What makes God an extraordinary claim?

[Jeremiahcp]

What makes God an extraordinary claim?

***Please don't just shift words around. If your answer is it is extraordinary because it is remarkable, then that effectively says nothing.

 

[Akivah]

What makes God an extraordinary claim?

G-d creating the Universe out of nothing is pretty extraordinary.

 

[Jeremiahcp]

G-d creating the Universe out of nothing is pretty extraordinary.

Why? Explain why, don't just swap one thing in for another.

 

[Twilight Hue]

What makes God an extraordinary claim?

***Please don't just shift words around. If your answer is it is extraordinary because it is remarkable, then that effectively says nothing.

I think it's the burden of claiming a god exists, much less instances where god is said to be tangibly proactive that's extraordinary.

 

[Quintessence]

Presuming that by "God" we mean the Abrahamic god, it seems to me that the existence of such an entity is regarded as "extraordinary" for a couple of reasons:

1. The Abrahamic religions teach that their god has extraordinary or supernatural qualities - qualities not possessed by humans or by anything in nature. Nothing in nature is omniscient, nothing in nature is omnipresent, nothing in nature is omnipotent. Further, they posit their god created all of nature, which is also an extraordinary, supernatural feat. Their god is, perhaps quite deliberately, larger than life, larger than nature, larger than the universe itself. Since the described character of the deity is in of itself extraordinary, this lends itself to viewing claims of its existence as equally extraordinary.
2. "Exists" is often understood in a very limited sense in discussions about gods, God or otherwise. Mythological literalism, for better or worse, is the assumed default when "exists" is mentioned. This sets the bar very high (I'd argue impossibly high) in terms of evidence needed to verify the existence of an extraordinary entity. Humans don't even have the ability to verify an omnimax entity it is so extraordinarily beyond them. What's left is logical reasoning or faith to ground one's acceptance of that particular god-concept. For many, that is not sufficient.

For gods other than the Abrahamic one, there's typically less reason to regard the idea or any claims made as particularly extraordinary. Phobos, for example, is basically a deification of fear - something that each of us has experienced - so claiming fear exists is rather... well... extraordinarily ordinary.

 

[SalixIncendium]

To many, the existence of a transcendent supreme creator and ruler is a dubious claim, so far out of the ordinary, it's extraordinary.

 

[idav]

I have come across a lot of theists that feel they need to invoke the supernatural for god to exist. This to me is an extraordinary claim.

 

[fantome profane]

What makes God an extraordinary claim?

***Please don't just shift words around. If your answer is it is extraordinary because it is remarkable, then that effectively says nothing.

Because there are no other entities like this in our ordinary experience. You might say I am just shifting words around, but that is the definition of extrodinary. It rained yesterday here. That is not extrodinary because it rains all the time. Rain is an ordinary part of human experience. If I said it rained frogs, or it rained pennies from heaven, that would be extrodinary. Just like if I see a cat or a dog while walking down the street, that is not extrodinary. If I said I saw a god, that would be an extrodinary claim. People just don't see gods in ordinary experience like they might see a cat, or a tree, or a car etc.

 

[Akivah]

Why? Explain why, don't just swap one thing in for another.

Are you saying creating the Universe out of nothing is ordinary?

 

[Jeremiahcp]

Are you saying creating the Universe out of nothing is ordinary?

No, it is not, and you are missing the point.

 

[Jeremiahcp]

Because there are no other entities like this in our ordinary experience. You might say I am just shifting words around, but that is the definition of extrodinary. It rained yesterday here. That is not extrodinary because it rains all the time. Rain is an ordinary part of human experience. If I said it rained frogs, or it rained pennies from heaven, that would be extrodinary. Just like if I see a cat or a dog while walking down the street, that is not extrodinary. If I said I saw a god, that would be an extrodinary claim. People just don't see gods in ordinary experience like they might see a cat, or a tree, or a car etc.

You are saying it is in part relative, which I agree with.

 

[Jumi]

Gods aren't extraordinary claims by themselves.

 

[LuisDantas]

What makes God an extraordinary claim?

God isn't an extraordinary claim, or any claim in and of itself. It is a concept.

The claim would be that some version of the concept "exists" (as in, corresponds to consensual reality).

That does not have to be extraordinary, but the mainstream versions of the claim of the existence of Abraham's God are indeed extraordinary.

One reason why is because they propose the existence of what would be a most significant and consequential entity, yet the proper evidence is not anywhere to be found.

Another is because the claim is so emphatic and treated as a big thing that people should listen to regardless of actual inclination or interest.

 

[Akivah]

No, it is not, and you are missing the point.

What is your point?

 

[PureX]

"God" is an extraordinary idea because it's a 'meta-idea'. It's an idea that encompasses and transcends all others. And because of this, it is an inarguable idea. One either accepts the premise or one doesn't. The 'evidence' is either everything or nothing.

 

[columbus]

What makes God an extraordinary claim?

As a deist, I don't see the existence of the reason that there is something rather than nothing particularly extraordinary.
The extraordinary claims made about the creator are where the problem comes in. It's one thing to claim God exists. It's something else to claim to know things about God. Telling me that God wants this or that, and you know what it is, that is the extraordinary claim.
Tom

 

[ChristineM]

In 10,000+ years of god worship there have literally been billions of people who claim a god or gods exist. In all that time no single person has ever provided a verifiable account of any gods existence.

Given this 100% failure, such a claim is extraordinary.

 

[Jumi]

"God" is an extraordinary idea because it's a 'meta-idea'. It's an idea that encompasses and transcends all others. And because of this, it is an inarguable idea. One either accepts the premise or one doesn't. The 'evidence' is either everything or nothing.

I would argue that what constitutes evidence depends on how one views god.

 

[Falvlun]

What makes God an extraordinary claim?

***Please don't just shift words around. If your answer is it is extraordinary because it is remarkable, then that effectively says nothing.

I think this may also be due to some push-back from atheists. Theism is the more common stance. God isn't seen as an extraordinary idea to most people; he is simply a given, embraced and acknowledged by most of society. By highlighting God's incredibleness and uniqueness, it may work to shake them out of their non-questioning acceptance of his existence. God is extraordinary, he is a not normal, there is nothing else like him, so why do we just blindly assume that he exists?

 

[Mister Silver]

What makes God an extraordinary claim?

Any claim that is made asserting the reality of something that has no empirical evidence for its existence would be considered extraordinary.