Outlines of Arguments

Outlines of Arguments for God's Existence

Cosmological Arguments:

The Kalam Cosmological Argument:

1. whatever begins to exist has a cause.


2. The universe began to exist


2.1. First Philosophical Argument
2.1.1. An actually infinite number of things cannot exist
2.1.2 A beginningless series of past events cannot exist.


2.2. Second Philosophical Argument
2.2.1. An actually infinite collection of things cannot be formed by successive addition.
2.2.2. The series of past events is a collection of things formed by successive addition.
2.2.3. Therefore the series of past events cannot be actually infinite.


2.2.4. First Scientific Confirmation.
2.2.5. Second Scientific Confirmation.


3. Therefore, the universe has a cause.


4. If the universe has a cause, that cause is uncaused, beginningless, changeless, immaterial, timeless, spaceless, unimaginably powerful, personal and necessary


4.1. The necessary first cause is uncaused.
4.2. The necessary first cause is beginningless.
4.3. The necessary first cause is changeless.
4.4. The necessary first cause is immaterial.
4.5. The necessary first cause is timeless.
4.6. The necessary first cause is spaceless.
4.7. The necessary first cause is unimaginably powerful.
4.8. The necessary first cause is personal.


5. Therefore, a personal Creator of the universe exists, who is uncaused, beginningless, changeless, immaterial, timeless, spaceless and unimaginably powerful.

Ontological Arguments:

Alvin Plantinga's Modal Ontological Argument: 

1. A being has maximal excellence in a given possible world W if and only if it is omnipotent, omniscient and wholly good in W: and
2. A being has maximal greatness if it has maximal excellence in every possible world.
3. It is possible that there is a being that has maximal greatness. (Premise)
4. Therefore, possibly it is necessarily true that an omniscient, omnipotent and perfectly good being exists.
5. Therefore (by Axiom S5*) it is necessarily true that an omniscient, omnipotent and perfectly good being exists.
6. Therefore, an omniscient, omnipotent and perfectly good being exists. 

* - Axiom S5

For more on modal thought, go here.

Charles Hartshorne's Modal Ontological Argument:

1. If God exists, he must exist necessarily, if God does not exist his existence is impossible.
2. Therefore, God is either necessary or impossible.
3. God can be conceived without contradiction.
4 Therefore, God is not impossible.
5. Since God is not impossible he must be necessary.
6. Since God is necessary he must exist.


The Assumption that God cannot be contingent is implicit in the concept of God himself.  Therefore God cannot exist contingently.


Modal = The logic of modes of being.


Modal operators = Necessity, Contingency, Possibility, Impossibility.


Causal modal operators = Necessity and Contingency.