From: utzoo!decvax!duke!unc!tim
Newsgroups: net.misc
Title: Re: Religous Matters
Article-I.D.: unc.4543
Posted: Thu Jan 20 16:58:17 1983
Received: Thu Feb  3 17:06:45 1983
References: ucbvax.629 we13.369

To rephrase the recent rephrasal of Kant, all that
the argument says is "If there is a God, then It must
exist." Saying things like this in a misleading way
is the essence of most "proofs" of the existence of God.

My favorite has always been Aquinas' Primum Mobile
(First Mover, First Cause) argument. Cause and effect
is the nature of events in this universe; every effect
must have a cause. Taking this back, we get either an
infinite regress (which he dismissed as obvious absurdity)
or a first cause. Therefore, there is a God who was this
first cause. This was one of the most popular arguments,
and remains one of the easiest to debunk. It is no harder
to imagine a Universe without a cause than to imagine a God
without a cause.
					Tim Maroney