Proving That God Doesn’t Exist
© Paulo Bittencourt
“I don’t reject God, because for me to be able to reject him he first would have to exist.”
It’s not possible to prove the non-existence of a generic god, without name, without holy book and, therefore, unknown and with no attributes, such as the god of the deists, but the non-existence of the god of a religion, yes, it’s possible to prove: by using logic. It suffices to show that the attributes of this god cause contradictions, making his existence logically impossible.
These are the main attributes of the god of the Bible and the contradictions that make his existence logically impossible:
The God of the Bible is Perfect
A perfect being would be all-sufficient unto himself, as he would lack absolutely nothing. Consequently, he would have no desire to create the Universe.
The God of the Bible is Omnipotent
Omnipotent means having unlimited power, that is, being all-powerful. An all-powerful being wouldn’t be limited by absolutely anything, not even by time. Time is change. Where time didn’t exist, nothing would change. Because he is not (and cannot be) limited by time, an omnipotent being wouldn’t have thoughts, since, in order for them to occur, thoughts need time (they have a beginning and an end, one thought is followed by another thought). Consequently, an all-powerful being wouldn’t have the thought, that is, the idea of creating the Universe. Even if he could create it, he wouldn’t be able to exist in it, because the Universe is limited by time.
The God of the Bible is Omniscient
Omniscient means having unlimited knowledge, that is, knowing everything. For an omniscient being, it would be impossible not to know something. Therefore, he would know what happens in the future. For a being who knew the future, the future wouldn’t even exist: everything would happen in the present, all at once. Consequently, directing supplications to an omniscient being would be a tremendous waste of time, because he would know the content of all of them even before the supplicants were born and wouldn’t be able to answer them, since, knowing today what will happen tomorrow, he would have no way to alter the future, for example to prevent something from happening. Furthermore, free will wouldn’t exist, since it would be impossible for a believer to make a decision that the omniscient being didn’t know the believer would make.
The God of the Bible is Unique
If the Universe was created by a being, before the Universe there existed only this being. This being is, therefore, the source of all things and, thus, to create the Universe, couldn’t take matter from another source, that is, from another thing or place. Consequently, everything this being “created” is himself, since it’s formed from what he himself is formed from. If the Universe was created by a being, it’s not different, separate from him. A unique being and the Universe would be the same thing.
The God of the Bible is Omnipresent
Omnipresent means not being limited by distance, nor by matter, that is, being everywhere at the same time. For an omnipresent being, it would be impossible not to be somewhere. Consequently, an omnipresent being would permeate, fill the entire Universe, even the atoms. Exactly as in the case of a unique being, an omnipresent being wouldn’t be different, separate from the Universe. An omnipresent being and the Universe would be the same thing.
These two contradictions don’t prevent God from existing, but they show that he isn’t what his worshipers say he is:
The God of the Bible is Good
A perfectly good being would not only not do evil but would also not allow it. The Bible says that evil comes from a being who was perfect (Lucifer) and became imperfect (Satan). In a perfect Universe, there would be no way for imperfection to arise. An omniscient being would know that Lucifer would become Satan and wouldn’t create him. If a being were all-powerful, that is, had all the power, all other beings would have no power at all. If Satan has power, the god of the Bible is not all-powerful. A being who is not all-powerful, but holds most of the power, would have the power to prevent his enemy from doing evil. If Satan exists, the evil he does is allowed by his creator. Consequently, the god of the Bible is Satan’s accomplice.
The God of the Bible Cares
The Bible says its god helps people with their problems and heals them from their diseases. If the god of the Bible exists and is all-powerful, problems and diseases can only exist if he allows them. A perfectly good being wouldn’t allow problems and diseases. The god of the Bible can help and heal all people, but helps and heals only some, which is unjust. Every year, about 100,000 children die of cancer. If the god of the Bible has the power to make diseases disappear from people’s bodies, he has the power to make all diseases disappear from Earth, but he doesn’t do it. On the contrary, the Bible says its god uses problems and diseases to humiliate people and receive gratitude, praise, worship and obedience from them. Consequently, he is tyrannical and sadistic.