Is There a God?Is There a God? offers a powerful response to modern doubts about the existence of God. It may seem today that the answers to all fundamental questions lie in the province of science, and that the scientific advances of the twentieth century leave little room for God. Cosmologists have rolled back their theories to the moment of the Big Bang, the discovery of DNA reveals the key to life, the theory of evolution explains the development of life... and with each new discovery or development, it seems that we are closer to a complete understanding of how things are. For many people, this gives strength to the belief that God is not needed to explain the universe; that religious belief is not based on reason; and that the existence of God is, intellectually, a lost cause. Richard Swinburne, one of the most distinguished philosophers of religion of our day, argues that on the contrary, science provides good grounds for belief in God. Why is there a universe at all? Why is there any life on Earth? How is it that discoverable scientific laws operate in the universe? Professor Swinburne uses the methods of scientific reasoning to argue that the best answers to these questions are given by the existence of God. The picture of the universe that science gives us is completed by God. |
Contents
| 1 | |
How We Explain Things | 20 |
The Simplicity of God | 38 |
How the Existence of God Explains the World | 48 |
How the Existence of God Explains the Existence | 69 |
Why God Allows Evil | 95 |
How the Existence of God Explains Miracles | 114 |
So What? | 140 |
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allow animals and humans argued atoms background knowledge basic action basic powers behave behaviour believe Big Bang Blind Watchmaker blue image body brain events cause bring causal cause the existence Chapter choose Christian claim connected create creatures criterion detailed historical evidence electrons ellipse evolution example existence of God expect explode free and responsible giraffes give rise God's Grand Unified Theory happened human persons hypothesis ilities inanimate explanation infinite intentional actions intervene involved kind laws of nature limited Mars material objects matter mental events mental properties miracle motion move natural evil natural laws normally observations occur omnipotent omniscient operation ourselves pain particular personal explanation phenomena photons physical planets possible postulate powers and liabilities predictions produce purposes reason religious experiences responsible choice scientists sense simple someone soul substances suffering supererogatory suppose survival tence theism theodicy things tion truth ultimate explanation universe Uranus velocity