1. Argument 1 Argument 2 Argument 3
Arguments Using Reason & Logic
Starter Task: Examine these arguments. Assess if you think they are logical or not.
Argument 1 Argument 2 Argument 3
1. All Greeks are human.
1. Nothing is better than eternal happiness.
1. Cake is food.
2. Food is delicious.
2. All humans are mortal
2. A KFC is better than nothing
3. Therefore all
Greeks
are
mortal.
3. Therefore cake is delicious.
3. Therefore a KFC is better than eternal happiness.

2. Arguments for the Existence of God
Aims:
AT1. To be able to outline the cosmological argument for the existence of God.
AT2. To understand arguments using the principle of cause and effect.
PLTS. Question your own and other’s assumptions (CT4)

3. Arguments for the Existence of God
Causation: ‘The argument that everything must have been started off (caused) by something else.’
Task: Look at the images you will be given and create a logical argument as to the cause of the image. E.g...
1) Cars that are not driven carefully can come off the road.
2) At the side of the road there is a ditch.
3) Cars that are not driven carefully can end up in a ditch

4. Arguments for the Existence of God
Causation: ‘The argument that everything must have been started off (caused) by something else.’
What was the ultimate cause of this event?
What was the ultimate cause of this event?

5. Cosmological Argument = Causation (they are one and the same!)
Arguments for the Existence of God
Cosmological Argument = Causation (they are one and the same!)
This argument also relies on something called ‘cause and effect’. Everything that happens (effect) must have something that has made it happen (cause).
St Thomas Aquinas
1.Nothing happens by itself, everything needs a cause
2. Therefore the universe must have a cause.
3. Only God could have caused a universe to come about.
Therefore, as the universe exists, there must be a God.

6. What are the arguments for and against?
Arguments for the Existence of God
1.Nothing happens by itself, everything needs a cause
2. Therefore the universe must have a cause.
3. Only God could have caused a universe to come about.
Therefore, as the universe exists, there must be a God.
What are the arguments for and against?
Aquinas suggested there needed to be a first cause (a prime mover). He also suggested that this prime mover needed to be an unmoved mover.
Does the idea of an unmoved mover, break premise number one?

7. Arguments for the Existence of God
Stephen Hawking said the question ‘What caused God?’ is immaterial. “Its like asking what is north of north.”
For something to have a cause it means that cause came before it in time.
According to Hawking time did not exist before the universe.
Time
This means anything that caused the universe to come about not only existed before it but was also outside of time, therefore, the concept of that needing a cause is immaterial.

8. Arguments for the Existence of God
Every year there is a question on the exam paper regarding the cosmological argument.
Task: create a mind-map on the cosmological argument. You will need to include:
That it is also known as ‘causation’.
It relies on the laws of cause and effect.
St Thomas Aquinas suggested it.
The three premises and conclusion.
Two reasoned arguments in favour of it.
Two reasoned arguments against it.
Your own opinion.

9. Arguments for the Existence of God
Exam Q’s:
i) Do you think the cosmological argument is a good argument?
Give a reason for your opinion (2)
ii) Outline a reason why someone might disagree with you (2)

10. Arguments for the Existence of God
Causation: ‘The argument that everything must have been started off (caused) by something else.’
When referring to the universe (or cosmos), it is often called the ‘Cosmological’ argument and goes like this:
ultimate start
1. Nothing happens by itself, everything needs a cause.
2. Therefore, the universe must have a cause.
3. Only a God could cause a universe to come about.
4. Therefore, there must be a God.
Do you think this is a good or bad argument?
Try to list two good and two bad points about it.

11. Arguments for the Existence of God
This argument relies on something called ‘cause and effect’.
Everything that happens ‘effect’ must have something that has made it happen ‘cause’.
E.g. a row of dominos fall (effect), someone pushed the first one (cause).
The main objection to this is, ‘What caused the cause?’ E.g. What made the person push the first domino?
This argument is then made bigger. ‘If the universe (effect) is the result of God (cause), then who made God?
The Christian answer is no one made God he always existed. He’s what Aristotle refers to as the ‘prime mover’ (the first one to make things happen).
However this makes point 1. of the argument wrong as not everything has a cause.

12. AT1. To be able to outline the causation (cosmological) argument for the existence of God.

13. AT2. To be able to debate for and against the cosmological argument.

14. PLTS. Question their own and other’s assumptions (CT4)

15. Arguments for the Existence of God
Design: ‘The idea that things with a function or purpose, must have been created for that purpose.’
The philosopher, William Paley, used the idea of design to try and prove the existence of God. He said:
‘suppose I walk through the countryside and come across a rock. I could naturally and logically assume it had always been there. If, however, I had come across a pocket watch,
and looked at all its workings, I could not naturally,
or logically, assume that, like the rock, the watch had
always existed there. I would naturally need to assume that at some time in some place it had been put together for a specific purpose by someone with great skill.’
Paley argued that the world, and everything in it, is far more complex than a watch and so must have been designed by the greatest possible being, God.

16. Arguments for the Existence of God
These types of argument are often called ‘Teleological’ arguments. They basically works like this:
1. To design something takes intelligence and thought.
2. The universe appears to have been designed.
3. Therefore, a being with intelligence and thought must have designed the universe.
4. Only God could design something as complex as the universe.
5. Therefore, God must exist.
St Thomas Aquinas said everything has a ‘beneficial order’ (it always works towards the best result) and ‘value’ (has meaning and purpose). This, he argued is evidence of design by a great designer (God).

17. Arguments for the Existence of God
As you can expect, not everyone agrees with this argument.
Most of the objections seem to focus on two points:
David Hume was an 18th c. philosopher. He said alternative explanations to the order of the universe, other than design, could exist. Such as coincidence.
Hume’s objections were later expanded upon by Charles Darwin who said ‘evolution’ and ‘natural selection’ (survival of the fittest) were the reason and not design.
What do you think these arguments? Why?

18. Arguments for the Existence of God
St Anselm, a former Archbishop of Canterbury, made an argument for the existence of God using reason and logic.
This argument is often called the ‘Ontological’ argument and goes like this:
1. God is the greatest possible being.
2. God exists at least in the mind.
3. A being that exists only in the mind is not as great as a being that exists in reality also.
4. If God existed only in the mind he would not be the greatest possible being.
5. Therefore, God must exist in reality as well as the mind.