A reason for theism

In science, in philosophy, and in daily life, we evaluate theories in order to decide what to believe. The criteria we use in these evaluations include virtues like simplicity, elegance, unity, and symmetry. These theoretical virtues—what we might generally call a theory’s “beauty”—give us reasons to believe in one theory over another.

Why? Why should a theory’s elegance make it any more credible? The fact that the beauty of a theory gives us reason to believe in it is among the pieces of data we should look to explain in our theory of the world. Insofar as some account provides a better explanation for this fact than other accounts do, this explanatory power gives us some reason to suppose the account to be true.

If theism is true, it provides a good explanation. Theoretical beauty point us to the truth because someone who values these virtues is responsible for what is true. This is why pursuing theoretical virtues is a useful heuristic in our search for the truth. There’s more to the story than that, but a conventional theism has the resources to fill in the details. And it strikes me as better able to explain beauty-driven reasons than rival theories of the world. This explanatory power gives me a reason to believe theism is true.