The Existence of God The meaning of the words theist, atheist and agnostic Atheist- person who does not believe in God. Theist- Person who does believe in God Agnostic- Person who does not know if God exists. The difficulties of proving the existence of God Proof evidence that guarantees the truth of something. There are many different attitudes to the existence of God. God cannot be proved by any scientific method. Some people say that God cannot exist because he cannot be proved. Many people claim to have experienced God through a vision or through hearing him, for others this is not valid. It is only valid for the person who has had the experience. The First Cause (Cosmological) argument for the existence of God The universe itself is the best evidence for God. Everything in the world has a cause, so the universe must also have a cause. There had to be something eternal (without beginning or end) that was not caused by anything. God is that eternal first cause. A modern way of putting this is that God caused the big bang that started the universe and eventually all life evolved from it. Example: domino effect St Thomas Aquinas developed the First cause argument. He explained it in The Three Ways. 1. God is the Unmoved Mover. 2. God is the Uncaused Cause. 3. God is infinite causing existence outside of existence. 1
Arguments for the First Cause (Cosmological) argument 1. Science says that everything must be caused by something. 2. Nothing can cause itself. 3. Whatever begins to exist has a cause. 4. The universe exists. 5. Someone must have caused it. Arguments against the First Cause (Cosmological) argument 1. Just because events or things have causes, it does not mean the universe itself has a cause. 2. The universe could have always existed (be eternal), so there is no need for anything or anyone else to bring it into being (steady state theory). 3. The first cause still does not answer who or what caused God? 4. A first cause does not seem to match what believers mean by a personal God. COUNTER ARGUMENT KEY THINKERS BLAISE PASCAL only proves a first cause, not necessarily God. DAVID HUME this is based on the assumption that there must be a First Cause BERTRAND RUSSELL who made God? The Design (teleological) argument for the existence of God People believe that the world is too ordered and complicated to have come about by chance. It points to a designer having designed the world to be perfect and ready for life. Examples of design include gravity, the seasons, reproduction, the development of the human eye (2 million parts) and the complexity of the body, and nature. Isaac Newton s thumb. The human thumb s design is so clever and unique to every individual that it alone convinced Newton that there was a designer of the world. 2
William Paley. Paley used the argument that if a person found a watch with cogs and wheels, then any person would see it had a designer. The same goes for the earth- it is complex and points to a designer. Arguments for the Design (teleological) argument 1. There is so much order in the universe; it could not happen without a guiding mind of God. 2. There is evidence of design in the world which proves God s existence. There is just the right balance of chemicals in the air and earth to allow for the evolution and development of human beings. Arguments against the Design (teleological) argument 1. Evolution: since the process of natural selection (the fittest survive, the rest die out) happens by chance, species really designed themselves. 2. Design faults: if God designed the world, why are there so many faults in its structure (plates in the earth s crust move causing earthquakes, and so on)? The universe has always existed and continues to develop and change. 3. The problem of evil: if God designed everyone and everything, why did God create evil? Why is nature so cruel? 4. Some people think that human beings do not like to feel that they are in a place of chaos so have created an illusion of order to make them feel better. The argument from religions experience of God Billions of people in the world claim to have had an experience of God. Can they all be wrong? People experience God in a variety of ways, such as through prayer (feel Gods presence), a miracle (God changing something in a person s life), a vision (a person seeing God and being changed), worship (sacramental or charismatic worship experience God through the holy spirit or Eucharist), nature (a breath taking place) or conversion (This is when a person changes his or her beliefs or religion e.g. St Paul). 3
Arguments for Religious Experiences 1. People who have a religious experience cannot deny it as their awareness is too strong to be denied. 2. Because religious experiences are dealing with an absolute God it is difficult to talk about or to explain to other people. 3. Religious experiences can make a great difference to the people who have had them, other people might accept what they are told about the experience and use this information as a basis for their own acceptance of the faith. Arguments against Religious Experience 1. Private experiences have no reliable outside witnesses. 2. Public worship can be observed but it but it is impossible to be certain what it is people are experiencing. 3. It could be a psychological phenomenon, imagination, mass hysteria, a trick of the mind, wishful thinking or hallucinations. 4. Miracles have no apparent natural explanation but this does not mean that they were brought about by God. 5. If someone said God spoke to them in a dream, you could say they dreamed God spoke to them, a very different matter. 6. In an extreme case, the person might be lying or making the experience up. Arguments against the existence of God a. The Big Bang Theory. This claims that the world began 20 billion years ago with a huge explosion. The explosion came from nothing and a huge cloud of dust and gasses were formed. This eventually became the universe- the sun, and all the planets. b. Evolution. After the universe was made, the world was a mixture of gasses and chemicals. From these emerged the first signs of life. Moulds and fungi changed into single cell creatures, then these changed into insects, these changed into fish and birds, then reptiles, mammals, and humans emerged. This process took millions of years to happen. 4
c. Bad design of the world. There are signs of the world having no designer or creator. These are volcanoes, earthquakes, floods, and tsunamis. If a God designed the world, would he have designed the world to have such faults? d. Evil and suffering. This points to the idea of God not existing because if he did, why do people suffer so much through wars, famine, murders, and natural disasters? If God existed, would he not stop all this from happening? e. Illusion God is an illusion invented to help people make sense of the world and existence. Our knowledge of the universe is increasing daily and eventually we will come to understand how things began. If God exists why does he not let us know himself? Why do so many people believe in different gods and follow different, often contradictory rules? 5