This document discusses two central questions in philosophy of religion: the nature of religious belief and language, and whether God exists. Regarding the first question, it explores whether talk of God refers to something that exists independently or is a way of talking about life. It also examines the differences between belief-that and belief-in. On the second question around God's existence, it outlines arguments from design, fine-tuning of the universe, and responses like evolution and the possibility of multiple universes. The document raises additional questions about explaining the universe and religious experiences.

1. Philosophy of Religion
Michael Lacewing
enquiries@alevelphilosophy.co.uk

2. Two central questions
• What does it mean to talk of, or
believe in, God?
– Is talk about God talk about something
that exists independently of us? Or a way
of talking about life?
– Does ‘God exists’ state something that can
be true or false? Or express an attitude?
• Does God exist?
– Can we answer this question by argument?

3. THE NATURE OF RELIGIOUS
BELIEF AND LANGUAGE

4. Belief-that
• Standard analysis: content + attitude
• Content: what the person believes, given by
a proposition
– E.g. ‘He believes that elephants are grey.’
• Belief-that aims at truth:
– To believe that p is to believe that p is true.
• ‘I believe him’ =
– ‘I believe that what he says is true’
– ‘I believe that he is trustworthy/sincere’

5. Belief in
• ‘I believe in God’ = ‘I believe that God
exists’?
• ‘I believe in love’
• Not belief-that (no truth claim), but
faith, trust, commitment

6. Religious belief
• Does belief in God presuppose belief
that God exists?
– Yes: you can’t believe in a person if you
think they don’t exist
– No: you don’t have believe that love exists
(literally) to believe in love
• What is more basic in religious belief?
Should belief-that be analysed as
(really) belief-in or vice-versa?

7. Does ‘God exists’ state a
fact?
• Not tested against empirical
experience
• Not purely intellectual
• Theism not acquired by argument or
evidence
• Religious ‘belief’ is belief-in, an
attitude or commitment, towards life,
others, history, morality… a way of
living.

8. Objections
• Different religions can prescribe similar ways
of life while arguing for different beliefs
about God
– Orthodoxy (right belief) has been thought very
important
• What supports or justifies the attitude if not
beliefs about how things are?
• Perhaps religions distinguished by their
stories
– But stories don’t justify commitments
• This approach makes religion too subjective

9. Traditional belief
• ‘God exists’ is objectively true or
false.
• ‘God’ refers to a being (in some sense)
that exists independently of us, and
has certain attributes.
– Monotheism: perfect knowledge, power,
goodness, creator of the universe…

10. Faith
• So: can we know whether God exists?
– Belief in God = faith
• What is faith based on?
– Reason: at least reason can justify faith,
even if it doesn’t often cause it
– Revelation: scripture
– (Religious) Experience: mundane and
miraculous

11. Approaches
• Pope John Paul II: rational knowledge and
philosophical discourse are important for
‘the very possibility of belief in God’.
• Richard Swinburne: The Coherence of
Theism: God’s existence is probable,
considering all the evidence.
• Extreme ‘fideism’: sin has damaged our
ability to reason, so ignore reason.
• Moderate ‘fideism’: faith goes ‘beyond’
reason, but doesn’t oppose it.

12. Objection
• Many religious believers think that they do
have some reason to believe in God.
• But they are willing to accept that the
evidence for God’s existence is not very
strong, so they say it is a matter of faith.
• This seems inconsistent: it accepts belief in
God is a matter of evidence and argument,
but that we don’t need to justify our
conclusion by the balance of evidence.

13. DOES GOD EXIST?

14. Amazement
• Two natural phenomena often inspire
amazement in us: the night sky and life
• The first is vast, awesome
• The second is wonderful and intricate
• Philosophers can also be amazed that
we can understand the world at all

15. Life
• Organs serve a purpose –
heart – pump blood; eye –
seeing
– We understand parts of an
organ in relation to serving
this purpose
• A living organism requires
huge coordination of tiny
parts each functioning
well – complexity

16. Design
• Complexity of this kind, the way parts
work together, can indicate planning
and design – intentional purpose
• If life involves design, by definition,
there must be a designer
• But are living organisms designed?

17. Evolution by natural
selection
• Darwin explained how the
appearance of design is
possible without design
• Genetic alterations happen
randomly; most disappear. But
those that improve
reproduction survive and
spread in a population, altering
the species
• Such alterations are not
actually ‘selected’ – natural
forces secure their survival

18. Starry sky

19. The ‘fine tuning’ argument
• Why do we live in a universe in which
life (and evolution) is possible?
• The conditions for life are very, very
improbable. Life needs planets, and
planets need stars.
• For stars to exist, the conditions of the
Big Bang (how big, how much bang)
had to be exact to 1/1060

20. 1 in 1060
• 0.0000000000000000000000000000000000000
0000000000000000000001 percent
– As precise as hitting a one-inch target on the
other side of the universe
• That’s for stars– life is even more improbable
• Of course, if God designed the universe to
develop life, this is not a massive
coincidence

21. Does the universe need
explaining?
• The lottery argument
– It’s incredibly unlikely, before the draw, that
whoever wins will win.
– But someone will win.
– With enough chances, the incredibly unlikely can
become inevitable.
• If there are lots of universes, one of them
would have the right conditions for life.

22. More questions
• What explains why and how the
universe – any universe – exists in the
first place?
• What is the best explanation for
religious experience and miracles?
• If God is all-powerful, all-loving, and
all-knowing, why does evil and
suffering occur?