Class 01
The Existence of God
Is belief in God reasonable? This class lays out the classical arguments for God’s existence, weighs the strongest replies, and asks what the evidence, taken together, points to.
The animated video for this class is in production. The written case below is complete and free to read now.
Evidence 01
The universe began to exist
The kalam cosmological argument runs: whatever begins to exist has a cause; the universe began to exist; therefore the universe has a cause. The first premise is a near-universal assumption of ordinary reasoning. The second is supported by standard Big Bang cosmology and by the thermodynamic difficulty of an infinitely old universe. If both premises hold, the cause is something beyond space, time, and matter.
Common objections
- ObjectionDoesn’t quantum physics show that things can begin without a cause?
- Response
Quantum events are unpredictable, but they still occur within a physical system governed by laws and prior conditions — they are not uncaused in the strong sense the objection needs. The argument concerns the origin of that whole system, not events inside it.
- ObjectionIf everything needs a cause, what caused God?
- Response
The premise is not "everything has a cause" but "whatever begins to exist has a cause." A being without a beginning is not a counterexample. Whether such a being is coherent is a fair further question, taken up later in the course.
Discussion
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Evidence 02
The universe is finely balanced for life
Several physical constants fall within extraordinarily narrow ranges compatible with life. Design, physical necessity, and chance are the three candidate explanations. This class introduces the structure of the argument; the fine-tuning class examines the multiverse reply in depth.
Common objections
- ObjectionCouldn’t a multiverse explain the fine-tuning?
- Response
A large enough multiverse could make some life-permitting universe likely, but it raises its own questions about the mechanism that generates universes and why it is itself ordered. The dedicated class weighs the trade-offs carefully.
Discussion
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Teaching materials