Introduction toReasonable Faith UTD

Allen Hainline

www.OriginsDiscussion.info

Does God Exist?

Dare to Examine

The Evidence

What is faith?

Can faith be reasonable?

“Faith is holding on to things your reason has once accepted,

in spite of your changing moods.” C.S. Lewis

Christianity provides reasons for beliefs:• People from Berea were said to be more noble

because they researched to verify Paul’s teachings (Acts 17:11)

• Paul reasoned daily with skeptics for 2 years at Ephesus (Acts 19:9-10)

• Appeal to belief based on evidence• E.g., living witnesses testify to resurrection: I Cor 15

Reasonable Faith Chapters

Reasonable Faith Chapters in US

Started by William Lane Craig– PhD in philosophy and PhD on Resurrection– www.reasonableFaith.org– See DrCraigVideos on YouTube• 5 million views on videos• Good resource to see debates

Our chapter has autonomy and you can help drive our topics and focus– Give us your input!

History of Reasonable Faith

Everyone would gain:– Knowledge of philosophy and critical thinking– Scientific knowledge not widely discussed in class– Desire to research important topics– Answers to tough questions

Christians would gain– Greater understanding of God’s wisdom and glory– “Be ready to make a defense to everyone who asks

you to give an account for the hope that is in you.” I Peter 3:15

Goals of UTD Chapter

Atheist philosopher Quentin Smith admits a surprisingly strong case for theism:There is “erudite brilliance [in] theistic philosophizing today”“The vast majority of naturalist philosophers have come to hold (since the late 1960s) an unjustified belief in naturalism. Their justifications have been defeated by arguments developed by theistic philosophers, and now naturalist philosophers, for the most part, live in darkness about the justification for naturalism… If naturalism is true, then their belief in naturalism is accidentally true.”If professional philosophers underestimate the power of theistic arguments, there is much for us to learn!

Dare To Examine the Evidence

Greater emphasis on discussion this year!Discussion etiquette– Discuss the argument, don’t make it personal• No ad hominem attacks

– Exercise the principle of charity• Interpret a speaker's statements to be rational• If someone raises an argument, find the best, strongest

possible interpretation and discuss that

Goals of UTD Chapter

Allen Hainline- Bachelor in physics from UT Austin, some grad classes in Cosmology, Biology

Dr. Nils Confer - PhD in Biomedical Sciences from UNT, Post-doc research at UTSW, MBA, former Marine, Presidential Security Guard

Steve Lee - Degree in history and education from UNT, Masters in philosophy, pursuing PhD in philosophy at UTD

Dr. Justin Bass - PhD from DTS, pastor, will be speaking on theological/historical topics

Dr. Ray Bohlin – PhD in evolutionary biology, works for Probe Ministries

Speakers

Sept 6 – Moral Argument (Steve Lee)Sept 13 – A Finely-Tuned Universe: Evidence (Allen)Sept 20 – A Finely-Tuned Universe: Objections (Allen) Sept 27 - Could Jesus Have Been Merely a Mythical Figure? (Steve Lee)Oct 4 - The Trinity – is it a contradiction? (Dr. Justin Bass)Oct 11 – Protein Evolution (Dr. Nils Confer)Oct 18 – Origin of Life (Dr. Nils Confer)Oct 25 – Genetic Evidence Poses Problems for Naturalistic Evolution(Dr. Ray Bohlin)Nov 1 – Reliability of the Bible (Dr. Justin Bass)Nov 8 – How were the books of the New Testament chosen? (Dr. Justin Bass)Nov 15 – Religious Pluralism (Steve Lee)Nov 22 – ThanksgivingNov 29 – Video and discussion? (something lighter)Dec 6 – End of the Semester Party

Future Topics

Longest-Standing Debate Between Science and Christianity

Is the Universe Eternal?Claims of Bible:• Creation Ex Nihilo (“out of nothing”)• Beginning even to time – uses phrases like “before time began”• Expanding universeClaims of pre-20th century science:• Universe is eternal, generally thought to be static• Therefore, no cause needed

Kalam Cosmological Argument

1. Whatever begins to exist has a cause2. The universe began to exist3. Therefore, the universe has a cause

– A cause outside nature implies a supernatural agent• Outside of time, space, matter; immeasurably powerful

– Atheists previously attacked only premise #2– Both atheism and theism require an unexplained starting point

– Either the universe itself or something beyond the universe (supernatural)

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Understanding Infinity– Mathematically coherent but paradoxical– Represents an unattainable limit

• Can use math to deal with infinities in computations

– But not everything in math applies to the real world• My wife could not give birth to -1.5iπ kids• Number of elements in these sets is identical

Natural Numbers: {1, 2, 3, 4, ….} 2x these values: {2, 4, 6, 8, ….}

– If inconsistent with laws of physics then a given aspect of math is not actualized in our universe• Actual infinities seem to fit into this category• For example, you could double the number of protons without

increasing the total number

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Philosophical Arguments for Universe Not Being Eternal

Many philosophers and mathematicians such as David Hilbert believe that “actual infinities are nowhere to be found in the real world”Actual infinities lead to absurdities inconsistent with real worldIf physicists assume a theory predicting infinities is wrong, is it reasonable to expect actual infinities exist in the actual world?You can’t traverse an infinite number of anything one at a time• But an actually infinite number of past

events would entail thisAny questions about philosophical arguments?

Has the Universe Always Existed?What does Science Say?

Leading cosmologist Vilenkin developed models attempting to extend universe into eternal past but now believes it’s impossible:

“With the proof now in place, cosmologists can no longer hide behind the possibility of a past-eternal universe. There is no escape: they have to face the problem of a cosmic beginning.”Based on Borde-Vilenkin-Guth (BVG) theorem (2003)

His “proof” applies to any multiverse and multidimensional theories of spacetime Only assumption is that universe has on average expanded– If that is violated run into roadblock with 2nd law of thermodynamics

• Eternal universe would have already reached a state of thermal equilibrium in which nothing really happens

• Usable energy would have been used up by now

Creation out of Nothing

“the coming into being of the universe, as discussed in modern science . . . is not just a matter of imposing some sort of organization . . . upon a previous incoherent state, but literally the coming-into-being of all physical things from nothing.” Paul Davies"There is no doubt that a parallel exists between the Big Bang as an event and the Christian notion of creation from nothing.” George Smoot (Nobel Prize Winner)

Kalam Cosmological Argument (again)

1. Whatever begins to exist has a cause2. The universe began to exist3. Therefore, the universe has a cause

But does the cause have to be God?– Has many properties of what should rightfully be called God

• Timeless, Spaceless, Immaterial, Immensely Powerful• Personal

– Conditions prior to the universe being created never changed– If the cause that initiated the universe always existed, it would have been

created infinitely long ago unless requiring a decision– Therefore the cause is not impersonal but personal

» i.e. Capable of free will

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Discussion

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What are the best objections to premise 1:“Whatever begins to exist has a cause”?What are the best objections to premise 2 that the universe began to exist?• Note that if either the philosophical or the scientific

arguments work, this premise is valid

Is there any way to accept both premises and still somehow preserve atheism/naturalism?

Are Quantum Events Uncaused?

• Don’t conflate epistemic uncertainty with being uncaused• QM is governed by Schrödinger’s equation

– If something was truly uncaused then how could we make such accurate probabilistic predictions?

• If the quantum vacuum itself came into existence, there is no basis for appealing to quantum effects to bring about spacetime– Even though a few scientists make this appeal– This is not science – there is no science of non-being– No experiments have ever been performed outside of spacetime– Extrapolating laws that govern physical behavior to a domain

without space, time, matter or energy is highly problematic!

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Who Made God?

• Question assumes everything must have a cause• Theists claim only that what begins to exist must be caused– Most philosophers historically have accepted this

• Atheists such as Bertrand Russell posited a self-existent universe that did not need to have been created or explained!

• Cosmological arguments point by deduction to something eternally existent that brings about the first cause

• Since time itself had a beginning, an infinite regress of causes is impossible - something is eternal!– We now know that matter, space and time are not eternal– So the question is like asking “Who caused the ‘uncaused first cause’ ?”

• A “created God” is not even a coherent concept21

Next Week: Series on the Existence of God continuesSteve Lee on“Moral Argument for God’s Existence”

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