This book assesses the worth of arguments for and against the existence of God. Evidence confirms (makes more probable) a hypothesis that explains that (1) given the hypothesis, the evidence is to be expected, i.e. the hypothesis makes the evidence probable, (2) the evidence is not otherwise to be expected, (3) the hypothesis is simple, and (4) it fits with background knowledge (i.e. knowledge about how things behave in neighbouring fields of enquiry.) When we are assessing hypotheses (such as theism, the hypothesis that there is a God) purporting to explain everything, there will be no backgr ... More

This book assesses the worth of arguments for and against the existence of God. Evidence confirms (makes more probable) a hypothesis that explains that (1) given the hypothesis, the evidence is to be expected, i.e. the hypothesis makes the evidence probable, (2) the evidence is not otherwise to be expected, (3) the hypothesis is simple, and (4) it fits with background knowledge (i.e. knowledge about how things behave in neighbouring fields of enquiry.) When we are assessing hypotheses (such as theism, the hypothesis that there is a God) purporting to explain everything, there will be no background knowledge. Theism is a very simple hypothesis. If there is a God, there is some reason to expect that he will create a universe, with laws of nature, leading to the evolution of humans (bodies connected to souls), who often have experiences which seem to them experiences of God. It is most impossible that all this evidence exists if there were no God. Taken together, therefore, all this evidence makes it probable that there is a God. The occurrence of evil, whether produced by humans or natural processes, does not diminish that probability.