13 Who is going to harm you if you are eager to do good? 14 But even if you should suffer for what is right, you are blessed. "Do not fear what they fear; do not be frightened." 15 But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect, 16 keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your good behaviour in Christ may be ashamed of their slander. 1 Peter 3:13-16

6 So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in him, 7 rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness. 8 See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this world rather than on Christ. 9 For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, 10 and you have been given fullness in Christ, who is the head over every power and authority. Colossians 1:6-10

3 For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. 4 The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. 5 We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. 2 Corinthians 10:3-5

Atheism/Christianity debate Reasonable Faith Stand to Reason All About God Bethinking

Positive : presents a rational case for Christian truth claims. Natural theology Christian evidence Negative : Deals with objections to those claims. Objections to God’s existence Objections to Christianity in particular

Arguments for the existence of God Cosmological [contingency and temporal] Teleological Moral Ontological

Atheist There is no god Agnostic – active It cannot be known whether there is a god Agnostic – passive I do not know whether there is a god

Cosmological argument Leibnizian Kalām Moral Argument Practical points Teleological argument Anthropic principle Biological origins Abiogenesis, creation, evolution, ID The existence of God

Can you prove that God exists? Standard of proof [2+2=4] Mathematical proof unattainable. Good argument True premises – more plausible than their negations Intact logic The existence of God

Cosmological arguments Kalam (Al-Ghazali ) Thomist (Thomas Aquinas ) Leibnizian (G W F Leibniz ) The existence of God

Moral argument Thomas Aquinas ( ) William Sorley ( ) Professor of Moral Philosophy at Cambridge The existence of God

Teleological argument Plato ( BC) and Aristotle ( BC) Thomas Aquinas ( ) William Paley ( ) in Natural Theology 1804 The existence of God

The Kalām Cosmological Argument Whatever begins to exist has a cause The universe began to exist Therefore …. The universe has a cause

1 Every existing thing has an explanation of its existence. The Leibnizian Cosmological Argument

1 Every existing thing has an explanation of its existence. 2If the universe has an explanation of its existence, that explanation is God. 1 Every existing thing has an explanation of its existence. 2If the universe has an explanation of its existence, that explanation is God. The Leibnizian Cosmological Argument Atheists have often asserted that if God does not exist then the universe has no explanation. Logically equivalent to 2 - same truth value.

1 Every existing thing has an explanation of its existence. 2If the universe has an explanation of its existence, that explanation is God. 3 The universe is an existing thing 4The universe has an explanation of its existence [from 1 and 3] 1 Every existing thing has an explanation of its existence. 2If the universe has an explanation of its existence, that explanation is God. 3 The universe is an existing thing 4The universe has an explanation of its existence [from 1 and 3] The Leibnizian Cosmological Argument

1 Every existing thing has an explanation of its existence. 2If the universe has an explanation of its existence, that explanation is God. 3 The universe is an existing thing 4The universe has an explanation of its existence [from 1 and 3] It follows (from 2 and 4) that the explanation is God. 1 Every existing thing has an explanation of its existence. 2If the universe has an explanation of its existence, that explanation is God. 3 The universe is an existing thing 4The universe has an explanation of its existence [from 1 and 3] It follows (from 2 and 4) that the explanation is God. The Leibnizian Cosmological Argument

Whatever begins to exist has a cause The universe began to exist Therefore the universe has a cause. Whatever begins to exist has a cause The universe began to exist Therefore the universe has a cause. The Kalām Cosmological Argument

Whatever begins to exist has a cause The universe began to exist Therefore the universe has a cause. Whatever begins to exist has a cause The universe began to exist Therefore the universe has a cause. The Kalām Cosmological Argument Philosophical Scientific

The universe has a beginning 1 An actually infinite number of things cannot exist. 2A beginning less series of past events involves an actually infinite number of things.

The universe has a beginning 1 An actually infinite number of things cannot exist. 2A beginning less series of past events involves an actually infinite number of things. 3Therefore a beginning less series of past events cannot exist.

The universe has a beginning David Hilbert

The universe has a beginning 1An actually infinite collection of things cannot be formed by successive addition.

The universe has a beginning 1An actually infinite collection of things cannot be formed by successive addition.

The universe has a beginning 1An actually infinite collection of things cannot be formed by successive addition. 2The series of past events is a collection of things which has been formed by successive addition.

The universe has a beginning 1An actually infinite collection of things cannot be formed by successive addition. 2The series of past events is a collection of things which has been formed by successive addition. 3The series of past events cannot be actually infinite.

Scientific confirmation Steady state theory Oscillating models Vacuum fluctuation models Chaotic inflationary model Quantum Gravity models String scenarios The universe has a beginning

Edwin Hubble Redshift

Steady state theory Origin of the universe Sir Fred Hoyle

Oscillating model Origin of the universe Stephen Hawking

Chaotic inflationary model Origin of the universe Andrei Linde

String cosmology Origin of the universe Paul Steinhardt

The existence of God

The Moral Argument If God does not exist, objective moral values do not exist Objective moral values do exist Therefore …. God exists

The existence of God The Moral Argument If God does not exist, objective moral values do not exist

The existence of God The Moral Argument If God does not exist, objective moral values do not exist Objective = valid and binding Values – good and evil Duties – right and wrong Objective = valid and binding Values – good and evil Duties – right and wrong

The existence of God The Moral Argument If God does not exist, objective moral values do not exist Every society and culture has developed its own values. Who are you to judge someone else’s values? All values are results of social and biological evolution.

The existence of God The Moral Argument

“In a universe of blind physical forces and genetic replication, some people are going to get hurt, other people are going to get lucky, and you won't find any rhyme or reason in it, or any justice. The universe that we observe has precisely the properties we should expect if there is, at bottom, no design, no purpose, no evil and no good, nothing but blind, pitiless indifference. DNA neither knows nor cares. DNA just is. And we dance to its music.” River out of Eden Richard Dawkins 1995 (Weidenfeld & Nicolswi) “In a universe of blind physical forces and genetic replication, some people are going to get hurt, other people are going to get lucky, and you won't find any rhyme or reason in it, or any justice. The universe that we observe has precisely the properties we should expect if there is, at bottom, no design, no purpose, no evil and no good, nothing but blind, pitiless indifference. DNA neither knows nor cares. DNA just is. And we dance to its music.” River out of Eden Richard Dawkins 1995 (Weidenfeld & Nicolswi) Evil can't be real if morals are relative The Moral Code

“In a universe of blind physical forces and genetic replication, some people are going to get hurt, other people are going to get lucky, and you won't find any rhyme or reason in it, or any justice. The universe that we observe has precisely the properties we should expect if there is, at bottom, no design, no purpose, no evil and no good, nothing but blind, pitiless indifference. DNA neither knows nor cares. DNA just is. And we dance to its music.” River out of Eden Richard Dawkins 1995 (Weidenfeld & Nicolswi) “In a universe of blind physical forces and genetic replication, some people are going to get hurt, other people are going to get lucky, and you won't find any rhyme or reason in it, or any justice. The universe that we observe has precisely the properties we should expect if there is, at bottom, no design, no purpose, no evil and no good, nothing but blind, pitiless indifference. DNA neither knows nor cares. DNA just is. And we dance to its music.” River out of Eden Richard Dawkins 1995 (Weidenfeld & Nicolswi) Evil can't be real if morals are relative The Moral Code

Bertrand Russell ( ) British philosopher, logician, mathematician & advocate for social reform Ethics arises from the pressures of the community on the individual. Man does not always feel the ethical values which are in the interests of the herd. The herd has invented various devices to bring the individual ethical values in line with that of the herd so that the herd will be able to live together in harmony.

The existence of God The Moral Argument If God does not exist, objective moral values do not exist Highly plausible

The existence of God The Moral Argument Objective moral values do exist This is on a par with our belief in an external world of physical objects. We can detect them as a result of our moral experience. Most people will accept that there are some things which are genuinely right and wrong.

The existence of God The Moral Argument

Moral rules imply an obligation or a sense of duty. Moral imperatives have an impact on behaviour in advance. Conscience Moral rules imply an obligation or a sense of duty. Moral imperatives have an impact on behaviour in advance. Conscience The Moral Code

14 Even Gentiles, who do not have God’s written law, show that they know his law when they instinctively obey it, even without having heard it. 15 They demonstrate that God’s law is written in their hearts, for their own conscience and thoughts either accuse them or tell them they are doing right. Romans 2 NLT The Moral Code

The Moral Argument Euthyphro Dilemma Is something good because God commands it or does God command it because it is good?

The Moral Argument Euthyphro Dilemma Is something good because God commands it or does God command it because it is good? The moral nature of God is good.

Cosmological argument Whatever begins to exist has a cause The universe began to exist Therefore …. The universe has a cause

Moral Argument If God does not exist, objective moral values do not exist Objective moral values do exist Therefore …. God exists

The existence of God