Arguments For and Against Is there a God?

Arguments Against Why there is no God

Evil Because evil exists, God cannot be all-powerful, all-knowing, loving and good at the same time.

Pain Because God allows pain, disease and natural disasters to exist, he cannot be all-powerful and also loving and good in the human sense of the word.

Injustice Destinies are not allocated on the basis of merit or equality. They are allocated either arbitrarily, or on the principle of “to him who has, shall be given and from him who has not shall be taken even that which we has.” It follows that God canon be all-powerful and all-knowing and also just in the human sense of the word.

Multiplicity Since the Gods of various religions differ widely in their characteristics, only one of these religions, or none, can be right about God.

Simplicity Since God is invisible, and the universe is no different then if he did not exist it his simpler to assume he does not exist. (Occam’s razor)

Arguments For Why there is a God

The Cosmological Arguments – Arguments from without.

Argument from Change Change in any being requires outside force to actualize it. The universe changes. Therefore there must be something outside the material universe to cause it to change. This is one of the things meant by “God.”

Argument from Efficient Causality All things need a cause outside themselves in order to exist. Without some initial Uncaused Being there could be no existence.

Argument from Degrees of Perfection Some things are better than others and others are more nearly perfect yet. So there must be some ultimate standard of perfection. This is one of the attributes of God.

The Design Argument The universe displays a staggering amount of intelligibility. This could not be the product of chance. Therefore the universe is the product of intelligent design. This implies a designer.

The Argument from Contingency If something exists, there must exist what it takes for that thing to exist. The universe exists. What it takes for the universe to exist cannot exist within the universe or be bounded by space and time. Therefore what it takes for the universe to exist must transcend space and time.

The Argument for the World as an Interacting Whole The world is given to us as an interconnected, interlocking, dynamic system. The parts cannot be understood apart from the whole. The system as a whole cannot explain its own existence since it is made up of component parts and is not a separate being. Then the unity of the whole must be somehow present as an effective organizing factor. Only an idea can hold together many different elements at once without destroying or fusing their distinctness. A cosmic-wide order requires a cosmic-wide Orderer.

Psychological arguments – Arguments from Within

The Argument from Miracles A miracle is an event that can only be explained by the extraordinary and direct intervention of God. There are numerous well-attested miracles. There fore God exists.

The Argument from Intelligence We experience the universe as intelligible. Intelligence and intelligibility could not be the product of blind chance. Therefore the intelligible universe and the finite minds so well suited to grasp it are the products of intelligence.

The Argument from the Origin of the Idea of God We have an idea of God – an infinite all perfect being. The idea could not have been caused by ourselves, because we know ourselves to be limited and imperfect, and no effect can be greater that its cause. Therefore God must be the cause of the idea we have of Him.

The Moral Argument Real moral obligation is a fact. This is incompatible with atheism. Therefore the “religious” view of reality is correct.

The Argument from Conscience Everyone believes that it is wrong to disobey one’s conscience. Where does this conscience come from? From nature? From myself? From society? From something greater than myself, i.e. God

The Argument from Desire Every desire corresponds to some real object that can satisfy it. There exists in us a desire that nothing in time, nothing on earth, no creature can satisfy. Therefore there must exist something more than time, earth, and creatures, which can satisfy this desire. This something is what people call “God.”

The Argument from Aesthetic Experience There is the music of John Sebastian Bach Therefore there must be a God.

The Argument from Religious Experience Many people of different eras and of widely different cultures claim to had had an experience of the “divine.” It is inconceivable that so many people could have been so utterly wrong about the nature and content of their own experience. Therefore there exist a “divine” reality which many people have experienced.

The Common Consent Argument Belief in God is common to almost all people of every era. It is not plausible that they have all been wrong. Therefore it is most plausible to believe that God exists.

Pascal’s Wager If you believe in God and He in fact does not exist, you have lost very little. If you don’t believe in God and He does exist, you have lost a great deal, perhaps eternal life. So believe in God.