1.
What is fundamental to the origin of atheism?
(77).
2.
Despite its faults, what must be seen by any
reasonable person as an important stage in the progression of Western society?
(79).
3.
How can
atheist distance themselves from the terrors of Stalin? (88).
4.
It is necessary for any defense of atheism to
address the challenge posed by what? (92).
5.
What are three traditional arguments for God’s
existence? (94-98).
6.
The mere fact that people use the same grounds –
personal conviction – to justify belief in different, incompatible religions is
enough to show what? (100).
7.
The existence of avoidable suffering in the
world seems to mean one of three things. What are they? (102).
Alternative
discussion questions.
1.
What is wrong with an argument that universal
belief in God is an argument for God’s existence?
2.
The believer often begins with a conviction that
God exists that is even stronger than the logician’s belief in their first
principles. This belief trumps all reason. The best we can do therefore is to
show believers who may think that they have rational grounds for their beliefs
that they are wrong. Do you agree or disagree, why or why not?
1. What is wrong with an argument that universal belief in God is an argument for God’s existence?
ReplyDeleteThis question is slightly vague and potentially biased. By “God” are we referring to the Christian God or simply any supernatural deity/force? However, if we assume that the God being referenced in the question is the Christian God, then it is problematic as there is no “universal” belief in God. Christianity differs tremendously on what part of the world you are from. There is also the fact that Christianity only became popular because of the wide-spread militant force of the papal armies and the Germanic tribes in early 1000 AD. Having bigger guns and “universally” spreading your religion should not lend credence to the existence of your God in a divine sense. Even if we look at the definition of God as a supernatural deity/force it is still flawed as there is no universal belief.
50,000 year old Neanderthal graves have been found in London and France. This has led some anthropologists and religious scholars to believe that Neanderthals had the capacity for reverence of the dead and potentially for a belief system. However, no belief system is the same. Indigenous tribes within the same geographical area had wildly different religious beliefs. Vikings held different beliefs than those in the Middle East. The fact that religions/belief systems/reverence have existed within humans for 50,000 years does not lend credence to God’s existence. Perhaps if there were more consistency in the many belief systems it could lend credence to an argument in favor of God’s existence, but without uniformity, it is just as reasonable to explain religion away as an attempt by people to explain the world around them in terms that made sense to their people and culture.