For over a millennia, philosophers and theologians alike have disputed the existence of God. From my perspective, it seems as though the atheists are on the attack against theists in the hopes to disprove the existence of God so that they find some comfort in their bleak outlook on mankind’s existence. McCloskey, an outspoken atheist, wrote an article titled “On Being an Atheist” in which he examined and tried to disprove three arguments that he believed convinced many theists of God’s existence. These three arguments are referred to as a cosmological proof, a teleological proof, and an argument from design. While McCloskey’s article may resonate with some atheists and seem to be a valid attack on the theist’s belief, it fails to strike any real blows and instead shows the disparity that comes with atheistic beliefs.
In his article, McCloskey uses the term “proofs” rather than arguments when discussing the three ideas that he finds to be the most motivating forces for theist’s to theistic beliefs. In the article, he states that “move ordinary theist to their theism”(3). He believes that these “proofs” do not offer definitive evidence that proves God exists without even the slightest room for doubt; therefore, the belief in God should be completely abandoned. For an individual who claims to believe in a worldview based on self-reliance and science, this is completely contradictory. For example, with the same mindset and approach to arguments, an atheist should in turn abandon the evolutionary theory because it cannot be definitively proven. After viewing the presentation, there exist Christian refute the atheists’ rebuttals to these arguments. The Bible and knowledge of God and creation offers explanations for many o...
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...t bit. Atheist are not the only ones who are able to assert themselves rationally and find solutions to problems. Some one who holds a biblical worldview may also, but have the knowledge that all things fall into God’s plan and though him we have purpose. Craig sums this up perfectly when he states, “Thus, if there is no God, then life itself becomes meaningless. Man and the universe are without ultimate significance” (2). This idea that we face nothing on our own is far more comforting to me than the “me against the world” view that atheists hold to.
Works Cited
Evans and Manis. Philosophy of Religion: Thinking About Faith (2nd ed.). Downers
Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2009.
Craig, William Lane, Reasonable Faith: Christian Truth and Apologetics, 3rd Ed.,Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, 2008.
McCloskey, H.J. “On Being an Atheist”. Question 1. February 1968.
H.J McCloskey’s article, “On Being an Atheist,” is an attempt to show atheism as a more practical alternative to the Christian belief. McCloskey reasons against the theistic beliefs of the cosmological argument, the teleological argument and design. He references the presence of evil in a world created by God and the absurdity of living by faith. This article is an attempt to reason that God does not exist because He is perfect and the world is not perfect; evil exists therefore God cannot exist. McCloskey’s article labels these arguments as “proofs” and concludes none of these arguments would be evidence of God’s existence. I find McCloskey’s article to lack logic and coherence which only serves to invalidate his arguments. I find this little more than an attempt to justify his own atheistic worldview.
First off, The Cosmological Argument was developed by St. Thomas Aquinas in 1274 through his work entitled Summa Theologica (otherwise known as Five Ways). Its purpose was to prove God’s existence through sensory perception. In Part One, Article Three of Prima Pars, Aquinas states that in order to debate, one must become involved in the opposing argument, then afterwards argue their view. In this case, one must look at both the argument for God’s existence (Theism) and for God’s non-existence (Atheism) in order to truly understand the argument that they are arguing for or against. The cosmological argument is divided into three parts, each containing varying sub-arguments:
However, despite this when their belief is challenged, “They are able to show that it is not blind and unthinking”. Atheists don’t believe that any form of a God exists; they believe that everything (the world and its inhabitants etc) just appeared. The atheistic view says: “there is no explanation”.
In today’s culture, the idea of there is perfect and divine designer that made the earth and everything that entails with it, really pushes people away. Not only has this idea been conflicted about in today’s culture. It has been especially trivial in past decades, an example of this is seen by H.J. McCloskey. McCloskey wrote an article about it called “On Being an Atheist”, which attempts to defeat the notion that there is a God. McCloskey first addresses the reader of the article and says these arguments he is about to address are only “proofs”, which should not be trusted by any theist. He then goes and unpacks the two arguments that he believes can actually be addressed, the cosmological and teleological argument. McCloskey also addresses the problem of evil, free will, and why atheism is more comforting than theism.
The Proof of the Existence of God There are many arguments that try to prove the existence of God. In this essay I will look at the ontological argument, the cosmological. argument, empirical arguments such as the avoidance of error and the argument from the design of the. There are many criticisms of each of these that would say the existence of God can’t be proven that are perhaps.
Atheism of a certain sort can be supported by appeal to the existence of widespread nonbelief in God. This is shown by a Canadian philosopher, J. L. Schellenberg, in his book Divine Hiddenness and Human Reason. His argument is as follows:
Theology is an intentionally reflective endeavor. Every day we reflect upon the real, vital, and true experience of the benevolent God that exists. We as humans tend to be social beings, and being so we communicate our beliefs with one another in order to validate ourselves. Furthermore atheism has many forms, three of the most popular atheistic beliefs include: scientific atheism, humanistic atheism and the most popular one being protest atheism. Scientific atheism is the idea that science is the answer for everything and god is not existent. The humanistic approach states that society is self-sufficient; therefore God is not needed for survival. Therefore how could he exist? The position that I will argue in this paper is the pessimistic idea of protest atheism.
Before delving into the problems with theistic evolution, let us define it. Theistic evolution rejects the Christian tradition of interpreting the creation days as having been normal 24-hour days. It insists that only naturalistic mechanisms be considered when considering creation and the origin of life. Theistic evolutionists believe that humans and all other life forms evolved from a bacterial precursor in the distant past. For theistic evolutionists, naturalistic science carries precedence over the Word of God. However, in order to justify Christian faith, theistic evolution allows for the supernatural in order to explain New Testament miracles. In Biology Through the Eyes of Faith, theistic evolutionist Richard Wright explains that theistic evolutionists rearrange the first chapters of Genesis into topical sections instead of interpreting them in a straightforward manner (2003, p. 92). He argues that the chr...
Hindson, E., & Caner, E. (2008). The Populer Encyclopedia of Apologetics. Eugene: Harvest House Publishers.
Religion is the belief in and worship of a superhuman controlling power, especially a personal God or gods, a particular system of faith and worship or a pursuit or interest followed with great devotion (Oxford Dictionary, 2014). From religion, many new groups, communities and further derived religions have formed. Closely related to religion and with endless controversies surrounding it’s classification as a religion is the concept of Atheism- which is defined as the disbelief or rejection of a deity. Descending from this is a social and political movement in favour of secularism known as New Atheism. Understanding the historical content concerning the emergence of atheism, this essay will then address how various aspects within the field inclusive the goals, structures and approaches have emerged and developed over time in comparison to the original atheist ideals.
The existence of God is quite controversial issue. God has different names in the world, and a lot of people, strongly believe in his existence. While, on the other hand, there are also people who don’t believe in his existence. In their discussion entitled “Does God Exist?” William Lane Craig, who is the supporter of the idea of existence of God, debates with Austin Dacey, who is an atheist, on the idea of existence of God. They provide the strong arguments and their debates are quite interesting, and innovative (not similar to those arguments, we usually read about in book). These are the fresh views on the question of existence and non-existence of God.
"The God Delusion by Richard Dawkins was New York Times bestseller in 2006." Richard Dawkins who is an atheist holds the view that, God is the most unpleasant character and that the existence of God is a scientific question. Claiming that God created the universe is a claim that must be investigated by science. In this essay, I will demonstrate Dawkins view of God and nature which is that there is absolutely no ability for science and religion to co-exist. When we come across the signs of religion there is no scientific evidence for us to believe in them. I will demonstrate this view by discussing the God Hypothesis which opposes the idea that there exists a supernatural intelligent person who created the universe. The existence of the
Many atheists have used science as a way to disapprove the existence of God. Science is not an accurate way of disapproving the existence of God(2). Scient...
In this essay I discuss why there is proof that there is a supernatural being known as God, who has created everything we know and experience. The mere claim, that there could be a "Proof for the Existence of God," seems to invite ridicule. But not always are those who laugh first and think later. Remember how all-knowing doctors/scientists laughed at every new discovery?
Let’s start off by explaining what atheism is, it’s when you don’t believe in any form of an “Intelligent Creator” or God, as usually referred to as. The word atheism comes from the root word “theism”, which is when you believe in a God, or numerous Gods depending on the religion, and the prefix “a”, which means “not”. There are no set practices of atheism, or a set list of beliefs. To be an atheist you must believe what you would like and simply live your life without constraints based on what you believe is good or bad, not what you are told is good or bad. There is a constant debate against atheism from the theist side, because both sides’ arguments are polar opposites and each believes their side of the argument is 100% valid. I will state my view on some arguments, and clarify some common atheist stereotypes.