Merriam-Webster defines ‘grok’ as “to understand profoundly and intuitively”. Interesting as “AI” (Elon’s ‘Grok’) is anything but intuitive. But I digress…
I have started a new category of posts – one I should have created from the start. I have coined it ‘grokking’: Interactive interplay with various AI bots.
Sometimes I will ask Grok a question, sometimes maybe chatGTP, sometimes both in a comparative exercise. So this is Grokking – Inquiry 1. We shall see how this catches on as I play around with it for a spell.
So, I asked Grok this question: Does God exist? Here is the opening of the answer:
“The question of God’s existence is one of the most profound and debated topics in human history, touching on philosophy, theology, science, and personal experience. Different perspectives yield different answers, and I can outline the main lines of reasoning without claiming to resolve the question definitively.”
Fair enough. The meat of the answer was broken down into common arguments for and against, as well as ‘Agnostic and Atheistic Perspectives’.
It is by no means my goal nor my desire to convince anyone of the existence of God. If I were to ever desire to do so, I would first have to address the misconceptions about God held by those who do believe in the existence of God. Admittedly I don’t possess all the answers, but I know what I know and felt compelled to share some of those thoughts about each bullet point below, addressing instead those arguments against.
Note: I subsequently asked Grok the same question a few more times, each time getting a differently structured answer (and for some reason not as detailed as the first). So I apologize for any attempt to verify the answer I first received that I use below.
Arguments Against God’s Existence:
Problem of Evil:
If God is all-powerful, all-knowing, and all-good, why does suffering exist? This is a key challenge, especially for those who see natural disasters, disease, or human cruelty as incompatible with a benevolent deity.
It’s too simplistic to group every evidence of evil into one basket in order to refute God’s existence. Here are a few thoughts on each such evidentiary sufferings we experience as human beings mentioned above. I will end these thoughts with what I know more specifically about the ‘problem of evil.’ I’ll only address natural disasters here.
Why natural disasters exist can be observed from two basic views IMHO.
Hermetic principle of Cause and Effect:
“Every Cause has its Effect; every Effect has its Cause; everything happens according to Law; Chance is but a name for Law not recognized; there are many planes of causation, but nothing escapes the Law.”—The Kybalion.
From a strictly material view, tectonic plates, when exerted to other external forces, press against one another, resulting in earthquakes; Storms occur as a result of disturbances in the atmosphere e.g. warm, moist air rising with cooler air above it.
From a Spiritual Science / Anthroposophic view, such disturbances can be seen (in overly attenuated language) as the ‘effect’ of the Spiritual Hierarchies’ response to our (material/egoistic) thoughts and resulting actions.
These viewpoints, however, do not address Man’s intervention in such areas as weather manipulation and attempts being made to manipulate the geomagnetic field around the Earth, which is responsible for protection from cosmic radiation and, subsequently maintaining life on Earth.
Scientific Explanations:
Advances in cosmology, biology, and neuroscience (e.g., the Big Bang theory, evolution) provide naturalistic accounts for phenomena once attributed to God, leading some to argue that God is an unnecessary hypothesis.
‘God is an unnecessary hypothesis’? Coming from a community of supposed ‘experts’, it is amusing since they base their reasoning on theories and speculation (the Big Bang theory, [theory of] evolution* et al.).
This is not even worth going into IMO. Science was founded on those that, in their scientific pursuits, did so in order to understand their God, not to establish themselves as god, which is what scientific theater has become.
Lack of Empirical Evidence:
Skeptics note that there’s no universally accepted, testable evidence for God’s existence, and extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence.
Are geological instruments for measuring the earth’s ‘crust’ used to explore the depth of oceans? No of course not. How do you then expect to find physical evidence for something that is not physical in its nature?
However, because the gods (spiritual hierarchies) created the physical world, there are clues all around us in the natural world. But the only true instrument that can test for evidence of God’s existence is within the human being themselves. We ‘see’ what we earnestly desire to see. If you earnestly desire to know God, you must first sincerely desire it. If you do, as the prodigal returning home, ‘God’ will come out halfway to meet you.
Logical Inconsistencies:
Some argue that concepts of God (e.g., omnipotence or omniscience) lead to paradoxes, like the question of whether God can create a stone too heavy for Himself to lift.
Here again we chain God down into His own creation. We anthropomorphize in order to feel satisfied that we can (and have?) backed God into a corner from which He cannot escape. This is simply foolishness and the striving of those who abhor the possibility that there is something larger, stronger than themselves i.e. than humanity.
Beside this point, how arrogant it is to think that ‘your’ puny human logic can outwit the Creator of universes? It is easy to fashion an enemy of our own making in order to ensure his defeat – a concept that is ludicrous of course.
The ‘Problem’ of Evil:
Further thoughts regarding the existence of evil…
To begin with, it is too simplistic to think evil is in any way evidence against the existence of God.
When I was pre-teen this question – why does evil exist? (which is the better question i.e. whether or not one accepts in the existence of God). Back in those days there was no internet, no fast answers (going through books, of course, is not ‘fast’ – just saying), only one’s concentration of thought on such questions. This is exactly what I did. I asked. I waited. I pondered. The answer came rather quickly: If there is no evil, no ‘bad’, then there is nothing by which one could identify anything as ‘good’ (or holy, etc.).
This is not my current answer to this question. That was the answer that was given to a young boy who has spent his life not afraid to ask such questions, and not afraid to know the answers. This a modern problem: The tendency to even consider such questions worth asking. But I digress.
So, let’s tweak the question: Why does evil exist?
In a sense the young boy’s answer is logically applicable. But the complete answer goes far deeper. I quote:
Evil was allowed into evolutionary current by Divine Providence to strengthen the development of Man, and hence came as a consequence or ‘price to pay’ for the unique development of freedom and love in Man, a first in the development of spiritual [angelic] hierarchies.
The task of evil is to promote the ascent of Man. The radical transmutation of the most fierce evil by the pure good will bring a special love and condition of moral holiness on Earth (1906-08-29-GA095).
Source: https://anthroposophy.eu/Evil
My interpretation: Evil resulted in a deceptive lie of the devil (Lucifer) that resulted in the (first) free choice of Man. Since the Fall, evil has been used to foment true freedom in humanity by the then-and-now existence of a choice between that which is good and that which is evil. Choosing ‘good’ results (over time and through many incarnations) in (an individual) growing closer to God/Divinity, whereas choosing ‘evil’ draws that individual growing farther away from Divinity.
Final thoughts
The question on the existence or non-existence of God is a euphemistic question that veils the deeper aspect of this broader inquiry: What is the meaning of life?
That question I leave to an acquaintance of mine who authors the website Free Man Creator (https://anthroposophy.eu/Meaning_of_life), a far more intelligent and learned person than I on such matters. Warning: The material you will find on FMC are not for the faint of heart – or mind…
* It should be noted that Spiritual Science / Anthroposophy does indeed show that humanity is on an evolutionary path. Unfortunately when ‘evolution’ is spoken of what is (normally) meant is Darwin’s Theory of Evolution – a very different subject altogether.