One might presume that atheists unanimously agree about reasons for disbelief in the existence of gods or a particular god, but I find a number of disagreements actively circulating atheistic circles online. Arguments for the inability to prove the nonexistence of god or gods are often given and used to defend a general position on the matter. Below is the first of these arguments that I will discuss on this website.

  1. The Inability Argument from Incomprehensibility

    This argument, which might also be called The Inability Argument from Unintelligibility, argues that because God is by definition beyond definition or incomprehensible, it is impossible to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that he does not exist. To understand this argument's logical foundation, first consider who is presumed beyond definition. From my experience, that being is generally presumed to be a specific god, such as God of the Bible.

    If so, then we immediately detect a flaw in this argument. For, by making this argument, the arguer admits to a presumption that he or she knows enough about this being to know that it is, in fact, conclusively incomprehensible. Yet, were that the case, then there would be no logical foundation from which to draw such a conclusion, since, if such a foundation or reasonable point of departure does exist, then there must be enough intelligible information available to conclude that there is no possibility of comprehending said information in its totality.

    For example, it might be argued that because God is defined as omniscient and human knowledge is limited by finite brain capacity, humans cannot hope to prove that God cannot logically exist given the possibility of a set of reasoning that defies human comprehension. However, the problem with this example and the general argument previously mentioned that underlies it is that, while its conclusion may be true, it is impossible to determine to ascertain that truth condition for the same reason that the arguer propounds, namely, that to know God is beyond comprehension requires a mind capable of knowing enough about God to know that it is impossible to know that much or less about him.