Do you Believe in the Existence of God? Deep Exploration of Faith and Reason

Do You Believe in the Existence of God?

"Did God create us and all that is seen, in him, or through him, or have we by an innate fear or a need for significance and purpose create God?" ("Quran: The Word of God.”) The existence of God has been debated ad nauseum throughout history. This particular question is very polarizing and difficult to persuade the other side of thought, regardless of how logical the argument is. On one side, you have the believers who tend to argue on the basis of faith/feelings (pathos).

The Nonbelievers, however, usually choose to argue with more evidence-based claims (logos). Both could be used in logical argumentation, but many times logical fallacies are present. In order to have a logical and compelling argument, you must pick apart the opposition's beliefs and statements with evidence based-claims and also be able to address counterclaims. Therefore I believe the best way to approach an attempt to prove God doesn't exist is to dissect the religion and what is central to it as well as attempt to denounce specific arguments for God's existence.

Scientific Contradictions in the Qur'an

The Qur'an is the last testament in a series of divine revelations from God. Those who follow the teaching believe that it consists of the unaltered and direct words of Allah, which were revealed through the Angel Gabriel to Muhammad, the final prophet of Islam. However, throughout the Qur'an, you can find numerous scientific mistakes. One scientific error presented within the text of the Qur'an is "And the earth - We have spread it and cast therein firmly set mountains and caused to grow therein of every well-balanced thing." (Qur'an, 15:19). Within this verse, the phrase "We have spread it" infers that the Earth is flat. However, that theory can be disproven by simply observing a lunar eclipse. As Earth passes between the Moon and the sun, it projects Earth's round shadow onto the Moon. Speaking of the Earth passing the Moon and the sun, another huge discrepancy in the Qur'an is that it hints at a geocentric model. In the following verse," Do you not see that Allah causes the night to enter the day and causes the day to enter the night and has subjected the sun and the Moon, each running its course for a specified term and that Allah, with whatever you do, is Acquainted?" (Qur'an, 31:29) theorizes that the movement of the sun and Moon correlates with night and day rather than earth revolutions ( cum hoc ergo propter hoc), which was proven through the cumulative work of Copernicus, Galileo, and Newton. Another flawed verse in the Qur'an is "And We did certainly create man out of clay from an altered black mud." (Qur'an, 15:26). Not only does this verse contradict the law of cells, but it also contradicts other verses within the Qur'an such as "Proclaim! In the name of thy Lord and Cherisher, who created - created man, out of a mere clot of congealed blood." (Sura 96:1-2) (self-contradiction fallacy). How can a man be made out of a "mere clot of blood" and clay as well? As I've illustrated, the Qur'an is full of inaccurate information and can be summed up in one of its own verses "Then do they not reflect upon the Qur'an? If it had been from any other than Allah, they would have found within it much contradiction." (Qur'an, 4:28) (appeal to authority). In this verse, it states that the ideas are Allah's, and because they are Allah's, they can't be contradicted. However, modern science has disproved many beliefs that were written as "the word of god" due to how central the Qur'an is to the Islamic faith and being the "word of God." Identifying the flaws through the scripture should at least force you to question God's existence (false implication in details).

Philosophical Ideas Against the Existence of God

Not only can you argue against God's existence by using Scientific evidence, but you can also apply philosophical ideas. All theistic religions have a few things in common, such as life after death, sacred places, and holy men, and most importantly, they teach us humanity. However, there are still major disagreements between each of them. A major argument against the existence of God is multiplicity. Simply put, since the Gods of various religions differ in their characteristics, only one of these religions, or none, can be right about God. With all the competing faiths, how do you know which God is the right one? You can't. Whether it's differences such as Monotheistic vs. Polytheistic or Jesus is our savior vs. Jesus was a prophet, these are huge concepts that are hard to ignore the differences.

Addressing Counterpoints of God's Existence

As I alluded to in the introduction, you must address the opposition's counterpoints in order to strengthen your own argument. One commonly used argument for God's existence is "I know God exists. If you disagree, prove otherwise. Oh, you say you can't prove God doesn't exist? That's because you know he does!" (FreeThoughtPedia)(false criteria fallacy). In order to make a claim like this, you must be able to prove your claim. It is your job to convince nonbelievers because the position that God doesn't exist was everyone's view as a newborn until they have been exposed to religious teachings. Another popular argument used is "The vast majority of the world believes in God. This supports the universal truth that God is real. Otherwise, it makes no sense that so many people would believe." (FreeThoughtPedia)(Argumentum ad populum). Just because a majority of people believe something does not make it true; previously, in this paper, I mentioned the Flat Earth theory, which was the accepted belief at the time, but now we know that to be false. One argument on the surface that appears very strong is "Everything that exists in our world is the result of some sort of 'first cause' which brought about its existence. Therefore, there must have been a force that created the universe. That 'first cause' is what we call God." (FreeThoughtPedia)(Ad-hoc reasoning). Once you think a little deeper, however, you can come to the question of who created God. The final argument and the one I feel is the most logical, is Pascal's Wager. "The French philosopher Blaise Pascal reasoned that it was a 'safe bet' to believe in God just in case he was real. What's the harm? If you believe and he doesn't exist, you don't lose anything, but if you don't believe and he does exist, you lose big time." (FreeThoughtPedia)(all-or-nothing fallacy). However, If God is really all-knowing, then he knows that you're just playing the odds. Besides, Pascal's Wager does not address the e question of which God you should believe in.

Clearly, the question, does God exist is a very complex one in itself, but the burden of proof belongs to those who are believers. As I stated previously, you are not born with a belief in God but instead taught just like everything else besides your primal instincts. Not only are you taught the religious schools of thought, but the content itself is flawed. Throughout sacred scripture such as the Qur'an, you can identify many scientific errors and contradictions, which should not be the case if Allah is all-knowing and powerful. Be that as it may, you can't rule out the possibility that God exists completely because when it comes to objects you can't observe like God, their existence depends on evidence that they have had an impact on the universe. In order to prove such an impact, there must be testable events that could only be explained by the work of God. For that reason, I can't definitively say that God doesn't exist, but it is much more probable that God doesn't exist.

Works Cited

1. "Al-Qur'an Al-Kareem - ?????? ??????." Al-Qur'an Al-Kareem - ?????? ??????, quran.com/.
2. Langford, Carol. "'God Is Dead'- The Philosophy of Friedrich Nietzsche." https://Rsmatters.files.wordpress.com/2012/06/God-Is-Dead-Nietzsche-Dialogue-16.Pdf, June 2012, rsmatters.files.wordpress.com/2012/06/god-is-dead-nietzsche-dialogue-16.pdf.
3. "Quran: The Word of God." Facts about the Muslims & the Religion of Islam - Toll-Free Hotline 1-877-WHY-ISLAM, www.whyislam.org/quran/quran-the-word-of-god/.
4. "Top Ten Arguments for the Existence of God." Top Ten Arguments for the Existence of God - FreeThoughtPedia, freethoughtpedia.com/Top_ten_arguments_for_the_existence_of_God.

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