Arguments for the existence of God: the design (teleological) argument, the cause (cosmological) argument, the argument from religious experience and miracles, and the main objections to each.

What this dot point is asking

You need to explain the main arguments for the existence of God: the design (teleological) argument, the cause (cosmological) argument, and the argument from religious experience and miracles, together with the main objections to each. CCEA examiners reward a clear explanation of how each argument works, and balanced evaluation that weighs the argument against its criticisms. The strongest answers explain the steps of an argument and then judge how convincing it is.

The design argument

The argument moves from evidence of design in the world to the existence of an intelligent designer, which believers identify as God.

The cause argument

The cause argument, also called the cosmological argument, claims that everything that exists has a cause, so the universe itself must have a cause. The argument runs:

• Everything that begins to exist has a cause.
• The universe began to exist.
• Therefore the universe has a cause.

Believers argue that this first cause, which itself was not caused, is God. Unlike everything in the universe, God is eternal and needs no cause, so God can be the uncaused cause that brought everything else into being.

The argument from religious experience and miracles

This argument starts not from the world in general but from personal experience, claiming that people really do encounter the God who exists.

The main objections

Each argument faces serious objections.

• Against the design argument: evolution by natural selection can explain order and apparent purpose without a designer; and the world also contains disorder and suffering, which a perfect designer might not produce.
• Against the cause argument: if everything needs a cause, critics ask "who made God?"; and the universe might simply exist without a cause, or have a natural explanation.
• Against religious experience and miracles: experiences may be the result of imagination, emotion or the brain, not God; and reported miracles may have natural explanations or be mistaken.

These objections mean that, for many people, the arguments make God's existence reasonable but do not prove it beyond doubt.

How to answer a question on the arguments

A model paragraph built from this method: "The cause argument states that everything that begins to exist must have a cause, and since the universe began to exist, it too must have a cause. Believers argue that this first cause, which was not itself caused, is God, because God is eternal and needs no cause. The argument tries to explain why there is something rather than nothing by pointing to God as the uncaused cause of the universe." This scores highly because it sets out the steps clearly and explains why God fits the conclusion.

Try this

Q1. What is Paley's watch used to argue? [2 marks]

• Cue. That just as a watch's complex parts show it was designed, the ordered universe must have a designer, who is God.

Q2. What does the cause argument conclude is the first cause of the universe? [2 marks]

• Cue. God, the eternal, uncaused cause who needs no cause and brought everything else into being.

Q3. Give one objection to the design argument. [2 marks]

• Cue. Evolution by natural selection can explain order and apparent purpose without a designer, or the world contains disorder a perfect designer might not produce.