Existence of God (index)
From SkepticWiki
This is an index of common arguments for and against the existence of God.
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[edit] Problems with Argument
A major difficulty in making arguments for or against the existence of God is determining just what we are arguing for or against the existence of. There are many definitions of “God”, with varying degrees of abstractness. Since many people hold a single vision of what they call “God”, it becomes very easy to make leaps in argument that are not supported by logic.
For example, it is not valid to argue for the existence of a transcendent creator and then claim that one has proven the existence of Jehovah and the accuracy of the Bible. Likewise, it is not valid to argue that Noah’s flood is not supported by geological evidence, and conclude that, therefore, there is no God.
Another difficulty in arguing about the existence of God is determining an axiomatic framework for the argument that is acceptable to all positions. Belief or disbelief in God may be justified through rationalism, scripture and tradition, or a subjective conviction.
[edit] Arguments for the Existence of God
- First Cause: Everything has a cause, therefore there must be a first cause that begins sequence. This first cause is identified with God.
- The Ontological Argument: The very concept of God implies the existence of God, therefore since you can conceive of God, he must exist.
- The Pantheistic Argument: God is everything. Since something exists, God exists.
- The Teleological Argument: The universe shows signs of purpose and design; the being responsible is identified with God.
- The Anthropic Principle: The existence of mankind depends on cosmological and biological coincidences, which suggest the interference of God
- Pascal's Wager: From a standpoint of mathematical probability, the expected benefit of belief in God is greater than that of disbelief.
- Argument from Morality: There is no basis for morality without God. Since morality exists, so does God.
- The Miracle/Witness Argument: Supernatural events and miracles are evidence of the existence of God.
- Scriptural Argument: Scriptures are trustworthy (see: Biblical Inerrancy), so their statements concerning God are accurate.
- Christological Argument: The Gospels are trustworthy, they portray Jesus Christ as trustworthy, therefore Jesus’s statements concerning God are accurate (see: Lunatic, Liar, Lord)
- Argument from Popularity: Almost everyone believes in God, including many very intelligent people. It would be ridiculous to suppose every single one of them deluded.
- Subjective Experience: Knowledge of the existence of God is a subjective experience, which cannot be rationally disputed.
[edit] Arguments against the Existence of God
- Scientific Rationalism: Science has found no physical evidence of God, and any immaterial claims concerning God are unfalsifiable and subject to Occam's Razor.
- Inconsistent Revelation: People hold many different contradictory concepts of God. Arguments that any one of these is a delusion apply equally to all others.
- The Problem of Evil: Omnipotence and benevolence are attributes of God. But an omnipotent and benevolent God would not permit the existence of evil. Yet evil exists.
- Argument from Poor Design: Nature shows features, which, if interpreted as intelligently designed, suggest sloppiness or perverseness. Therefore a perfect being did not design them.
- Argument from Non-Belief: An omnipotent God could and would establish the unquestionable belief in Himself in the minds of mankind; the existence of non-belief suggests that God does not exist.
- The Omnipotence Paradox: Omnipotence, an essential trait of God, leads to contradiction.
- God’s Free Will: Omnipotence and Omniscience are attributes of God. An omniscient being would know exactly what would happen in the future, which would make his omnipotence irrelevant.
- The Cause of God: If a God is required to be the cause of the universe, then what is the cause of God? And if God is “self-caused”, then why not the universe?
- The “No Reason” Argument: God would have no reason to create the world, since desire is not a trait of a perfect being.
- God Of The Gaps: As human knowledge progresses, there are fewer and fewer phenomena for which require the existence of God to explain. This suggests that God was postulated as an explanatory mechanism, and that the trend of human discovery will eventually eliminate the need for God.
