I’m having trouble understanding what relevance God’s control over time has to anything? Even if he created time, he is still an intelligent being, requiring intelligent design much the same as everything else.

A Christian who is thinking properly will not say that everything needs a cause, but that all that is finite needs a cause. We all agree that there had to be a First Cause. There had to be something that was always there. There are good scientific reasons to believe that our universe is not that First Cause. The big bang is one of those reasons. It states that the universe is not eternal.
When you say, “I could just say that the big bang was also outside of time…” what do mean by that? The Big Bang is an event not an entity. God is an entity. And we define God partially based on the attributes that the First Cause must have had in order for us to end up with the current universe and its inhabitants.

Also, you state, “They’re right about the watch. It was intelligently designed — presumably by a human.”
But what is human intelligence? In a purely material world intelligence is not possible. Intelligence implies that you evaluate options and choose the most reasonable. In other words you use your brain. In a purely material world all that exists is cause and effect chains that are caused by natural laws. In such a worldview there is no “you”. “You” = a brain = molecules moved by natural forces and therefore choice is not possible. If choice is not possible neither is reason, and “you” are unable to make an argument to support “your” worldview.

Let me know if you have any thoughts or questions. Thanks.

Before you write me off as ignorant, at least try to listen to me. You don’t have to agree with me; just keep an open mind and consider what I have to say.

Actually, in the Christian view, God created time and thus is not affected by it. He is outside of any universal laws, having created them in the first place. So using the “What Created God?” argument shows some level of ignorance toward the notion of God Himself.

anyway, christians have a huge double standard on this issue. they ask atheists to explain what caused the big bang, but never give an answer to what created god.

The big bang doesn’t explain what caused the universe to exist. Rather, it explains the initial conditions of the beginning of the universe. You’re making the same logical fallacy the blogger talked about: you assume that because something exists, it has to have a cause. The problem is, this cannot always be true. If it were, it’d lead to an infinite recursion. So the question is where do we draw the line for first cause? The blogger above did a good job of asserting his idea… youve yet to assert yours.

The Big Bang theory doesn’t work on it’s own, you have to add Inflation Theory to it, so it fits in with what we observe today.

Also there is no strong evidence of course for the cause of the big bang. If you say you believe in the Big Bang theory, then the universe couldn’t have always existed, as before it there would have been nothing (no time, if there is no space). I like the fact that Augustine of Hippo said that in around 400AD.

WTF.. The Big Bang is backed up by very strong evidence, and their “theory” is backed up by nothing. How is it “just as silly?” Besides, there doesn’t have to be a “cause” of the big bang. I propose that the universe has always just existed. It’s still simpler than saying god (who has always just existed, in their view) created the universe.