thoughtful ideas on life's big questions
Using philosophical arguments in an attempt to prove the existence of God has a long tradition. Not long ago, these arguments had fallen a little out of favour as non-believers thought they proved nothing and believers often felt they didn’t need to prove anything. But interest in them has grown in recent times, as christian […]
If you’re reading this, you probably think about God a bit – whether in belief or disbelief. There are a lot of ideas around about God (the website that this blog is part of has its fair share!), and on the internet, in particular, it is hard to tell who knows what they are talking […]
Here’s another common atheistic argument. Christians often argue that God is the only reasonable or feasible explanation of how the universe got here. A common atheistic response is to say that “God did it” explains nothing – it leaves us with no more of an explanation than we had before we brought God into the […]
I suppose we all like to think we are very honest with ourselves – we only believe what we really think is true and we don’t close our minds to evidence that goes against our beliefs. I suppose we all like to think that. But I think we are sometimes fooling ourselves. Let’s look at […]
Atheist vs christian wars seem to be a permanent feature of life, and the internet, these days. The latest instalment is the verbal slanging match between US christian philosopher William Lane Craig and UK atheist biologist Richard Dawkins. It’s not really all that pretty.
It is not uncommon to hear about someone who says they have been miraculously healed by God. We may also look at some ‘faith healers’ and find it easier to believe they are charlatans. Do healing miracles happen? Is there any good evidence for healing miracles? How do we explain them?
One of the most common arguments I’ve seen used by atheists against belief in God is based on one or more of many obvious mythical, unreal or downright silly beings – commonly Santa, Thor, Zeus, fairies, even the cheesy Flying Spaghetti Monster and a hypothetical celestial teapot. The argument is that there is no more […]
One of the evidences often quoted for the existence of God is miraculous healings. There are many responses a sceptic might make, but one of them is the argument that since healings are claimed by many different religions, they cannot be used to support the existence of any particular God. My friend Steven at Think […]
In the discussions and arguments between believers and sceptics on the internet, you’ll find a number of arguments and statements recurring. Many of them are presented as if they are telling blows for their proponents, without necessarily ever being argued logically. I have discussed the Carl Sagan claim “extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence“, and now […]
It is probably the most devastating argument against belief in God. If there is a good and powerful God, why would he allow so much suffering and evil in the world. Surely he would stop it? Doesn’t this prove beyond doubt that there is no God?