1) 1-There is no universally accepted definition of
‘God’ – What are God’s attributes; how do we know God is God? Ask 100 theists
for their definition of God and you’re likely to get about 100 different
answers once you get past the Big Three. There will be some similarity in
answers, such that God is anthropomorphic, is omniscient, omnipotent, and
omnibenevolent, those last three attribute that when taken collectively cannot
possibly be true due to contradictions. (For instance, if God knows the future,
the future is preordained, which means God has no free will, which means God is
not all powerful.) To know God is God there must be a definition that is
testable. We can’t simply resort to “God is these things by definition” if such
a definition cannot be observed. Even in the world of mathematics, one is one
is not true by definition; we have to observe that is the case to know it is
true.
2) 2- God is not testable – Not only is the definition
of God not testable, in NO WAY can we sense God on a practical level. We cannot
see, touch, taste, smell or hear God forthwith. Seeing or hearing God – when
other people cannot – is tantamount to a hallucination. Likewise are mental
states or emotional ‘feelings’ that God is present or exists. We know by
studying brain scans these states or feeling are dependent on biological
changes within the brain and body and do not correlate to any information we
retrieve through our five senses. ‘Knowledge’ not derived from our five senses is
not actual knowledge. Direct experience is the only way to actually know
anything about the world, assuming our senses are not faulty.
3) 3- God cannot be told apart from a sufficiently
powerful or knowledgeable alien – Let’s suppose some being came to Earth
tomorrow and are from the planet Flobblebot, though they neglected to tell us
where they are from. They know everything there is to know about the universe
to the point of predicting exactly what will happen next and can perform any
seemingly magical trick we ask of them, like teleporting us to the surface of
the Sun and back without harm. Furthermore, this creature says they are the god
of the Bible. Should we then conclude that this being is in fact God? That may
seem reasonable but they really aren’t God since they’re from within the
universe and not from outside of it as apologists often postulate. So we can’t
know any ‘God’ isn’t lying to us, that they aren’t an alien. Any God could in
fact be an alien who happens to have advanced power and knowledge.
4) 4- The existence of evil – Surely a definition of
evil would be helpful here, unless we can agree ahead of time that something
like the murder of a newborn child is evil. Let’s assume we do agree on that.
If God is all-knowing, God knew it was going to happen and in not preventing
it, is ultimately responsible for the evil since God is the creator of all
things. If God could have chosen to stop this event and did not, God is not
all-good. If God had a good reason not to stop the event – perhaps the child
faced an unpleasant life if allowed to live – we should conclude God is not
powerful enough to have stopped the pregnancy in the first place. We also can’t
assume God’s actual reasons for doing anything as God’s mind is unknowable as I’ve
so often heard from theists. (And, if it were indeed the case that God had a
good reason for allowing the murder, this gives us a reason for allowing
abortion.) If an all-powerful God wanted to stop a life of suffering, an all-powerful
God could do so at any time but curiously never does – because God does not
exist. If an existent God has a good reason for allowing suffering – maybe it
creates mental and emotional resiliency – this should be stated in scriptures
and continue in the afterlife. Never stop growing, right? (If the whole point
of heaven is to live eternally without suffering, then it is reasonable to
assume suffering is bad. Doesn’t seem like there is in fact a good reason for
it.)
5) 5-Theists are often frightened by the prospect of
death – If heaven exists why are theists ever afraid? If they are not sure if
they are going to get into heaven, that indicates they are not compelled by the
particulars of their faith to follow all the tenants of their faith and secure
their heavenly reward: eternal life. A ‘true believer’ wouldn’t be scared by
the prospect of the unknown – since they know about heaven – or leaving their
family and friends behind knowing they are all going to meet again in the
afterlife. A theist cannot be scared by dying as obtaining heaven is the entire
point of believing in God. But theists are scared all the time. They have fears
about death, they doubt, because subliminally at least they know they have
accepted a falsehood. If heaven exists, a theist should not be scared by death
or any earthly punishments. But they are scared. Ergo, God does not exist.
I hope you’ve enjoyed these ‘irrefutable’ proofs, some of
which is a little bit tongue-in-cheek on purpose. Surely you’ve spotted an
error or two on the level of “The Bible says God exists so God exists.” Have
fun picking apart and kindly share your thoughts. Even after doing that it is
still the case that no gods exist. Can you prove otherwise?
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