My story: I was a Christian church planter. I am in my 30's now. I grew up in a Christian environment, and as Templeton predicts, therefore become a Christian. I was versed in the theology and on pressure of being accepted became an outspoken advocate of belief and Christianity in particular. However, experiencing several churches blow-up first-hand caused me to begin to question the foundation of my faith. In particular, Paul promised that if the spirit of God which raised up Jesus from the dead were in believers, they would be different. The disbelief started to settle when I realized I had never met a Christian who acted better than they would have without their religion and the 'indwelling' spirit of God, which was supposedly the same powerful one that raised up Jesus from the dead. If that power, were powerless to do what God said in the Bible that it would, how powerful could God be? This was the initial (and still most powerful) argument against the Christian deity for me.
This awakening led to massive depression and panic disorder, as I was certain that God was going to smite me down for my disbelief. I was medicated for the problem and literally could not sleep for two years. I am nearly through it down - but still lapse into periods where I feel like I am imminently going to be dropped into hell - though I know realistically it doesn't exist, and that God does not have the moral right to condemn anybody to it. I have been to a far worse hell and back - thanks to my childhood indoctrination.
Now I have started picking up Hitchens, Dawkins and Harris for comfort. Kaku, Greene, Hawking & Lederman for the sheer joy and wonder of realizing how dwarfed I had allowed my thinking to be.
Here's my 2-part question: [b]if you [i]had to[/i] play the 'devil's advocate' and defend the notion of God, what is the strongest argument on his behalf? Also, what for you is the strongest evidence against a God?[/b] This is part of a therapeutic process for me, to cogently and consistently reason through all arguments for God, to reduce the inane terror that has been instilled in my mind from my birth.
For instance, Antony Flew uses the Anthropic Principle as his strongest position to argue for the existence of God.
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