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The article by H.J. McCloskey, titled “On Being an Atheist” is certainly a controversial topic for those of the Christian faith, especially those with very strong beliefs. We as Christians believe that God is almighty and there is really no need to believe in any other being or even question that he exists. In this article from McCloskey, he talks about God’s existence and if there truly is a God, then why is there evil in world? This essay will have my findings on the questions we were asked as class about McCloskey’s thoughts and the thoughts from the book, Philosophy of Religion. When believing in anything, people like to have proof as to why something exists. Christians might show proof in God’s existence or Atheists might show proof in that there is no God. We all have reasons as to why we believe in certain things and sometimes its can be hard to prove. McCloskey talks about proofs in his article, saying that there are proofs to the non-existence of God. In a presentation titled “Approaching the Question of God’s Existence”, the author is quite the opposite of McCloskey. He doesn’t believe that we should try proving anything; it is a word to steer away from. We shouldn’t try to find proof that God exists, but find a best explanation to why he exists.
McCloskey says that proofs cannot actually make a case that there is a God. In the presentation, though, it is explained that we can make our best case for why he exists. The author says, “There are certain things we see within the universe, the best explanation is God.” (Approaching the Questions of God’s Existence) So in conclusion to the idea of proofs, no one has proof of God’s existence but we may very well have good reasons that we should believe in it. McCloskey claims that there is no reason to believe in a being like God. According to our text, a necessary being is a being that needs no further explanation, this further could be God. The universe could not have just started out of nowhere. Evans and Manis, the authors of our text, explain that the universe is contingent, meaning that God has to be the necessary creator of the universe. There are too many things in the universe that cannot be explained by the laws of nature. Things that exist now might not of always existed but there at to be someone or something to make them come about. Another claim made by McCloskey is about the cosmological argument and how it does not allow us to create a perfect uncaused cause. Even as a believer in God, there is a lot left out of this argument, according to our text. It is merely a start into the knowledge that we can have in God. If I to respond to McCloskey, I would say that yes, the argument is limited, but there could be a way to find more information to limit what we from learning about God. I do not think that McCloskey is correct in him saying that we cannot argue that there is a all-perfect, all-powerful planner and designer of the universe. I think there was one designer of the universe and thankful to him, we, as humans, would not be where we are today. The world just doesn’t run on its own after having someone or something design it. There has to be someone watching to make sure we are doing what we need to so within the universe. Order and value are two features in nature that when put together imply design. Order is when “things in nature act always or nearly always in the same way.” (Evans and Manis, p.78) Value is “the order in nature brings about results that are good.” (Evans and Manis, p. 78) Us as human beings on this earth always act the same even though the years go on and there may be new stuff introduced to us and we can value what we have no matter what, even if in bad times. I think this is a good example of the two features that offer some insight into the evidence that there is a designer because the designer is employing both of the features needed for a good running universe. When it comes to evolution, even if some do not see it as God having anything to do with it, he is an intelligent designer who realized what his purpose was when creating the universe. As explained in out text, evolution only increases our understanding of what God wanted the universe to become. If I thought that evolution was true, I could believe that there was no need for a designer. Evolution is known to be a brute fact that natural laws brought together the design of nature, not a God. We could have survived this variation of the world because creatures learned their way around or about different things and then reproduced and passed their knowledge to the next generations. The other part of McCloskey’s article after talking about the existence of God is questioning why, if there were a God, is there still evil in the world. Evans and Manis make a perfect statement that could defend McCloskey’s question. They said “The evil that God permits is justified because allowing that evil makes possible the achievement of a greater good or the prevention of a worse evil.” (Evans and Manis, p. 160) So if understanding this correctly, allowing evil, just a little, is what is going to help fight against the greater good. It might sound confusing to some as to why let evil in the world at all when God is supposed to protect us, like what McCloskey is trying to get across. Like the authors also say though, it doesn’t really matter if we understand why God would let such evils in our world, it just matters that we believe he has good reasons for doing so. The idea of free will can go along with the argument of why there is evil in the world. If humans had truly free will then we would not use it for what is right, we would just create more evils. God created a world in which we could have freedom and was not thinking solely on the idea of free will. He did not want us to have an alternate thinking of what freedom is. In the article by McCloskey, he says that it is more comforting to be an Atheist than to believe in God. I do not think this is true by any means. William Lane Craig brings up some very good points in his article, “The Absurdity of Life without God” about why we shouldn’t live without the faith that we have in Him. Craig says that if God does not exist then our world and the men and women in it are doomed to death. Without the hope of immorality that comes from God, then there is no reason to lead a life. If there is no God and no immortality then there is no life when we all die because there will be no significance when we pass. Craig also says at one point the atheist cannot be truly happy because without a God, there is no value of their life and what they are living for. Everyone has their own beliefs when it comes to multiple values, faiths, or just anything really. I can be very hard for a person who does not believe in God to wonder why he would have created a world where they could be such heart break and evil and that can be understandable to some. For us that have faith in God know that he is there even though we cannot see him or touch him and are not afraid to reach out to him. McCloskey does have some valid points but no matter which way you look at it, there is a better explanation that God does exists and did create this world, good or bad.
Works Cited
Evans, C. Stephen, and R. Zachary Manis. Philosophy of Religion. 2nd ed. Downers Grove,IL: InterVarsity, 2009. Print.
Craig, William Lane. Reasonable Faith: Christian Truth and Apologetics. 3rd ed. Wheaton, IL. Crossway Books, 2008. 71-90.
McCloskey, H.J. "On Being an Atheist." Web.

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