God is Real

I will first start off by catering to his request for further information. Here are the links for the Historical Evidence. • . http://www.martinfrost.ws... • . http://www.biblicalchronologist.org... • . http://thehive.modbee.com... (the findings in this are rather controversial but STILL possible, also, the current status of it on snopes. com is undetermined even though it has been out for years because of the evidence on each side of the argument about it. ) Now for my rebuttal. I will begin by offering some of the famous works written by Saint Thomas Aquinas about the existence of God. Thomas’s 5 Proofs: 1. Motion a. Everything is in motion b. If an object is in motion, something must have caused it to be in motion c. There can’t be an infinite chain of movers d. Therefore there must be a first, unmoved mover 2. Causality a. An event may cause another event b. If an event happens, then something other than itself must have caused it c. There can’t be an infinite cause and effect chain d. Therefore there was a first, uncaused cause 3. Contingency ( For this proof I challenge my opponent to prove that not everything in the universe or the universe itself is contingent. ) a. Contingent things exist b. Every contingent thing has a time at which it does not exist because contingent things are not omnipresent c. If everything is contingent, there would have to be a time in which nothing exists. d. This empty time would have been in the past e. If the universe were empty at one time, I would be empty forever, this is a conservation principle f. If everything in existence were contingent, nothing would exist now. ( There had to be something that was non contingent or else “e” would happen. g. Hence, God must exist 4. Degrees a. Objects have properties to greater or lesser extents. b. If an object has a property that is to a greater or lesser extent, there must be an object with with the property to the maximum possible degree. c. Therefore there is an entity with all properties at the maximum possible degree. d. Hence God exists. 5. Design a. Among objects that act for an end, some have minds, whereas others do not. b. An object that acts for an end, but does not itself have a mind, must have been created buy a being with a mind c. So there exists a being with a mind who designed all mindless objects that act for an end d. Hence, God exists. His Cosmological Argument (From Philosophy for Dummies by Dr. Tom Morris) 1. The existence of something is intelligible only if it has an explanation. 2. The existence of the universe is thus either: a. unintelligible or b. has an explanation 3. No rational person should accept premise (2a) by definition of rationality 4. A rational person should accept (2b), that the universe has some explanation for its being. 5. There are only three kinds of explanations: a. Scientific: physical conditions plus relevant laws yield the Event explained. b. Personal: Explanations that cite desires, beliefs, powers and intentions of some personal agent. c. Essential: The essence of the thing to be explained necessitates its existence or qualities (for example, if you ask why a triangle has 3 sides, I would respond that it is the essence and necessity for a triangle to have 3 sides by its definition. 6. The explanation for the existence of the whole universe can’t be scientific because there can’t be initial physical conditions and laws independent of what is to be explained. Event the Big Bang theory fails to explain the existence of the universe because modern science cannot explain where the original Big Bang singularity came from. The universe as a sum total of all natural conditions and laws cannot be explained unless we have an Archimidean reference point outside the system. 7. The explanation for the existence of the universe can’t be essential because the universe cannot exist necessarily. This is because it could have been possible for the universe not to have existed (if the Big Bang had been slightly different it is possible for large-scale structures to not have existed). Thus the universe is not something that must necessarily or essentially exists. 8. Thus a rational person should believe that the universe has a personal explanation. 9. No personal agent but God could create the entire universe. 10. A rational person should believe that there is a God. It is more likely for there to be a God than for there to not be a God. My opponent has stated that God is pretty much a way of filling the gaps that humans can not understand. God is not a "God of the Gaps," in fact, that argument is, for the most part, invalid. Every new thing we learn about the Universe, ten more things pop up that we don't know. It's like, we fill one gap in a sinking ship and water starts coming in from ten more leaks. When scientists found out that the Universe was ever expanding, Stephen Hawking and other scientists had to figure out the equation and build on the theory of General Relativity. Which states that “if the universe is governed by the equations of General Relativity, not only are we faced with an ultimate origin, we are all of the matter in the universe, and all of the energy in the universe. But we're faced with a coincident ultimate origin for even the dimensions of length, width, height and time. ” (The Singularities of Gravitational Collapse and Cosmology) Creation I now challenge my opponent to offer evidence as to how the universe was created independent of a higher being. One argument is Quantum Physics, some Atheists claim that a quantum fluctuation caused the creation of the Universe. This would be impossible considering that a quantum fluctuation needs an interval of time for it to take place and up to the exact instant that the universe was created, time didn’t exist. This closes my round 3 argument, thank you for your time. Sorry for any spacing errors as this was copied from a Word Document that I made. References Aquinas, Thomas. Summa Theologica of St. Thomas Aquinas. New Advent Inc, 1996-97. (online) . http://www.newadvent.org... Dr. Tom Morris. Philosophy For Dummies. Foster City, California: IDG Books Worldwide Inc, 1999. Varner, Gary. Introduction to Philosophy The Singularities of Gravitational Collapse and Cosmology . http://www.cosmicfingerprints.com...