Chapter 6 The Problem of Evil and the Existence of God

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Chapter 6The Problem of Evil andthe Existence
of God
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Beliefs in God

• Theistone who believes in a personal god who
  rules the world.
• Agnosticone who neither believes nor disbelieves
  in god.
• Atheistone who disbelieves in god.
• Deistone who believes that god created the
  universe and then abandoned it.
• Pantheistone who believes that the universe is
  god.

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Thought Probe Biblical Truths

• Modern archaeology has failed to find confirming
  evidence for many of the Bibles historical
  claims.
• Does this undercut the credibility of its
  non-historical claims? Why or why not?

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Section 6.1The Mysterious Universe

• God as Creator

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Cosmological Arguments for the Existence of God

• Cosmological arguments for the existence of God
  attempt to derive the existence of God from the
  existence of the universe.

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The Traditional Cosmological Argument

1. Some things are caused.
2. Nothing can cause itself.
3. Therefore, everything that is caused is caused by
   something other than itself.
4. The chain of causes cannot stretch infinitely
   backwards in time.
5. If the chain of causes cannot stretch infinitely
   backward in time, there must be a first cause.
6. Therefore, everything that is caused has a first
   cause, namely, God.

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Problems with the Traditional Cosmological
Argument

• Even if there is a first cause, it doesnt have
  to be God.
• The notion of an infinite string of causes is no
  more self-contradictory than the notion of an
  infinite string of numbers.
• So the universe itself may be eternal.

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The Kalam Cosmological Argument

1. Whatever begins to exist has a cause.
2. The universe began to exist.
3. Therefore, the universe had a cause, namely God.

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Problems with the Kalam Cosmological Argument

• Modern physics recognizes that some events have
  no cause.
• The big bang could have been the result of a
  prior big crunch either in this universe or
  some other.

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Thought Probe Why a Universe?

• God is eternal, but the universe seems to be only
  about 15 billion years old.
• Why, after an eternity of time had passed, did
  God decide to create a universe?

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Teleological Arguments for the Existence of God

• Teleological arguments for the existence of God
  try to derive the existence of God from the
  design or purpose of things.

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Thought Experiment Paleys Watch

• Suppose you were walking across a meadow and came
  across a watch.
• Could you believe that the watch had always been
  there?
• Wouldnt it be more reasonable to believe that
  someone had designed it for the purpose of
  keeping time?

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The Analogical Design Argument

1. The universe resembles a watch.
2. Every watch has a designer.
3. Therefore, the universe probably has a designer,
   namely, God.

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Problems with the Analogical Design Argument

• If God needs a universe to accomplish his ends,
  he is not omnipotent.
• Even if there is a designer, it need not have any
  of the other attributes traditionally associated
  with God, such as omniscience or omnibenevolence.
• The universe is as much like a living thing as a
  mechanism and living things reproduce without
  need of an external agent.

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The Best-Explanation Design Argument

1. The universe exhibits apparent design.
2. The best explanation of this apparent design is
   that it was designed by a supernatural being.
3. Therefore its probable that the universe was
   designed by a supernatural being, namely, God.

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Problems with the Best-explanation Design Argument

• Apparent design can also be explained by
  evolution.
• Evolution is a better explanation than the
  God-hypothesis because it is simpler, more
  conservative, has greater scope, and is more
  fruitful.

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Intelligent Design

• If there were structures that were so complex
  that they could not possibly have evolved through
  natural selection, there would be reason to
  believe that evolution was false.
• Michael Behe, a Lehigh University biochemist,
  claims to have found such structures.
• However, most biologists reject the notion that
  the parts of an irreducibly complex system could
  not have evolved independently of that system.

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Thought Probe Intelligent Design

• Suppose that life on Earth is the result of
  intelligent design. Some hypothesize that God was
  the intelligent designer, and others hypothesize
  that aliens were the intelligent designers.
• Which hypothesis the God hypothesis or the
  extraterrestrial hypothesis is the better
  explanation?
• Which hypothesis does better with respect to the
  criteria of adequacy?

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Fine-Tuning

• Many people believe that the remarkable
  fine-tuning of many of the universes physical
  properties lends credibility to the notion that
  it was designed. If certain physical properties
  were slightly different then we wouldnt exist.
• However, this fine-tuning needs to be explained
  only if its possible for the universe to be
  tuned differently than it is.

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Thought Probe Human Design Flaws

• From an engineering point of view, human beings
  do not seem to be very well-designedwe get
  bulging disks, fragile bones, torn ligaments,
  varicose veins, cataracts, hearing loss, etc.
• Is this evidence against an intelligent designer?

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Miracles

• Miracles are a violation of natural law by a
  supernatural being.

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The Argument from Miracles

1. There are events that seem to be miracles.
2. The best explanation of these events is that they
   were performed by a miracle worker.
3. Therefore, there probably is a miracle worker,
   namely, God.

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Thought Probe Parting the Red Sea

• An oceanographer and a meteorologist have shown
  that the Red Sea could have parted naturally as a
  result of a wind of the sort described in the
  Bible.
• Does this undercut the notion that it was parted
  by God? Why or why not?

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Problems with the Argument from Miracles

• The miracle worker may not have any of the
  properties traditionally associated with God.
• Something may seem to be a miracle simply because
  we are unaware of the natural laws at work.

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Thought Probe Jesuss Miracles

• Many of the miracles associated with Jesus were
  of the same kind performed by magicians of his
  day.
• Origen claimed that they would have been
  fraudulent if used to make money but Jesus used
  them to inspire religious awe.
• Is Origens reasoning cogent? Why or why not?

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Thought Probe The Fivefold Challenge

• Five miraculous events recorded in the Bible are
  unconfirmed by archaeology
• (1) the parting of the Red Sea, (2) the stopping
  of the Sun, (3) the reversal of the suns course,
  (4) the feeding of thousands, (5) the
  resurrection of saints.
• Is the fact that they are unconfirmed reason to
  believe that they didnt occur?

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The Argument from Religious Experience

1. People have experiences that seem to be of God.
2. The best explanation of these experiences is that
   they are of God.
3. Therefore, its probable that God exists.

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Thought ProbeReligious Experience

• Michael Persinger has discovered that religious
  experience can be generated by activating the
  temporal lobes of the brain.
• Does the fact that religious experience can be
  produced electronically undercut the claim that
  they are produced supernaturally? Why or why not?

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Problems with the Argument from Religious
Experiences

• Religious experiences can be explained as the
  result of abnormal states of consciousness
  brought on by drugs, meditation, sensory
  deprivation, etc.
• These explanations are better than the God
  hypothesis because they are simpler, more
  conservative, more fruitful, and have more scope.

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Anselms Ontological Argument

1. God, by definition, is the greatest being
   possible.
2. If God exists only in our minds, then it is
   possible for there to be a being greater than
   God, namely a being like God that exists in
   reality.
3. But it is not possible for there to be a being
   greater than God.
4. Therefore, God must exist in reality.

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Thought Experiment Gaunilos Lost Island

• Consider the most perfect island imaginable.
• If it only existed in our minds, it wouldnt be
  the most perfect island imaginable.
• Therefore, it must exist in reality.

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Existing in the Understanding

• To say that something exists only in the
  understanding is to say that the concept of the
  thing doesnt apply to anything in reality.
• Contrary to what Anselm would have us believe,
  this doesnt involve a contradiction.

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Descartess Ontological Argument

1. God, by definition, possesses all possible
   perfections.
2. Existence is a perfection.
3. Therefore, God exists.

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Thought Experiment Edwards Gangle

• Suppose someone discovers a new animala
  ganglethat has eleven noses, seven blue eyes,
  bristly hair, sharp teeth and wheels in the place
  of feet.
• Suppose now that someone says that, in addition,
  gangles exist.
• Do we learn something new about the nature of
  gangles?

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Problems with the Ontological Argument

• Existence is not a property of things.
• Existence is not a perfection. (Its not always
  better to exist than not to exist.)
• The first premise of Descartess argument should
  read If God exists, then He possesses all
  possible perfections.
• The conclusion, then, would be If God exists,
  then He exists.

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Thought ProbeOne More God

• By some estimates, humans have worshipped more
  than three thousand different gods throughout
  history.
• So monotheists dont believe in thousands of
  other gods.
• The difference between atheists and monotheists,
  then, is that atheists believe in one less god
  than monotheists.
• If monotheists are rationally justified in not
  believing in thousands of other gods, are
  atheists equally justified in not believing in
  the god of the monotheists? Why or why not?

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Thought Experiment Pascals Wager

• If you wager that God exists, and He does, you
  win everything.
• If He doesnt, you lose nothing.
• So you should wager that God exists.

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Thought ProbeThe Best Bet

• Herb Silverman claims that if God exists, He
  would prefer to be with intelligent, honest,
  rational people who base their beliefs on
  evidence rather than faith.
• So he proposes Silvermans wager If God does
  not exist, one will lose nothing by not believing
  in Him, while if He does exist, one will lose
  everything by believing.
• Is this a better bet than Pascals?

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Problems with Pascals Wager

• God may not care whether people believe in Him.
• God may punish those who believe on purely
  selfish grounds.
• God may not like gamblers.
• It may not be true that we lose nothing by
  believing in God.

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Thought ProbeAlien Religion

• Suppose that we are visited by aliens from outer
  space and find that they have no religion and
  have never heard of any of the gods worshipped by
  humans.
• Would this undermine the credibility of our
  religions?
• Would it be appropriate to try to try to
  evangelize the aliens and convert them to one of
  our religious? Why or why not?