Can God Exist?

Can God Exist?           

Notice that I’m not asking if he does exist, only if it is possible for a being such as the god described in the bible to actually exist.  Many properties attributed to god have counter properties that should logically render his existence, as least as described near impossible. 

A pair of incompatible properties is omniscience and free will.  Omniscience concerning the past and present is not a problem, but omniscience regarding the future implies it has been determined.  That is possible only in a deterministic world where free will can’t exist.  If god knows everything that has ever been, and ever will be, then no human could ever be held responsible for their actions since god created them knowing in advance everything they would do throughout their lives, thus free will is an illusion and you can hardly be punished or rewared in the afterlife based on the actions you had no real part in deciding in any meaningful way.  Not only that but god would also know everything he would do forever on in the future, negating gods free will as well.  In order to have free will, you must have more than one option, each of which is avoidable. This means that before you make a choice, there must be a state of uncertainty during a period of potential: you cannot know the future. Even if you think you can predict your decision, if you claim to have free will, you must admit the potential (if not the desire) to change your mind before the decision is final. 

The problem of evil is the argument that the existence of evil is incompatible with the concept of an omnipotent and perfectly good god. Variation does not depend on the existence of evil.  A truly omnipotent god could create all possible worlds.  A "good" god can create only "good" worlds.  A god that created all possible worlds would have no moral qualities whatsoever, and could be replaced by a random generator.  The standard response is to argue a distinction between "could create" and "would create." In other words, god "could" create all possible worlds but that is simply not in god's nature.  This has been argued by theologians for centuries. However, the result is that a "good" god is incompatible with some possible worlds, thus incapable of creating them without losing the property of being a totally different god.

One of my favorites is the omnipotence issue.  Could god make a rock so heavy he couldn’t lift it?  If not he’s not omnipotent, if he can, then there is something he can’t do, lifting the rock, so he is not omnipotent.

The dysteleological argument or argument from poor design is an argument against the existence of god, specifically against the existence of a creator god. It is based on the following chain of reasoning: An omnipotent, omniscient, omnibenevolent creator god would create organisms that have optimal design. Organisms have features that are suboptimal. Therefore, god either did not create these organisms or is not omnipotent, omniscient and omnibenevolent.  A few examples of the suboptimal design: The existence of the blind spot in the human eye. The unstable hollow bones built for flight in birds like penguins and ostriches, and the sturdy bones built for non-flight in animals like bats. Vestigial third molar in humans.  Some other primates with differing jaw shapes make use of the third molar. The vestigial Femur and pelvis in whales, the ancestor of whales lived on land.  And thousands of others.