Does God Exist?: Some Good Questions

“Does God exist?” is a huge, daunting question. When you’re trying to figure out the existence of God, you need to break the intellectual search down into smaller pieces.

Here are some good questions to consider as you work on the big question:

-Is there a God or gods?
-If there is a God or gods, can we know this God or gods?  How do we have access to God or the gods?
-Who or what does each religion or worldview say is fundamental to the universe?  How do they establish these claims?  What implications follow from these starting points?
-What religion or worldview best accounts for the presence of evil and suffering in this world?
-What religion or worldview makes the most sense of morality?  Are there people committed to this worldview that live heroic, inspirational lives?
-What religion or worldview makes the most sense of human purpose, dignity, and community?
-Are the claims of this belief system testable or verifiable by reason?  How would I know it to be true?
-In the long term (say, over the next two billion years), what happens according to this perspective?  Does it offer a justifiable hope for the future?

You’ll probably have your own set of questions.  Writing them down serves a number of purposes: it makes clear what you want to investigate, it empowers communication with others, and it serves as a way to track progress.