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From FreeThoughtPedia
The Incompatible Properties argument is used to disprove the existence of various supernatural claims. It's particularly effective to illustrate the contradiction in biblical and other scripture.
Here are examples of Incompatible Property arguments (Note that most of these use Judeo-Christian scripture as as examples but similar arguments could be made for many other religions):
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[edit] Absolute good
If the Judeo-Christian god is "all good" then why would he allow evil in the world? Why would an "all loving" god allow people to suffer?
The common Christian response to this invokes the parable of Free will. The problem with free will is that it introduces yet another incompatible property.
[edit] Free will
If man truly has "free will" why does god need to coerce him with heaven and hell? If man truly had "free will" wouldn't he be able to choose to not require eating or other material comforts which tend to dictate his behaviour each and every day?
I want to jump 25 feet in the air, why can't I? Because my "free will" appears to be limited by the laws of nature. If God has power over nature, why is my free will that is God-given, restricted under natural law?
"If god is all-knowing and all-seeing, then he surely knows what has happened and what will happen," then we cannot have freewill as any action by us is pre-ordained and known by God before we do it.
[edit] Omnipotence
If god is all-knowing and all-seeing, then he surely knows what has happened and what will happen, so why would he insist on creating man knowing man will fall from grace? If god is "all good" and "omnipotent" then he knew he would be bringing suffering into the world. Why would an omnipotent creator be surprised or disappointed in his creation if he knew what was to happen? Why create incentives or punishment?
[edit] Immorality of god
God claims to be the purveyor of absolute moral standards, but his scripture is not indicative of this. Many activities that are considered immoral by our standards, such as genocide, rape, slavery, etc., are promoted in scripture.
[edit] Creation argument
If God is unchangeable, then he cannot go from not creating to creating or vice versa. He must have for the universe to be created. If every creation needs a creator, who created god?
[edit] Non-belief argument
God supposedly wants people to believe in him, yet there are people who do not, or people who believe in different gods. It makes no sense that god would allow this to happen if having people believe in him is important.
[edit] Confusion argument
If it is that important to believe in god, why are there so many people who have such diverse ideas of god and his nature? Surely if god wanted us to believe, he would have made it more clear. Books like the Bible and the Koran are anything but un-ambiguous.
[edit] Consciousness argument
Consciousness requires a physical component (brain, etc.) So if god is conscious, where is his physical component?
[edit] Slavery argument
God wants us to worship him. He supposedly deserves this. But humans were created to make their own choices. If god truly deserves to be worshipped by all, then there is no freedom of choice, and in such a case, the significance of our commitment to him is nullified and we are basically slaves.