Does god exist? The answer is not complicated. There is no evidence

WHAT IS EVIDENCE AND WHO HAS THE BURDEN TO PRODUCE IT?

THESE ARE NOT EVIDENCE THAT A GOD EXISTS

1. Religious scripture

Religious scripture may contain accounts of actual historical events and people. These accounts are not evidence of a god because a god was not necessary to acquire this information. Claims of miracle events such as virgin birth, restoring life to the dead, and scripture as the revelation of a god are also not evidence because they are not corroborated by historians outside the religion. It would be difficult to substantiate even a recent story about a supernatural event. Quoting scripture, or other religious sources, to corroborate scripture is not substantiation. Miracle stories that are decades old require a degree of validation that ancient documents cannot supply. Without solid verification of claimed miracle events these scriptures lack any supernatural connection. They are only stories and myths written by people. Most people don't choose a religion, but adopt whatever religion their family and culture embraced. This is strong evidence that religion is created and perpetuated solely by people. More about scripture......

2. Everything has a cause. God is the first cause, was uncaused, and has always existed.

There is logical conflict between "Everything has a cause" and "god has always existed". If there was a first cause, then it was uncaused, so "everything has a cause" is false. We can just as well say the energy that made the universe has always existed in some form. This line of debate can become very convoluted, and requires some large assumptions.

At a very early point in the formation of the universe there was an event that's called the Big Bang. Because there is good supporting evidence, almost all cosmologists and physicists agree on the basics of this theory. As time regresses closer to the BB instant, theories are replaced by hypothesis, and conjecture replaces hypothesis. Associated with the Big Bang theory is the idea that time, or space/time, is an inseparable integrated property of the universe, so time was not created by the BB or the universe. Because time is a property of the universe, many think there was no "before" the BB. Because of this time constraint, it's difficult to claim the BB had a cause, since cause implies the passing of time, and time may have began with the BB. This bond between the universe and time, and our limited knowledge make it difficult to discuss first cause.

In addition to the causes claimed by various religions, there are non-religious speculations such as: There was no cause, i.e. the universe has always existed, or the universe is the results of an event that occured between multiple universes or dimensions. We have no knowledge of anything that exists outside our universe or time, so the cause (if there was one) is beyond our current knowledge. The Big Bang instant is a mystery, and to speculate that it was the work of a god who has always existed proposes an even greater mystery.

3. Complexity and elegance of the universe required intelligent design

Complexity is cited as evidence of intelligent design, but simplicity would be better evidence. Simple solutions require more intelligence, and work better than complex ones. Human design is very complex with some parts not used, and others poorly positioned. Many assume intelligent design of life because its the only way they know for making a functional machine. However, given enough time, simple processes that keep adding and modifying functions can produce complexity. More about complexity and elegance....

4. Faith as evidence that a god exist

Faith is belief that cannot be rationally proven or objectively known. In no other domain of knowledge is belief without evidence considered a desirable quality. Religious faith is not evidence that a god exists. For important matters, the degree of faith should be relative to the evidence. More on faith ……

5. Billions believe there's a god, and that many people could not be wrong

For all of human history there have been large populations that held incorrect beliefs. Once everyone assumed the sun moved around the earth. Considering the continuous growth of knowledge, not only is it possible for billions to be wrong, it is likely they are wrong about many things. More on billions believe……

6. Existence of god cannot be disproved

This site is not attempting to prove that a god does not exist, just questioning some common arguments that claim to be evidence of a god. The inability to prove non-existence does not imply existence, for we can imagine an almost infinite list of unlikely “things” that cannot be disproved. More on disproving……

7. The religious experience

People do have strong emotional reactions that are called personal religious experiences. They may also be referred to as a relationship with god. These experiences can be associated with prayer, religious music, and various religious events. Meditation, chanting, drugs, stress, prayer, certain brain dysfunctions, and electromagnetic fields can also precipitate these effects. Since many people of different religions have these personal experiences, it would follow that they are the results of deep belief, not actual interaction with a specific god. More about the religious experience.......

Arguments and claims that are irrelevant to the fundamental question

A. There is a human need to believe in a god - The need to believe in a god does not imply there is one.

B. God is the source of morality - Morality has a genetic basis and is not relevant to the fundamental question.

C. It's safer to believe than to not believe. This is just a "cover your rear argument".

D. The teleological argument - Order in the universe requires a god. See claim # 3 above.

ADEQUATE EVIDENCE

Adequate evidence that a god exists would be supernatural events documented by objective living witnesses. Acts, appearances, or events that are clearly beyond human ability, natural forces, or coincidence. Convincing evidence would not be difficult for a god to produce.