RE: [asa] Meyer on C-SPAN2

This proves again that what is new to our thoughts, has already been thought out, "That which has been is that which will be, And that which has been done is that which will be done. So there is nothing new under the sun." Eccles. 1:9.
Moorad

From: Rich Blinne [mailto:rich.blinne@gmail.com]
Sent: Thursday, September 10, 2009 7:53 PM
To: gmurphy10@neo.rr.com
Cc: asa@calvin.edu; P.E. Ryan Rasmussen; Alexanian, Moorad; Ted Davis
Subject: Re: [asa] Meyer on C-SPAN2

On Thu, Sep 10, 2009 at 4:50 PM, <gmurphy10@neo.rr.com<mailto:gmurphy10@neo.rr.com>> wrote:
Nothing is "what thew sleeping rocks dream of" (Jonathan Edwards).

Shalom,
George

That seemed entirely too short of a sentence for Edwards. :-) Here is the quote in context from the 1721 brain-buster treatise "Of Being" where Edwards presents his version of the Ontological Argument. Short version: since it's impossible to conceive of "nothing" there must be a non-contingent Being-in-General a.k.a. God.
A state of absolute nothing is a state of absolute contradiction. Absolute nothing is the aggregate of all the absurd contradictions in the world, a state wherein there is neither body, nor spirit, nor space: neither empty space nor full space, neither little nor great, narrow nor broad, neither infinitely great space nor finite space, nor a mathematical point; neither up nor down, neither north nor south (I don't mean as it is with respect to the body of the earth or some other great body, but no contrary points nor positions nor directions); no such thing as either here or there, this way and that way, or only one way. When we go about to form an idea of perfect nothing we must shut out all these things. We must shut out of our minds both space that has something in it, and space that has nothing in it. We must not allow ourselves to think of the least part of space, never so small, nor must we suffer our thoughts to take sanctuary in a mathematical point. When we go to expel body out of our thoughts, we must be sure not to leave empty space in the room of it; and when we go to expel emptiness from our thoughts we must not think to squeeze it out by anything close, hard and solid, but we must think of the same that the sleeping rocks dream of; and not till then shall we get a complete idea of nothing.

Rich Blinne
Member ASA

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Received on Fri Sep 11 09:03:06 2009