For the geeks out there, I highly recommend the journal Philosphia Christi. It has some very interesting articles. In Volume 10, Number 1, 2008, I recommend: Dawkins’s Best Argument by Gregory E. Ganssle.
Dawkins best argument according to Professor Ganssle is simply:
- A universe made by God would be different than one made by natural occurrences.
- Our universe fits better with a naturalistic universe than with a theistic universe.
- Therefore, our universe is more likely to be a naturalistic universe than it is to be a theistic universe.
So ultimately it comes down to which worldview is best fits the facts (and as I have said in the past, which worldview is most logical and livable)….don’t make it a shouting match but a discussion comparing worldviews to choose the one that is most logical, livable, and best fits with the facts.
Theistic worldview best fits with these 4 facts that we know to be true in our universe:
- The universe is ordered and susceptible to rational investigation.
- The universe has beings that possess consciousness.
- The universe has beings that possess free agency.
- The universe has within it objective moral obligations.
What do you think? Do we have free will? Are there objective moral obligations? Do we possess consciousness?
You hit the nail on the head. It’s not about a shouting match or whose “faith” is greater. The key test is whether our world views best explain reality as it is. And Dawkins himself admits that he cannot explain how the world came to be as it is. He therefore fails his own test of “rational” evidence for the world as it exists.