Navabi - Why there Is no God: simple responses to 20 common arguments for the existence of God

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Smashwords Edition

Copyright 2014 by Armin Navabi. All rightsreserved.

Smashwords Edition, License Notes

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoymentonly. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people.If you would like to share this book with another person, pleasepurchase an additional copy for each recipient. If youre readingthis book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for youruse only, then please return to your favorite ebook retailer andpurchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work ofthis author.

To Dad, who showed me the value of learning.

To Mom, who showed me the value of caring.

This book is meant to provide to-the-pointand easy-to-understand counterarguments to many of the populararguments made for the existence of God. Each chapter presents ashort and simple explanation of the argument, followed by aresponse illustrating the problems and fallacies inherent in thatclaim. The tools offered in this book should offer you a solidfoundation for building your own inquiry about the concept ofGod.

This book is written for atheists, believersand the undecided who find the concept of God an important one toexamine critically and worth discussing. This book acts as a basicintroduction to the debate about God, providing a springboard fornew ideas to be formed and discussed.

For the already-convinced atheist, this bookcan help you better articulate your point of view in discussions,giving you guidance for how the reasoning behind your disbelief inGod can be discussed. As an atheist, you're bound to encounter someor all of these arguments eventually when interacting withbelievers; understanding these arguments and seeing how others haveapproached them in logical ways can help you handle the samediscussions.

As a believer, you may find that you disagreewith much of what is said here, and that's okay. Reading this bookwill allow you to see what many atheists believe and how somepeople may question the beliefs that you hold. If you plan todefend your faith in discussions, this book can help you understandthe reasoning behind the lack of belief in your opponents. Knowingthis will help you debate from a more informed position, and theatheists you talk to may appreciate the fact that you've taken timeto understand and consider their arguments. Knowing andappreciating the opponent's point of view can help you start aproductive discussion regarding God and religion in a moreconstructive way.

For people who are yet undecided on thesubject of God, the arguments in this book can help provide abaseline for discussion or further research about the existence ofGod. By reviewing many of the common arguments for the existence ofGod and rebuttals to them, you will have a solid foundation to useas the base of your own analysis, research and reflection.

One concept you'll see come up repeatedly inthis book is the idea of the burden of proof. During any debate,it's the job of a person making a claim to provide support,evidence and reasoning for that claim. It simply doesn't make senseto make an unfounded claim with no evidence to back it and demandthat the other person to either agree with you or disprove yourunfounded statement.

To better understand how the burden of proofworks, consider an example by Matt Dillahunty from The AtheistExperience TV show. Imagine that you're given a jar full ofbeans. You have no idea how many beans are in the jar, but you knowthat it must be either an even or an odd number. With no supportingevidence one way or the other, however, you could not say for surewhether the jar contained an even or odd number of beans. If youwere to claim that it was one or the other, you would need somesupporting evidence or logical reasoning. Otherwise, your claimwould simply be a random guess.

The burden of proof is a necessary part ofany debate, regardless of the topic being discussed. Its utility infacilitating discussion is so well established that it's requiredin legal proceedings as well; the prosecution must prove beyond areasonable doubt that the defendant is guilty.

In the case of debates about God, the burdenis on the believer to offer support for her position if she wishesit to be considered seriously. In reality, the only necessaryargument against believing in God is simply that there is noevidence that any gods exist. An atheist doesn't need to justifyher lack of belief any further. This keeps the burden of proof onthe side of the claimant where it belongs. The person making aclaim has to provide the evidence for its validity. Would youbelieve in the claim that flying pineapples exist until provenwrong without any evidence? Probably not. You would withhold beliefuntil there is evidence to support such a claim.

All the same, it's sometimes valuable topoint out the fallacies in a claimants argument. At the veryleast, this creates constructive discussion where all points areconsidered and examined. This can also introduce doubt, causing theother person to reconsider his or her position or considersearching for evidence before accepting a claim.

Atheism exists on a spectrum. Some atheistsclaim absolute certainty in Gods nonexistence. Others simplyremain unconvinced and refuse to believe in a deity withoutcompelling evidence. However, once one has a high enough level ofcertainty about something, they usually treat it as certain for thesake of practicality.

After all, I cannot say with absolutecertainty that my wife is not a professional assassin hiredby the People's Republic of China to exterminate me. But I don'tspend time worrying about the possibility because there is noevidence whatsoever to support it. The same is true for theexistence of God, although my wife being an assassin is actuallymore likely; that scenario, at least, would fall within the knownscientific laws without contradicting the prevailing modelsexplaining the universe.

Many of us grew up in religious environmentsand began questioning what we had been taught by family, friends orthe community in general. Finding the language to talk about thosedoubts is a challenge, though, and having the support of others whohave covered that ground is valuable.

Even if you're not changing anyone's mind,examining different arguments can help hone your own skepticism andcritical thinking skills. Furthermore, some of the people you meetmay be doubtful or insecure about their religion but do not knowhow to express those doubts; introducing them to these argumentsand counterarguments might empower them to learn more and provide abetter understanding of their own doubts and questions.

Whether you're using this reference as a wayto validate your own views, arm yourself for debates or simplyanalyze the concepts of God and religion on a critical andexploratory way, this guide will provide thorough responses to 20common arguments for the existence of God. Each chapter willintroduce the claim before deconstructing it, providing sources forfurther study wherever relevant.

For most of this book, well consider a godto be a conscious, supernatural being that is responsible forcreating and/or sustaining the entire world or some majorattributes of the world and the rules that govern it, includingsome examples from the Christian and Islamic definitions of God.Well also consider theism to be the belief in this definition of agod or gods. In Chapter 13, well consider some other definitionsfor God, including deistic and pantheistic (but more on thatlater). For an objective overview of more views and ideologiesabout God, visit WhatAreGods.com .