Assessment of the View that it is Rational to Believe that there is a God

In Kelly James Clark’s Article “Without Evidence or Argument”, Clark argues that belief in God, does not require the support of evidence or argument in order for it to be rational. Clark’s argument is against W.K. Clifford’s article “The Ethics of Belief”, in which Clifford claims that everything must be believed only on the basis of sufficient evidence (139). Throughout Kelly Clark’s article he states many things that support his conclusion of belief without evidence or argument, however, my paper will only discuss what Clark says on p.139 starting with the paragraph “The first problem with Clifford’s…” and the following paragraph, ending with the words “...to see why.”

The question of whether God exists pervades the study of philosophy, with both sides providing substantial arguments that appear believable upon first reading them. However, delving below the surface of such arguments shows holes in the reasoning of these philosophers. Though I would like to believe in the existence of God, after seeing the arguments for God's existence thoroughly discredited, I am not entirely sure what to believe.

In the Article “On Being an Atheist”, McCloskey refers to the arguments defending the existence of God as “proofs”. He also believes that because none of the arguments can absolutely prove the existence of God, that we should deny them all and the existence of God (McCloskey, 1968). Foreman addresses this dilemma in his presentation “Approaching the Question of God’s Existence.” Foreman states that there is no absolute proof of God’s existence but there are many things in the universe that are best explained by the existence of God. All arguments in the defense of the existence of

Therefore, something than which a greater cannot be conceived so truly is that it is impossible even to conceive of it as not existing. [God exists, and it is impossible to conceive otherwise.]

The arguments trying to “prove” the existence of God are by far some of the most controversial philosophical arguments out there. When some of the people who created these philosophies it was illegal or even punishable by death to even question his existence, let alone try to come up with a logical explanation to “prove” he is real. The two main arguments used today are the ontological argument and the cosmological argument. Neither one of these arguments are correct nor incorrect; moreover, the argument of God is extremely controversial and will continue on long after our lifetimes.

Does God Exist? If God so desired, He could merely appear and attest to the whole of humankind that He exists. But if He did that, there would be no need for faith. “Then Jesus told him, 'Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed '” (John 20:29). I’m sure an abundance of people would love for someone to simply show them the evidence for God 's existence. Enough of those statements of, "You just have to believe” or “Just have some faith” such statements that leave many people with no comfort or acceptance. I would like to attempt to point out some of the reasons that lead me undoubtedly believe that God exists. First of all, consider the following. When it comes to the prospect of God 's existence, the Bible says that there are individuals who have seen sufficient evidence, but they have concealed the truth they have seen. On the other hand, for those who continue to wonder if God is there, he says, "You will seek me and find me; when you seek me with all your heart, I will be found by you." Before one looks at the facts surrounding God 's existence, one must ask themselves, if God does exist, would I want to know him? To follow are some reasons to consider.

The definition of faith is confidence or trust in a person, thing, deity, or in the doctrines or teachings of a religion or view. The word faith is often used as a synonym for hope, trust or belief. In “contrast” the definition of Reason is the capacity for consciously making sense of things, applying logic, for establishing and verifying facts, and changing or justifying practices, institutions, and beliefs based on new or existing information. It is closely associated with such characteristically human activities as philosophy, science, language, mathematics, and art, and is normally considered to be a definitive characteristic of human nature. Faith and reason commonly seem to be the source of division within the philosophical community. What are faith and reason really, and is there truly no room for faith and reason to coexist?

A second premise supporting my uncertainty about God’s existence is the following. There are religions throughout the world that have not directly influenced one another but contain the same premise of a higher power or higher powers. There must be some sort of god or gods because of humanity’s ability to question their existence.

Whether god exists or not has been in discussion for thousands of years, and an important discussion. Whether it is rational to believe in god or not is another story, like believing in god itself, this topic has brought many discussions. It is one thing to discuss whether god is real or not and it is a complete other to discuss whether it is rational to believe in god or not. I believe that while there may not be any convincing evidence or arguments that God does exist, I do still believe that it is still rational to believe that god does exist. I think this because, believing in God is not simply just believing that he exists, but believing that it can bring good to our lives, we otherwise would not have. It teaches us to have a moral

Some people believe that there is an existing conflict between faith and reason, but not all. This is not limited only to those who identify as religious nor does it apply strictly to those who deny the existence of God. As written in the Bible, We are to have good reason for what we believe, and we are to be always ready to share that reason with other people (1 Peter 3:15). The argument of faith and reason is seen in numerous philosophical writings such as Blaise Pascal’s Faith is a Logical Bet or W.K. Clifford’s The Ethics of Belief. In both we find strengths and weaknesses which defend their individual beliefs based on reasoning and logical thinking.

However, since there is no absolution and things are always changing then there is no real truth.

In today’s modern western society, it has become increasingly popular to not identify with any religion, namely Christianity. The outlook that people have today on the existence of God and the role that He plays in our world has changed drastically since the Enlightenment Period. Many look solely to the concept of reason, or the phenomenon that allows human beings to use their senses to draw conclusions about the world around them, to try and understand the environment that they live in. However, there are some that look to faith, or the concept of believing in a higher power as the reason for our existence. Being that this is a fundamental issue for humanity, there have been many attempts to explain what role each concept plays. It is my

It was the night before the last day of our Faith & Reason class and I had previously been tasked with finding a specific topic to argue for. I decided to cover the idea of my own faith and how it copes with the multiple viewpoints varying from atheists, theists, and the Bible as well as the opinions on reason and the very existence of God. Within this paper, I will explain why my faith is eternal and no matter how much evidence there is against the existence of God, my conviction that there is a supreme being who oversees all that goes on in this world, will continue to avail.

Although many cannot articulate their reasons for believing in the existence of God, their faith is nonetheless definite

A reasonable person is a sensible one with sound judgment formed through logic. The common belief of “seeing is believing” makes justifying why God does indeed exist hard for some people because how could a reasonable person believe in something that he or she cannot physically see? Although a person may not be able to physically see God, reason to believe in His existence still exists. It may even be seen as a leap of faith to believe that God exists without being able to physically see Him, yet it is a necessary jump to make. Having a higher power to believe helps explain many of the questions in the world for why things are the way they are, as God is the logical cause of all further causes. Just because you cannot physically see God, does not mean that there is no evidence of God’s existence. It just means the way that you go about demonstrating God’s existence is different. Instead of going by knowledge of the cause itself, a person must make sense instead of God’s existence going from knowledge of the effects. God is all powerful, all knowing, and all good. However, that means his existence is past our mental capacity to grasp as human beings. A reasonable person can still indeed believe that God exists.