Greetings from MenAfterGod.com.
From what I have read in your blog it would seem you are a fellow who enjoys a good debate and is prepared to do so as a gentleman. As you have guessed I am a man of faith, (Christian to be exact). Non-denominational for those that must have a classification, although as I tell my church friends, “Excluding others automatically puts you in a separate class, which by Christian terms denotes denomination.”

Some have called me a saint and some would call me an ass for the debates I engage on religion. But I’m just a cigar smoking redneck that wants people to believe in their faith & have faith in what they believe in. I challenge atheist and mostly Christians to defend what they believe in. And I believe a civil debate prepares those engaged to re-examine their proof and thus strengthen their belief.

Your blog appears to attract a mature crowd of atheist which is what I seek. I get tried of always having to inform “wannabes” of their lack of knowledge and misconception of faith. Example: the blogger who speaks atheism but calls himself “Son of Satan”. Hmm, no god, no satan, dah. Another example: the newbie Christians that get into atheist blogs and end up using the phrase, “it’s true because I feel it inside.” Ahh, that just probably is last night’s pizza honey.

Well enough, see soon,
Glen

As for our universe evolving out of substances that had no first cause– no reputable scientist says that. The cause of the big bang is simply an unknown. But something caused it. They level of mystery is no different from the mystery of God existing as a first cause without beginning, end, or explanation.

The big bang is not that crazy of an idea– even if it is wrong. You just have to understand a small amount of the science that points to that idea. The big bang may not be what started our universe, but the idea is a worthwhile one to consider.

The sun releases it's tremendous amount of energy due to fusion. Hydrogen atoms are fused into heavier elements. This process causes the atoms to release a tremendous amount of energy (E=mc^2 is at work here). The light and heat from the sun comes because elements are being created right there in the sun.

Massive amounts of energy converts into mass when it cools. So imagine a release of energy infinitesimally larger than our sun. If our sun can create all the elements in the periodic table just through nuclear fusion, then a massive release of energy can create the building blocks of atoms.

If such an explosion happened, the radiation from it would still be present today. And back in the 1960's, Bell Labs was doing an experiment with satellites. They ran into a lot of static interference and couldn't explain why. At the same time, scientists were exploring the beginnings of the big band hypothesis. When they heard about what Bell Labs was dealing with, they investigated. That background static is the radiation left over from a large release of energy– just like what they figured the "big bang" would cause. The scientists predicted the background radiation– the guys at Bell Labs accidentally found it independently. All scientists involved– including those at Bell Labs– received a Nobel Prize in physics.

So, something exploded billions of years ago. I will admit however, why and how it happened is still a great mystery.

My problem has never been, “Is there a God?”
My problem has always been, “What is He like?”

I think one of the primary causes of atheism is Christianity’s doctrine of everlasting suffering for everyone who dies without becoming a Christian. I would rather live out my life as an agnostic, and try to treat everyone the same way that I would like to be treated by them, and hope for the best in the next life, than try to love a god who would let anyone suffer forever.

That is why I am glad there is evidence that God is not like that, e.g.
http://www.godfire.net/eby/circularity.html