Who created God?

This is another contemplation triggered by a fellow brother's question. During one CG, he asked a question, "How do you tackle the question, 'Who created God?'" Following the question, I could not sleep for almost the whole of that night as the question just kept going through me head. So I thought that I might as well unleash those thoughts regarding it since I am already prevented from sleeping by their presence.

So here it is. Again it is a copy-paste from an email. Warning: long post.

"Who created God?" is essentially a question similar to the philosophical question by Zhuang Zi, "Am I a butterfly dreaming I am a man, or am I a man dreaming I am a butterfly?" Or the more common variety, "Which came first? The chicken or the egg?"

Now this question(s) inadvertently will bring about a massive headache. So chim right? How to answer this kind of question? Ahhhhh!
Wrong. Or more pointedly, I disagree.

It is a pseudo-intellectual question.This is not to shoot down people like Zhuang Zi, but the people who ignorantly use them for their arguments, thinking they have a super weapon. In this case, it is to throw a Christian off-track, attempting to put the Christian on the defensive.

The real answer to the question is this, "It does not matter." What use is knowing this? Does it help you live your life? Or does it merely swell your head up big enough to think, "I know more than you do; I am superior to you." In other words, it is fixating one's attention on pointless details. Or it can be translated as a refusal to engage a sincere Christian on equal terms; probably indicative of an assumed innate superiority.

So, the question is actually a symptom of an illness on the part of the person who asked it. It is a refusal to acknowledge that one might be wrong; of pride. So the question is brought out as a means of a deflection shield, making the Christian expend his energy thinking of how to answer the question when actually the perpetrator does not want an answer.

Then there are some who use this question as a representation of logic- their logic. "Everything must have a creator." So, "the Creator must need to have been created too." Sounds logical? No. It is basing truth on a self-assumption. Let's go back to the chicken or egg. One would say that it is the chicken which came first, another would say that it is the egg. Who knows? What is only certain is the knowledge that we cannot be certain. This type of spiritual/intellectual exponent would bring the Christian on a grand merry-go-round over something that cannot be known.
The more devious of this type can actually damage a believer's confidence in his faith. Why? The 'circle' of cause/effect has no beginning and no end. There is an unexplained yet undeniable logic that suggests a creator. Yet this is another danger zone. It points to God as creator. The devious opponent can then insinuate that we wouldn't know that God is the Creator. God can simply be the name we give to the unexplained catalyst, the motion that created the circle. In other words, the opponent can insinuate that we, Man, create God. There is no real way of arguing out of this. And then we come back full circle to a pointless question and the unprepared believer's faith is shaken.

So, what is the point? My point is, do not fight this 'intellectual' battle. It is an 'intellectual' trap. It is a battle on their terms. It is next to impossible to win a battle that is rigged for you to lose. I think at least Sun Zi agrees with me on this (or rather, I agree with him >.>).

Additionally, I also want to say this about truth. There are variations of the quotation I am going to quote, but the gist is the same, "Truth does not need to be defended." Why? The truth can never be defeated! So many believers do apologetics from the stand of defending the faith. To me, that is a flawed way of doing it. How does one defend God? Or- does God need our protection? God can take care of Himself; if He can't, we are very sorry and pitiful creatures indeed.

But if you do want to engage the 'fight', do not defend, strike! . Bring the battle to your territory; what you know. As Christians we fight from the perspective of victory. Jesus has mentioned, "It is done." What is done? Think and pray about it. I think we know the answer.
God cannot be understood by intellect alone. We need the involvement of our spirit as well. This is why Christianity is called the faith and not the logic. I am not throwing away intellect by the way, in fact I believe I am using intellect tempered by the Spirit right now. *shrugs*

Erode the armor of these 'intellectuals'. Their armor is pride. Their heart is unbelief.

Now, how to go on the offensive? I offer a generic strategy. I will show this by a dialogue. Blue is the believer, Red is the non-believer. Rationale will remain in black and bracketed. Yellow will be guidelines.

Who created God?

God does not need a creator. He is the Creator.

No, no. That is illogical. God must have a creator. Everything must have a beginning. (Un-substantiated assumption. flawed logic. Bringing the discussion into his territory. Bait him more.)

Why?

Everything has a cause and effect. (Using what is considered as fact. But facts do not mean true. Think DaVinci Code. This is where you go on offensive, Ignore engaging the fact and ask your question.)

Oh. Why is there life? Why is there death then? What is the cause of death? (low-level opponents would just tell you some science/technical terms)

What is the cause of life? (this rarely can be answered smartly- if the person can, best to parley and adjourn the discussion, haha. but this leads on to the next question.)

What is the meaning of life? (No one, can answer this question, I think. Apart from an understanding of our relationship to God. I can be mistaken of course.) (This is my experience with a response to this question; it is actually a 'below-the-belt' if you are not prepared. It is predominant especially in Chinese/Confucian cultures.)

To venerate the ancestors.

Oh. Why did the ancestors live then? Why did they die? So who did the first ancestors venerate? (I think you should be able to capture the gist by now. Essectially you do 'tai-chi'. You turn the question right back at them, making them uncomfortable. At the very least, it tells them they cannot conquer you in this area anymore. At the best, it prompts the real intellectuals to question their beliefs and really begin to seek after God.)

And that is the long post. *Whistles*