Argument against gods existence from unnecessary suffering. Arguments for god that are arguments against god bradley. Logical problem of evil internet encyclopedia of philosophy. An omniscient being would know how to prevent unnecessary suffering. How to argue that god does not exist with pictures wikihow. Your next book is the reality of god and the problem of evil by brian davies. The most weighty of the arguments against gods existence is the problem of evil. Three minutes and 15 seconds into his opening speech, he stated that one reason he believes god does not exist is because there are no good replies to the arguments against the existence of god, such as the problem of evil. Feb 11, 2020 god is not great, by christopher hitchens, for instance, is a good place to start. Examines both the logical and probabilistic arguments against god from suffering and evil. Some of mackies detailed reasoning is hard to follow for a person without extensive training in the relevant branches of philosophy. Here we present five arguments in favor of the existence of god, and the counterargument for it. Second, the argument against the existence of god from the existence of evil is by the authors own admission not treated in depth.
Because the question has been settled to my satisfaction. Arguments for and against the existence of god 1 by j. They believe that because the writers of the bible lived in an unenlightened era. In training his darwinian guns on religion, richard dawkins risks destroying a larger target than he intends. The case against god, but also far more systematic. The christian god is supposed to be both loving and allpowerful. Arguments against gods existence backyard skeptics. If god is all powerful and loving, why is there suffering in. The argument of evil for the existence of god essay 681. Transcendence spaceless, timeless, nonphysical omnipotence can do anything it is logically possible to do and is consistent with gods moral nature omniscience knows everything it is logically possible to know omnipresence at. Argument against god s existence from unnecessary suffering. Mar 03, 2020 arguments for god that are arguments against god march 3.
By david wood a few weeks ago, my fiveyearold son, lucian, came up with his first argument against the existence of god. However, arguments regarding individual verses or even whole subsets of verses dont mean much if these five larger arguments arent meaningfully engaged with. The problem of evil stanford encyclopedia of philosophy. Despite these characteristics, god seems to be unable or unwilling to prevent the vast amount of evil and suffering in the world. Being outside the natural world, god cannot be discovered nor refuted by science alone. They are convinced the book was written solely by humans in an ignorant, superstitious, and cruel age. Grayling the god argument is a very respectful, thoughtprovoking and accessible book that addresses the case against religion while making the compelling case for a superior ethical way of living, humanism. This is a thread for listingexplaining arguments and not a thread fortheists and atheists to arguerebuttals to the atheist arguments insulting a particular theist or religion you simply put your argument forward and explain it. This means we dont have free will and god created some people knowing they would be evil, yet god punishes them anyway. A compelling new work makes the case that most modern arguments against belief are attacking the wrong god. The god delusion is a 2006 book by english biologist richard dawkins, a professorial fellow at new college, oxford, and former holder of the charles simonyi. In this sense, the argument from evil is the opposite of the design.
The god delusion, by richard dawkins, is another excellent source of rational arguments against the existence of a religious deity. What one has here, however, is not just a puzzle, since the question can, of course, be recast as an argument for the nonexistence of god. The major philosophical criticisms of god as viewed by judaism, christianity and islam are as follows. Feel free to comment on the veracity or your opinion of each but remember to keep calm and argue reasonably. The concept of evil stanford encyclopedia of philosophy. Natural evils are bad states of affairs which do not result. Variants of the cosmological and technological arguments are critically evaluated, but the ontological argument and other arguments for the existence of god are not considered. But it seems that the problem of evil in its various forms is the most prominent argument against god s existence. But it also means that thinking evil, which is in rebellion against god, must also be stopped as well. Examining all the arguments for and against religion and religious beliefacross the range of reasons and motives that people have for being religious and how they stand up to scrutinythe god argument is a landmark book in the ongoing debate about.
The best arguments for gods existence dont challenge. This reconciliation of the problem of evil and god, states creegan, also fails to explain the need or rationale for evil inflicted on animals and resultant animal suffering, because there is no evidence at all that suffering improves the character of animals, or is evidence of soulmaking in them. Atheism will help you understand the main arguments for and against gods existence, and give you the knowledge you need to explain to others the reasonableness of belief. These facts about evil and suffering seem to conflict with the orthodox theist claim that there exists a perfectly good god. Arguments against the existence of god overview each of the arguments below aims to show that a particular set of gods does not existby demonstrating them to be inherently meaningless, contradictory, or at odds with known scientific or historical factsor that there is insufficient proof to say that they do exist. God is not great, by christopher hitchens, for instance, is a good place to start. Moral arguments for the existence of god first published thu jun 12, 2014. He reasoned that, since god cant be seen, god must not exist. But you, who have contrived all sorts of evil against the hebrews, will certainly not escape the hands of god. If there were supernatural events happening all around us. It has been some time since the last one so it seems like the time is ripe for another and this one is a great one for discussion. The argument of evil for the existence of god one of the major arguments proposed against the existence of god in contemporary western philosophy is the problem of evil. Starting with jobs reaction to evil, i identify three elements of joblike belief.
The best arguments for gods existence are actually terrible. A library of the best 40 atheist arguments against god. Probably, there is pointless suffering in the world. The arguments for existence and nonexistence of hunger will depend on who is talking. If god is evil or if god isnt even real there would be no justice against evil. Arguments for god that are arguments against god bradley bowen. For this amounts to finding fault with gods work, because man is an entity of gods creation. God, in short, isnt one very impressive thing among many things that. Even if god and evil are compatible, it remains hotly contested whether evil renders belief in god unreasonable. Similar to the subjective arguments for the existence of god, subjective arguments against the supernatural mainly rely on the testimony or experience of witnesses, or the propositions of a revealed religion in general the witness argument gives credibility to personal witnesses, contemporary and from the past, who disbelieve or strongly doubt the existence of god. The main issue is supernaturalism i deny that there are beings or phenomena outside the scope of natural law. For an atheist, harriss arguments are crystal clear, but you have to look at this from a christian perspective. Feb 25, 2014 because the question has been settled to my satisfaction.
Jan 02, 2020 puts forth a variety of common arguments against god, but the overall theme is that creation as we know it refutes the existence of the god described in the bible. Some chapters are easier than others for the layman to understand. When i ponder both the extent and depth of suffering in the world, whether due to mans inhumanity to man or to. While one can simultaneously believe in darwinian evolution and in god, evolution is more likely in a godless world.
On february 12, 2009, in a debate with kyle butt, dan barker affirmed the proposition that the god of the bible does not exist. The moral law is often thought of as simply a product of gods choice. Though i understand its impossible to prove that a god doesnt exist, im sure there must be some arguments against god of christianity in particular. I will not obey the kings command, but i obey the command of the law that was given to our ancestors through moses. Two arguments for the nonexistence of god by theodore drange charles echelbarger explains the atheistic arguments of theodore drange theodore drange is one of a relatively small number of academic philosophers who have devoted a large part of their intellectual efforts over the last thirtysome years to systematically opposing theism. I would say that there is evidence or lack or evidence of no god. Some have called alvin plantinga this, and, whether you agree with him or not, the title is certainly warranted.
Evil in the broad sense has been divided into two categories. Moreover, he argues that the kind of omnipotence and omniscience that theists ascribe to god is incoherent, and defends both evidential and logical arguments from evil against the existence of god. I say there is no god with the same confidence i say there are no ghosts or there is no magic. Therefore, for god to stop evil and suffering may very well mean that he must remove the ability for people to freely choose what they want to do. So far, weve been talking about arguments for the existence of god. Dec 30, 2011 what are some arguments against the existence of the god of classical theism aside from the problem of evil suffering. And since any and all god ideas are just that, human created ideas with no tie to reality, aka fiction, the idea of a universal morality is also. In addition to researching arguments in favor of atheism, investigate the rebuttals or justifications from the religious perspective. The existence of god is a subject of debate in the philosophy of religion and popular culture a wide variety of arguments for and against the existence of god can be categorized as metaphysical, logical, empirical, or subjective. The argument from evil or problem of evil is the argument that an allpowerful, allknowing, and perfectly good god would not allow anyor certain kinds ofevil or suffering to occur. Geisler outlines the arguments against the theistic worldview and then poses counter arguments. The problem of evil is certainly the greatest obstacle to belief in the existence of god. There is too much evil and suffering for god to exist.
Religious topics abound on listverse and they are frequently the most commented upon. Because morality is about as diverse as we humans are. Feel free to comment on the veracity or your opinion of each but remember to. Of all the atheistic arguments, this is the one that has been around for longest, that has had the most words written about it, and that draws the most diverse responses from christians. Some reasons why humanists reject the bible american.
If god is all good, then he will want and will stop all those evils from happening. Arguments for and against the existence god are like arguments for and against the existence of hunger. Jun, 2019 the most popular argument against gods omniscience is that if god knew everything, then god already knows the outcome of all our lives. Existence of evil in the world, both humancreated and natural, is more likely in a godless world. Mar 04, 2010 arguments for and against the existence god are like arguments for and against the existence of hunger. Rather, its a guide for people like me who just cant keep the arguments straight. My book above has been a twenty years result of research on science and religion, with the aim to use science and logic to prove the existence of god.
God may be thought of as the inventor of morality, as he is the inventor of birds. But it seems that the problem of evil in its various forms is the most prominent argument against gods existence. The 20 answers series from catholic answers offers hard facts, powerful arguments, and clear explanations of the most important topics facing the church and the. He claims that while none of these arguments are deductively valid, they do give inductive support to theism and that, even when the argument from evil is. If god is all powerful, then god can stop those evils from happening. Two arguments for the nonexistence of god theodore m. Atheists often claim that the presence of evil is an argument against the existence of god. For example, blindness is not a separate entity, but is merely a lack or privation of sight. He is the one creator of all physical reality and existed before all of time, space, matter, and energy. Ive recently had a discussion with my friend who is a christian and one of the things he said was that you cant disprove the existence of god. They believe that because the writers of the bible lived in an unenlightened era, the book contains many errors and harmful. The aim of at least the simplest form of this argument is to show that the existence of evil in the world shows that god does not exist. This isnt a comprehensive list of arguments, nor does it cover the many nuances of arguments for or against god.
Mar 04, 2014 examining all the arguments for and against religion and religious beliefacross the range of reasons and motives that people have for being religious and how they stand up to scrutinythe god argument is a landmark book in the ongoing debate about the place of religion and secularism in our world. He addresses everything from the ontological argument to the finetuning argument, demolishing all of the main arguments for god s existence. These are five largescale arguments against universalism. Thus the augustinian theodicist would argue that the problem of evil and suffering is void because god did not create evil. As an atheist, who grew up in a fundamentalist christian society a few decades ago, i know that the christian argument. The best books on arguments for the existence of god five books. The argument from evil or problem of evil is the argument that an allpowerful, allknowing, and perfectly good god would not allow anyor certain kinds ofevil or suffering to. If god is omniscent, omnipotent, and omnibenevolent then there shouldnt be any evil around if god does in fact exist. He finds all atheistic arguments wanting and most theistic arguments wanting. Responding to the most common arguments for gods existence. The problem of evil popular writings reasonable faith. Like any good theological debate there is a fair bit of trenchwarfare regarding individual verses. The most popular argument against gods omniscience is that if god knew everything, then god already knows the outcome of all our lives. For gods existence to be compatible with the evil in the world, there would have to be no occurrence of evil that is gratuitous and beyond justification.
For this reason the arguments for and against gods existence must be, in the end, philosophical. Therefore, if anyone says that simply to be a man is evil, or that to be a wicked man is good, he rightly falls under the prophetic judgment. As hunger is a deeply felt physicalphysiological state, the need for god is a deeply felt spiritualmental state. It is based upon the inability to reconcile the magnitude of evil in the world with the allloving nature of god.
In his work titled arguments ruminations from evil, william rowe presents an argument against the existence of god that had been captured in two succinct premises, namely. I have heard religious people claim that god allows evil because he does not want to interfere with our free will. What are the best books arguing against the existence of god. The problem of evil is the question of how to reconcile the existence of evil and suffering with an omnipotent, omnibenevolent, and omniscient god see theism. God didnt create evil, because the scriptures say both that god is not the author of confusion and that god quite literally hates evil. Here again the argument of the existence of evil is used to reject god. Transcendence spaceless, timeless, nonphysical omnipotence can do anything it is logically possible to do and is consistent with god s moral nature omniscience knows everything it is logically possible to know omnipresence at. Arguments for god that are arguments against god march 3. The best books on the existence of god ed feser on five. In this book, god, freedom, and evil, plantinga analyzes several mainline arguments of both natural theology and natural atheology.
1359 111 1373 580 703 203 118 895 623 124 479 1157 1199 936 832 838 439 1254 758 1029 1537 114 642 592 782 459 764 340