The Existence of God

Richard Swinburne presents a substantially rewritten and updated edition of his most celebrated book. No other work has made a more powerful case for the probability of the existence of God. Swinburne argues compellingly that the existence of the universe, its law-governed nature and fine-tuning, human consciousness and moral awareness, and evidence of miracles and religious experience, all taken together (and despite the occurrence of pain and suffering), make it likely that there is a God.

“'Review from previous edition This impressive book ... deserves the serious attention of theologians ... Anyone seriously interested in philosophy of religion or systematic theology should read it.'Basil Mitchell, Journal of Theological Studies”

Review from previous edition This impressive book ... deserves the serious attention of theologians ... Anyone seriously interested in philosophy of religion or systematic theology should read it.'Basil Mitchell, Journal of Theological StudiesIt is ... the best and most philosophically interesting among recent defences of theism.'Elonore Stump, The ThomistHe has ... set a highwater mark for inductive discussion of the existence of God.'Richard E. Creel, Journal of the American Academy of ReligionA first-rate contribution to philosophical theology.'William Rowe, Philosophical Books

Richard Swinburne was Professor of Philosophy at the University of Keele; Nolloth Professor of the Philosophy of the Christian Religion, University of Oxford, and Fellow of the British Academy. He is the author of many books on the nature and justification of religious belief, and on other areas of
philosophy including the philosophy of mind and epistemology.

Richard Swinburne presents a substantially rewritten and updated edition of his most celebrated book. No other work has made a more powerful case for the probability of the existence of God. Swinburne gives a rigorous and penetrating analysis of the most important arguments for theism: the cosmological argument; arguments from the existence of laws of nature and the 'fine-tuning' of the universe; from the occurrence of consciousness and moral awareness; and from miracles and religious experience. He claims that while none of these arguments are deductively valid, they do give inductive support to theism and that, even when the argument from evil is weighed against them, taken together they offer good grounds to support the probability that there is a God. The overall structure of the discussion and its conclusion have been retained for this new edition, but much has been changed in order to strengthen the argumentation and to take account of Swinburne's subsequent work on the nature of consciousness and the problem of evil, and of the latest philosophical and scientific writing, especially in respect of the laws of nature and the argument from fine-tuning. This is now the definitive version of a classic in the philosophy of religion.

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