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From ancient Greece to modern America, from short essays to long arguments, from individual lives to history and philosophy, in words reasoned quietly or
shouted loudly,
The Atheist God Would Read (or watch or listen) . . . offers a wide range of books for rational people in an often irrational world.
New titles added weekly. Plus DVDs, MP3s and more.
Added February 2010: Fiction: an eclectic selection of
novels and short stories from an atheist perspective. Come browse.
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Because God is impossible, we know he / she / it doesn't exist.
"I know God doesn't exist" or "I believe God doesn't exist"?
We say "I know" when we can prove something and "I believe" when we
can't prove it. Can we prove that God doesn't exist?
In Section 7 we saw that some things are impossible; we can prove they do not exist, so we can say we
know they do not exist.
Can we say the same of God?
If God transcends the laws of nature and can do anything, does that mean we can't prove he doesn't exist?
Yahweh / God / Allah
Start with the Jewish-Christian-Muslim God. He can do anything. He created the universe and humanity. He's interested in humanity. He's all-powerful, all-knowing and all-compassionate.
An all-knowing and all-powerful can prevent natural disaster and suffering. And because he is all-compassionate he must prevent them. But natural disasters still occur and people still suffer.
That means that if God does exist, he is either not all-powerful or he isn't all-compassionate. And that means, if he does exist, he is not the J-C-M God. In short, the fact that people suffer and die in natural disasters is the first proof that such a God cannot exist.
The second proof that there is no Yahweh / God / Allah is the contradiction between free will and God's omniscience - knowing everything.
Because God knows everything, he knows how we will behave in every situation. That means he knows whether we will ultimately go to Heaven or Hell. Whatever we do is meaningless, because an all-knowing God already knows our future.
If we truly have free will, Yahweh / God /
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How good is your reasoning?
Can you distinguish lies from truth? Or a good
argument from a false one? Can you when tell someone is trying to pull
the wool over your eyes?
We keep physically fit by exercising regularly and eating healthy
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food. The same is true of our minds - we need regular mental exercise and a good diet of
solid facts and logic.
This chapter offers basic reasoning skills to help you understand the contradictions
that lie at the heart of all religion.
0.1: Basic principles
Start at the beginning
0.2: What do we know?
Separate fact from fiction
0.3: Start with the question ...
... not with the answer
0.4: All the evidence ...
... not just some of it
0.5: Cause and correlation
They're not the same
0.6: Don't jump to conclusions ...
... or you could land in the ...
0.7: No way
Proving a negative
0.8: Occam's Razor
The simplest solution
0.9: Facts, knowledge and science
What we know and how we know it
0.10: Know or believe?
The impossibility of God
0.11: Reason and faith
Understanding the difference
0.12: Summary
Finished the introduction? Move on to
Chapter 1
Defining God
Does God exist? Before we try to answer that question we
need to have a clear idea of who or what God is. How do we
describe God? What versions of God are on offer?
Not sure what you're looking for?
If there's a word that you don't recognize, it might be defined
here.
If there's a topic you're looking for, check one of the Search
boxes on this page.
If there's something you want to ask, send an
e-mail. We can't guarantee an answer,
but we'll do our best.
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Allah cannot exist. Or he exists, we have no free will. You decide.
Lesser gods
How about less powerful gods, who do not know everything and who are not renowned for their compassion - such as the Greek, Norse or Hindu Gods? Could there be such beings?
Assume for moment that Gods like this exist. The fact that they are less powerful means that they do not transcend the universe but are subject to the same laws of nature that we are. Their abilities may appear supernatural - in the same way that our ability to fly, transmit images long-distance and cure diseases would appear supernatural to our ancestors - but they are as confined by physics as we are.
In short, such beings might theoretically exist, but we have no evidence that they do and no reason to call them gods.
The distant God
There is one more possibilty - a supernatural intelligent force that created the universe but
has no interest in it or in the human race. This is the
Deist god.
There are two arguments against such a god. First, if we need such a god to explain the existence of this universe, then we need a superior god to create the god who created us, then a higher god to create that one and so on ad infinitum. A single god is impossible; we must have an infinity of gods, which in itself is impossible
Secondly, the fact that the Deist god has no interest in humanity makes him irrelevant to us - and God is only meaningful if he is interested in us.
To sum up, our state of knowledge tells us that neither an individual god nor an infinity of supra-universal beings can exist - and even if they do, they are irrelevant to humanity.
We know there is no God
The Jewish-Christian-God is impossible. Lesser versions of God do not transcend the universe. The Deist creator is irrelevant to humanity.
These statements point us to the inevitable conclusion:
because God is impossible, we know that he / she / it doesn't exist.
Next:
Introduction: Section 11
Reason and faith
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If God existed, he would...
admire the beauty of a universe that he did not create
recognize that eternity is meaningless
deny both heaven and hell
disown all men and women who speak in his name
denounce the harm caused by religious "morality"
help the human race to thrive without him
If God existed, he would be an atheist.
What is the difference between science and faith?
science is certain of nothing and requires proof of everything
faith is certain of everything and requires proof of nothing
Which do you trust?
"I know there is no God"
or
"I believe there is no God"
???
Check the answer
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