Firstly, there is the question of evil. Suppose there is an all-loving, all-benevolent god hiding up there somewhere - and then try to explain the existence of evil, disease, natural disasters. Pangloss would argue that this is the best possible world god could have created, but that limits god's ability - remember, he's supposed to be omnipotent, also. So if god could have made a perfect world, where everyone is happy and there is no suffering (which is entirely possible if there is, in fact, an omnipotent god), and if he would have wanted to create said world and provide humanity with eternal joy (which, if he's all-loving and all-benevolent, he would have wanted to), then he would have. God, if he existed as Christians understand him, would have made a perfect world. But we don't have a perfect world, and therefore either god does not exist as Christians understand him (this is to say he either isn't all-loving, all benevolent, or omnipotent), or that said god didn't create the world (which is to say he's not our creator). Or, of course, god does not exist at all in any form. Whatever way you slice it, the Christian version of god is out.The question of evil is a good one to ask. Personally, I think that evil exists because without evil, what makes the good, good? If you don’t have anything to contrast to then you’re just left with a gray area of moral actions that is neither good nor bad. Without things like disease, how do we appreciate good health? Without poverty, how do we appreciate wealth? Evil, and anything that is unfortunate, exists so that the good parts in life are just that much better.
Second, there is the question of free will. If this god is all-loving and all-forgiving, why would he allow the humans whom he loves so very much to choose into evil? And, of course, why would he make such an action punishable by eternal suffering in hell? If he loves us so much, and is willing to forgive even our worst grievances, why would he even create hell as an alternative in the first place? Take my case for example. If god loves me so much, he would come down from heaven and stop me from being an atheist and writing this post right now. He'd try to save me from disbelieving in him and save me from dooming myself to eternal suffering. But he hasn't, which means one of two things: either god doesn't love us, and isn't all forgiving - maybe he's even a vengeful and evil god; or he doesn't exist at all.I’m actually unsure of how to word my argument; it’s awkward going from thought to actually explaining it on paper for this one. I’d have to say that God created free will as a gift. I know that sounds a little cheesy, but think about it. You have the freedom to do whatever you want, whether it is against God or not. Maybe God gave free will with the intent that people would recognize that he has granted them that privilege and to do anything other than good would just be a slap in the face. Maybe it has something to do with the next point that you bring up, predetermined fate.
Third, there is the question of free will versus predetermined fate. If god is truly omnipotent, he would have knowledge of the future. If he has knowledge of the future, then he knows what actions and decisions humans are going to make in the future. And, if he knows our future decisions, we cannot have free will to make our own decisions because they've already been made for us. Therefore, there are a few options: either god does not know the future, in which case he is not omnipotent; god does exist and does know the future, in which case he would have lied to us about free will and therefore is something of a trickster, and we have no faculty to make our own decisions; or god does not exist at all. The third option there is the most likely.I think the fact that God has granted us free will gives people the ability to choose their own fate. The best way that I can describe this is a train track. I can choose whatever train track I want, I have been given the free will to do so, but when I choose that track and I go down it, that fate is sealed. I can choose to go down the track of killing, but that would lead to other things and ultimately, my not so pleasant after life. But lets say that I choose a track that isn’t as extreme but is pretty bad, one like dealing drugs. I can choose to go down that track that leads to something bad, but at the same time I can turn that around. I can choose to get off at the nearest stop and take a different track to the fate that I so choose. My high school band teacher always told us that you can always be used as a bad example and I completely agree. Maybe you screwed up, but now the entire band (or community) knows what not to do. This would also go back to why God has created evil. He creates evil so you can recognize what it good. Without evil, what is good? Do good things become great things and not as good things become the new evil? There has to be something to contrast.
Fourth is the question of necessity. Theists love to taut their "something from nothing" or "ex nihilo" idea, which is that god created the matter of the universe from nothingness. Theists like Aquinas exclaim that the universe must have had an uncaused cause, an unmoved mover, an unshook shaker, who got things going in the beginning. They argue that everything that exist has a creator, and many atheists make the mistake of accepting that as a premise. However, nobody on Earth believes that everything in existence has a creator - especially not theists. The uncaused cause argument collapses because it essentially says, "Because everything has a creator, therefore there is something that does not have a creator - and that could only be god." The conclusion violates the first premise! Therefore, we have a couple options: either there is an impossible uncaused cause, which - if I may mention - is impossible; the universe came from nothing, and came into being all by itself (and don't let theists tell you this is impossible, although it does sort of lend itself to pantheism); or god doesn't exist and the universe came into being by some means that science doesn't understand quite yet. I believe the third option, because it is most likely that the universe was spawned by some reaction of the fundamental elementary particles science already understands and can quantify than by some giant benevolent fairy in the sky.Good point, but I have to ask; if everything has just existed forever, how did it get here? Yes, I know about the Big Bang, but who says that God’s hand couldn’t have pushed that along? Also if the Big Bang has put everything we know into place, what created what was before the Big Bang took place? I guess I’m just confused because I can’t see how something can just pop into existence without some greater being creating it. I can look at the computer that I’m typing this and know for a fact that what I’m using didn’t just come into existence, it was made, which brings up the next point that you made.
Fifth, and last, is the question of contact. I sort of touched on this one in point 2, but it's worthy of elaboration. If god exists, and if he wants what's best for humanity, why wouldn't he make himself known? Why would he leave humanity in the dark in some cosmic puzzle or mystery game aimed at gleaning the truth of his existence? If god existed, he'd tell somebody in some form other than a 2,000-year-old manuscript or suspicious visions to devout Christians. If you're there, god, give us a sign! It's ridiculous for god to expect humanity to discover him without any proof, evidence, or reasonable guidance - and, if he's omniscient, he knows that. So, there are a few options on the table here: either god is not omnipotent and therefore cannot send down a sign in modern times, which would mean he doesn't exist as most humans understand him; he's a deistic god, who doesn't care about the lot of humanity, and doesn't care if people don't discover him and doom themselves to hell - and therefore doesn't exist as Christians understand him; or he wants life to be a cosmic puzzle, in which case we have an omnipotent trickster again; or he doesn't exist at all.Going back to what I was saying before, I can look at my computer, my TV, a building, and know that it didn’t just pop up out of nowhere. I don’t need to see my computer being made to know that it was I don’t need to meet the maker of my computer to know that someone made it. God gives us signs through miracles big and small; you don’t have to physically see him to know he’s there. God isn’t going to email you, he won’t call you on the phone, and he’s not going to stop by to chat over a cup of coffee. And really, the fact that God doesn’t care if you discover him goes back to free will. I also don’t understand why you would go to say that he is an “omnipotent trickster”. He has made something (life) that no one can seem to grasp the meaning to. People have been trying to figure out the meaning of life for a very long time. I don’t understand quantum physics but am I going to just say that it’s far too complicated for most people to understand and that Einstein was just some “omnipotent trickster” looking to fool us all?
The only thing that truly bothered me was your ignorance to capitalize the word “god”. While I don’t believe in the god Zeus, I still capitalize his name “Zeus,” I don’t capitalize god in that sense because that isn’t his name. I know for a fact that you know this and it is offensive to see you ignore it. H.
