The Non-Existence of God

Is it possible to prove or disprove God’s existence? Arguments for the existence of God have taken many different forms over the centuries: the ontological, cosmological and teleological arguments; arguments which invoke miracles, religious experience and morality; and prudential arguments such as Pascal’s Wager. On the other hand are the arguments against theistic belief: the traditional problem of evil; the logical tensions between divine attributes such as omnipotence, omniscience and eternity; and arguments from the scale of the universe. In The Non-existence of God, Nicholas Everitt introduces and critically assesses these arguments and examines the role that reason and knowledge play in the debate over God’s existence. He draws on recent scientific disputes over neo-Darwinism, the implications of ‘big bang’ cosmology, and rhe temporal and spatial size of rhe universe; and discusses some of the most recent work on the subject, such as the writings of Reformed Episte-mologists, and Plantinga’s ‘anti-naturalism’ argument in favour of theism. Everitt’s controversial conclusion is that there is a sense in which God’s existence is disprovable, and that even in other senses a belief in God would be irrational. Contents: 1. Reasoning about God 2. Reformed Epistemology 3. Ontological arguments 4. Cosmological arguments 5. Teleological arguments 6. Arguments to and from miracles 7. God and morality 8. Religious experience 9. Naturalism, evolution and rationality 10. Prudential arguments 11. Arguments from scale 12. Problems about evil 13. Omnipotence 14. Eternity and omnipresence 15. Omniscience 16. Conclusion. Nicholas Everitt is Senior Lecturer in Philosophy ar rhe University of East Anglia, UK. He is the co-author of Modern Epistemology (1995).