Why There Is No God: Simple Responses to 20 Common Arguments for the Existence of God

by Armin Navabi

Even though there are things in the world that we don't yet understand and may never truly understand, there's no reason to simply make up an explanation.

If all complex things really do require an intelligent creator, then why is that creator himself not bound to the same rule? Would that complex deity not require an even more complex creator, and so on, for infinity?

Not knowing the answer to a question is not a valid excuse for making up a fairytale to explain it.

“This is true because I believe it,” which hardly counts as evidence.

If the Quran actually contained scientific breakthroughs, many of the countless believers who had studied the Quran would have made these discoveries before the scientists.

Jesus's contemporaries were Aramaic-speaking, illiterate commoners. They could neither read nor write, so stories were passed around orally. Like all gossip, these oral histories are bound to have transformed over time by gaining embellishments, mixing up details and forgetting important facts. Just like any other legend, from the invasion of Troy to the tales of Paul Bunyan, these stories likely contain much more poetic license than actual history.

The idea that you can communicate your wishes, hopes and fears to an all-powerful god and receive a response is powerfully appealing. Prayer feels empowering. If you can change your world through prayer, then you are transformed from a helpless victim of circumstance into an active participant in your life.

Anecdotal evidence is basically any claim that says, “This is true because it happened to me or someone I know.”