# 1999/2/16

# The best arguments for God's existence
# staff of Leonard Peikoff Show
# http://www.lpshow.com/according.html


The Best Arguments for God’s Existence

Dr. Peikoff will continue his show on The Best Arguments for God’s
Existence next Tuesday. Meanwhile, here are summaries of several
arguments Dr. Peikoff presented on-air during Thursday’s show. Can
you answer any of these arguments? Can you add an argument that
you think is better? We want to hear from you! Send your answers,
comments, additions, and suggestions to comment@lpshow.com, then
tune in next week to hear Dr. Peikoff’s response.
 
Argument from Design
Suppose you find a watch and inspect it. Considering its intricate
system of cogs and springs moving in harmony, you would surely judge
that the watch couldn’t have been thrown together by chance. It must
owe its existence to some intelligent designer who put the delicate
mechanism together; therefore, you conclude, there must be a
watchmaker.
     Nature is more complex, orderly and intricate than any watch ever
made: just consider the structure and workings of the human eye, or of
the DNA which holds our genetic blueprints. Blind chance could never
account for such marvels. Just as all watches have watchmakers, so
nature itself must have its own maker, some intelligence that designed
and arranged all the parts. Only a power like God could have done this;
Nature’s complex order, therefore, entails the existence of God.
 
Argument from Miracles
Consider the cases of terminally ill people who are saved by faith
healing. Observe the masses who frequently report witnessing statues
of marble weep human tears. What about plane crashes in which only
one of 400 passangers survives? What explains the Resurection of
Jesus, or Jesus’s walking on water? Miracles like these are inexplicable
by science — only an omnipotent God could have caused them;
therefore He exists.
 
Argument from a Sixth Sense
Some people say they have a Sixth Sense which gives them access to
unquestionable evidence that God exists. (It is just a matter of luck
that we don’t all have this sense.) As clearly as we know that there
are trees, or that fire is hot, or that lemons are sour — these people
know that there is a God, because they “see” Him.Their sixth sense,
they argue, is just as trustworthy as our five. Therefore, they
conclude, God exists.
 
Let us know what you think: comment@lpshow.com, or call in next
week on 1-888-ON-RADIO. (N.B.: These summaries, prepared by LPShow staff,
have not been edited by Dr. Peikoff.)