Atheist Philosophical Arguments Against God’s Existence ...

LSI Journal, Vol. 31, no. 3 (Summer 2017)

Atheist Philosophical Arguments Against God's Existence ?$&ULWLTXH

-HUH\6WXHEHU

$WKHLVWV KDYH QR VKRUWDJH RI UHDVRQV IRU QRW EHOLHYLQJ LQ *RG

$WKHLVWVIRULQVWDQFHEHOLHYH*RGGRHVQRWH[LVWEHFDXVHWKHUHLVHYLOLQ

WKH ZRUOG 7KH\ DOVR EHOLHYH WKDW *RG LV LQFDSDEOH RI EHLQJ NQRZQ E\

some means. Neither one of these reasons are valid.1

,QIRUPHUDWKHLVW3DWULFN*O\QQKDGKLVERRNGod: The Ev-

idence,SXEOLVKHGE\3ULPD3XEOLVKLQJ*O\QQXVHVFRVPRORJLFDOGHVLJQ

DUJXPHQWVDQGQHDUGHDWKH[SHULHQFHVWRDUJXHIRU*RG?VH[LVWHQFH

0\DQDO\VLVRIDWKHLVWDUJXPHQWVH[SORUHV0LFKDHO0DUWLQ?VFUL-

tiqueRI3DWULFN*O\QQ?VERRN%HIRUH,MXPSLQWRDFULWLTXHRI0DUWLQ,

ZLOOEULH?\H[SODLQZK\*O\QQZURWHKLVERRN

Glynn, the associate director and scholar at George Washington

University Institute for Communitarian Policy Studies in Washington, '&ZDVE\WKHODWHVDFRQYLQFHGDWKHLVW7KLVZDVSDUWO\GXHWRWKH LQ?XHQFHRIDFDGHPLD*O\QQ?VSURIHVVRUVGLGQ?WWHOOKLP*RGZDVGHDG EXWWKHPHVVDJHKHUHFHLYHGIURPWKHPZDV

,W ZDV VLPSO\ DVVXPHG WKDW UHOLJLRXV EHOLHI KDG EHFRPH LP-

1 To be clear, no one can come to faith in the Triune God without the work-

ing of the Holy Spirit, as Martin Luther points out in his explanation to the

Third Article of the Apostles' Creed. )RUDGGLWLRQDOLQIRUPDWLRQWKHUHDGHULVGLUHFWHGWRP\ERRNThe Vast Wastelands of UnbeliefDWHVWLPRQ\WRIDOOLEOHDWKHLVWDUJXPHQWV 0LFKDHO0DUWLQPatrick Glynn's God: the Evidence7KH6HFXODU:HEDGURS RIUHDVRQLQDSRRORIFRQIXVLRQ,QWHUQHW,Q?GHOVKWWSLQ?GHOVRUJOLEUDU\PRGern/michael_martin/glynn.htmlDFFHVVHG$XJ$OOTXRWDWLRQVIURP 0DUWLQKHQFHIRUWKLQWKLVFKDSWHUZLOOEHIURPWKLVHVVD\XQOHVVRWKHUZLVHQRWHG

16

Atheist Arguments -a Critique

LSI Journal, Vol. 31, no. 3 (Summer 2017)

SRVVLEOHIRUUDWLRQDOEHLQJVLQWKHPRGHUQHUDDIDFWWKDWRQH accepted with a certain melancholy and nostalgia for previous DJHVZKHQLWZDVVWLOOSRVVLEOHIRU?PHQ?WREHOLHYH?

+RZHYHU EHJLQQLQJ LQ WKH V KLV EHOLHIV ZHUH FKDOOHQJHG

)LUVWLQ%UDQGRQ&DUWHU gave a presentation on the anthropic prin-

FLSOHVXJJHVWLQJWKHXQLYHUVHZDVQRWDUDQGRPDFFLGHQWEXWKDGSK\VLFDO

FRQVWDQWVWKDWZHUH?QHO\WXQHGIRUOLIHWRH[LVWRQRXUSODQHW7ZR\HDUV

later Raymond Moody SXEOLVKHG Life After Death D ERRN UHFRXQWLQJ

SHRSOH?VQHDUGHDWKH[SHULHQFHV7KLVVXJJHVWHGWR*O\QQWKDWWKHUHPLJKW

EH D UHDOP EH\RQG OLIH RQ (DUWK ZKHUH VSLULWXDO EHLQJV DQG *RG FRXOG

UHVLGH/DWHULQWKHVRWKHUDXWKRUVOLNH06FRWW3HFN argued faith

DQGPHQWDOKHDOWKFRXOGQRWEHVHSDUDWHGDQGWKDWRQH?VIDLWKKDGDEHQH?-

FLDOHHFWRQRQH?VKHDOWK7KHVHDXWKRUVODLGWKHJURXQGZRUNIRU*O\QQ?V

GRXEWDQGKLVUHODWLRQVKLSZLWK*DEULHOHDVSLULWXDOO\VWURQJZRPDQZKR

ZRXOGEHFRPHWKHORYHRIKLVOLIH?QDOO\OHGKLPWRFKDQJHKLVPLQG

,IZHDSSO\0DUWLQ?VUHDVRQLQJWRDELF\FOHZH ZRXOGVD\WKHLQGLYLGXDOSDUWVRIDELF\FOHZHUH QHYHU SXUSRVHG QRU LQWHQGHG WR HQG XS PDNLQJ D ZRUNLQJ ELF\FOH 2EYLRXVO\ 0DUWLQ?V DUJXPHQWGRHVQRWZRUNZKHUHGHVLJQLVSUHVHQW

When theists8XVHWKHDQWKURSLFSULQFLSOHWRDUJXHIRU*RG?VH[LVWHQFHWKH\DUHVD\LQJWKDWWKHXQLYHUVHDSSHDUVWREHPDGHWRVXSSRUWOLIH DQGWKHUHIRUHWKH\FRQFOXGHWKDWWKHXQLYHUVHPXVWKDYHEHHQGHVLJQHG IRUWKDWVSHFL?FSXUSRVH

3DWULFN*O\QQGod: the Evidence: The Reconciliation of Faith and Reason in a Postsecular World5RFNOLQ&$3ULPD $Q$XVWUDOLDQWKHRUHWLFDOSK\VLFLVWZKRSURSRVHGWKHDQWKURSLFSULQFLSOH $SKLORVRSKHUSV\FKRORJLVWDQGSK\VLFLDQ $SV\FKLDWULVWDQG0HWKRGLVWPLQLVWHU %\WKLV,PHDQLQGLYLGXDOVZKREHOLHYHLQDJRGEXWQRWQHFHVVDULO\WKH7ULXQH *RGRIWKH%LEOH

Atheist Arguments -a Critique

17

LSI Journal, Vol. 31, no. 3 (Summer 2017)

,QFUHGLEO\0LFKDHO0DUWLQFODLPVWKDWWKHDQWKURSLFSULQFLSOHFDQ

EHUHVWDWHGWRLPSO\QRWKLQJPRUHWKDQIXQFWLRQDOLW\0DUWLQZRXOGVXJ-

JHVWWKDWWKHXQLYHUVH?VGHVLJQHGQDWXUHLVRQO\DSSDUHQWDQGQRWDUHVXOWRI

VRPHVXSHUQDWXUDOEHLQJ?VGHVLUHV

:KDW VRUW RI UHDVRQLQJ LV WKLV" ,I ZH DSSO\ 0DUWLQ?V UHDVRQLQJ

WR D ELF\FOH ZH ZRXOG VD\ WKH LQGLYLGXDO SDUWV RI D ELF\FOH ZHUH QHYHU

SXUSRVHG QRU LQWHQGHG WR HQG XS PDNLQJ D ZRUNLQJ ELF\FOH 2EYLRXVO\

0DUWLQ?VDUJXPHQWGRHVQRWZRUNZKHUHGHVLJQLVSUHVHQWEHFDXVHELF\FOH

SDUWV DUH REYLRXVO\ GHVLJQHG 7DNHQ WR LWV ORJLFDO FRQFOXVLRQ DQG XVLQJ

0DUWLQ?VRZQLOORJLFZHFRXOGDOVRVD\WKDWWKHZRUGVLQ0DUWLQ?VFULWLTXH

are not purposely designed for the end result of his essay.

What0DUWLQPLVVHVLVWKDWWKHUHDVRQPDQ\WKLQJVKDYHDVSHFL?F IXQFWLRQLVEHFDXVHWKH\DUHGHVLJQHG7KHIXQFWLRQRIWKHSDUWVWKDWPDNH XSDELF\FOHLVWRXOWLPDWHO\SURYLGHDPHDQVRIWUDQVSRUWDWLRQIRUVRPHRQH --they were designed that way. Without design, it would never provide

WKDW IXQFWLRQ 0DUWLQ?V UHEXWWDO RQO\ SXVKHV WKH LVVXH EDFN D VWHS :K\ GRHVWKHXQLYHUVHKDYHWKHIXQFWLRQLWKDV"0RVWOLNHO\LWLVEHFDXVHLWZDV VSHFL?FDOO\GHVLJQHGWRKDYHWKDWIXQFWLRQ

Referencing fellow atheist Victor Stenger, Martin suggests, in orGHUWRGLVSURYHWKDW*RGKDGDQ\KDQGLQFUHDWLRQWKDWRUGHUFDQEHSURGXFHG IURP GLVRUGHU ,Q D +XQJWRQ 3RVW DUWLFOH 6WHQJHU H[SODLQV KLV claim that nature tends to go from disorder to order.

7KDW?V DQ HDV\ RQH VLQFH \RX GRQ?W KDYH WR UHO\ RQ FRPSOH[ ELRORJLFDO DUJXPHQWV ................
................

In order to avoid copyright disputes, this page is only a partial summary.

Google Online Preview   Download