Is God Real? Examining the Evidence

Shulgin et al9. addressed the age versus cohort effect using World Values Survey data (1981–2014), finding that in developed nations, age has a stronger effect than cohort. Older people reported more belief in God and identified more as religious (as opposed to atheist) compared to younger people.

The present study was intended to complement existing research by examining relationships between belief in God (as a measure of religiosity) and social capital and well-being in a sample of approximately 125,000 people from 77 countries (a combination of the most recent World and European ...

In no country were men significantly more likely to believe in God, gods, or spiritual forces. In sum, we reiterate that, even many of the associations that had a statistically significant global effect were only significant in a few countries. Further, in many cases, some predictors previously thought to be closely linked to religious belief only had significant effects in one or two countries.

Argues that the existence of nonbelief is evidence against any kind of theism that requires belief in God for salvation. Lehe, Robert. “A Response to the Argument from the Reasonableness of Nonbelief.” Faith and Philosophy 21(2) (2004) 159-174.

Both versions of Anselm’s argument rely on the claim that the idea of God (that is, a being than which none greater can be conceived) “exists as an idea in the understanding.” Similarly, Plantinga’s version relies on the more transparent claim that the concept of maximal greatness is self-consistent. But many philosophers are skeptical about the underlying assumption, as Leibniz describes it, “that this idea of the all-great or all-perfect being is possible and implies no contradiction.” Here is the problem as C.D.

There are lots of philosophical, theological, and even scientific arguments for God’s existence. But none of them can conclusively prove that the God of the Bible is the real and only God. This is because God exists outside of our universe and is not subject to our testing.

The argument proposes that God's existence is self-evident. The logic, depending on the formulation, reads roughly as follows: Whatever is contained in a clear and distinct idea of a thing must be predicated of that thing; but a clear and distinct idea of an absolutely perfect Being contains the idea of actual existence; therefore since we have the idea of an absolutely perfect Being such a Being must really exist.

It encourages us to build faith in God, not by blindly believing religious assertions, but by using our “power of reason” and “mental perception.” (Romans 12:1; 1 John 5:​20, footnote) Consider the following lines of reasoning based on the Bible: The existence of an orderly universe containing life points to a Creator. The Bible says: “Of course, every house is constructed by someone, but the one who constructed all things is God.” (Hebrews 3:4) Although this logic is simple, many well-educated people find it to be powerful.

God leads to some contradiction or other absurdity. ... Premise 1 is just a statement of Leibnitz’ PSR and is relatively uncontroversial. Surprisingly, Premise 2 is not that controversial at all. ... As a result, the most controversial premise is this P4. Defenders of Leibnitz’ argument say that nothing about our universe seems · necessary, as this is like arguing every single particle had to exist the way it