An Analytical Review of Lincoln Cannon’s
“The New God Argument —
A Logical Argument for Faith In God”
Version 3.3
by Timothy Killian
tim@moreperfect.org
Abstract:
The “New God Argument” by Lincoln Cannon, founder of The Mormon Transhumanist Association, purports to be a logical argument for faith in God. It is modeled after Nick Bostrom’s Simulation Argument. In this paper I do an analytical review of The New God Argument including the sub-arguments: The Faith Assumption, The Compassion Argument, The Creation Argument and The God Conclusion. I analyze the logical structure of the arguments and seek to determine if they are valid and sound. Finally, I make a determination as to whether or not the entirety of The New God Argument holds. I have analyzed version 3.3 of The New God Argument.
Summary of The New God Argument as described by Lincoln Cannon:
The New God Argument is a logical argument for faith in God. Given assumptions consistent with contemporary science and technological trends, the argument proves that if we trust in our own superhuman potential then we should also trust that superhumanity probably would be more compassionate than we are and created our world. Because a compassionate creator may qualify as God in some religions, trust in our own superhuman potential may entail faith in God, and atheism may entail distrust in our superhuman potential.
The New God Argument holds that we are living in something like a simulation of the lives of previous beings, that those beings are God, and that we are justified, even required, to have faith in those Gods.
The intent of this analysis is to explore the truth claims contained in The New God Argument, to analyze the soundness of the arguments, the reasonableness of the assumptions, the coherence of the premises and the validity of the conclusions.