Key Concepts

• Theism: Belief in the existence of a god or gods, specifically of a creator who intervenes in the universe.

  • Monotheism: Belief in a single, all-powerful God.

  • Classical Theism: The conception of God as omnipotent, omniscient, omnibenevolent, and immutable.

• Atheism: Disbelief or lack of belief in the existence of a god or gods.

  • New Atheism: A contemporary movement advocating for the view that religion should be criticized and countered.

• Agnosticism: The view that the existence of a god or the divine is unknown or unknowable.

  • Strong Agnosticism: Belief that the question of the existence of gods is inherently unknowable.

  • Weak Agnosticism: Belief that the question of the existence of gods is currently unknown but not necessarily unknowable.

• Deism: Belief in the existence of a supreme being who does not intervene in the universe after its creation.

• Pantheism: Belief that the universe and God are identical, and everything collectively is God.

• Polytheism: Belief in or worship of more than one god.

Arguments for the Existence of God

A. Cosmological Argument

• Key Proponents: Thomas Aquinas, Al-Ghazali (Kalam), William Lane Craig

• Summary: Everything that exists has a cause; the universe exists, therefore, the universe has a cause, which is identified as God.

• Types:

  • Kalam Cosmological Argument: Everything that begins to exist has a cause; the universe began to exist, therefore, the universe has a cause.

  • Aquinas’s Five Ways:

    1. Argument from Motion

    2. Argument from Causation

    3. Argument from Contingency

    4. Argument from Degrees of Perfection

    5. Argument from Final Cause or Teleology

• Criticisms:

  • Infinite Regress: Some argue that an infinite regress of causes is possible.

  • Big Bang Theory: Provides a natural explanation for the origin of the universe.

  • Fallacy of Composition: Assuming what is true of the parts is true of the whole.

  • Assumption of a Personal God: The first cause need not be a personal, theistic God.

B. Teleological Argument (Design Argument)

• Key Proponents: William Paley, Intelligent Design Advocates

• Summary: The complexity and order of the universe suggest a designer, much like a watch implies a watchmaker.

• Examples:

  • Fine-Tuning Argument: The precise conditions that allow life in the universe indicate design.

  • Irreducible Complexity: Some biological systems are too complex to have evolved entirely through natural selection.

• Criticisms:

  • Natural Selection and Evolution: Darwin’s theory provides a naturalistic explanation for complexity.

  • Poor Design: Instances of suboptimal design in nature.

  • Anthropic Principle: The universe must be suitable for life, as we are here to observe it.

  • Multiple Designers: The argument does not specify the nature or number of designers.

C. Ontological Argument

• Key Proponents: Anselm of Canterbury, René Descartes, Alvin Plantinga (modal version)

• Summary: The concept of God as the greatest conceivable being implies God's existence, as existence is a necessary attribute of the greatest being.

• Versions:

  • Anselm’s Version: God is defined as a being than which nothing greater can be conceived, and such a being must exist in reality as well as in the mind.

  • Descartes’ Version: Existence is a perfection, and since God possesses all perfections, God must exist.

  • Plantinga’s Modal Ontological Argument: Uses modal logic to argue that if God's existence is possible, then God necessarily exists.

• Criticisms:

  • Gaunilo’s Island: The same logic could be used to prove the existence of a perfect island, which is absurd.

  • Kant’s Critique: Existence is not a predicate or property that makes something greater.

  • Logical Problems: Questions about the coherence of the concept of a maximally great being.

D. Moral Argument

• Key Proponents: Immanuel Kant, C.S. Lewis, William Lane Craig

• Summary: The existence of objective moral values and duties points to a moral lawgiver, identified as God.

• Types:

  • Argument from Moral Order: The best explanation for the moral order is the existence of a moral lawgiver.

  • Argument from Moral Experience: Our experience of moral obligations implies a transcendent source.

• Criticisms:

  • Moral Relativism: Moral values can vary between cultures and individuals.

  • Euthyphro Dilemma: Are actions good because God commands them, or does God command them because they are good?

  • Secular Ethics: Moral values can be grounded in human nature and rationality.

Arguments Against the Existence of God

A. Problem of Evil

• Key Proponents: Epicurus, David Hume, J.L. Mackie

• Summary: The existence of evil and suffering is incompatible with an omnipotent, omnibenevolent God.

• Types:

  • Logical Problem of Evil: The existence of evil logically contradicts the existence of an all-good, all-powerful God.

  • Evidential Problem of Evil: The amount and kinds of evil provide evidence against the existence of God.

• Responses:

  • Free Will Defense: Evil is a result of human free will, which is necessary for moral goodness.

  • Soul-Making Theodicy: Suffering helps develop virtues such as courage and compassion.

  • Greater Good Defense: God allows evil because it leads to a greater good that outweighs the evil.

B. Evidential Problem of Evil

• Key Proponents: William Rowe

• Summary: Argues that the sheer amount and nature of unnecessary suffering provide strong evidence against the existence of God.

• Examples: Cases of intense suffering that seem pointless or gratuitous.

• Responses:

  • Skeptical Theism: Humans cannot understand God’s reasons for allowing suffering.

  • Greater Good Arguments: Suffering may be part of a divine plan beyond human comprehension.

C. Divine Hiddenness

• Key Proponents: J.L. Schellenberg

• Summary: Argues that if a loving God existed, God would make His existence more evident to people.

• Examples: Non-resistant non-believers, who seek God but do not find Him.

• Responses:

  • Free Will and the Value of Faith: God’s hiddenness preserves human free will and the value of faith.

  • Divine Reasons for Hiddenness: There may be greater reasons for God’s hiddenness that humans cannot comprehend.

Religious Experience

• Types:

  • Mystical Experiences: Direct, ineffable experiences of the divine.

  • Numinous Experiences: Experiences of awe and wonder in the presence of something wholly other.

  • Conversion Experiences: Life-changing religious transformations.

• Arguments from Religious Experience: Personal experiences of the divine are taken as evidence for God's existence.

• Criticisms:

  • Psychological Explanations: Experiences can be explained through psychological or neurological means.

  • Cultural Influence: Religious experiences are often influenced by cultural and religious backgrounds.

  • Verifiability: Subjective experiences are difficult to verify objectively.

Faith and Reason

• Fideism: The view that religious belief relies solely on faith rather than reason.

  • Proponents: Søren Kierkegaard, Blaise Pascal.

  • Criticisms: Potential conflict between faith and rational inquiry.

• Aquinas’s View: Harmony between faith and reason, where faith seeks understanding.

  • Proponents: Thomas Aquinas, Augustine of Hippo.

  • Criticisms: Challenges in reconciling faith with scientific and philosophical reasoning.

• Kierkegaard’s Leap of Faith: Faith involves a personal, subjective commitment beyond rational evidence.

  • Key Ideas: The paradox of faith, the absurd, subjective truth.

  • Criticisms: Potential irrationality, conflict with objective truth.

Miracles

• Definition: Events that appear to violate natural laws and are attributed to divine intervention.

• Arguments for Miracles:

  • Historical Evidence: E.g., the resurrection of Jesus.

  • Personal Testimonies: Reports of miraculous healings and other phenomena.

• Criticisms:

  • Hume’s Critique: Miracles are highly improbable and require extraordinary evidence.

  • Natural Explanations: Many purported miracles can be explained by natural causes or coincidences.

  • Verifiability: Difficulty in verifying and substantiating miracle claims.

Life After Death

• Concepts:

  • Immortality of the Soul: The soul lives on after the death of the body.

  • Resurrection: Belief in a future resurrection of the body.

  • Reincarnation: Belief in the rebirth of the soul in new bodies.

• Arguments for:

  • Near-Death Experiences: Accounts of experiences during clinical death.

  • Scriptural Accounts: Religious texts that describe life after death.

  • Philosophical Arguments: E.g., arguments about personal identity and consciousness.

• Criticisms:

  • Lack of Empirical Evidence: No conclusive scientific evidence for life after death.

  • Alternative Explanations: Psychological or physiological explanations for near-death experiences.

  • Philosophical Challenges: Questions about the coherence of personal identity over time.

The Nature of God

• Attributes:

  • Omnipotence: All-powerful.

  • Omniscience: All-knowing.

  • Omnipresence: Present everywhere.

  • Omnibenevolence: All-good.

• Philosophical Issues:

  • Paradoxes of Omnipotence: Can God create a stone so heavy that He cannot lift it?

  • Compatibility of Divine Attributes: Issues in reconciling omnipotence, omniscience, and omnibenevolence.

  • Coherence of the Concept of God: Philosophical debates about the logical consistency of the attributes ascribed to God.