God is the Best Explanation for Why Something Exists Rather than Nothing

Outline:I. IntroductionII. RebuttalsIII. Scientific Fallacies of the BibleIV. The Big BangV. SourcesI. IntroductionFor thousands of years, man has used the concept of a God, deities to explain how the world works; the early Egyptians believed that the calm flooding of the Nile that brought fertile soil was a gift from Hapi, the God of the Nile, the Aztecs thought that chaotic weather appeared when the Gods were angry with the Aztecs, the Greeks believed that the sun was a God riding a golden chariot, and the Norsemen thought all man came from the frost giant, Ymir.I will be arguing that explaining why something exists with the use of God is inconclusive and possesses no evidence to support these ideas. I will also address my opponent's points, and discuss how the universe began from a scientific standpoint to explain how science is more reliable than holy scriptures and religious beliefs. Because my opponent is arguing for the existence of a Christian God, I will try to also address scientific fallacies in the Bible to explain how the Christian God does not exist.II. RebuttalsMy opponent believes that God is the best explanation for the existence of something. Certainly, it can be a convenient excuse for why something happens or how something is created but does it properly address the question? My opponent argues that because “Everything that exists has an explanation of its existence, either in the necessity of its own nature or in an external cause,” and “If the universe has an explanation of its existence, that explanation is God.” He concludes by saying “Therefore the universe has an explanation of its existence… Therefore the explanation of the universe is God. Therefore, God exists."I believe that my opponent's argument is fallible. His argument is based on cause and effect. He believes that everything has an origin. In his second premise jumps conclusively to the idea of God: "Premise Two: If the universe has an explanation of its existence, that explanation is God." There is virtually no support to this premise. He simply assumes that, if the Universe was created by something, then that "something," had to be God. Additionally, if "Everything that exists has an explanation of its existence," then God too would have a "cause" or beginning. My opponent fails to explain how God was created.My opponent also fails to provide any evidence for the existence of a God, aside from the belief that a deity created the universe. Also, though he asserts the belief that the Christian God exists in his argument, he fails to provide any explanation for why the Christian God exists, and not why the Greek Gods, Allah, or the Norse Gods are the real Gods. III. Scientific Fallacies of the BibleIn response to my opponent's argument on how he believes the Biblical God exists, I will explain the nature of the Bible and the scientific inaccuracies which make it an unreliable source for knowledge. The Bible is a collection of holy scriptures and was compiled in 450 BCE, though there are some texts believed to be as made as early as 1500 BCE. We also have to put into perspective of who wrote the Bible; this was written by multiple people over approximately a thousand years during a time where people used magic and religion to explain things, rather than apply logic and science.This religious folklore of man being formed from clay or a fragment of a person's rib, alchemy, or the belief that the world is a meager six thousand years old as opposed to four billion years, or the entire Earth being flooded is outright impossible. For example, the Bible claims that the world is approximately 6,000 years old [1]. However, this idea can easily be dismissed. Through radiometric dating, geologists have found rocks surpassing 3 billion years of age [2]. Additionally, Bill Nye, a prominent speaker for atheism, argued against the young-Earth beliefs saying "My scientific colleagues go to places like Greenland, the Arctic, they go to Antarctica and they drill into the ice with hollow drill bits... And we pull out long cylinders of long ice rods... made of snow and ice. It's called 'snow ice.' Snow ice forms over the winter, and snow flakes fall, and are crushed down by subsequent layers. They're crushed together, and are entrapping little bubbles. The bubbles must needs be [from] ancient atmospheres; there's nobody running around with a hypodermic needle squirting ancient atmosphere into the bubbles. And we find certain of the cylinders to have 680,000 layers. 680,000 snow winter/summer cycles. How could it be that just 4000 years ago, all of this ice formed? We can just run some numbers. Let's see we have 680,000 layers of snow ice, and 4000 years since the great flood, that means we need 170 winter/summer cycles every year. For the last 4000 years. Wouldn't someone have noticed that? Wouldn't someone have noticed there's been winter/summer, winter/summer for 170 times in one year?"IV. The Big BangThe Big Bang Theory (no, not the show) is the most popular scientific explanation towards the creation of the universe. While we do not possess sophisticated enough tools and technology to peer back at the universe's birth, we can, through mathematical theories and models, provide evidence towards the Big Bang Theory [3].There are many pieces of evidence that support the Big Bang Theory:Point One: The Red-shift of light is evidence of the universe's expansion. Light travels to Earth from other galaxies.The distance between the Earth and the galaxy increases because of the Universe's expansion, causing the wavelength of that light to get longer [4]. Similar to how, as stated by the Doppler Effect, sound waves experience a shift in frequency and wavelength towards the observer. This is not due to the sound itself changing, but the distance the observer is from the source of the sound [5]. Similarly, light will have changed wavelengths and frequencies dependent on how far the observer, or Earth, is to the source of the light, or galaxy.Point Two: According to the research center at Liverpool John Moore's University, "very early in its history, the whole Universe was very hot. As it expanded, this heat left behind a "glow" that fills the entire Universe taking the form of microwaves. Astrologists, using orbiting detectors, have confirmed that there are microwaves all across the universe, providing a great deal of leverage towards the Big Bang Theory [6]. Point Three: According to the Australia Telescope National Facility website, "Astronomers are able to measure the relative amounts of the light nuclei hydrogen, deuterium (an isotope of hydrogen with one proton and one neutron), helium-3, helium-4 and lithium-7 in distant, unmixed clouds of primordial gas. The relative abundances of these nuclei correspond with the calculated predicted ratios from the Big Bang model," [7]. As the universe formed, according to the Big Bang Theory, it created various elements. Scientists, using the Big Bang theory, have been able to predict existing elements and isotopes located in unmixed clouds of primordial gas.V. Sources [1] https://answersingenesis.org...[2] http://www.extremescience.com...[3] http://www.space.com...[4] http://study.com...[5] http://www.physicsclassroom.com...[6] http://www.schoolsobservatory.org.uk...[7] http://www.atnf.csiro.au...[8] http://study.com...[9] http://www.agenciasinc.es...[10] https://www.merriam-webster.com...[11] http://www.windows2universe.org...