up", to explain that which we were not sufficiently capable of explaining.

We are getting better though, through constantly debating it. We debate to learn more.

budaatum:

First your assumption that early man "could only relate with his physical world", is wrong. Early humans dreamed and understood the dreams to not be physical and real. The early human knew stones did not have life, and that the dead became like stones, and assumed that which left the living was the spirit which dwelt in the netherworld when the human died. Even elephants weep over their dead. The mind and body dichotomy has always been a part of consciousness.

How did they come to this consciousness, is therefore, what I think you are asking?

If I claim to know such a thing I'd have to be like omniknowitall or some arrogant dame! What I can assume is that an idea grew in the mind to become what we now know it to be today.

I hope I have not ignored the question, but let me know if I have misunderstood it.

You are now getting my point but for an idea to grow in the mind as you suggested it must have been conceived in the first place and this still begs the question that is never goes away...how did the idea of 'god' become conceived in the mind of the early man in first place? or let me simply put it this way...at what point does the early man became conscious of the 'unseen'?
Also, If man Do Not Know how the idea of a 'god' came into the mind of the early man in the first place, why then do he feel the need to quickly dismiss the existence of 'god'?

budaatum:

Here's one question I haven't answered!

We debate the existence of god because it is a topic that speaks to our existence. We perceive the world around us and cannot conceive it could exist without it being created. We also cannot conceive how we came into existence since our consciousness came long afterwards. We therefore look back and place a god in the gap, or a big bang (god in another guise) hence my, "Basically, humans made god up", to explain that which we were not sufficiently capable of explaining.

We are getting better though, through constantly debating it. We debate to learn more.

To conclude that man made up 'god' when we still can't fathom how man became conscious of the existence of a 'god' is intellectual dishonesty. If one is to tread the path of evolution, then it is safe to say that it is highly unlikely that a time will come when man will conceive how he came to existence.
Now if it is highly unlikely that man will know how he came into existence and how the idea of a 'god' became conceived in the mind of the early man then his conclusion that a 'god' or 'spirit' is simply made up is wrong.

We are searching for Security, Safety and Success wherever!!!

delexy123:
You are now getting my point but for an idea to grow in the mind as you suggested it must have been conceived in the first place and this still begs the question that is never goes away...how did the idea of 'god' become conceived in the mind of the early man in first place? or let me simply put it this way...at what point does the early man became conscious of the 'unseen'?
Also, If man Do Not Know how the idea of a 'god' came into the mind of the early man in the first place, why then do he feel the need to quickly dismiss the existence of 'god'?

I wonder if you have heard of the one million pounds that I conceive to be in my bank account? I'm gonna buy me a spanking brand new red Ferrari with it someday.

There are lots of things early humans conceived only to later find to not exist, or not be as conceived. The flat earth, is one, that the earth is the centre of the universe is another and just so I make up a trinity is the fact that the earth is not the centre of the universe as earlier thought. Humans think, or conceive things - take your pick. It is a part of their consciousness. The fact that humans can think of a thing does not however bring that thing into existence.

That said, we do not quickly' dismiss the existence of gods. We been working on it since humans gained consciousness and the ability to think and reason!

delexy123:
To conclude that man made up 'god' when we still can't fathom how man became conscious of the existence of a 'god' is intellectual dishonesty. If one is to tread the path of evolution, then it is safe to say that it is highly unlikely that a time will come when man will conceive how he came to existence.
Now if it is highly unlikely that man will know how he came into existence and how the idea of a 'god' became conceived in the mind of the early man then his conclusion that a 'god' or 'spirit' is simply made up is wrong.

Humans have already conceived how early humans came into existence. The fact that it does not suit the narrative you want is neither here no there! We also know how gods came about. We have always made them up and would most likely always make them up.