What are the odds against a Life Permitting Universe

There is a claim that forms an integral part of the Teleological Argument for the existence of God, an argument that claims the universe has clear signs of purpose. This claim is that a life-permitting universe is so unbelievably unlikely that no thinking person should be able to say it happened due to chance. The…

Sherlock Holmes, ‘inference to the best explanation’, false dichotomies and God

There’s a way of thinking called abductive reasoning, commonly referred to as “the inference to the best explanation”. Sherlock Holmes famously uses it, and his use is fallacious. There are many structures of argument that would fall under abductive reasoning, which this post will look at, briefly, focussing on their errors. It will then focus…

Does our solar system point to God?

Obviously, our solar system is not arrow shaped: if it has a shape, it’s a slightly oval disc. It literally does not point to anything. But, is there something remarkably unique about our solar system that would lead a sufficiently curious and rational mind to believe it counts as evidence in favour of the existence…

“Everything Happened all by Itself”?

"Atheists believe everything happened by itself" is not an uncommon accusation to be fired at atheists. I recently watched a video on how internet memes spread, so I have a vague concept of how that sort of considerable misinformation spreads so rapidly. But how about getting under what the problem with this accusation is. To…

Is it More Rational to Believe in God?

The BBC's The Big Questions continues to captivates, today with the question of whether it is more rational to believe in God. There has been some allusion to what it means to be rational; the philosopher Julian Baggini refers to science and naturalism. But a strong definition is never given. I'd like to do that (and…

God Vs the Universe: which is more worthy of our admiration?

God and the Universe have quite a lot in common. There is ambiguity about both their beginnings, their nature and their definition. A quick look: This universe is thought to have a finite beginning 13.8 billion years ago. But that depends on your definition of "universe". If you maintain that "universe" refers to this bubble…

15 Questions for Atheists

I found 15 questions (and answers) for atheists here, but the original is apparently here (I say "apparently", because they're rehashing of old questions). The questions are brilliant misunderstandings of terms, scientific research and reason. I answer the questions to address the mistakes assumed in the question, because we basically already know the answers. Are you…

Against the Cosmological Argument: we are a rounding error in the universe

Everything the average person has ever observed about the universe is made from a very limited number of things. Everything the average person has seen is a mix of less than 100 elements from the periodic table: all the cars, the books, the DVDs, the air conditioning, people, animals and plants, planets and moons. Basically…

With the Universe as My Crime Scene

I am not a fan of language games. I consider them things to be solved or fixed; I consider them tricks and deceit. However, in the religious debate language games abound. One of the biggest ones is about definitions. The one I want to discuss now is the claim that “there is no proof that…

Can a Multiverse Last Forever?

Our universe is not eternal. Our universe began nearly 14 billion years ago with the expansion from a singularity (Big Bang to its friends). Our universe doesn’t just happen to be finite (i.e. not eternal). Our universe couldn’t be eternal. It had to have a beginning. There is a very good reason for this, and…