Top 10 arguments for the existence of god
Posted on: January 2, 2008 - 6:29pm
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Top 10 arguments for the existence of god
I want to thank everyone in the RS Stickam chat room for helping with this... I think it's finally in a polished form to present:
Top ten arguments for the existence of God
This is my summary of the most popular arguments given by theists, with short critiques (I also link deep to Toddangst's great diatribes on logical fallacies for more details). Let me know what you think. I'm trying to create a type of short article that can get some "legs" on the mainstream non-atheist sites.
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Good site
Fantastic page. I love it more than God himself.
Great work Pile
Nice page! Your reward cookie is this comic.
I think the page is nicely fine-tuned now. We've continued to tweak it here and there. I'm submitting it to the FFRF to see if they want to print it in their next newsletter.
Clear evidence of a fine tuner.
If you would be OK with it, I would like to make a (non)tract similar to these I have made: http://atheismtracts.googlepages.com
Though it would be shorter due to space constraints, The message would essentially be the same.
Your god's silence speaks loud and clear
No problem - I just ask that you give credit, and ideally, if you can put a link to http://freethoughtpedia.com/ on your site, that would be awesome...
Nice site.
BTW, it was William Paley, not C.S. Lewis, who first put forth the watchmaker argument. I seem to recall that in his younger years Darwin was impressed by Paley's arguments, but that after he had carefully worked through his own theory of evolution by natural selection, Darwin was able to disprove Paley.
Someone correct me if I'm wrong.
Books on atheism, purchases on Amazon support the Rational Response Squad server.
Yes, I know CS Lewis didn't invent that, which I believe is why I said he "perfected" the argument. But it is good to know who the original creator of that argument is. I think Dawkins goes into it in "The God Delusion" so I should maybe look it up. As always, I appreciate any and all feedback. I really want to make the article as accurate as possible.
Actually, if you search for Watchmaker Argument in Wikipedia you'll see a whole list of people that made their version of it going back a couple thousand years. It seems the argument started with sundials.
"I am an atheist, thank God." -Oriana Fallaci
Interesting to know, but I believe Dawkins wrote that Paley's argument was the most elegant. Jesus, I'm too lazy to look it up. I suppose one could read all of the watchmaker arguments and decide for oneself. Sounds like a hoot, huh?
Books on atheism, purchases on Amazon support the Rational Response Squad server.
Actually, Dawkins discusses it in Chapter 1 of the "The Blind Watchmaker" as he borrows from it for his title. In my copy it's on pages 4-6.
FYI - "Natural Theology - or Evidences of the Existence and Attributes of the Deity Collected from the Appearances of Nature" by William Paley, Published 1802.
Since I have the book out already... "He had a point ot make, he passionately believed in it, and he spared no effort to ram it home clearly. He had a proper reverence for the complexity of the living world, and he say that it demands a very special kind of explanation. The only thing he got wrong - admittedly quite a big thing! - was the explanation itself. He gave the traditional relugious answer to the riddle, but he articulated it more clearly and convincingly than anybody had before. The true explanation is utterly different, and it had to wait for one of the most revolutionary thinkers of all time, Charles Darwin."
I always liked this list of Proofs of God's Existence.