God Probably Exists

Per PRO’s directions in R1, I will not be addressing his argument until Round 3. I will use this round to outline my own arguments in support of my claim that “God probably doesn’t exist. ” PRO clarified that we are speaking of the Christian God, but I still find this to be a bit broad. There can be no doubt that the God of the Catholics is vastly different from the God of the Jehovah’s Witnesses, and in between those two, there are numerous different God concepts with subtler differences. Any further clarification PRO can give would be helpful. I will use this round to forward three ideas which support my claim. Those three arguments are Unintelligent Design, Occam’s Razor, and the hell dilemma. Unintelligent Design The Christian Bible is very clear that God created all things [1][2], including humans [3][4]. This God then noted that, according to his own standards, the creation was “good” [5]. There can be no doubt, that, according to the bible, God, the creator of all, thought his creation was good. Two more points I want to make are that God loves humans [6], and that he can do anything [7]. To sum up, God loves us, he created us, and he can do anything. Therefore, we should expect that we have bodies that are free from gross problems. Unfortunately for us, this is not the case. We have a pharynx [8], a tube used for both eating and breathing, which ensures some of us will choke to death. Our breathing reflex is controlled, not by low oxygen levels, but by high carbon dioxide levels [9], which can cause oxygen deprivation at high altitudes unless an individual consciously increases their respirations. Our eyes are built backwards, with light having to travel through nerves and blood vessels before it hits the receptor cells [10]. Other issues with the human body are that our sinuses drain against gravity [11], our appendixes are more trouble than they are worth [12], we cannot synthesize vitamin C, like most of the rest of the animal kingdom [13], and the existence of extra parts, such as the plantaris muscle [14]. Occam’s Razor Occam’s Razor basically states that when deciding between competing hypotheses, the one that makes the fewest assumptions is generally preferable [15]. For instance, let’s say you are sick, and you choose to do two things: take medicine, and pray. A week later, you are better. To what should you attribute your recovery? If you attribute your health to the medicine, you need only assume that the clinical trials for your medicine are accurate, but if you claim that God healed you, you have to assume that 1) God exists; 2) the God that exists is the kind of God that answers prayers; and 3) your recovery fit in with that God’s divine plan, or God saw fit to amend his plan for you. To attribute your newfound health to a deity obviously violates the razor. Extending the razor to the existence of gods, we need only realize that positing a god doesn’t have any explanatory value. If we don’t know the origin of the universe, and posit a god, we still have the same amount of unknowns (the origin of the universe vs. the origin of the god), but we have added an assumption. This is a violation of the razor . The Hell Dilemma I hesitate to use this argument because I don’t feel we have adequately defined the God about which we are discussing. However, even if this argument doesn’t apply, I would still like to get it out there to see what other think about it. This argument basically says that the existence of hell violates the Christian God’s justice. The Christian God is claimed to be just [16][17]. Many Christians hold to a literal hell, consisting of literal fire, resulting in torture forever [18]. However, this is in direct conflict with the justice of the Christian God. Justice is about doling out a punishment that fits the crime [19], so there is no finite crime that can justify an infinite torture. Therefore, either God is not just, or he isn’t the kind of deity that would have a hell; either way, the specific God of the bible that is both created a hell and is just cannot exist. Wrapping UpI have shown that the God of the bible is unlikely to exist by demonstrating incompetant design, showing that he has no explanatory power and therefore should be discarded, and y showing that his alleged justice is contradicted by his creation of a hell. I look forward to both PRO's comments on my points as well as my opporunity to rebutt his points in the next round. Sources [1] . http://www.biblegateway.com... [2] . http://www.biblegateway.com... [3] . http://www.biblegateway.com... [4] . http://www.biblegateway.com... [5] . http://www.biblegateway.com... [6] . http://www.biblegateway.com... [7] . http://www.biblegateway.com... [8] . http://www.britannica.com... [9] . http://www.unm.edu... [10] . http://www.bartleby.com... [11]Applegate, Edith. 2013. The sectional anatomy learning system: concepts and applications. Elsevier Health Sciences, St. Louis, MO: p. 143 [12] . http://www.webmd.com... [13] . http://www.nature.com... [14] . http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov...[15] . http://en.wikipedia.org...[16] . http://www.biblegateway.com...[17] . http://www.biblegateway.com...[18] . http://www.newadvent.org...[19] . http://www.merriam-webster.com...