I have
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A twelve-point outline of logical arguments for the existence of God.
Note from the editor:
I recently got this
nice little outline of arguments for the existence of God from a friend Lee
Tavares. I have much of this in different presentations on the
topic of the existence of God at the web site, but I found this outline to be
such a good little synopsis, I thought I would simply publish it as is.
Hopefully, this will be helpful to some.
TWELVE
INDEPENDENT SYLLOGISTIC ARGUMENTS FOR GOD.
#1) ARGUMENT FROM CAUSALITY.
Premise 1) Everything that begins to exist has a cause.
Therefore, the universe has a cause.
Premise 1 is true for three reasons …
1) "Nothing" by definition cannot do anything.
2) We never experience something coming from nothing.
3) Every instance of change requires a cause (ALL of our
experience verifies
this) and something coming from nothing would, in fact, be an
instance of change.
Premise 2 is true for three reasons …
1) There cannot be an actual infinite amount of
"quantitative" events.
2) An actual eternal universe would have reached maximum
entropy. How do you know
this? It is unknown.
3) The big bang shows that the universe ultimately began to
exist. Perhaps OUR universe,
but what if it is part of an infinite multiverse, or we are in an infinitely expanding and collapsing universe? We just don’t know.
The cause of the universe would have to be a sentient cause …
1) A non-sentient eternal state of being could never change from
that eternal state apart from a volitional source (the actual cause of
time,space,matter and energy would ultimately have to have been in an eternal
state of being).All of this is speculation.
2) The order and complexity of the effect (the universe) points
to an intelligent cause. Not necessarily. It’s speculation without evidence.
*The "universe" is the entire natural world of
time,space,matter and energy.
#2) ARGUMENT FROM COMPLEXITY.
Premise 1) The more complex
something is, the more likely it is a product of design. One cannot use nature itself as
support for a designer. After all, humans use un-designed nature to support
that our artifacts are designed.
Premise 2) Biological complexity is more complex than all
man-made design. See above.
Therefore, biological complexity is a product of design.
Premise 1 is true because to deny it would be tantamount to
saying the more complex something is, the LESS it requires an intelligence
(which would go against our everyday reasoning).
Premise 2 is true since even the simplest possible cell would be
more complex than an entire modern city.
This argument does not commit a false analogy because …
1) While it is true that life has the ability to reproduce and
man-made designs do not, the first self-replicating cell would have had to
acquire its incredible complexity WITHOUT the ability to reproduce. Why? An unsupported claim.
2) The very fact that life forms even have the ability to
reproduce shows how much more complex biological complexity is compared to
man-made design.
Life is self-sustaining, self-repairing AND self-reproducing.
Complexity WITHOUT order versus complexity WITH order:
A huge jumbled pile of wooden logs would be an example of
complexity WITHOUT order whereas DNA would be an example of complexity WITH
order.
Order WITHOUT specified complexity versus order WITH specified
complexity:
1) A distinction needs to be made between repetitive order (such
as in
crystals) and specified complexity (such as in DNA).
2) Crystals form as a result of built-in properties reacting to
natural laws. There are no inherent chemical properties of matter that would
cause life to come from non-life but there ARE inherent chemical properties of
matter that would prevent life coming from non-life.
The argument from complexity cannot be used against God because
…
1) It only applies to things that actually began to exist. We
know that biological complexity began to exist. Therefore, biological
complexity requires an explanation. God of the Gaps argument.
2) God is not complex. Something is only complex when it has a
high degree of order among many parts. Theists do not define God as having a
high degree of order among many parts. God is a spirit who is not made of what
he made. Unsupported claim.
#3) ARGUMENT FROM FINETUNING.
Premise 1) Finetuning is either due to chance, necessity or
design.
Premise 2) Finetuning is not
due to chance or necessity.
Therefore, finetuning is due to design. Unsupported claim.
Premise 1 lays out the three options for an explanation of
fine-tuning.
Premise 2 is true because …
The law of probability demonstrates that a life-sustaining
universe resulting from "chance" is literally impossible. One cannot use “probability” when all
of the factors are unknown. In other words, probability is dependent on a
denominator. We don’t know what the denominator is.
Would multiverses better the odds of a life-sustaining universe?
Aside from the fact that a hypothetical
multiverse would itself require a beginning according to the
Borde, Guth, Vilenkin theorem …
1) There is no evidence of any multiverse. All of this is speculation.
2) Appealing to a multiverse in order to better the odds of our
universe being suited for life would commit the gambler`s fallacy.
What if finetuning was simply the result of necessity?
1) There is no evidence of finetuning resulting out of
necessity.
2) Given that everything else in our experience COULD have been
otherwise, we have no reason to believe that the parameters for finetuning
could not have been otherwise.
3) Even if finetuning WERE the result of necessity, this begs
the question of why the universe would exist in such a way that it would
produce a life-sustaining universe by necessity. How is this any different from
saying the universe was ultimately pre-designed to ultimately result in a life-sustaining universe? All of this is speculation.
#4) ARGUMENT FROM THE LAWS OF NATURE.
Premise 1) Laws require a
lawgiver. Not if the laws are embedded within
an eternal universe or multiverse.
Premise 2) The universe is governed by laws.
Therefore, the laws of nature require a lawgiver.
Premise 1 is true because "laws" imply teleology. We
humans can set up and obey "laws" but how do non-sentient physical
objects follow a consistent pattern of behavior apart from a teleological
origin? There is no reason that the universe should be law-like when it could
just as easily have been a chaotic mess.
Premise 2 is an observable fact of nature.
#5) ARGUMENT FROM THE RELIABILITY OF OUR COGNITIVE FACULTIES.
Premise 1) Our cognitive
faculties can only be reliable if they were actually designed. Unsupported claim.
Premise 2) Our cognitive faculties are reliable.
Therefore, our cognitive faculties were designed.
Premise 1 is true because if our cognitive faculties were NOT
designed then we have no reason to believe our cognitive faculties are reliable
in the first place. Would you trust getting on a plane that was not designed to
function properly?
Can we verify the reliability of our cognitive faculties by
cross-checking them with other minds?
Nope. We have to PRESUPPOSE the reliability of our cognitive
faculties before cross-checking anything (circular reasoning). If we start with
the premise that our cognitive faculties were actually designed, then we have
good grounds to accept their reliability.
Is the theist also guilty of circular reasoning?
ALL of us have to presuppose our cognitive faculties are reliable
before even attempting to show that they are. However, the theist has a good
reason to presuppose his cognitive faculties are reliable (if they were
actually
designed) whereas the atheist does not. After all, how can we
presuppose our cognitive faculties are reliable if they ultimately developed
through some random process?
Would natural selection make the process by which our cognitive
faculties developed a non-random process?
Nope …
1) The driving force behind evolution is supposed to be RANDOM
mutations.
2) Everything on earth (including natural selection) would
ultimately have an origin in a random explosion called a supernova since our
entire solar system is supposed to have originated in such an explosion. Some
atheists would object to calling the big bang a random explosion but can they
object to a supernova being called a random explosion?
Premise 2 is necessary in order for any kind of rational
discussion. If our cognitive faculties are not reliable, then there is no reason
to accept anything at all. It becomes self-defeating for the atheist.
#6) ARGUMENT FROM LOGIC.
Premise 1) Objective logic
cannot be based on our subjective minds, a non-static universe or immaterial
abstractions outside of a mind. Math and Logic are embedded within our
reality and do not require a creator.
Premise 2) Objective logic exists.
Therefore, objective logic is not based on our subjective minds,
a non-static universe or immaterial abstractions outside of a mind.
Premise 1 is true because …
1) Objective logic cannot be based on our subjective minds since
they often contradict one another.
2) If Objective logic were a product of our subjective minds, then
it would mean the laws of logic were not in place prior to us originating them
(which would be absurd).
Objective logic cannot be based on a non-static universe (such
as our
universe) because …
1) The universal laws of logic are true whether the physical
universe is there or not.
2) One cannot base static objective logic on a non-static
foundation (everything we know about the physical universe is ultimately
non-static).
You cannot extract objective truths out of a non-static reality.
The atheist has no basis for assuming the universal laws of logic are static
given that everything else about reality is ultimately non-static.
The laws of logic cannot be based on immaterial abstractions
outside of a mind (all of our experience of immaterial abstractions exist
within a mind).
Premise 2 is necessary in order for any kind of rational
discussion. If the laws of logic are not objective, then we cannot use them to
prove or disprove anything.
#7) ARGUMENT FROM FREE WILL.
Premise 1) Free will can not be the result of mere chemical reactions. Science reveals that free will is probably
an illusion.
Premise 2) We have free will.
Premise 3) Our free will began at some point.
Premise 4) There cannot be an infinite regression of volitional
causal agents to account for our free will.
Therefore, there is a self-existent volitional being who
accounts for our free will.
Premise 1 is true because in a purely physical world, ALL of our
thoughts and actions would be the result of chemical reactions reacting by
necessity.
Premise 2 is self-evident. If we deny that we have free will
then …
1) Moral accountability goes out the window (how can I be held
morally responsible for my chemical reactions?).
2) The ability to reason goes out the window since reason
depends on the ability to choose between at least one correct proposition and
at least one incorrect proposition. Hence, denying free will would literally
cripple our ability to engage in any sort of argumentation whatsoever.
3) We would be forced to hold the absurd idea that the universe
ITSELF literally made everything from cars to computers to skyscrapers. After
all, "we" could not have made those things if all of our thoughts and
actions are chemically predetermined.
Premise 3 is true since "we" began to exist (as far as
we know) at birth.
Therefore, we have no reason to doubt our ability to choose
began at some point.
Premise 4 is true simply because of the fallacy of infinite
regression.
#8) ARGUMENT FROM MATHEMATICS.
Premise 1) Evidence for design within mathematics would point to a teleological
source of mathematics. Not if mathematical and logical laws are embedded within our uncaused
natural reality.
Premise 2) There is evidence for design within mathematics.
Therefore, there is a teleological source of mathematics.
Premise 1 is pretty obvious since actual design always requires
a teleological source.
Premise 2 is true because there are many examples of evidence
for design within mathematics …
1) Euler`s formula.
2) The Mandelbrot set.
3) The mathematical relationship between Fibonacci numbers and
nature.
4) The mathematical relationships between man and his
relationship to the natural world (for example, the mass of the earth is midway
between the mass of the observable universe and the mass of the atom).
5) The fact that mathematics can actually describe the universe
in a coherent way with simple mathematical equations.
#9) ARGUMENT FROM MORALITY.
Premise 1) If objective moral values exist, then God exists. Not necessarily. Science supports the
claim that morals come from evolution and socialization.
Premise 2) Objective moral values exist.
Therefore, God exists.
Premise 1 is true because there cannot be an objective standard
of morality unless there is an objective moral lawgiver. If an atheist were to
appeal to some desired "goal", he would be placing subjective value
on the "goal"
itself. The atheist cannot justify any form of objective morality
without begging the question.
Premise 2 is true because …
1) To deny it would render morality subjective. If morality is
subjective, then any and all actions would literally be justifiable from a
subjective perspective.
2) It is universally self-evident that certain things are
objectively wrong (such as torturing babies for fun). The existence of
objective moral values is as self-evident as the existence of the external
world. Hence, the burden of proof is actually on the one who denies the reality of
objective moral values. The fact that many people may deny that the burden is
on them does not free them of the burden of proof any more than the fact that
there are literally millions upon millions of people who deny the existence of
the external world would take the burden off of them. Both the denialist of the
external world and the denialist of objective moral values bear a burden of
proof.
If morality is based on the nature of God, then doesn`t that mean
we have the right to kill people if God himself executes a sentence of death on
whomever he chooses?
No, because the objective morality of God entails that
circumstances play an important role when it comes to determining what is moral
in any given situation. For example, a judge has the moral authority to sentence
someone to imprisonment but that doesn`t give normal citizens the right to go
around imprisoning people against their will.
If objective morality is ultimately self-evident, then why do we
need to go outside of man in order to account for it?
Saying that objective morality is self-evident doesn`t equate to
saying objective morality is inherent to our nature. It simply means that we
recognize there is a realm of objective moral values. Objective morality can
only be grounded in a being that is inherently moral by nature.
#10) ARGUMENT FROM CONTINGENCY.
Premise 1) The universe has an explanation of its own existence
(either by the necessity of its own nature or by an external cause).
Premise 2) The universe cannot be explained by the necessity of
its own nature.
Therefore, the universe can only be explained by an external cause. Not if the universe/multiverse is eternal
Premise 1 lays out an absolute dichotomy.
Premise 2 is true because …
1) The universe is fully made of contingent parts (according to
all the available evidence). Adding more contingents can only yield a contingent
just as adding red tiles can only yield a red floor.
2) If the universe could have been otherwise, then it logically
follows that it is contingent as a whole. Since the universe is fully made of
things that could have been otherwise, we have no reason to believe the universe
as a whole could not have been otherwise.
*If the universe was ever completely non-contingent, then it
would be completely non-contingent now (which it is not).
#11) ARGUMENT FROM THE HISTORICAL EVIDENCE FOR THE RESURRECTION.
Premise 1) The resurrection would be evidence for God.
Premise 2) The resurrection occurred. Not even close. Experts can’t even agree that there was a historical
Jesus, let alone his resurrection.
Therefore, the resurrection is evidence for God.
Premise 1 is true because Jesus of Nazareth claimed to have been
sent from God.
Premise 2 can be reasonably demonstrated through research into
the historical evidence pertaining to the resurrection.
There are three facts of history relating to the historical
evidence for the resurrection that even most liberal scholars grant …
1) The empty tomb.
2) The disciples claimed to have seen the risen Christ.
3) The disciples were willing to be killed or tortured for what
they would have known was a lie.
While it is true that people have been known to die for their
beliefs, never in all of history (without exception) has there been an entire
movement where people were willing to die for what they knew to be a lie.
#12) ARGUMENT FROM BIBLICAL FOREKNOWLEDGE.
Premise 1) Biblical foreknowledge would be evidence for God.
Premise 2) The bible contains
foreknowledge. The writers of the New Testament had access to the prophecies in the Old
Testament and probably wrote a story to create the “Savior Jesus.” The Bible
contains NO foreknowledge of anything scientific/medical.
Therefore, biblical foreknowledge is evidence for God.
Premise 1 is true because the bible claims to be the word of
God.
Premise 2 can be reasonably demonstrated through biblical
research.
Examples of biblical foreknowledge …
1) Scientific foreknowledge.
2) Prophecies of future kingdoms in the book of Daniel.
3) Prophecies of the life of Christ.
4) Prophecies of the restoration of Israel.
5) Prophecies dealing with detailed descriptions of how the
generation of the end times would look like.
6) Bible codes.
While many of the so-called codes popularized by Michael Drosnin
are complete garbage … There ARE real codes in the hidden text of the bible
(which ancient rabbis have been saying all along). For example, there is a THREE
HUNDRED LETTER sentence encoded in the bible (show me a 300 letter sentence in
War and Peace)! There are ONE THOUSAND AND SIX HUNDRED WORDS encoded in the
single chapter of Isaiah 53 AND all those 1,600 words are related to the
surface meaning of that chapter (a prophecy of Christ). By comparison, the best
that skeptic McKay could come up with was his Hanukkah cluster in War and
Peace. However, the Hanukkah cluster is GUARANTEED to appear by pure chance
alone! The Hanukkah cluster has only 7 words and the longest word is only 7
letters long. Show me a 300 letter sentence in War and Peace. Show me 1,600
words in a single chapter of War and Peace where ALL of those 1,600 words are
related to the surface meaning of the text.
World-renowned Mathematician Ed Sherman (with over 30 yrs
experience) has calculated the odds of the Isaiah cluster happening by random
chance at 1 in 10 to the 195th power (1 with 195 zeros after it)!
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