The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork. Day to day pours out speech, and night to night reveals knowledge. [Psalm 19:1-2 ESV]
For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. [Romans 1:19-20 ESV]
Cosmological Arguments for God’s Existence
This week at Ratio Christi, we will discuss three well-formed and strong arguments for God’s existence.
They arise from merely observing the universe around us. The first comes to us from Gottfried Leibniz a philosopher from the 17th century. The other two come from physics.
Don’t fret. You don’t have to be a philosopher or scientist to understand their conclusions. We will watch and discuss these simple video productions of their arguments on Monday night August 28th at 5:30PM in CFS 123.
- The Contingency Argument for God’s Existence (Watch on YouTube)
- The Big Bang Argument for God’s Existence (a.k.a. the Kalam Cosmological Argument) (Watch on YouTube)
- The Fine-Tuning Argument for God’s Existence (Watch on YouTube)
If you are more of a reader than a watcher, then here are some articles on these arguments.
- Dr. William Lane Craig’s paper on the Kalam cosmological argument.
- Dr. Peter Kreeft’s post on the Leibniz argument.
- Dr. Peter Kreeft post on the design argument.
An argument is a proposition that tries to connect truth claims to reality. It is rooted in logic, which comes from the Logos (another name for Jesus cf John 1). An argument uses persuasion rather than power or passion.
The main tool and form of logic is the logical syllogism. We will look at a lot of these, on Monday night.
Premise 1: If A, then B.
Premise 2: A
Conclusion: Therefore, B.
Don’t fall into the silliness of saying, I don’t need logic or reason because I just believe. Your very thoughts are following logic and reason whether you acknowledge it or not. For instance you may be thinking:
Premise 1: If I just have faith, then I don’t need reason.
Premise 2: I just have faith.
Conclusion: Therefore, I don’t need reason.
But this logical argument FAILS. Because Premise 1 is FALSE. Even thinking this involves reason. So, NOBODY CAN ESCAPE REASON AND LOGIC, because Jesus built our world with it. We have to use it to understand reality.
The beauty of logical arguments for the Christian is that we can drill down to the particular items that people have problems with, and can know specifically what to pray for. Plus, arguments using reason and rational discourse are often less contentious and less emotional.
We are not “arguing someone into the Kingdom”, but we ARE showing that the intellectual barriers people have erected against belief in God are not walls, but are merely speed bumps.
Let’s help them over the speed bumps toward faith in God.
This is a lot to chew on, and it is unlikely that you will digest all these fantastic observations and conclusions in one sitting. Bookmark this page. Keep it handy, so when you bump up against one of these topics or a question that leads you back to these arguments, you will be able to pull it up.
May God bless your week!
Love you all,
Darren Williams
The heavens are God’s; the earth also is God’s; the world and all that is in it, God has founded them. [Psalm 89:11 ESV]
Ratio Christi at Sam 