Does God Exist?
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In this research paper I will be discussing and comparing two theories of whether or not God exists. First I will discuss Atheism, and then I will discuss the Cosmological Argument theory. I am going to compare the two theories and show you why I do not believe in the atheism theory and believe in the cosmological argument theory. I am a firm believer that there is a God and we are here on earth for a reason.
To begin, according to the textbook, atheism denies the major claims of all varieties of theism. (Textbook p.294) In the words of atheist Ernest Nagel, “Atheism denies the existence…of a self-consistent, omnipotent, omniscient, righteous and benevolent being who is distinct from and independent of what has been created.”(Textbook p.294) I am in total disagreement with the whole theory of there being no higher being. How could you begin to explain what we as humans are doing on earth if we were not put here by something greater than ourselves? Atheist have several reasons for believing there is no god, one of which being the problem of evil. Evil has been a constant problem since the beginning of time, and brings up several questions regarding whether or not God is real. Many atheists believe that if there was a true God, then he could destroy evil. I believe that God creates everyone equal, and their path in life determines whether or not they will commit evil acts. It is not Gods place to come and fix our problems; after all, he gave us life. This thought is not shared by the atheist. They often present the question that if there was a God, and he is unwilling to destroy evil, does that make him evil? (Textbook p.296) I do not find this question to be fair. God has placed us on this earth to make our own decisions and choose how we want to live our lives. If we chose to commit evil acts then we will have to answer to God when our time on earth is up, where he will ultimately be the one to judge our actions.
Next, we are going to look at how the cosmological argument points to the claims that there must be an ultimate casual explanation for which the universe as a totality exists. The Christian philosopher Saint Thomas Aquinas started the theory that if any object in the universe is moving, it must have been moved by something else that was also moving, and this second moving object must have been moved by something else that was also moving, and this must have been moved by a fourth moving object, and this by a fifth, and so on. (Textbook p.284) Aquinas believed there must be someone who started this chain of motion; therefore, there must be a God. There has been recent scientific evidence that suggests the universe began with the “big bang.” The “big bang theory” is a theory that billions of years ago, the universe began as an infinitesimal point that exploded suddenly into a huge ball of matter and that has continued exploding outward to form the gigantic universe we see around us. (Textbook p.285) I believe in the “big bang theory” and think it points to scientific proof that God does exist. There is proof today that the planets of the universe are gradually moving farther apart as time passes. This is proof that the “big bang theory” is true. With this being true it is proof that the earth has only been around for a few billion years and that it had a definite beginning. And only an infinitely powerful Being-God-can account for this beginning of the universe. (Textbook p.285) If God did not account for the beginning of the universe, than who did? This is clear cut scientific evidence that a God does exist. This theory also shows proof of evolution. Over time the earth has evolved along with everything on it. How else could you explain why humans and monkeys have such similar DNA. However, not all organization and order is the result of intentional design. In his Origin of the Species, published in 1859, Charles Darwin described mechanisms of evolution, such that the order of nature, in particular that of all biological species, could be readily accounted for without an appeal to anything supernatural or beyond nature. (The Examined Life p.58)
Now I am going to compare