God Debate Guide

From PhiloWiki

Most people who believe in God also believe that their ancient religious scriptures are evidence for the existence of God. They pray for miracles to help them through life and they hope for a heavenly reward after death. Their faith may give them comfort, but unless they are prepared to question the beliefs that were passed down to them by tradition, then they will never have anything meaningful to contribute to a serious philosophical debate about the existence of God. - E.M.

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Existence of God

What is the proposed evidence for God? How far does that evidence go?
Does the existence of the universe prove there is a God? Is fine-tuning evidence for God?
Fine-tuning states that the factors giving rise to life are too precarious to come about by natural law. Do designed systems tend to exhibit such precariousness?
Kalam argument: Everything with a beginning has a cause. The universe has a beginning. Therefore it has a cause.
Pascal's wager: It's wiser to believe in God than to risk an eternity in Hell. What are the logical consequences of assuming Pascal's Wager as valid?
What about all of the scientists who believe in God? What about all of the scientists who do not believe in God, or see the laws of nature as the only governing principle ?
Is pantheism true? What do you think of the inductive arguments for pantheism (such as the argument that complexity is usually produced by greater numbers of agents)?
Is a rational definition of God possible?

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Nature of God

How can a loving God allow evil?
Do we have free will? Can God have free will ?
If God is defined as perfect, why did it need to create anything ?
If God is defined as perfect, why did it create imperfection ?
If God is defined as immutable and atemporal, how could it create anything ?
Does it make sense to say that "Jesus" was both man and god ?
Is there absolute good and evil? Is there absolute right and wrong?
Does the Good exist because God wills it, or does God acts in conformity to the idea of the Good ? What are the consequences of both alternatives ?
If man was created "in God's image", does God have a penis? How big are his feet? What color are his eyes? His hair? Does he have love handles, or a six pack? And, if all of these questions are invalid, what exactly is meant by "in God's image"?
Does praying have any real effect at all, other than a placebo effect? If so, and if God is omniscient (all-knowing), how could praying change God's will? Is He actually influenced by a church full of people praying to bring Billy Bob out of his coma -- "Well, I was going to let him stay in the coma, but... ya know, you people actually convinced me to change my mind and bring him out of the coma." That seems unlikely. And, if praying does actually result in healing, why do we never see people praying for God to heal something that nature (or medical science) would not occasionally take care of anyway, such as growing back an amputated limb?