God Number

1. Is the origin of the cosmos best explained by a supernatural Creator?

In antiquity, when we believed the Earth was not only the center of creation but the entire cosmos, this seemed obvious. Now we know we're not central to a vast and ancient cosmos, and science has plausible Theories of Creation that do not require supernatural cause.

2. Are the laws and principles of the cosmos best explained by a planful God?

While the Laws of Nature seem designed because everything works so well together, we now know that the cosmos is a chaotic system built out of quantum probabilities ... and that it may be just one of many. Modern science questions planful purpose.

5. Is goodness best explained by a planful, active, and benevolent Creator?

Since science posits that neither the cosmos or consciousness require a planful and active Creator, we ask if goodness such as glory, miracles, and Holy Scripture can exist without Him? But Humanism teaches that we can arrive at moral goodness without divinity.

6. Can evil, manmade or otherwise, be reconciled with a caring God?

Religion argues that 'a greater good' and 'free will' explain evil. But it is hard to see how a benevolent Creator could allow natural disasters that kill many innocents including animals for a greater good. And despite giving us free will, permit child abuse and the Holocaust.

In the Propheture trilogy, a Visitor poses the Six Questions of God.

But he teaches that in the absence of proof, we can only say if our beliefs are more or less likely. And that to begin, we must ask if it is reasonable to ponder such questions in the first place.

In the absence of certainty, we are left with faith, but this does not mean that what we choose to believe is true. In the end, we can only assign a percent likelihood to our beliefs.

3. Is the origin of life best explained by a supernatural Creator?

To our forbears, thinking the Earth was not only central to the cosmos but created for us alone, this too seemed obvious. Today, the laws of chemistry do not necessarily require a supernatural first cause for animation.

4. Is the advent of human life best explained by an active God?

Religion teaches that the complexity of consciousness cannot arise without an active supernatural Hand that guides it ... and that a soul is required for true sentience (making this a very personal question). But the principles of evolution provide a natural alternative.

What is the likelihood that a supernatural realm exists beyond what we experience?

From the first glimmer of intelligence, humankind has believed in the supernatural; a sixth sense of something greater than self. But any possible God is not evident to our other natural senses, and only one, if any, of our multitude of religions throughout history can be true.