Reasons for the Existence of God

God would be an atheist…
 
All Rights Reserved © Martin Foreman
 
[previous columns and further information: www.godwouldbeanatheist.com]

Believers defending their faith give five primary reasons for the
existence of God. 
 
One is personal experience – God has spoken to me. Another is the
existence of miracles. The third is the First Cause argument. The
fourth is the apparent impossibility of evolution. The last is the
stability of the universe.
 
The first two arguments are easily demolished. The last three appear to
be on stronger ground but their foundations are illusions.
 
Personal experience is just that: personal. No matter how strong the
presence of God in our lives, no matter how convinced we are that that
presence comes from outside us and exists independently of us, at the
end of the day, all experience of God comes from within and is nothing
more than self-created delusion.
 
Miracles are equally irrelevant. Miracles were frequent in ancient
history when events were rarely and uncertainly recorded and people
were more credulous. Over years stories grew and changed in the telling
and small incidents or outright lies metamorphosized into interventions
of the almighty. 
 
As we learn about the world about us and record our history better,
miracles have shrunk. Instead of global floods and plagues of locusts,
John Paul II’s claim to sainthood is based on the fact that a nun
prayed to him after his death and her Parkinson’s disease disappeared.
 
Two facts: the cure appeared inexplicable and she prayed to the late
Pope. Ergo, she was cured by a miracle. Any ten-year-old with
reasonable intelligence and a decent education would spot the fallacy
in that argument, but sound reasoning is not a trait normally
associated with the Christian faith.
 
For the benefit of nine-year-olds who may be reading this column and
uncertain of the illogicalities, let me make it clear.
 
Start by asking for the medical evidence, including dated and witnessed
brain scans pre- and post-“miracle” that prove both that the condition
was Parkinson’s and that it has been permanently cured. Prove that no
other condition could produce the same symptoms and disappear in the
same way.
 
IF the disease was Parkinson’s and it has been cured, examine all the
circumstances in which the disease pro- and re-gressed. Compare other
potential contributing factors such as diet, sleeping habits, chemicals
in the environment (eg from cleaning fluids or nearby factories) and so
on to eliminate all other causes of regression.
 
Compare this case with other situations where patients have
unexpectedly made a recovery without resort to prayer.
 
Compare all other prayers made to John Paul after his death, no doubt
with equal or greater fervor, and ask whether they have been granted –
particularly those that would qualify as miraculous. Explain why the
dead Pope would single out Marie Simon-Pierre for work of wonder.
 
And if after you have done all this and are still convinced that God,
or one of his saints, has performed a miracle, explain why God and his
saints ignore all the pleas of the millions of other human beings who
suffer illness and tragedy on a daily basis.
 
In short, recognize that two events may be connected (prayer and cure)
but connection is not proof of cause.
 
God, of course, might exist and be very different from the
miracle-working deity pictured by the Catholic faith.
 
Among other arguments for his existence is the First Cause – God caused
the universe to exist.
 
For centuries philosophers and scientists have looked into the origins
of the universe. As we explore ever deeper, our understanding continues
to develop, change and confuse.
 
All very interesting, but not very relevant. Underlying all the debate
and scientific evidence, at the end of the day, there are only two key
points.
 
The first is our ability to understand the universe in which we live is
inherently limited and our concept of “cause” may be flawed or
meaningless.
 
Given that caveat, we move to the second point: we have to decide
whether all entities can or cannot exist without a cause.
 
If some can exist without a cause, we accept that the universe does not
need a creator.
 
If all entities must have a cause, then God created the universe. And
something created God. Something else created the creator of God and so
on into infinity. 
 
The argument that the universe needs a cause but God does not is both
poor and hypocritical.
 
Given these two choices – a godless and a god-created universe - the
more intellectually honest conclusion is that the universe makes more
sense without God.  
 
Two arguments remain -  the apparent impossibility of evolution and the
stability of the universe (the fact that a few minor alterations in the
physical structure of the universe would make it impossible to exist).
 
Superficially, these arguments are attractive, but close up, they’re
hollow. We’ll take a look at them next week.


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]