Therefore it is generally accepted that we must assume things do not exist unless we have evidence that they do. Even theists follow this rule most of the time; they don't believe in unicorns, even though they can't conclusively prove that no unicorns exist anywhere. To assume that God exists is to make an assumption which probably cannot be tested. We cannot make an exhaustive search of everywhere God might be to prove that he doesn't exist anywhere. So the skeptical atheist assumes by default that God does not exist, since that is an assumption we can test. Those who profess strong atheism usually do not claim that no sort of God exists; instead, they generally restrict their claims so as to cover varieties of God described by followers of various religions. So while it may be impossible to prove conclusively that no God exists, it may be possible to prove that a God as described by a particular religious book does not exist. It may even be possible to prove that no God described by any present-day religion exists. In practice, believing that no God described by any religion exists is very close to believing that no God exists. However, it is sufficiently different that counter-arguments based on the impossibility of disproving every kind of God are not really applicable What if God is essentially non-detectable? If God interacts with our universe in any way, the effects of his interaction must be measurable. Hence his interaction with our universe must be detectable. If God is essentially non-detectable, it must therefore be the case that he does not interact with our universe in any way. Many atheists would argue that if God does not interact with our universe at all, it is of no importance whether he exists or not. If the Bible is to be believed, God was easily detectable by the Israelis. Surely he should still be detectable today? Why has the situation changed? << First Page < Previous Page | Next Page > Last Page >>