

This article is an excerpt from the Shortform book guide to "The God Delusion" by Richard Dawkins. Shortform has the world's best summaries and analyses of books you should be reading.
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Is there proof there is no God? How likely is it that God exists?
In The God Delusion, Richard Dawkins explains that while we don’t have definitive proof there is no God, it is extremely unlikely. Particularly when it comes to creationism, arguments tend to be extremely weak.
Keep reading to find out whether or not there’s proof there is no God.
Proof There Is No God: The Unlikelihood of God’s Existence
In the last chapter, we talked about the extraordinary claims made by religion, all of which would have a significant impact on the world if they were true. In this chapter, we will evaluate the likelihood of the theistic position we explored in the last chapter. Specifically, we’ll:
- Explore some of the most common arguments that theists put forward for the existence of God—and expose their fundamental weaknesses
- Examine how science, and particularly the theory of evolution by natural selection, offers a more durable, testable, and evidence-based explanation than religion for the things we observe in the world
The Weakness of Creationism
Not everyone believes that there’s proof there is no God. Most arguments for God’s existence postulate a supreme designer, similar to the figure we discussed in the previous chapter. Proponents of this belief are called creationists.
Creationists believe that the universe we observe is the handiwork of an intelligent designer who consciously and knowingly created everything, from the movement of galaxies throughout the universe to the orbit of electrons within an atom. For creationists, an intelligent God is the ultimate and simple explanation for everything.
The medieval Christian theologian Thomas Aquinas, writing in the 13th century, argued that all things must have a primary cause and that the mere existence of physical things proved the existence of God. He reasoned that there must have been a time before physical things existed. But that meant that a non-physical force must have, at some point, brought the physical world into existence. For Aquinas, that force could only have been God.
But this is where the “simple” theistic position begins to fall apart. If all things can be said to have their root cause in an intelligent God, then one must raise the obvious question—what is the root cause of God? Who designed the designer?
This is the fundamental flaw at the heart of most theistic arguments. You can postulate an infinite regression of the physical universe that terminates with God. But if you can’t explain the existence of God in the first place, the argument collapses.

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- Why Dawkins thinks religion has exerted a harmful influence on human society
- How Dawkins concludes that the existence of God is unlikely
- The 3 arguments that challenge the existence of God
The fact that you cannot get something from nothing proves that something is eternal and has always been here if you have no adom or no cork …you have nothing.
the small strings of energy that make up all matter and all things in the universe are the building blocks of our universe and my God clearly says in the Bible I am light hence energy
The designer has no one that designed him.He is the source of sources. As he said in scriptures ” I AM THAT I AM.” God also said I am the Alpha and the Omega/beginning and end.
I always believed in God but not any longer. At 65 I stopped believing in him. If he exists, he is more of a devil than God.
I feel we need a great power when we are feeling desperate someone to pray for help.
There isn’t any proof of God and never has been.
I always believed when things changed for the better it was because I prayed and put it in God’s hands which isn’t true for me any longer or I would have to admit that when things are at their worst and don’t get better than it is also God’s doing.
If there is a God, I want proof.
There are way too many horrible things in this world for there to be a God who is all about Love & Salvation. If there is a God, he has done a terrible job of bringing love, peace and prosperity to his children.
As far as we will prosper in death if we are martyrs in this lifetime and will go to heaven there is no proof of that either.
I believe this is it whether we like it or not there is no salvation after death.
We know we are born, and we die that is all anyone knows.