The Existence of God

See Life’s Ultimate Questions , by Ronald NashChapters 12 & 13

Noetic Structure� Definition: A person’s beliefs plus the

relationships among those beliefs� Some beliefs serve as the basis or foundation of

other beliefs� The foundation beliefs are called basic beliefs� The beliefs based on them are called non-basic

beliefs

� Your noetic structure is different from mine� Beliefs about your past are different from beliefs

about my past

� Noetic structures are not wholly different� Properly basic beliefs can be the same for two

persons

Some Properly Basic Beliefs

Under the appropriate circumstances, the appropriate belief is formed in us “I see a tree”

“I had eggs and bacon for breakfast”

“I am now at the edge of the Grand Canyon”

When you have a basic belief, it makes no sense for someone to say to you, “Prove it!”

Foundationalism’sStrengths

� Believing that one’s noetic structure is based upon certain foundational beliefs (properly basic beliefs) provides answers to important questions

1. When should a belief be eliminated from a person’s noetic structure?� When that belief is neither a properly basic belief

nor a belief properly grounded on a basic belief

Foundationalism’sStrengths

2. How should we judge the strength of a non-basic belief?� In terms of the degree of

support it receives from basic beliefs

3. When should an argument end?� When it arrives at properly

basic beliefs

Properly Basic Beliefs and God� Christian philosopher Alvin Plantinga

teaches that� Believing in God is a properly basic belief� We have a tendency to form beliefs such

as � “God is speaking to me”� “God has created all this”� “God disapproves of what I’ve done”

� Christian philosopher Thomas Reid --This tendency or belief disposition may be part of the image of God in every human

A Capacity to Apprehend God’s Existence

1. Begin by trusting the basic belief-forming dispositions with which you are endowed . . .� Until reasons for revising them

arise2. If being appeared to by a pink rose

in the garden yields immediately the belief “There is a pink rose,”3. Then an encounter with God will yield the belief “God is real,” without deliberation or inference

Does God’s Existence Need to be Proved?

� No.� However, an argument for God’s

existence can be one of the belief-triggering conditions that results in the belief that God exists.

The Leaky Buckets Analogy

The Leaky Buckets AnalogyConsider these three

arguments1. All students have long

hair. Therefore, Smith has long hair.� Necessarily true?� Probably true?

2. Smith is a student. Therefore, Smith has long hair.� Necessarily true?� Probably true?

3. All students have long hair. Smith is a student.Therefore, Smith has long hair.� Necessarily

true?� Probably true?

The Leaky Buckets Analogy

� So, it’s possible to have a probably true argument formed from individually weak arguments

� And it’s possible to derive a necessarily true argument from individually invalid arguments

Four Types of Arguments for God’s Existence

1. CosmologicalA. CausationB. Necessity C. Teleological

2. Prudential3. Experiential4. Moral

Cosmological

Everything’s moving.There must be a Prime

Mover.

Everything’s been caused by other things. There must be a First

Cause.

Every being is contingent.There must be a being that is

necessary.

Every thing can be graded.There must be a being that is

perfect.

Every thing appears to have been designed.

There must be a designer.

“ Look at the world ( cosmos ), and you will see that there is a God.”

Paley: The Watch Analogy

� Walking in a field, you come across a stone� “Where did this come from?” is an

absurd question to ask about the stone

� Walking in a field, you come across a watch� “Where did this come from?” is a

reasonable question to ask about the watch

The Anthropic Principle� The universe seems to be designed

in such a way as to provide � A home for humans (Gr. Anthropos )� An observation post from which

humans can appreciate the grandeur of the universe� The universe is strangely amenable to

rational inquiry on multiple integrated levels

� The universe seems to be designed tutorially

� The deep intelligibility of nature upon which science depends is the result of intelligent design

Guillermo Gonzalez

Prudential � Pascal’s Wager

� Mathematician and philosopher� If you were a betting person,

which belief has the best odds going for it?� A. “There is a God”� B. “There is no God”

� A. If correct, payoff is unlimited� B. If correct, payoff is limited� “There is a God” has the best

odds

Experiential � “There is a God, because I have had an

experience of God.”� Highly convincing for the one having the

experience.� Not as convincing for anyone else.

� Leo Tolstoy� “Life is only bearable when I am believing that God

exists”

� William P. Alston� If it makes sense to believe a person exists when

you have had shared experiences with that person,� Then it makes sense to believe that God exists if

you have had shared experiences with God� Prayers answered� Guidance given� Comfort received

Moral� There is a moral law of human nature

� We didn’t invent it� We don’t totally benefit from it� We can’t escape it� We don’t keep it

� This law comes from Something Behind the Universe� It is trying to communicate with

us, personally� It must be a person himself

Mere Christianity-C.S. Lewis

Another Moral

Argument

� Unknown Source� We live in a world containing

� Incredible good� Malevolent evil

� Mere survival benefit is as inadequate an explanation for malevolent evil as it is for incredible good

� There must be an incredibly good being against which a malevolently evil being is struggling

Three Types of Arguments

Against the Existence of God

� The Empirical Argument� The Linguistic Argument� Evidential Arguments

The Empirical

Argument

The Invisible Gardener Story- Antony Flew (1950)

� “Just how does what you call an invisible, intangible, eternally elusive gardener differ from an imaginary gardener or even from no gardener at all?"

� "What would have to occur to constitute for you a disproof of the existence of God?"

The Linguistic

Argument

� A.k.a. Theological Noncognitivism --Michael Martin (also early William Alston): , “What kind of definition can we agree on which makes sense of the claim ‘There is a God?’” � “How can an immaterial being

‘speak,’ or communicate messages in any way, or, indeed, act in any way?”

Evidential

Arguments

� Victor Stenger: God -- The Failed Hypothesis� “Science proves that the universe is just as

one would expect it to be if there were no God.”

� “The laws of physics and of nature do not suggest that a divine hand played a role in creating the universe.”

� Sam Harris and Richard Dawkins offer similar arguments.

The Problem of Evil� Charles Templeton� Christopher Hitchens� George H. Smith

The Problem: How can these three statements all be true?• God is all good.• God is all powerful.• Evil exists.

Why, then, does evil exist?“Either God isn’t all good, or God isn’t all

powerful.” “So, why should I believe in a being who either

isn’t strong enough or good enough to put an end to evil?”