It is probable that God exists

Logical Arguments I will be presenting three logical (or philosophical) arguments to show that there are good reasons to believe that God exists and that atheism is self-refuting. C1) Origin of the Universe The universe exists. Is the universe eternal or did it have a beginning? Science has proven that the universe cannot be eternal, or static, as once believed. Indeed, with phenomena such as redshift, cosmic background radiation, and the second law of thermodynamics, those scientific facts all point towards the idea that the universe had a beginning. In his book, The Beginning of Time, Stephen Hawkins states: The conclusion of this lecture is that the universe has not existed forever. Rather, the universe, and time itself, had a beginning in the Big Bang, about 15 billion years ago.[1] So what was the first cause of the universe? If my opponent states “The Big Bang”, consider that the website Talk Origins states: “The BBT is not about the origin of the universe. Rather, its primary focus is the development of the universe over time.”[2] In his debate with Stephen Law, William Lane Craig points out this philosophical absurdity of infinite regression[3]: However, the obvious question is why assume that this cause is God? Since there is nothing prior to the cause of the universe, it cannot be explained by science. Moreover, this cause must be outside of matter and time in order to create matter and time. For example, if I create a computer program, I must exist outside that program in order to create it. We are therefore warranted in our conclusion that God exists. The argument is thus summarized as follows: 1. If the universe began to exist, then the universe has a transcendent cause 2. The universe began to exist (proven by science and philosophy) 3. Therefore, the universe has a transcendent cause. C2) TAG: Argument from logic[4] I. Logical Absolutes Exist a. Law of Identity b. Law of Non-Contradiction c. Law of Excluded Middle II. Logical absolutes are truth statements such as: a. That which exists has attributes and nature b. Something cannot be itself and not be itself at the same time. c. Truth is not self-contradictory d. Therefore, Logical Absolutes are absolutely true. They are not subjectively true; that is, they are not sometimes true and sometimes false, depending on preference or situation. Otherwise, they would not be absolute. III. Logical Absolutes form the basis of rational discourse. a. If the Logical Absolutes are not absolute, then truth cannot be known. b. If the Logical Absolutes are not absolute, then no rational discourse can occur. i. For example, I could say that a square is a circle (violating the law of identity), or that I am and am not alive in the same sense at the same time (violating the law of non-contradiction). IV. Logical Absolutes are transcendent a. Logical absolutes are not dependent on space b. They are not dependent on human beings i. People's minds are different. What one person considers to be absolute may not be what another considers to be absolute. People often contradict each other. Therefore, Logical Absolutes cannot be the product of human, contradictory minds. ii. If Logical Absolutes were the product of human minds, they would cease to exist if people ceased to exist, which would mean they would be dependent on human minds. But this cannot be so per the previous point. V. Logical absolutes are not dependent upon the material world VI. Logical Absolutes are conceptual by nature a. Logic is a process of the mind. Logical absolutes provide the framework for logical thought processes. Therefore, it seems proper to say that Logical Absolutes are conceptual by nature since Logical Absolutes are truth statements about Logical things. VII. Thoughts reflect the mind a. A person’s thoughts are the product of that person’s mind b. A mind that is irrational will produce irrational thoughts c. A mind that is rational will produce rational thoughts d. Because Logical Absolutes are trance dent, absolute are perfectly, and are independent of the universe; it then follows that they reflect a transcendent, absolute, perfect and independent mind. e. We call this God since a physical brain is not transcendent by nature because it is limited to physical space, and God is, by definition, transcendent. VIII. Only two options a. If we have only two possible options by which we can explain something and one of these options is removed, by default the other option is verified b. God either exists or does not exist c. Atheism cannot account for the necessary preconditions for intelligibility; namely, the existence of logical absolutes. Therefore, it is invalidated as a viable option for accounting for them. Therefore, the position that God exists is validated. IX. How does Judaism account for Laws of Logic? a. The Jewish worldview states that God is absolute and the standard of truth. b. Therefore, the absolute laws of logic exist because they reflect the nature of an absolute God. i. God did not create the laws of logic because they reflect God’s thinking. Because God is eternal, so are the laws of logic. c. Because God created man in his image, we are capable of discovering these laws of logic. d. Therefore, Jews can account for the existence of those logic by acknowledging that they originated from God and man is only discovering them. Historical Evidence for God’s Existence C3) The National Revelation at Mt. Sinai[5] The Torah states the following: [Moses told the Israelites]: 'Only beware for yourself and greatly beware for your soul, lest you forget the things that your eyes have beheld. Do not remove this memory from your heart all the days of your life. Teach your children and your children's children about the day that you stood before the Lord your God at Horev [Mount Sinai]... God spoke to you from the midst of the fire, you were hearing the sound of words, but you were not seeing a form, only a sound. He told you of His covenant, instructing you to keep the Ten Commandments, and He inscribed them on two stone tablets.' (Deut.4:9-13) Why do the Jews, after thousands of years, still hold to their-believe in one God? Very simple: we stood at the food of Mount Sinai and heard the voice of God. We were there when it happened. He revealed Himself to all of us, not just to Moshe. In The Foundation of the Torah, Maimonades, the great Jewish leader of the middle ages, notes: The Jews did not believe in Moses, our teacher, because of the miracles he performed. Whenever anyone’s belief is based on seeing miracles, he has lingering doubts, because it is possible the miracles were performed through magic or sorcery. All of the miracles performed by Moses in the desert were because they were necessary, and not as proof of his prophecy. What then was the basis of [Jewish] belief? The Revelation at Mount Sinai, which we saw with our own eyes and heard with our own ears, not dependent on the testimony of others… as it says, "Face to face, God spoke with you…" The Torah also states: "God did not make this covenant with our fathers, but with us—who are all here alive today." (Deut. 5:3)[6] Conclusion The only rational conclusion is that God exists and it is the God of the Bible. [1] http://www.hawking.org.uk... [2] http://www.talkorigins.org... [3] http://www.reasonablefaith.org... [4] Adapted with permission from http://carm.org... [5] In Torah texts, Mt. Sinai is also called “Mount Horev” or “The Mountain of God.” [6] Maimonades Foundations of Torah, ch. 8