| | Logician [[Mortimer Adler]] concurs with Dr. Kennedy that the standard definition of atheism which attempts to prove a universal negative is a self- defeating proposition and prominent atheists such as [[Gordon Stein]] and [[Carl Sagan]] have candidly stated that God's existence cannot be disproven.<ref>http://www.thedivineconspiracy.org/athart3.htm</ref> | | Logician [[Mortimer Adler]] concurs with Dr. Kennedy that the standard definition of atheism which attempts to prove a universal negative is a self- defeating proposition and prominent atheists such as [[Gordon Stein]] and [[Carl Sagan]] have candidly stated that God's existence cannot be disproven.<ref>http://www.thedivineconspiracy.org/athart3.htm</ref> |
| − | Many Atheists concede that it is impossible to ''empirically'' disprove the existence of God, since we lack the capacity to examine the Universe in its entirety. However, proponents of [[strong atheism|incoherency apologetics]] takes a different tack in its effort to disprove the existence of God: specifically, they point out that it is possible to prove universal negatives logically if it can be shown that the characteristics of the object in question contradict each other. [[Strong atheism|Incoherency apologetics]] argues that because many statements made about God are contradictory (as in the case of the [[problem of evil]]), it is logically impossible for a God to exist for which all the statements made about Him are true. These arguments are limited, however, in that they can only challenge ''characteristics'' of God, and cannot prove that the ''being'' referred to as God does not exist. Theistic responses to arguments like this include [[theodicy]] and [[open theism]]. | + | Many Atheists concede that it is impossible to ''empirically'' disprove the existence of God, since we lack the capacity to examine the Universe in its entirety. However, proponents of [[strong atheism|incoherency apologetics]] takes a different tack in its effort to disprove the existence of God: specifically, they point out that it is possible to prove universal negatives logically if it can be shown that the characteristics of the object in question contradict each other. [[Strong atheism|Incoherency apologetics]] argues that many statements made about God are contradictory (as in the case of the [[problem of evil]]), and it is therefore logically impossible that there exists a God for which all the statements made about Him are true. These arguments are limited, however, in that they can only challenge ''characteristics'' of God, and cannot prove that the ''being'' referred to as God does not exist. Theistic responses to arguments like this include [[theodicy]] and [[open theism]]. |