About Our Methodology

What We Do

We collect the most significant philosophical and scientific arguments about God's existence - both for and against - and evaluate each one based on empirical evidence and logical rigor. Every argument receives a soundness score and three god probability scores, one for each definition of God we track.

The result is a single probability meter on the homepage that represents the best available evidence on whether God exists. No opinions, no faith-based reasoning - just evidence and logic.

Three God Definitions

"God" means different things to different people. To be precise, we track three distinct definitions:

• Personal God - An omniscient, omnipotent, omnibenevolent being who created the universe and actively intervenes in human affairs. This is what most people mean by "God" and is the primary definition displayed on the homepage meter.
• Creator / Designer - An intelligent being that created or designed the universe, but may not be personal or interventionist.
• Higher Power - A supernatural force or consciousness behind reality, which may not be a personal being or a designer.

Scoring System

Every theory is evaluated on two dimensions:

Soundness (0-100)

How likely is it that the argument is logically valid and its premises are true? This score prioritizes empirical and scientific evidence over purely philosophical reasoning. A soundness score of 80 means the argument's premises are very likely true and the logic is solid. A score of 10 means the premises are speculative or the logic has significant flaws.

God Probability (0-100, three scores per theory)

If the argument is sound, how likely does it make each God definition's existence? This is a conditional probability - it assumes the argument works and asks what follows. Each theory gets three separate God probability scores, one per definition.

The Formula

The homepage meter is calculated from the top 10 most sound theories using a weighted average:

1. Sort all theories by soundness score, highest first
2. Take the top 10 (ties at the 10th position are included)
3. Calculate: P(God) = Sum(Soundness[i] * GodProb[i]) / Sum(Soundness[i])
4. This is applied separately for each God definition

This means stronger theories carry more weight. A theory with a soundness of 80 has roughly twice the influence of one with a soundness of 40. Weak theories that barely make the top 10 carry proportionally less weight.

Bias Policy

CanGodExist.com is completely unbiased. We have no religious or anti-religious agenda. Our analysis is:

• Evidence-based - Scores reflect empirical evidence and scientific consensus, not personal opinion
• Fair to all sides - Every theory article presents both the strongest case for the argument and the strongest objections against it
• Transparent - Every score is explained in detail at the bottom of each theory article
• Open to revision - If new evidence emerges or a scoring error is identified, we update accordingly

What Counts as Evidence

We prioritize empirical, testable evidence over purely philosophical reasoning. In practice, this means:

• Peer-reviewed scientific findings carry the most weight
• Well-established philosophical arguments with empirical premises are valued
• Purely a priori arguments (like the ontological argument) receive lower soundness scores because their premises cannot be empirically verified
• Anecdotal evidence (personal experiences, miracle claims) receives very low soundness scores due to lack of reproducibility

Sources

Each theory article includes 8-15+ inline source links to authoritative references including the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy, Wikipedia, academic papers, and other reputable sources.

Built By

CanGodExist.com is built by Alex Chelan. If you have feedback, corrections, or suggestions for new theories to add, reach out on X.