Winfried Corduan's Case for God
A Review of Winfried Corduan's Case for God -- Part One
Winfried Corduan, a religion and philosophy professor at Taylor University, is the author of No Doubt About it: The Case for Christianity. It is a well-written, highly effective assault on atheism and defense of the Christian faith. Chances are that many skeptics who read the book will cease to be so when they're done reading it.
Many Christians will differ with Corduan's argument for Calvinism (which, objectively speaking, is one of the weaker links in the book), but his defense of the basics of the Christian faith is compelling.
What follows is Winfried Corduan's personal form of the longstanding cosmological case for God -- accompanied by commentary and analysis:
1. Something exists
"Anything will do," writes Corduan. "I exist. You exist. The universe exists. A flower exists. My pen exists. It does not even have to be a material object. If you doubt this statement, your doubting exists, and that is good enough."
Corduan more than proves this first premise of his argument. It is indeed difficult to see how a rational person could refute it.
2. Each thing that exists is either necessary or contingent
Here we come to some important defintions. If the reader fails to understand these definitions, the rest of Corduan's argument will make little sense. What does it mean to be "necessary" or "contingent"?
Since this is Corduan's argument, it is fair to let him provide the definitions to see whether his argument is at least internally coherent. If it is inconsistent or incoherent within itself, then it fails the most basic truth test and can be discarded.
According to Corduan, a "contingent" being is anything that is "dependent on something else." A contingent being is:
- caused -- It had its "potential to exist actualized." A thought. A child. A flower.
- sustained -- It would not exist "were it not for certain sustaining cuases." For example, a person needs oxygen, food, and water to survive.
- determined -- It gets not only its "raw existence," but also the WHY of its existence from external causes
By contrast, a "necessary" being is something that is "totally independent of anything else." It is not caused. It needs no sustenance and it has not been externally determined.
Corduan holds that all things which exist must be either necessary or contingent. It is once again fair to give Corduan the benefit of the doubt here (in case there are any), since we must first test his internal coherence.
Yet, it should also be stated that it is difficult to refute this premise even if one were determined to be difficult. One would be hard pressed to deny the logic of the definitions.
3. A necessary being would have to be God
If there is such a thing as a "necessary being," it would - according to Corduan - have to be:
- Independent
- Unlimited
- Infinite and unlimited
- Eternal or unrestricted by time
- Omnipresent or unrestricted by space
- Immutable or unchangeable
- Pure actuality - it would have no potentiality, only reality
Now, some of my readers may be hung up on the apparent "religious-ness" of some of the above phrases, feeling that we are stacking the deck or "begging the question" (to use a phrase in logic). But carefully consider these points. Try to divorce them from any "baggage" you may have accumulated in church over the years.
Logically, these WOULD be the characteristics of a "Necessary Being," and it would be logical and fair to call such a being "God."
4. The world (or universe) cannot be a necessary being
This is the most controversial part of Corduan's analysis. It is here where atheists, agnostics, and other skeptics will likely balk. Some may try to object to one of the earlier premises, but they would be hard-pressed to do so. Here, however, they will likely dig in their heels.
Corduan argues that a belief in the world or universe as a "necessary being" can logically be described as pantheism. And pantheism, says Corduan, is a fatally flawed worldview.
"Pantheism is built around a contradiction," writes Corduan, "and a contradiction can never be true. No matter how spiritual or profound or enticing a message may appear, it must be false if it contradicts itself."
In order for the universe to be a necessary being, it would have to be uncaused, independent, eternal, etc., etc. There is clear scientific evidence which disproves this possibility. For example, we know that the universe is running out of energy and that the universe is expanding - two clear indications that the universe had a beginning. That it is not eternal.
In spite of science, logic, and common sense being to the contrary, atheists insist on an eternal universe. They know that if they accept a limited, finite, material universe, they've all but admitted the existence of God.
Our next article will continue Corduan's argument for God.
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For further reading, check out Corduan's book...
No Doubt About It: The Case for Christianity by Winfried Corduan (Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1997)
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