First, how did a medic, formerly an atheist, who cuts open people’s brains for a living, come to be sure there is irrefutable proof for God? In a lively debate at Theology Unleashed, Christian surgeon Michael Egnor and atheist broadcaster Matt Dillahunty clash over “Does God exist?” Egnor starts off is opening arguments:
➤ The eighth proof is the Augustinian proof. And that is the proof that concepts such as mathematical concepts and universals like justice and mercy clearly have some kind of real existence that’s independent of human minds. Otherwise, we couldn’t communicate them to one another. The realm in which these exist, Plato called the world of forms. And St. Augustine made the argument — I think a very good argument — that a much more reasonable way to understand this is that universals exist in the mind of God. So they do have a real existence and their existence is in the divine intellect. [00:14:00]
“Augustine [354–430 A.D.] was perhaps the greatest Christian philosopher of Antiquity and certainly the one who exerted the deepest and most lasting influence… Platonism in particular remained a decisive ingredient of his thought. ” – Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
➤ The ninth proof is sometimes called the rationalist proof. And the rationalist proof, which was championed by Leibniz several hundred years ago, is the notion that everything that exists necessarily has some explanation for why it exists the way it does. That is that things don’t exist for no reason. [00:14:30]
That doesn’t mean that we can know the reasons, the reasons may be obscure. But it doesn’t make any sense to say that something exists and there is no reason for it. And that implies that there is an ultimate explanation that is outside of nature and is in itself not in need of explanation. And that is God. [00:15:00]
Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz (1646–1716), a mathematician, was an important figure in the development of calculus.
More at:
News, “2. A neurosurgeon’s ten proofs for the existence of God” at Mind Matters News
Next: Atheist Dillahunty spots fallacies in Christian Egnor’s arguments
Here’s the first segment, where the two debaters tell us why they stand where they do:
Debate: Former atheist neurosurgeon vs. former Christian activist. At Theology Unleashed, each gets a chance to state his case and interrogate the other. In a lively debate at Theology Unleashed, neurosurgeon Michael Egnor and broadcaster Matt Dillahunty clash over the existence of God.
You may also wish to read: Gödel says God exists and proves it. Here is a line-by-line explanation of his proof. Gödel is the first of many great scientists and philosophers to present the argument for God’s existence using mathematical logic