Review of Common Arguments for the Existence of God
What I
want to do today is to write a brief summary of each of the arguments for the
existence of God that I have come across in my studies; that seem to hold any
water (I won’t be calling on the youtube video that argues for design just
because a human hand can hold a banana). If I miss any that you believe to be a
part of this review, please contact me and I will research the argument and
update my post here.
The
Kalam Cosmological Argument https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6CulBuMCLg0
– This argument focuses on the prime mover, or the uncaused first cause. The
argument goes as such: everything that begins to exist has a cause, the
universe began to exist; therefore the universe has a cause. Dr. William Lane
Craig is the biggest proponent of this argument, and further develops the
characteristics of this prime mover and shows that the God of Christianity is
the best fit for this uncaused first cause.
The
Contingency Argument https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FPCzEP0oD7I
– This is a bit of a spin on the Cosomological argument, and goes as such.
Everything that exists has an explanation of its existence. If the universe has
an explanation of its existence, that explanation is God. The universe exists,
therefore the explanation of the universe’s existence is God.
The
Ontological Argument https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xBmAKCvWl74
– This argument talks about the possibility of a maximally great being. If it
is possible that this maximally great being, otherwise known as God, exists,
then God does exist.
The
Argument from Fine Tuning/Teleological Argument https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Yt7hvgFuNg
– This argument discusses the universe as a set of constants (universal
constants such as the weak and strong atomic forces, the cosmological constant,
and so on), if any of these constants were off by a little bit, then life would
not be permissible
The
moral argument https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OxiAikEk2vU
– This argument bring up something that could be a little controversial in
today’s postmodern society. This argument posits this. If objective moral
values and duties exist, then God exists. Objective moral values and duties do
exist, therefore God exists.
These
arguments should be a good starting point for a beginner in apologetics, who
wants to examine some basic arguments for the existence of God. Since this
should be out by around the new year, this could be a new beginning of faith or
a new journey for a believer who wants to know why they believe what they
believe. May God bless you, and I wish you all a happy new year!
Good info!
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