Resolved: God Exists

A few administrative points: The debate format specified gives my opponent four rounds of rebuttals, but limits me to only three. I request that Con limit themselves to only opening arguments in the next round to make it equal. If this is not acceptable, then I know I agreed to this debate so I'll carry on and do my best. Just wanted to ask. Furthermore, Con specified a shared BoP. You cannot 100% prove God exists, but you also cannot 100% prove he does not. As such, I submit that we seek to prove which option is most LIKELY. Once again, if my opponent finds this unacceptable, then I'll carry on and I wish them luck in proving that God 100% does not exist, because they would be the first person in human history to do so successfully. On to arguments: == Argument == My claim is that life and reality in the observed universe is best (best = most probable, most complete, most satisfying, and least extravagant) explained by God's existence. Before starting my argument, we must first establish that the universe had a finite beginning. Both logic and scientific evidence has shown that the universe cannot have an infinite past. Logically, if an infinite sequence of past events had to occur in order to arrive at the present, then we could never actually arrive at the present because it's impossible to complete an infinite sequence of events. Scientifically, the theorem developed by cosmologist and professor of evolutionary science Alexander Vilenkin mathematically proves that the universe "cannot have an eternal past" and therefore must have had a finite beginning [1]. Given that the universe had a beginning, there are only 3 possible explanations for the origins of the universe as we observe it: physical necessity, chance, or design (If Con can think of a 4th, they are welcome to include it). Physical necessity - There is no logical or empirical evidence to suggest the universe exists out of necessity. I fully realize that a simple lack of evidence is not a good reason to totally reject a proposal (Argument from Ignorance fallacy), but we are looking for the BEST explanation here, and I submit that an explanation for which there is no evidence is not the best. Chance - This is a viable option, but it's so astoundingly improbable that it cannot offer the best explanation. Roger Penrose of Oxford University calculated that the probability of the universe's low entropy condition developing by chance alone is 1:10^10(123). [2] That's a 1 followed by more zeroes than there are atoms in the universe. This is an unbelievably inconceivable number - a probability so small that it flirts with the definition of impossible. I look forward to Con explaining why we should accept such improbability as the "best" solution to how life formed. Design - Flipping Penrose's ratio around, there is therefore a 10^10(123) to 1 probability that the universe did NOT arise by chance, i. e. , design is vastly more probable. But beyond probability, there are logical reasons to accept design as the best explanation for life: First, something cannot come from nothing, and nothing cannot cause something. Since we have already established that the universe (i. e. , everything that exists) had a finite beginning, it means by definition that nothing must have existed before the universe. Therefore, if we accept the chance explanation, we must accept that nothing somehow caused everything by chance. However, since nothing cannot cause something, the most logical explanation is there must have been an intelligent cause. Next, all the scientific evidence we have available today indicates that life cannot come from non-life (abiogenesis). Many experiments have attempted to do it, and some have succeeded in forming basic proteins, but none have produced life. We do, however, know for a fact that life can produce other life, and that conscious beings can produce other conscious beings. As such, I submit that design is the better explanation for life's origins. Looking forward to the next round. [1] . http://arxiv.org... [2] . http://www.evolutionnews.org...