The existence of God

How do we prove that things exist?
1. Personal experience
  1. 'I have seen it so I know it exists'
2. Reliable evidence
  1. 'I have not seen it, but others have convinced me they have, so I accept its existence'
3. Logic
  1. 'I have not seen it but there is a logical reason to believe in its existence'
First Cause argument
1. Everything that exists was caused to exist
  1. The universe exists so it must have a cause
    1. Must be something eternal, that was not caused be anything
      1. The first cause is God
        Therefore God exists
2. Thomas Aquinas
  1. Christian
  2. Lived in the middle ages
  3. Argued the first cause argument
3. Time
  1. We are able to measure time
    1. So it must have a starting point
      1. This means the universe has a beginning
        The beginning was caused by God
4. Big bang theory
  1. Scientists believe that the big bang was a random spontaneous event that caused the universe to exist
  2. Theists would argue that God caused the big bang
5. What caused God?
The design argument
1. The universe is too complex to have appeared by random chance
  1. There must be a designer
    1. This designer is God
2. Thomas Aquinas
  1. The planets, sun and moon must be kept in place by an intelligent being
    1. This being is God
3. William Paley
  1. He argued that you can tell that a pocket watch is designed, in the same way, you can tell that the natural world has been designed
    1. For example: birds have wings to fly
    2. This designer is God
4. Issac Newton
  1. He said that the fact that we have opposable thumbs proves the design argument
    1. He said that giving humans opposable thumbs was part of God's design
  2. He also argued using the fact that we all have different thumb prints
    1. He believed that this was proof that God planned us all separately
5. The anthropic principle
  1. Developed by F.R Tennant
  2. He believed that God designed the Earth just right for human life to develop
6. Why did God create suffering?
7. Evolution
Miracles
1. Type 1
  1. Events that break the laws of nature
  2. E.g. Jesus turning water into wine
2. Type 2
  1. Events when a lucky coincidence occurs
  2. E.g. a toddler is stuck on a railway line, the train breaks down just before it hits him
3. Arguments
  1. Could be something science cannot explain yet
  2. Could be faked by people who want money or fame
  3. Illness could have been wrongly diagnosed and the person was cured naturally
  4. Could be a coincidence
4. Does God pick and choose who he helps?
Religious experience
1. When people claim to have met God
2. Communication through prayer and meditation
3. Feeling God's presence in nature
4. Experiencing a conversion
5. Involvement in a miraculous event
6. Feeling God's presence in worship
7. Could be hallucinations
8. Hard to prove as real
9. Could be mistaken or mislead
Morality
1. The sense of right and wrong that guides people behaviour
2. People have a sense of inbuilt morality
  1. This sense comes from outside
    1. This source is God
      1. Therefore God exists
3. Conscience is the voice of God
4. Morality is part of human evolution
Science and Faith
1. All of these arguments support the faith that theists already have
  1. Atheists don't believe in God so they will find other solutions
2. In the past people looked to God for answers
  1. But now we have science, do we need God anymore

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The existence of God

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	Created by Lara Coffin over 11 years ago