Difference between revisions of "God/arguments for"

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==Overview==
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[[category:arguments]][[category:religion]]This page documents reasonable arguments which have been put forth for the existence of [[God]], and any responses or refutations to them.
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[[thing type::collection]]
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[[category:arguments]]
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[[category:religion]]
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==About==
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This page documents commonly advanced [[argument]]s for the existence of [[God]], and any responses or refutations to them.
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==The List==
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''this list is incomplete''
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===mathematical arguments===
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.
  
==The List==
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===metaphysical arguments===
===Argument from Design===
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* The [[wikipedia:cosmological argument|cosmological argument]] argues that there was a "first cause", or "prime mover" who is identified as God.
{{excerpt|The argument goes:}}
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* The [[wikipedia:ontological argument|ontological argument]] is based on arguments that a "being greater than God can not be conceived".
The universe is so complicated and amazing that it couldn't possibly have arisen out of randomness; it seems to have been carefully designed &ndash; therefore there must have been [[Intelligent Design|a designer]].
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* The [[wikipedia:pantheistic argument|pantheistic argument]] defines God as All and is an argument similar to [[wikipedia:monism|monism]] and [[wikipedia:panentheism|panentheism]].
{{-excerpt}}
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* The [[wikipedia:mind-body problem|mind-body problem]] argument postulates that it is impossible to grasp the relation of consciousness to materiality without introducing a divinity.
====Responses====
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* Arguments that some observed non-physical quality (such as justice, beauty, love or religious experience) is of fundamental importance and not an [[wikipedia:epiphenomenon|epiphenomenon]].
* If God is capable of creating the universe, surely God is also pretty complicated. If God is also complicated, then wouldn't the same reasoning apply to Him, i.e. ''He'' must have been designed as well. Who did that?
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===empirical arguments===
** If there is some reasoning whereby God does not need a Designer, then why can't that same reasoning be applied to the universe itself, without having to invoke the existence of an additional entity?
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* The [[wikipedia:teleological argument|teleological argument]] ([[argument from design]]) argues that the universe's order and complexity shows signs of purpose (telos), and that it must have been designed by an [[intelligent design]]er with properties that only a god could have.
* '''Counter''' to "God must be pretty complicated too": Perhaps God is actually quite simple &ndash; simple enough that He could have been created by some natural process. While this [[informal theory|theory]] removes the need for yet another Designer, it remains flawed:
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* The [[wikipedia:anthropic argument|anthropic argument]] focuses on basic facts, such as our existence, to prove God.
** It still doesn't explain anything any better than existing scientific [[creation]] theories (which are based on the available evidence) do, nor does it suggest any tests to try or evidence to look for, much less base itself on any existing evidence
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* The [[wikipedia:moral argument|moral argument]] argues that objective morality exists and that therefore God exists.
** It still introduces an unnecessary element, i.e. God; if something simple can create something complex, why does that entity have to be conscious or have any of the other usual definitional attributes of God?
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* The [[wikipedia:transcendental argument for the existence of God|transcendental argument for the existence of God]] argues that logic, [[science]], [[ethics]], and other things we take seriously do not make sense if there is no God, and that atheist arguments must therefore ultimately refute themselves if pressed with rigorous consistency. (By contrast, its criticisms include a [[wikipedia:transcendental argument for the existence of God#Criticisms|transcendental argument for the non-existence of God]].)
** A simple God may not be compatible with the beliefs of most [[religion]]s, and hence would be ruled off-limits by believers.
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* The [[wikipedia:Will to Believe Doctrine|Will to Believe Doctrine]] was pragmatist philosopher William James' attempt to prove God by showing that the adoption of theism as a hypothesis "works" in a believer's life. This doctrine depended heavily on James' pragmatic theory of truth where beliefs are proven by how they work when adopted rather than by proofs before they are believed (a form of the hypothetico-deductive method).
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===arguments from history===
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* The [[wikipedia:Christological argument|argument from the life of Jesus]] asserts that [[Jesus Christ|Jesus]] claimed to be the Son of God, that in this he was either deluded, deceitful or truthful, and that it is possible to assess Jesus's character sufficiently from the accounts of his life and teaching to rule out the first two possibilities.
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* The argument from the Resurrection of Jesus asserts that there is sufficient historical evidence for Jesus's resurrection and that this vindicates his claim to be Son of God and ''a fortiori'' God's existence. There is common ground between theists and atheists that if the resurrection occurred substantially as described in the Bible, then Christianity is substantially true; non-Christians simply dispute the premise.
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* [[Islam]] asserts that the life of Mohammed and especially the giving of the Koran by an Angel similarly vindicates Islam.
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* Judaism asserts that God intervened in key specific moments in history, especially at the Exodus and the giving of the [[Ten Commandments]], thus demonstrating his special care for the Jewish people, and ''a fortiori'' his existence.
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* [[Mormonism]] similarly asserts that the miraculous finding of the [[Book of Mormon]] vindicates Mormonism.
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==Reference==
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* Wikipedia:
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** [[wikipedia:Existence of God|Existence of God]]:
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*** [[wikipedia:Quinquae viae|Quinquae viae]] ("five ways"): the '''unmoved mover''', '''first cause''', '''contingency''', '''degree''', and '''[[argument from design|design]]''' arguments
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* {{ironchariots|50 reasons to believe in God}} ("50 reasons to believe in God" email, with responses)
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* {{rationalwiki|Category:Arguments for the existence of a god}}

Latest revision as of 12:02, 29 April 2014