Saturday, October 8, 2016

Reasons and Arguments For the Existence of God

One of the most central and most important beliefs of the Christian faith is this:

(G) God exists.

Many arguments have been given in support of (G) over the past 2,500 years.  We will not attempt to examine every argument that has ever been given in support of (G).  Instead, we will examine cases for the existence of God that have been presented by modern Christian apologists who are philosophers and who are very familiar with the philosophy of religion.

These apologists are familiar with a wide range of traditional and modern arguments for the existence of God, and they have selected what they believe to be the strongest and best arguments to form their cases for God.  

If the cases for God presented by modern Christian apologists who are philosophers who are very familiar with philosophy of religion fail to establish that God exists or fail to show that it is probable that God exists, then we can reasonably conclude that it is not possible to show that God exists or that it is probable that God exists, because we will have reviewed a good sample of the arguments for God that Christian apologists who have expertise in this area have judged to be the strongest and best arguments available for the existence of God.

Here are four cases for the existence of God presented by four well-known Christian apologists who are philosophers with expertise in the philosophy of religion:

1.  Norman Geisler's Case for God 

  • "Questions About God" -  A four-part series by Norman Geisler presenting his case for the existence of God (excerpted from When Skeptics Ask) available on the John Ankerberg Show website.
  • When Skeptics Ask: A Handbook of Christian Evidences by Norman Geisler and Ron Brooks, Chapter 2: "Questions about God" (Victor Books, 1990).
  • I Don't Have Enough Faith to Be an Atheist by Norman Geisler and Frank Turek, Chapters 3 through 7 (Crossway Books, 2004).

2. William Craig's Case for God 

  • "Does God Exist?" by William Craig, in Philosophy Now, Nov./Dec. 2013.
  • Reasonable Faith by William Craig, Chapter 3: "The Existence of God" (Crossway Books, revised ed., 1994). 
  • Foundations for a Christian Worldview by J.P. Moreland and William Craig, Chapters 23 and 24: "The Existence of God I" and "The Existence of God II" (IVP, 2003).

3. Peter Kreeft's Case for God 


4. Richard Swinburne's Case for God 

  • "The Justification of Theism" by Richard Swinburne, in Truth: An International, Inter-Disciplinary Journal of Christian Thought, Vol. 3 (1991).
  • Is There a God? by Richard Swinburne (Oxford Univ Press, 1996).
  • The Existence of God by Richard Swinburne (Clarendon Press, 2nd ed., 2004).

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