> The main issue with most of these philosophical arguments is that they don't prove anything even worth refuting. Almost all of them simply attempt to prove the existence of a deistic God that does not meaningfully interact with the world (beyond creating it or sustaining it).
I don't think any good philosopher would admit to the embarrassment of actually having "proved" something!
Jokes aside, you wouldn't consider "sustaining the world" to be a fairly meaningful ongoing interaction?
> Believing that there was a creator doesn't provide any useful information
Very pragmatic! Assume there is a God - what kind of things would he consider "useful"?
I generally define usefulness in terms of helping a person make better decisions to help increase the utility (bringing joy, fulfillment, happiness) of sentient creatures.
How does knowing about the existence of a deistic God help a person make better decisions?
This is my issue with deism. It could be true or false and my life wouldn't change one bit.
The main issue with most of these philosophical arguments is that they don't prove anything even worth refuting. Almost all of them simply attempt to prove the existence of a deistic God that does not meaningfully interact with the world (beyond creating it or sustaining it).
Deistic Gods by their vary nature don't provide any meaningful knowledge. Believing that there was a creator doesn't provide any useful information about how to help live your life or how the world works.
As a starting point I don't think there are any good arguments for why a person should believe that the bible was influenced/written by God any more than other books.