Is There Good Evidence for or Against the Existence of God

Title 1: Is there good evidence for or against the existence of God? Throughout the ages, the topic of religion has always been discussed and argued over. Some people will always argue that God does exist, whilst others will argue that he doesn’t. Firstly I would like to start my argument with the famous 13th century philosopher, Thomas Aquinas. Aquinas’ argument is known as the cosmological argument. This is the idea of: the unmoved mover, the uncaused causer and idea of contingency, these three arguments are all a posteriori (based on the evidence in the universe around us). The unmoved mover is the concept that, in theory (is logically acceptable even for an atheist), that nothing can be in motion without something first putting†¦show more content†¦Yet again this is an a posteriori argument as we know that it is plausibly and factual reasonable to accept that nothing can come into existence without something causing it. However some would say that it is also a priori as there is no evidence to support the idea of a necessary being. For example in the live radio debate between Russel and Copleston (1948) Russel’s philosophical position was to argue that concepts such as ‘cause of the universeâ⠂¬â„¢ and ‘necessary beings’ held no meaning. In juxtaposition to this, Pierre Laplace argued that the universe is just like a machine. He argued that each part of the machine affects the behaviour of another part of the machine, resulting in movement. Thus meaning that if the universe is a big machine then Laplace is not only rejecting the idea of contingency but also suggesting that contingent beings do not exist at all. Aquinas also forms an argument known as the design argument or the teleological argument which is a a posteriori. This is the concept that everything is directed towards an end and as inanimate objects have no rational powers then they must be directed to this purpose by some external power. William Paley supported Aquinas’ argument surrounding the idea of design, upon which he expanded further. Paley’s argument is known as the watch analogy. He said that if you were to find a watch upon the floor with all its intricate complicated parts, you would never argue thatShow MoreRelatedA Logical Argument For God s Existence Or Nonexistence1471 Words   |  6 PagesA logical argument for God’s existence or nonexistence is the cosmological argument. William Craig says in his book that there are three statements that give the cosmological argument form. Craig concluded that whatever begins to exist has a cause. The Universe began to exist therefore the Universe had a cau se. What that cause was, is widely challenged. The argument against the existence of God includes the Big Bang Theory. 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