3. The God Delusion: Arguments for God's Existence

Question 1

What is Thomas Aquinas’s 1st Proof?

Answer 1

1. The Unmoved Mover

Question 2

What does Thomas Aquinas’s 1st Proof refer to?

Answer 2

1. Nothing moves without a prior mover. That leads us to a regress, from which the only escape is God. Something had to make the first move, and that something is called God

Question 3

What is Thomas Aquinas’s 2nd Proof?

Answer 3

1. The Uncaused Cause

Question 4

What does Thomas Aquinas’s 2nd Proof refer to?

Answer 4

1. Nothing is caused by itself. Every effect has a prior cause, and again we are pushed back into regress. This has to be terminated with a first cause, which is God

Question 5

What is Thomas Aquinas’s 3rd Proof?

Answer 5

1. The Cosmological Argument

Question 6

What does Thomas Aquinas’s 3rd Proof refer to?

Answer 6

1. There must have been a time when no physical things existed. But, since physical things exist now, there must have been something nonphysical to bring them into existence, and that is God

Question 7

What is the core error in Thomas Aquinas’s Proofs?

Answer 7

1. All three invoke the idea of a regress, and make the unwarranted assumption that God is immune to regress himself.

Question 8

How are Omniscience and Omnipotence incompatible?

Answer 8

1. An omniscient being already knows how it will intervene using his omnipotence.
2. Therefore, it cannot change it’s mind, so it is not omnipotent.

Question 9

What verse did Karen Owen use to describe the incompatibility of Omnipotence and Omniscience?

Answer 9

1. Can omniscient God, who
   Knows the future, find
   The omnipotence to
   Change his future mind?

Question 10

Why is the idea of Infinite Regress flawed?

Answer 10

1. Some natural process do have a limited level of regress
2. For example, neutrons and protons are the smallest components in an atom

Question 11

What is Thomas Aquinas’s 4th Proof?

Answer 11

1. The Argument from Degree

Question 12

What does Thomas Aquinas’s 4th proof refer to?

Answer 12

1. We notice that things in this world differ. There are degrees of, say, goodness or perfection. But we judge these degrees only by comparison with a maximum. Humans can be both good and bad, so the maximum goodness cannot rest in us. Therefore there must be some other maximum to set the standard for perfection, and we call that maximum God.

Question 13

Why is Thomas Aquinas’s 4th Proof a poor argument?

Answer 13

1. Not all degrees of comparison require a perfect maximum
2. For example, saying someone is smelly doesn’t require a being with perfect smelliness

Question 14

What is Thomas Aquinas’s 5th Proof?

Answer 14

1. The Teleological Argument or
2. Argument from Design

Question 15

What does Thomas Aquinas’s 4th Proof refer to?

Answer 15

1. Things in the world, especially living things, look as if they have been designed. Nothing that we know looks designed unless it was designed. Therefore, there must have been a designer, and we call that designer God

Question 16

Which of Aquinas’s Proofs is still commonly used today?

Answer 16

1. 5th Proof

Question 17

Why is Thomas Aquinas’s 5th Proof inacurate?

Answer 17

1. We now know of many things that look designed, but were not

Question 18

How did Darwin contribute to debunking Thomas Aquinas’s 5th Proof?

Answer 18

1. His theory of evolution by natural selection blew it out of the water

Question 19

What are the two main categories of arguments for God’s existence?

Answer 19

1. A priori
2. A posteriori

Question 20

In what category do Thomas Aquinas’s 5 Proofs belong?

Answer 20

1. A posteriori

Question 21

What is the most famous a priori argument for God’s existence?

Answer 21

1. The Ontological Argument

Question 22

Who is the father of the Ontological Argument?

Answer 22

1. St Anselm of Canterbury in 1078

Question 23

What is odd about Anselm’s Ontological Argument?

Answer 23

1. It was first addressed to God in the form of a prayer

Question 24

What is the Ontological Argument?

Answer 24

1. The argument that God, being defined as the most great or perfect, must exist, since a God who exists is greater than a God that doesn’t

Question 25

Why is the Ontological Argument false?

Answer 25

1. There are many things that exist in our thoughts, that simply do not exist

Question 26

What two people wrote the most definitive refutations of the Ontological Argument?

Answer 26

1. David Hume
2. Immanuel Kant

Question 27

How did Immanuel Kant refute the Ontological Argument?

Answer 27

1. It assumes that to exist is more perfect than to not-exist

Question 28

What is the Argument from Incomplete Devastation?

Answer 28

1. A plane crashed killing 143 passengers and crew, but one child survived with only 3rd degree burns, therefore God exists

Question 29

What is the Argument from Possible Worlds

Answer 29

1. If things had been different, than things would be different, and that would be bad. Therefore, God exists

Question 30

What is the Argument from Sheer Will?

Answer 30

1. I do believe in God! I do believe in God! I do. I do. I do. Therefore God exists

Question 31

What is the Argument from Non-belief?

Answer 31

1. The majority of the world are nonbelievers in Christianity. This is exactly what Satan intended, therefore God exists.

Question 32

What is the Argument from Post Death Experience?

Answer 32

1. Person x died an atheist. He now realizes his mistake. Therefore God exists

Question 33

What is the Argument from Emotional Blackmail?

Answer 33

1. God loves you. How could you be so heartless as to not believe in him. Therefore, God exists

Question 34

What is the Argument from Beauty?

Answer 34

1. The world is beautiful, therefore, God exists

Question 35

What is the Argument from Personal Experience?

Answer 35

1. I have experienced what I believe was God, therefore, God exists