The Anthropic Teleological Argument: Proving God's existance by means of Probability

Essay by Jonus010University, Bachelor'sA, December 2002

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The Anthropic Teleological Argument presented by L. Stafford Betty and Bruce Cordell simply states that because it is so improbable that our universe was randomly generated, there must have been an intelligent creator. Betty and Cordell use the calculations of many renowned physicists to show that our unique universe could not have existed if the slightest detail were any different than it in fact is. They use the anthropic principle to demonstrate the overwhelmingly low odds of life being generated on our planet without the help of a guiding hand. Next, Betty and Cordell go on to discuss the origins of life and what it takes to randomly come up with the two thousand different enzymes that are essential to all life. In their entire argument they rely on the calculations of scientists to prove the existence of a being that is incalculable. It is possible that humans randomly came into existence but is it probable?

Betty and Cordell say that since the Big Bang was so long ago and that it was such a precise event in our universes history (it being the first event and all) it is easier to believe that "a pre-existing mind and power of vast magnitude" created the universe.

They state that most scientists believe that the Big Bang theory is how the universe was started. Even though you cannot calculate the odds of this theory being fact, it is widely held as the best

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explanation for the beginning of the universe. There is nothing troubling about this statement. But to say that since we cannot know for sure about a thing and then attribute its existence to a god is an example of a "God of the Gaps" statement. To say that God exists simply to account for the existence or...