Roadmap
03 Arguments for God
Module 3, Natural Theology Arguments, Arguments for God Module, Course Module 3The positive-case toolkit: five argument families from the philosophical tradition (cosmological, teleological, moral, ontological, transcendental) plus the historical-evidential case for the resurrection, deployed as a cumulative case for Christian theism.
Learning objectives
By the end of this module the student should be able to:
- Deploy at least one strong argument from each of the five major families (cosmological, teleological, moral, ontological, transcendental)
- Articulate the Kalam Cosmological Argument in four sentences without notes
- Walk through the Minimal Facts Argument for the resurrection
- Explain the cumulative-case framework, why the apologist runs several arguments together rather than relying on one knockout proof
- State and respond to the most common objection to each of the five argument families
- Distinguish proof (deductive certainty) from evidence (probabilistic warrant) and locate the cumulative case correctly
- Recognize where each argument's force runs out, what it shows, and what work remains to get from "a god" to the God of Scripture
Lessons
- Lesson 3.1, The Cosmological Family, Kalam, Leibnizian contingency, Aquinas's first three Ways; defenders (Craig, Pruss, Feser); standard objections (B-theory, quantum vacuum, multiverse, "who caused God?") and responses
- Lesson 3.2, The Teleological Family, fine-tuning, triple-alpha resonance, biological design, information-theoretic ID, irreducible complexity; multiverse and anthropic-principle objections
- Lesson 3.3, The Moral Argument, Kant, Lewis, Craig; the two-premise form; engagement with sophisticated atheist moral realism (Wielenberg, Shafer-Landau, Enoch); the Euthyphro third-horn response
- Lesson 3.4, The Ontological Argument, Anselm's Proslogion, the Cartesian form, Plantinga's modal S5 reformulation; Gaunilo's lost-island objection; Kant's "existence is not a predicate" critique
- Lesson 3.5, The Transcendental Argument, Van Til, Bahnsen, Frame; the preconditions of intelligibility; Turek's "stealing from God" framing
- Lesson 3.6, The Resurrection, Historical Evidential, Habermas-Licona minimal-facts; the four/five facts virtually all scholars grant; the pre-Pauline creed dating; naturalistic counter-theories and their failures
Key passages
- Romans 1.18-21, natural revelation; what is known of God from what has been made
- Psalms 19.1, "The heavens declare the glory of God", the biblical warrant for natural theology
- Acts 17:22-31, Paul's Areopagus deployment of natural theology + resurrection
- 1 Corinthians 15.3-8, the AD 35-38 pre-Pauline creed; the load-bearing historical text for the early resurrection proclamation (memorize the dating argument)
- Hebrews 11.1, biblical pistis as trust grounded in evidence, not credulity
Next module
When you can deliver the Kalam cleanly in under 90 seconds, walk the minimal-facts case in under five minutes, and build a 5-7-minute cumulative-case opening that runs cosmological → teleological → moral → resurrection without your eyes leaving the listener, you are ready.
→ Continue to 04 Defeating Objections.
See also
- Course, the master course page
- 02 Faith and Worldview, the prior module
- Theist Arguments, the master hub for the constructive case
- Arguments, the master index of structured premise-conclusion arguments
- Cumulative Case for Christian Theism, the integrative frame the module builds toward
- Resurrection of Jesus, the master hub
- Minimal Facts Argument, the historical-evidential flagship
- Apologetic Method Comparison, where natural theology sits among the schools
- Ris3n Arguments, convergence-shaped synthetic arguments for advanced students
Common questions this page answers
Q: What is Module 3 of the apologetics course about?
Module 3 is the positive-case toolkit: five argument families from the philosophical tradition (cosmological, teleological, moral, ontological, transcendental) plus the historical-evidential case for the Resurrection, deployed as a cumulative case for Christian theism.
Q: What are the main arguments for God's existence?
The five major families: Cosmological Arguments (the universe needs a cause), Teleological Arguments (design and fine-tuning), Moral Arguments (objective morality), Ontological Arguments (from the concept of God), and the transcendental argument (preconditions of intelligibility). The sixth piece, the historical-evidential case for the Resurrection, anchors the case in a specific event.
Q: What is the cumulative case for God?
The cumulative case runs several arguments together rather than relying on one knockout proof. Each argument provides probabilistic warrant; together they make Christianity the most rationally-warranted overall worldview. This matches how serious historical and philosophical reasoning actually works.
Q: Which argument for God is the strongest?
For most live conversations, the Moral Argument lands fastest because almost everyone already accepts that some things are objectively wrong. The Kalam Cosmological Argument is the strongest in academic debate. The historical case for the Resurrection is the single argument that, if accepted, vindicates the entire Christian package.
Q: Don't these arguments only prove "a god," not the Christian God?
Mostly correct, and the module says so directly. Each argument lands at a generic feature (a first cause, a designer, a moral lawgiver). The cumulative case combines these with the historical case for the resurrection and the internal-consistency case against rival monotheisms to pick out the Christian God specifically. See Cumulative Case for Christian Theism.