Another reason to believe in God (theist) is the design argument the design argument was first created by William Paley who used Isaac Newton’s discovery of gravity to help support his theory. This theory was that the universe is too ordered and complicated to have come about by random chance and must have been designed. The argument states that god was this designer. The majority of Christians believe that the genesis account of creation supports the design argument, because it goes along with the way that god created the world in stages. William Paley said that if we found a watch lying on the floor we would know that it had been designed for a purpose therefore it must have had a designer.
You can see the same sort of thing in nature that there is evidence of design for example bird’s wings being just right for flight. This can not be random chance so the designer is God.
Another reason why some people believe in god (theist) is when they have had religious experiences; there are two main types general relevation and special relevation. General Relevation is available to everyone in general relevation god is believed to make himself known in the ways people live there life’s everyday. Some of the ways that God can reveal himself to people in general relevation, is in the presence of nature, the writings of religious leaders, seeing god in other people through their life and work. Special relevation is a direct relevation to an individual or to a group of people. It is different from general relevation because it is not in a general everyday experience that is there for everyone to see and believe in – it is especially for one person or a group of people.
People who do not believe in god (atheists) often use the big bang theory for their side of the argument. The big bang theory says that nothing existed until there was a large explosion about 15 billion years ago and from this explosion the universe gradually developed. Atheists say that the big bang caused the universe; scientists have also proved this so the big bang theory explains how the universe was created so therefore proving that god did not create the universe so the theory does not need god as the first cause of the universe creation.
Atheists say that the creation story of the bible and other creation stories are just legends and myths accounted over thousands of years but scientific knowledge can now prove that the universe was created by random chance unlike the creation stories where god is the designer.
Another thing that atheists say why there is no god is because why did god design things with faults and flaws if he knew that they would cause suffering, pain, disease, death, extinction etc. For example why did he design diseases if he knew that they can cause death and suffering? Why did he create dodos if he knew that the humans would hunt the dodos to extinction? Atheists would say that any normal person can see the flaws in the design so why did god create the flaws in the design if he knew the flaws would create pain and suffering, atheists say that god did not design them they were created by random chance, so there for there isn’t any need for a god.
Atheists say, that when theists believe they have had or seen religious experiences, it is made up and does not really happen. The atheists say that it is too personal and that it does not prove anything. Scientists think that some people have such a strong wish to believe in a god and to prove to themselves and others that he does exist. Another point to doubt the existence of god in this area of religious experience is if god does really exist and wants to communicate why god should contact us in a way that can leave no doubt about his existence. The fact that God does not do this leaves no doubt that God does not exist.
The final and probably the most important point that atheists use to prove that god does not exist is Charles Darwin’s theories about evolution, and natural selection and his idea about survival of the fittest. Charles Darwin came up with the idea of the evolution theory. He came up with the theory when he was in the Galapagos Islands and he noticed that there were 13 different finches on different islands and that they all originally came from 1 finch. The main difference that he noticed was the fact that they all had different beaks suited to the different type of food that each finch ate. Evolution is the theory that life on earth began and developed by chance. It says that DNA randomly mutates. The change that this sometime brings about is sometimes really useful. If it is then the living thing with the changed DNA has a better chance of surviving (survival of the fittest). It also has a better chance of passing on the really useful DNA to its offspring. The theory says that life on earth develops to suit the conditions for life, which existed in the environment (natural selection). So living things are carefully matched to the life they have to live, but this is random and without purpose. It needs no creator, it is ruled by chance. So evolution by natural selection is blind. Scientists have also proved this theory. This proves that there is no need for a god and that there is not a god from an atheist’s point of view.
I am not really sure what I believe so I personally think like an agnostic because I have not had anything to totally convince me to be a theist or an atheist. I agree with the agnostics that we might never be able to know that a God does exist because if we did it might cause havoc and destruction in the world. If I had to choose to be an atheist or a theist I would probably be an atheist because I think that the big bang explanation of how the universe came into being is more realistic and acceptable than the creation stories of a theist, which can sound improbable and not believable at times. Also I think that Charles Darwin’s theories of evolution, natural selection and survival of the fittest explain more sensibly and seem more creditable than the theist’s design argument of Paley. I can accept some of the religious experiences ideas of the theists and that they actually happened because the idea of the atheists that all the religious experiences are made up and imagined by thousands of people seems absurd. If I didn’t believe that the atheist’s idea of the big bang and Charles Darwin’s theories were true than I could find the first cause argument of the theists very acceptable. I think that the theist’s idea that faults exist in the design is very true but I am of the opinion that a God may have designed them so that the world is not perfect and so that it does not get boring. I think that what I have said so far sounds like I am an atheist because I have so many negative views about the theists but this is not true because I have the general opinion of an agnostic that we can never know if there is a God, but I do find most of the atheists views more acceptable, believable, and realistic.
