God Debate

Since you did not specify I debate format, I will start with rebuttals before setting up my arguments. "But this God makes many mistakes, many imperfections. Such as leaving Adam and Eve alone with the Tree of Good and Evil, making humans evil so that he would have to later murder them all in a flood, letting his son be murdered, creating Satan, creating cancer, creating earthquakes, etc." Christians believe that God gave us free will (this is key). We can choose good, or evil. God does not make us do evil acts. Adam and Eve choose to turn away from God, as did the humans who were killed in the flood (it's also worth noting that the Adam and Eve story is not taken literally by all Christian denominations). Those who believe Jesus is the Son of God believe he needed to die for our sins. It's true God created Lucifer, but Lucifer chose to turn away. Some Christians believe that it is sin that created cancer, disease, death, etc. (The Fall). Others believe that disease, earthquakes, etc. are part of nature. "Basically, Polkinghorne points out that the biological process that allows life to happen (the rapid dividing of cells) is the same process that allows cancer to happen. The process for cooling the earth also creates hurricanes. - See more at: http://www.elca.org...; http://www.elca.org... "The bible does not literally say, "The Earth is 6,000 years old.-" But upon examination it does. By following the genealogy from Adam all the way to present day, it rounds out to be around 6,000 years old. But there are fossils that date from around 3.5 billion years ago. This obviously contradicts itself. If the universe is 6,000 years old, then how can any type of matter exist before that? That is literally impossible. Therefore God cannot exist." Not all Christians actually take the genealogy of Adam literally. And just because the Bible starts with Adam, it does not mean Adam was the first human. He may have simply been the first recorded human in the Bible. "Since God is a spirit, then this God can not possess within himself any physical form. Without possessing physical form this being does not consist of matter. If a being does not contend with physical matter then this being cannot occupy space, thus not existing." Christians believe that God is a being that lives outside the laws of our world. Also, those who believe in the Trinity believe that God did 'exist as matter' at a certain point (Jesus). 1 a : to have real being whether material or spiritual b : to have being in a specified place or with respect to understood limitations or conditions http://www.merriam-webster.com... Not everything exists as matter. I'm imagining things, but they are not real. 1. PRIMARY MOVER I know a lot of Christians use this argument, but I'm going to use it anyway. The universe had to start somewhere. Think of a train and its cars. You see all the cars moving by, but you know something has to be pulling them; the train. The train, in this instance, is the primary mover. Some may equate the Big Bang as the start. But where did the Big Bang come from? One answer is God. But where did God come from? "If the answer is "he always existed" then we have a situation, from a causality standpoint, that is no more satisfying than a universe that springs forth from nothing. A creator that has always existed is an entity that somehow exists without a cause. So this answer doesn't solve the causality issue whatsoever." http://www.deepastronomy.com... However, if God stands outside the laws of our world and is 'perfect', then it makes sense he could be the primary mover that caused the Big Bang. It is also worth noting the Big Bang is still only a theory. 2. Complexity of the Planet Why is that Earth is the only planet that sustains life? "The Earth is located the right distance from the sun. Consider the temperature swings we encounter, roughly -30 degrees to +120 degrees. If the Earth were any further away from the sun, we would all freeze. Any closer and we would burn up. Even a fractional variance in the Earth's position to the sun would make life on Earth impossible. The Earth remains this perfect distance from the sun while it rotates around the sun at a speed of nearly 67,000 mph. It is also rotating on its axis, allowing the entire surface of the Earth to be properly warmed and cooled every day." http://www.everystudent.com... Also: "Oxygen is the third most abundant element in our universe. Earth's atmosphere is 21 percent oxygen. "That precise figure is an anthropic constant [i.e., one permitting man's existence, seemingly by design] that makes life on earth possible. If oxygen were 25 percent, fires would erupt spontaneously; if it were 15 percent, human beings would suffocate" (Norman Geisler and Frank Turek, I Don't Have Enough Faith to Be an Atheist, 2004, p. 98)." http://www.ucg.org... What are the chances that this could happen by a random explosion, not 'guided' in any way? Sorry I took so long, and sorry if these are poor arguments. Midterms, what can I say? Good luck next round.