Pro: Science Reduces

the Probability of a
God
Jamie McCoy, Isabella Mun-Yuen
Mori, Chanel Ison

What do we mean by God?

Abrahamic God (Christian, Jewish, and
Islamic God) - all knowing, all powerful,
benevolent, has a plan, interacts with
his children.
Basis: the Bible, the Torah, the Quran,
personal testimony.

Argument
If a hypothesis doesnt have
sufficient evidence to support it, then the
probability of it being true is reduced.
Premise 1:

Premise 2: There isnt sufficient evidence to

support the idea of God.
Claim: Therefore, the probability of Gods
existence is reduced.

Premise 2: There isnt sufficient evidence to

support the idea of God.
Basis for belief in God:
The Bible/Torah/Quran
Personal Experience/Testimony
Family (tradition) and Society
Comfort

These are NOT

valid sources of
knowledge or
justified reasons
for believing.

The Bible/Torah/Quran
We can refute many claims of the holy texts.
Theory: The universe is roughly 6,000 years old.
Evidence: (opposing) We have observed many galaxies more than
6,000 light years away fromTriangulum
earth.Galaxy=2.723 million light
years
Messier 82=11.42 million light years

P(T)= .5
P(E|T)= .05
P(E|-T)= .95
P(-T)= .50

P(T|E)= .
05

Personal Experience
Not replicable.
Not testable.
-Pareidoliaperceiving vague stimuli as
Not
reliable.
something its not.

Family and Society

Appeal to Tradition: believing in something
because it has been established and accepted
for a long period of time.
Appeal to the Masses: believing in something
because a lot of people believe in it.

Comfort
Appeal to Ignorance: believing in
something because you cant
conclusively prove it to be false.
Appeal to Fear: believing in something
because you are threatened if you do
not.

Criteria of Adequacy
TESTABILITY: The ability to test for Gods existence can neither be
proved nor disproved.
FRUITFULNESS: The pro-side is better abled to make predictions
based upon empirical evidence.
SCOPE: All things equal, the pro-side can better explain and account
for the diversity of phenomenon.

Criteria of Adequacy
SIMPLICITY: The con-side makes a single assumption, that God is
real, which forms a multitude of assumptions about the nature of
the world.
CONSERVATISM: The pro team can support notions that fit best
with society's established beliefs.

SOURCES
"A Templeton Conversation: Does Science Make Belief in God Obsolete?" A Templeton
Conversation: Does Science Make Belief in God Obsolete?N.p., n.d. Web. 24 May 2016.
Schick, Theodore, and Lewis Vaughn. How to Think about Weird Things: Critical Thinking
for a New Age. Mountain View, CA: Mayfield Pub., 1995. 49-191. Print.