Provide an argument for God’s Existence Assignment | Get Paper Help

I have to convince someone who does not believe in God, why there is a God. I have to provide one argument for my belief, and one argument against my belief from the section below (Class notes) starting with, “What is Philosophy of Religion?” . Also, defend my claim with arguments.
I will attach the chapter notes, which I have to refer to for my arguments. I will also attach the paper guidelines here:

Instructions: This is a slightly longer paper, 3-4 full pages, double-spaced, in size 12 Times New Roman font; remember to use quotation marks and citations for quotes.

Prompt: Some people believe that there is a God (theists). Other people believe that there is no God (atheists). Choose one of these beliefs to defend (you may choose based on which belief you actually hold, or which you find most interesting, or whatever—but you must choose only one). After you have made your choice, imagine the following scenario: you must convince someone who does not hold your chosen belief that your chosen belief is true. So, if you chose theism, you must convince someone who is not a theist that there is a God, and if you are an atheist, you must convince someone who is not an atheist that there is no God. You may do so in anyway you think is best. However, you must:

Refer to and explain at least one argument for your chosen belief from the section 7 material (for instance, use it to defend your chosen belief),

Refer to and explain at least one argument against your chosen belief from the section 7 material (for instance, say why you disagree with it), and

Defend your claims with arguments (for instance, do not just say “I believe there is/is not a God,” but rather “I believe there is/is not a God because I have had certain experiences, and these experiences justify my belief because…”).

As you write your paper, remember three things. First, keep your paper structured. Include an introduction and a thesis statement. Devote a paragraph to each main idea. Put your paragraphs in a sensible order. End your paper with a summary/conclusion. Second, keep your paper focused. Do not change the subject (for instance, don’t talk about whether we have a right to believe whatever we want—obviously, we do). Do not add details beyond what is needed to support or explain your arguments (for instance, don’t tell me all about your upbringing). Be specific and think very carefully about what you are saying (for instance, don’t say that “everything is true in a way” if you don’t really believe it—what about 2 + 2 = 7?). Finally, keep your paper clear. Avoid basic spelling and grammar errors (these are unacceptable at the college level). Do not use overly complicated language. Write in the first person (for instance, “I believe that…”).

Chapter Material:

To figure out whether their arguments are sound—that is, whether they are valid and have all true premises—we need to enter a new area of philosophy: the philosophy of religion.

What is Philosophy of Religion?

•The philosophical study of religion and related concepts (like God, the afterlife, etc.) is called the philosophy of religion.

•The philosophy of religion focuses on many topics, but we’ll discuss only two: classical arguments for God’s existence and the problem of evil.

What is Philosophy of Religion?

•Philosophers have offered many arguments for and against the existence of God. But before we consider them, we ought to figure out what philosophers mean by the word “God.”

•It isn’t very common to see philosophers using “God” to refer to a particular religious entity—for instance, Brahma, Jesus Christ, Zeus, or what have you. This doesn’t mean that philosophers don’t believe that any of these entities is God. Rather, it means that philosophers like to stick with a more abstract definition—one which doesn’t require you to know a lot about history, a particular religion’s beliefs, etc.

•By far the most common philosophical use of “God” is as follows: “God” is a being which is omnipotent (all powerful), omniscient (all knowing), and omnibenevolent (all good). Sometimes, it is added that God is necessary (his existence does not depend on anything else; he cannot fail to exist), and perhaps that God is the first cause of what exists. Notice that this definition makes no reference to a particular (or non-abstract) meaning of God, even though many religions would agree that their God is omnipotent, omniscient, etc.

•In what follow, whenever we use the word “God,” we’ll mean it in the same way that philosophers (often) do.

What is Philosophy of Religion?

•So, what about the arguments? It is far more common to see arguments given in favor of God’s existence; many arguments against God’s existence are simply objections to those in its favor. Thus, we’ll start with some arguments for theism—the belief that there is a God.

•(Note: some people say that atheists do not need to give arguments, because one cannot “prove a negative,” or because they do not have the “burden of proof.” The first claim is simply false: I can prove, for instance, that there is no largest number (this is a famous proof in mathematics). And that’s obviously a negative claim. The “burden of proof” is a more delicate issue. However, if you are an atheist—if you possess a belief that there is no God, rather than simply lack a belief one way or the other—then it is reasonable to expect some justification for that belief. The same goes for theists. In the context of philosophy, then, the burden of proof is on everyone who has a belief about God, whatever it may be!)

What is Philosophy of Religion?

•Some of the most popular arguments for theism are called cosmological arguments: these argue for God’s existence on the basis of necessary truths about the Universe—for instance, that everything has a cause. The ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle and the 13th century Christian philosopher St. Thomas Aquinas are known for arguments like these (and you can learn more here.)

•Here is one version of the causal cosmological argument (which most explicitly originates in St. Thomas Aquinas):

(1)There are some things which exist, and everything which exists has a cause.

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(C1) Therefore, all of the existing things have a cause.

(2) There cannot be an infinite chain of causes and effects.

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(C2) Therefore, there must be something which caused all of the existing things, but which does not itself have a cause. It makes sense to say that this thing—an uncaused cause—is God.

What is Philosophy of Religion?

•Cosmological arguments are deductive: if their premises were true, then their conclusion must logically be true as well. But that doesn’t mean they’re sound: their premises might not be true (this wouldn’t mean that God doesn’t exist—it would just mean that cosmological arguments aren’t sufficient for proving that he does). For instance, the 20th century philosopher Bertrand Russell argued that if premise 1 was true, then there couldn’t be an uncaused cause (like God). After all, premise 1 says that everything has a cause. And God is a thing! Therefore, God must have a cause too. What might this imply about premise 2?

What is Philosophy of Religion?

•Another famous argument for God’s existence is called the teleological argument. The ancient Greek word telos means “aim or purpose”; for instance, the telos of a hammer is to force nails into wood. Teleological arguments claim that many things in the natural world seem to have a telos, and that this suggests that they were intentionally created, perhaps by a God. The 18th century Christian philosopher William Paley is best known for his teleological argument. Paley’s argument is inductive: if its premises were true, then its conclusion would probably be true (can you see why?). It can be put as follows (and you can find more here):

(2)If we observed a watch, it would be reasonable to assume that it has a designer.

(2)Many naturally occurring things are like watches—they are complex, functional, etc.

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(C1) Therefore, if we observe many naturally occurring things, it would be reasonable to assume that they have a designer.

(3)We do observe many naturally occurring things.

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(C2) Therefore, it would be reasonable to assume that they have a designer—and its plausible to say that this is God.

What is Philosophy of Religion?

•Many philosophers have argued against premise 2: watches and natural things are very different. In particular, many believe that the success of evolutionary theory—its ability to predict and explain many phenomena, its strong support by evidence in biology, genetics, anthropology, geology, etc.—shows that complex natural things can arise without a designer.

•Nevertheless, there are contemporary versions of the teleological argument which agree with evolution and yet still claim that some natural things must be designed. These fine-tuning arguments argue that the basic physical laws of the universe—e.g., the law of gravity—appear to be very finely-tuned for life. That is to say, had they been even a bit different, complex molecules (and therefore life) could have never developed. Therefore, even though evolution might explain the complexity of species, it doesn’t explain the physical laws which allowed for evolution in the first place. Much of the debate concerns whether a natural explanation for fine-tuning can in fact be given.

What is Philosophy of Religion?

•Perhaps the most famous positive argument for atheism—the belief that there is no God—is called the problem of evil. While the original version of the argument goes as far back as the ancient Greek philosopher Epicurus, it has been defended by 20th century philosophers like J.L. Mackie. It goes something like this:

(3)If evil and God both exist, then either God doesn’t know about evil, or God can’t stop evil, or God doesn’t want to stop evil.

(4)God does know about evil, because he’s omniscient (all knowing).

(5)God can stop evil, because he’s omnipotent (all powerful).

(6)God does want to stop evil, because he’s omnibenevolent (all good).

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(C1) Therefore, evil and God cannot both exist.

(5)But evil clearly exists.

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(C) Therefore, God cannot exist.

What is Philosophy of Religion?