1.0.3 Existence of God: Theology Overview

Version 1.3 March 2013                                (Previous Version)

The existence of God is a vexed question.  The nature of God is even more vexing.  Many of us believe in some sort of God.  We must respect all believers, even if we disagree with their beliefs.

There is no a priori reason to believe in any God.  We can't prove or disprove the existence of God.  The choice matters, but the reasons for believing in God vary depending on what sort of being God is.  Given the extraordinary impact on our lives, the burden of proof is on the believer.

Few people these days defend the idea that there really are multitudes of spirits inhabiting the natural world, in plants, animals, rivers and mountains.  These are now thought of as allegories or metaphors.  We treat stories of ancient Mayan, Greek and Norse gods as literature, not as true religion.  We can also be inspired by literature from current religions without believing in God.

We discuss the idea of God the creator.  Some say the universe must have started somehow, that every event has a cause, and God must be the first cause.  They simply assume, without any reason, that there was a beginning or a first cause, and that God is without cause and self-existent.

We discuss God the sustainer, revealer and miracle worker: that God keeps the universe going, intervening occasionally to send gurus or prophets, provide revelations and perform miracles.  it's not sensible anymore to invoke God to explain thunderstorms or other natural events.  Miracles are defined as events science can't explain: as science learns more, fewer events will be ‘miracles’.

We discuss the God that we experience and the link between God and our prayers.  Goodness, mystical experiences, a sense of connection, the wonder of the universe, and our need for meaning and purpose can all be explained without invoking God.  Using God to explain these things doesn’t help in the way religious people think it does.  God doesn’t answer the ultimate question “why?�

We discuss the problem of evil.  There is an immense amount of needless suffering, undeserved, unredeeming, and unrelated to the evil that humans do.  If God is all good, all powerful and all wise, surely God would reduce this suffering.  Wouldn’t God answer our prayers more often?

We consider other ideas of God: that God may be an impersonal creator who cares nothing for the world; the idea that God is whatever is good about the universe, that “God is Love�.  We discuss whether God is “transcendental�, a supernatural being somehow ‘outside’ the universe, or “immanent�, essentially ‘within’ the universe, or both of these.

Even if there is no god or supernatural beings, we still choose to continue the struggle to live, despite life’s disappointments.  We value life and love even more because they are ephemeral.

We work through the next level of detail on each of the above issues (more).  After considering this evidence, we’ve looked for a way to state our conclusions briefly, and we come to the following summary.

Is this the best way to state our conclusions in this area?  Click on feedback, or add a comment below, if you can improve the substance or the phrasing.

   more                                                             Statement 3

Choosing to live as though there are no God(s) reflects a core value.  We could say we value nature as distinct from the supernatural, but we use the term life, this natural life as opposed to the afterlife.  In addition, we value life rather than death: we choose to continue the struggle to live.