[This post is a work in progress as part of the CAA Catechism.]
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Summary in 400 words or less:
As Kreeft explains, “Most good, wise, reliable people believe in God” (Kreeft 1990, 64). If this is the case, then the common link is God.
Alternatively:
1. Belief in God—that Being to whom reverence and worship are properly due—is common to almost all people of every era.
2. Either the vast majority of people have been wrong about this most profound element of their lives or they have not.
3. It is most plausible to believe that they have not.
4. Therefore it is most plausible to believe that God exists.
Scripture for YouVersion:
Short audio/video:
Three questions (1 fill-in-the-blank, 1 multiple choice, and one discussion question):
References for further reading:
Kreeft, Peter. Annotated Notes in Thomas Aquinas. Summa of the Summa. Edited and Annotated by Peter Kreeft. San Francisco, CA: Ignatius, 1990.
Kreeft, Peter. Tacelli, Ronald. Twenty Arguments for the Existence of God.
http://www.peterkreeft.com/topics-more/20_arguments-gods-existence.htm#19
Collaboration notes:
http://appearedtoblogly.wordpress.com/theistic-arguments/#Naturalness
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The naturalness of belief in God. Mark Talbot, “Is it Natural to Believe in God?“ Faith and Philosophy 6/2 (1989), pp. 155-171. Justin Barrett, Why Would Anyone Believe in God? (AltaMira Press, 2004). Justin Barrett, Born Believers: The Science of Children’s Religious Belief (Free Press, 2012). Justin Barrett and Ian M. Church, “Should CSR Give Atheists Epistemic Assurance?” The Monist 96/3 (2013), pp. 311-324. See also footnote 79.
Collaborators: Brian Chilton
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