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New atheism research essay
New atheism essay
New atheism research essay
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Response to McCloskey
Introduction
In his article “On Being an Atheist”, H.J. McCloskey, an Australian philosopher took a serious stance on arguments against the existence of God. He offered numerous reasons for the stance he took including, the problem with evil to suggest that one should not believe in God. McCloskey believes that atheism is a much more comfortable and understandable belief as opposed to believing in God who allows the suffering of innocent people just to get the glory out of their lives and achieve the ultimate good. He moves on to say that in the end, to live in this world, a person must seek comfort wherever you can find it. Since atheism was adopted by a thoughtful and sensitive person, it leads to a spirit of self-reliance, and on to a self-respect, which causes a person to comfort and help those in need of support. In doing so, it will decrease the blows of fate. McCloskey is saying that it is better to help each other than to believe in a God that could not be perfect himself. He states this because he feels that since the world is imperfect than God cannot possibly be perfect. If he were perfect, then the world would be perfect. However, because evil exist, God cannot exist, therefore we must live in this world as it is, and except the ludicrousness of life. His arguments are not logical or are they sound, and it will be complicated and interesting to argue against him and his views.
“Proofs”
Throughout his article, McCloskey, uses the word “proof” when discussing his arguments he believes, cannot definitively establish a case for the existence of God. We must understand that no single argument can get to the point of certainty pertaining to the existence of God. According to McCloskey, thei...
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...e. I think that even though he made some decent arguments he still failed to provide enough evidence to disprove the existence of the Creator. It is possible to have the presence of evil with having a perfect Creator based on the arguments that God gave his greatest creations the ability of free-will. This free-will can be respected but also abused. It is up to the people to decide what is right and wrong. Some of the decisions that people make create evil or bring about evil.
Bibliography
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Evans, C. Stephen, and R. Zachary Manis. Philosophy of Religion, Second Edition, 69-77. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2009.
McCloskey, H. J. “On Being an Atheist”. Question One (February 1968): 62-69.
Russell, Bertrand. “Why I Am Not a Christian,” in Introduction to Philosophy. 6th edition. Perry, Bratman, and Fischer. Oxford University Press. 2013, pp. 56-59.
The problem of evil is a difficult objection to contend with for theists. Indeed, major crises of faith can occur after observing or experiencing the wide variety and depths of suffering in the world. It also stands that these “evils” of suffering call into question the existence of an omnibenevolent and omnipotent God of the Judeo-Christian tradition. The “greater good defense” tries to account for some of the issues presented, but still has flaws of its own.
Throughout the world, most people believe in some type of god or gods, and the majority of them understand God as all-good, all-knowing (omniscient), and all-powerful (omnipotent). However, there is a major objection to the latter belief: the “problem of evil” (P.O.E.) argument. According to this theory, God’s existence is unlikely, if not illogical, because a good, omniscient, and omnipotent being would not allow unnecessary suffering, of which there are enormous amounts.
The problem of reconciling an omnipotent, perfectly just, perfectly benevolent god with a world full of evil and suffering has plagued believers since the beginning of religious thought. Atheists often site this paradox in order to demonstrate that such a god cannot exist and, therefore, that theism is an invalid position. Theodicy is a branch of philosophy that seeks to defend religion by reconciling the supposed existence of an omnipotent, perfectly just God with the presence of evil and suffering in the world. In fact, the word “theodicy” consists of the Greek words “theos,” or God, and “dike,” or justice (Knox 1981, 1). Thus, theodicy seeks to find a sense of divine justice in a world filled with suffering.
It is evident that McCloskey’s arguments in an attempt to disprove the existence of God lacks evidence. He disputes the existence of God based on a lack of undisputable evidence, but he provides no undisputable evidence to counter this existence. He dismisses the idea of a creator by theory of evolution. Although he may have a valid argument for evolution he still does not account for the start of the world. Everything must come from something. The cause cannot be unlimited, there was a cause that had to be free of all other causes, and this points us to creation.
...e a concept of God that clearly is of external influence. Although his proof only relies on his ability to conceive such a God, it is effective in illustrating the impossibility of an uncorrupted body of knowledge.
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In this essay I discuss why there is proof that there is a supernatural being known as God, who has created everything we know and experience. The mere claim, that there could be a "Proof for the Existence of God," seems to invite ridicule. But not always are those who laugh first and think later. Remember how all-knowing doctors/scientists laughed at every new discovery?