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Arguments for the Existence of God

Philosophy of Religion

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Arguments for the existence of God (Part 1): Introduction and Design

Information: This is Part 1 of a review of various arguments for the existence of God. A version of this article was originally published on the website www.faithnet.org.uk.

Introduction

Arguments for the existence of God are an attempt to prove (or justify) God's existence by rational means, and are usually expressed in the form of, 'If this... then' statements. For example:

If there is evidence for design in the world... then this is evidence for a designer (who is God).

Arguments for the existence of God are often based on general revelation. This is the belief that there is evidence for God's existence from the way things are in the world. Arguments for the existence of God based on general revelation are also called natural theology.

General revelation is to be contrasted with special revelation. Special revelation consists of knowledge God has specifically given to us about things, such as who God is, what God has done (or will do), and how God wants us to live. These ideas are usually found in various holy books (such as The Bible, Qur'an, Guru Granth Sahib etc.).

Although natural theology (based on our reason) is said to be capable of demonstrating God's existence, many theologians feel it is incapable of doing anything more. For instance, natural theology is said to be incapable of telling us anything about who God is, or how God wants us to live. Muslims would not have known from the way the world is, that Allah wanted them to pray five times a day (Salah). This is something specifically revealed to them by Allah, through the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH). Furthermore, some say that in relying on our own thoughts and reasoning skills that there is a danger people might confuse their own ideas about who God is, with what God truly is.

Popular arguments believers use to prove the existence of God

The most popular arguments for the existence of God are:

  • Design arguments
  • Cosmological arguments
  • Moral arguments

Another argument is based on the phenomena (or existence) of religion, but this is not so much an argument for the existence of God as a challenge to people to explain why there is religion, if there is no God [1].

Arguments for the existence of God based on the appearance of design in the world

Design arguments suggest that the world has been set up and ordered in such a precise way, that this could not have happened by chance but must have been done by some higher reality. In theistic religions, this 'higher reality' is known as God [2]. Design arguments are also known as teleological arguments. The word telos in Greek means 'purpose', and so teleological arguments suggest that there is evidence of purpose (or intentional design), in the way the world is. For example, eyes and ears are said to have been precisely 'designed' for seeing and hearing, the seasons are ordered so as to cause plants to grow year after year, and the ozone layer is set up at the correct distance from the earth so as to protect us from harmful U.V. rays. Inherent in all design arguments is the notion that the world and the universe are complex, yet everything seems to fit together in a precise and ordered way, and that this could not have happened by chance.

Those who believe God created the world are often called Creationists. Sometimes the notion of creationism is also linked to a specific idea of how God created the world (i.e. in six days).

William Paley (1743-1805) set out what many people consider to be the classic design argument, in his watch analogy:

If you came across a watch in an uninhabited place, you could not say it had been put there by chance. The complexity of its mechanism would make you say that it had a designer. Now the universe is far more complex than a watch, and so if a watch needs a watchmaker, the universe needs a universe-maker, and that could only be God.

Paley's analogy suggests that complex and ordered things do not occur by chance. Instead, rather like the complex mechanism of a watch they have to have been made by someone, and for a specific reason. In the passage above, Paley is saying that because the world is complex and ordered (like a watch), that this could not have come about by chance, but must be the product of intelligent design.

Something to discuss: Some Christians in the UK and USA believe intelligent design should be taught in schools as a fact, and as an alternative to naturalistic evolution (for more on this see 'Intelligent design' teaching ban, BBC News). What are your views on this?

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Summary: Key features of design arguments

  • The world and the universe have an order to them.
  • The world and the universe have things in them which are 'designed' to do specific 'jobs' (they have a purpose).
  • Complex things (such a watches) do not appear by chance, but are made by someone.
  • The world and the universe are complex and ordered places, so must have been designed by some higher reality.
  • Theists believe the 'designer' and creator of the world and universe is God.
  • The design argument is based on an analogy with the way humans produce complex things (such as watches), to the way things must be in the universe.

Evidence of design in the world and the universe

  • The way the seasons are ordered into a 'cycle of life'
  • The way the ozone layer protects people from the harmful rays of the sun.
  • The way gravity on earth is strong enough so as to keep us flying off it into space, yet also weak enough to prevent other planets from crashing into us.
  • The complexity of eyes and ears, whose purpose is to see and hear.

Some issues

Objectors to design arguments say we do not need a God-hypothesis to explain why things are as they are in the world, and the universe (i.e. complex and ordered). For these people, science tells them everything they need to know about the world and the universe they inhabit. For instance, they would say that life was 'created' from the 'Big-bang', and that everything is here as a result of natural evolutionary processes. Of course, it might be that scientific explanations of the origins of the world and universe actually explain how God created everything. In other words, maybe God used the 'Big-bang' and introduced the process of evolution, as the means to bringing about life?

The idea that God worked through the Big-bang and evolution to bring about life, is known as theistic evolution. One of the biggest challenges for theists who choose this option, is understanding the nature of religious texts which speak about creation. For instance, naturalistic evolution is based on the idea that life evolved over a period of millions of years, whereas the Bible seems to suggest that it occurred over a period of six days (144 hours).

One of the biggest objections to design arguments is that if the world has been designed and made by God, then why do bad things happen? The point here being that if God had created the world, would not God have done a better job?

Whatever we decide about this matter, one thing is known for sure - the odds of life being found on any planet in the universe, are huge. That there is any life on ours, is something many scientists still find hard to understand. So although we might not be happy to prove (or justify) God's existence on the basis of 'design' in the world, maybe God is required to explain why anything is here in the first place?

Arguments for the existence of God (Part 2): Cosmological arguments

Notes

[1] Philosophers of religion class these arguments as a posteriori, or based on experience. Another argument known as The Ontological Argument is classed as a priori. This is an argument based on reason, and attempts to prove God's existence by logic. In other words, if a certain set of statements are true, then any conclusion we draw from them are said to also be true.

[2] A theist is someone who believes God exists, and theism is the term we use to describe this belief. Therefore, a theistic religion is one which has as a central idea the belief that God exists.


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