Many studies have been done trying to prove and disapprove the existence of God. Existence of an all-powerful, omnipresent and omnipotent being has been criticized by many people. Atheists have been on the front line in proving the non- existence of an all-powerful and all good being. McCloskey, an atheist in his article On being an atheist, gives an explanation in support of atheism. McCloskey (1968) criticizes three arguments for the existence of God in order to support his stand. These arguments are the cosmological, the teleological and design. Cosmological is the argument that the existence of universe means that there is a supernatural being which caused it. Therefore, atheist believes that God exists since He is the supernatural being who made the universe. The teleological is based on the argument that the universe is designed towards the accomplishment of a specific purpose. The argument that the universe supports a final cause makes the theist believe that there must be a being who made the universe since it is oriented to a specific cause. The design argument supports that the universe and everything in it has a particular design. Therefore, if the universe has a designer, then there must be a designer. According to theists, the designer is God. In his article, McCloskey uses this argument as proofs to discredit the existence of God.
McCloskey uses the arguments for the existence of God as proofs. The use of the word proofs means that the final explanation should prove beyond any doubts the truth of the statement of discussion. According to McCloskey (2008), since the arguments for the existence of God cannot provide proof in support of the existence of God. Therefore, God does not exist. According to Foreman, the existence of God cannot be proved in the same way mathematical equations are proved. The arguments for the existence of God are not meant to be proofs. According to Foreman, the arguments for the existence of God are intended to provide an explanation for the events observed in the world. Though the arguments for the existence of God do not provide proof that God exists, they support the fact that an uncaused being exists. The existence of a superior being means that His existence is beyond human understanding. This is why there is no 100% proof of His existence. However, lack of proof of the existence of God does not discredit the arguments on His existence. The existence of an uncaused being helps to explain the events that are observed in the entire universe. The existence of the universe and the events observed in the universe are contingent. McCloskey does not provide any explanation on the cause of the existence of the universe and why the events observed in the universe occur. Rejecting the existence of an uncaused being means that the existence of the universe has an endless cause which is not the case. Therefore, the stand of McCloskey is not satisfactory nor superior to theism.
Cosmological arguments state that the existence of the universe means that there exists a necessary being who is uncaused who made the universe. The arguments attribute the necessity of the uncaused being in the creation of the universe. According to this argument, the existence of an uncaused being is necessary since it prevents the regress cause effects since the uncaused being is the cause of the universe and the events that are observed in the universe. McCloskey critics this argument by stating that the existence of the universe is not necessary therefore the existence of the one who caused the universe is also not necessary. According to Evans and Manis (2009), the presence of contingent beings means that there exists a necessary being who caused the contingent beings. The existence of beings in the universe who do not know their origin means that there is a causal being whose origin is not understandable by human beings. According to Evans and Manis (2009), there is a being that caused the existence of the contingent beings. According to Evans and Manis (2009), the being who caused the existence of the contingent being is uncaused. This is because if the being is contingent, then there needs an explanation of the cause of the being. If there exists an uncaused being, then the being caused the existence of the universe. Lack of an uncaused being would mean that all the contingent beings have an infinite cause. The existence of the uncaused being is necessary since the being caused the existence of the contingent beings.
The cosmological theory portrays God as an all-powerful, all-good and uncaused being McCloskey (2008). McCloskey critic this argument by the question how people understand all this character about the uncaused being. According to Evans and Manis, the cosmological argument is not conclusive on the characteristics of God. Every individual who believes in the existence of God should do research in search of a clear understanding of God. This means the understanding of God is personal. Every person has a unique relationship with God and therefore have a different perception of who God is and His characteristics.
The teleological argument is criticized by McCloskey because there are no indisputable examples of the design and purpose of the universe. McCloskey requires an indisputable example to explain the design of the universe. Human beings are not all knowing and they are limited in the knowledge of the universe. Human beings do not have the ability to understand everything. Therefore, they rely on reasoning and perception to make out the meaning of something. Therefore, it is not possible to provide an indisputable example of the design and purpose of the universe. Therefore, McCloskey reasoning is not reasonable. According to Evans and Manis (2009), animals are made up of many parts that work together to achieve a specific goal. For example, a bird possesses features that make it possible to fly. The bird possesses features that make it possible to reproduce and survive. These features include a heart, feathers and the ability of the neck to rotate 180 degrees in order to preen the feathers. All these features that enable a bird to fly despite its lack of intellectual ability mean that there exists a designer. The features in birds are made in such a way that the bird is capable of flight. The same case happens to fish. All fish have properties and features that make it possible for them to swim and survive in water. These different designs that are exhibited by different animals that make them exist and reproduce is an indication that a designer exists.
McCloskey in his arguments criticizes a teleological argument by suggesting that the existence of evolution displaces the need for a designer since everything that is observed was caused by evolution. While this theory is possible, evolution must have been caused and designed by an uncaused being. Therefore, in this situation, God used evolution to achieve His purpose in the universe. Through this argument, evolution is supported, but the need for a designer is not discredited. Therefore, evolution does not displace the need for a designer. McCloskey also argues against teleological through criticizing the existence of an all-powerful, and all-perfect designer. McCloskey states that a perfectionist designer cannot allow the existence of evil in the world. According to Evans and Manis (2009), the cosmological argument is not conclusive about the characteristic of God. In the teleological argument, God is represented as an intelligent designer but not as an all-perfect designer. Therefore, the perfectionist nature that McCloskey talks about is not discussed in the teleological argument.
According to McCloskey, if God existed, He could not allow evil to exist in the world since He is an all perfect God. McCloskey finds no logic as to why an all-good God would allow avoidable evil to prevail in the world. According to McCloskey, since evil exists in the universe. Therefore an all-perfect and all-powerful God does not exist. The Bible in the book of Genesis states that God created a world without evil. Evil was brought into the world through the acts of man. Evans and Manis support this by stating that God gave man free will. God did not force humanity to love Him; rather He gave humanity freedom to choose him. According to Evans and Manis, evil is as a result of humanity misusing their freedom. Therefore, evil is caused by humanity, not God. According to Evans and Manis (2009), the universe is created in such a way as to facilitate the spiritual and moral development of humanity.
McCloskey farther argues that God would have created man with a free will that only chooses what is right. There is no need to create humanity and make him vulnerable to the choice evil or good. According to Evans and Manis (2009), creating free beings who only choose what is right would contradict the freeness of free will. Creating human beings that choose only what is right means contradicting the essence of free will. There is no free will that has conditions. For humanity to exercise free will, they had to make the choice between evil and good without any obligation. Though there is no certainty as to why an all-powerful God would allow evil to prevail, a claim that existence of evil means that God does not exist is not valid. The explanation above gives a description as to why evil exists. The people who believe in God always have individual reasons as to why evil exist in a world where God is in control. A person who does not believe in God will find it difficult to understand why God allows evil to exist in the universe.
McCloskey farther argues that it is more comfortable to believe that God does not exist than to believe He exists. This he explains by stating it is intolerable to believe that the pains humanity goes through are caused by a supreme being. According to McCloskey, it is better to experience pain and know that no one is responsible for it. Some pains that people experience like loss of a loved one and sickness of loved ones or oneself are better left to fate and nature than knowing that God is allowing all that suffering to prevail in the world. According to McCloskey, there is no comfort in knowing that God permits all the suffering people to experience in life. It is more comforting to experience pain and suffering and know that there is no being that is causing that suffering. William Craig on the other had provided a different argument in his article The absurdity of life without God. According to Craig (2008), life without God is an absurdity. There is no comfort in living a life whereby there is no value to the actions of a person. According to Craig (2008), if a collision of a bunch of atoms caused the existence of the world, then life has no meaning. The value of right and wrong disappears if God does not exist. Therefore, the existence of life lacks any meaning and the hope of life after death disappears too. Atheism offers emptiness and lack of purpose in life. Therefore provides no comfort.
The belief in the existence and non-existence of God has contributed to many studies trying to credit and discredit theism. The atheist has their own reasons as to why they believe God does not exist. Theist also has their own reasons in support of the existence of God. It is a personal call to decide which side to support and believe in. Availability of arguments for the existence of God is a good source of knowledge in believing that God exists.
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