arguments for existence of God Flashcards
inductive
provides evidence to support a claim but doesn’t prove it
synthetic
adds to a claim that isn’t always true (must be tested)
teological argument
- the world contains order, regularity, purpose and beauty
- an object with these properties must be designed
- the world is an object with these properties
C. the world must have been designed by God
analogical
attempt to make an argument based on analogy (comparison of 2 things)
natural theory
deriving knowledge of God from the use of natural human reason
revealed theory
deriving knowledge from contact with God through a vision or scripture
Saint Anselm
- father of Scholasticism
- creator of ontological argument
ontological argument
apriori, reason, analytic and deductive
analytic propositions
statements that are true by definition
synthetic propositions
add something to our knowledge and are normally based on experience
Anselm’s definition of God
God is that than which nothing greater can be conceived
Ontological argument 1
- definition of God
- a being which exists in reality is greater than a being which exists only in intellect
C1. the concept of God is surpassed by an existent God
C2. so God must exist
Ontological argument 2
- God is the greatest conceivable being
- it’s greater to have necessary existence than to have contingent existence
C. necessary existence must be a unique property of the greatest conceivable (God)
contigent
relies on other things to exist
Aquinas’ objection (ontological)
- God’s true definition cannot be known to humans
- we can only talk about him figuratively
- “God exists is not self evident to us”
teleological argument properties
inductive, synthetic, aposterior (Aquinas)
Paleys argument
- if we saw a watch we would assume it was created
- just because we don’t know the purpose doesn’t mean there isn’t one
- the complexity of the natural world couldn’t have been an accident
mechanistic argument
- we can infer a complex object with many parts was designed as it contains the qualities of regularity and purpose
- the world also contains these qualities and has many complex parts
- we may infer the world was designed
C. God is the designer
Darwin
- first exponent of evolution
- the complexity of the world can be explained by natural selection
James Sadowsky
God may have created the process of evolution as a means of bringing order and purpose into the universe
intelligent design
- scientists argue that Darwin was wrong
- organisms display irreducible complexity that can’t be explained through natural selection
David Hume - teleological
- we have no experience of the world making
- arguments from analogy can only be suggestive not conclusive
- evidence cannot prove the God of classical theism
F.R. Tennant quote
nature is meaningless and valueless without God behind it and man in front
Anthropic principle
- the emergence of human life in our universe depends on numerous factors like planetary conditions and physics
- human life has emerged
- a life friendly universe is highly improbable
- a designer or intelligent creator would make sense of our improbable universe
the new design argument
Richard Swinburne
- scientists can define laws and say how they work
- they cannot find a basis for the most fundamental laws in the first place
- science cannot explain order in the world, so it must be God
Aquinas first way
- everything depends on something else to put it into motion from action to potentiality
- nothing can be moved by itself , so God was the first mover
Aquinas second way
- everything has an efficient cause as it cannot cause itself
- the first efficient cause was God
Aquinas third way
- it’s not possible for everything to have existed forever
- God is the necessary being that started everything
- based on contingency and necessity
Kalam cosmological argument
developed by al Ghazali
- ‘actual infinites’ are impossible
- the universe cannot be infinite
- it must have had a beginning and cause of existence
William Lane Craig
- the universe had a beginning
- that beginning was caused
- that cause was personal (choice)
- therefore God chose to create the world
strengths of the cosmological
- a posteriori and inductive
- most scientists would agree the world had a beginning
- its natural to ask why the universe began
- everything has a cause, so it makes sense
criticisms of the cosmological
- it just proves a cause and not the existence of a traditional God; loving, powerful, knowing
- Russel; if all things changed, moved, caused then what grounds do we have for necessary beings
Kant criticism of cosmological
Causality may be something imposed on experiences by the mind, it’s not truly real. It can only apply to things we experience, which doesn’t include the creation of the universe.
the necessity of God’s existence
- de re necessity
- de dicto necessity
- faith based necessity
de re necessity
- God is not caused or moved by anything else
- cosmological argument; universe requires a necessary being
de dicto necessity
- existence is a logical part of the concept of God
- ontological argument
faith based necessity
- can Christians do without God?
- is he necessary to their worldview
Humes criticism of cosmological
- does everything have a cause?
- if God caused himself, couldn’t the universe?
- why can there not be infinite regress?
- do the limitations of the universe point to an infinite creator?
Russell criticism of ontological
if existence was a predicate you would get the following syllogism
- men exist in the world
- santa claus is a man
- therefore Santa Claus exists
Russell definition of existence
existence = not a property of things, but an idea of those things
Charles Hartshorne
existence isn’t always a property but that doesn’t mean it never is
- existence is a property
- if God is necessary, he’s greater than contingent beings
- if to have necessary existence means he must always exist, it’s logically impossible for him not to exist
Norman Malcolm
- religious people refer to God as an unlimited being
- if God is maximally great he cannot be contingent as this means he must depend on something else
Malcolm’s argument
- within religious understanding, God is by definition an unlimited being
- the existence of an unlimited being is either logically necessary or logically impossible
- the existence of an unlimited being is not logically impossible
- therefore the existence of God is logically necessary
Descartes ontological argument
- God is a supremely perfect being
- existence is a perfection/predicate of a perfect being
C. God has existence as a perfection
