[Interview] The Best Argument for God
A lively discussion around the contents of my forthcoming book
Dr. Anthony Alberino recently interviewed me on my forthcoming book The Best Argument. I loved this chat. We covered a lot of territory, from cosmological reasoning to worldview comparison and more.
PS - For those who prefer iTunes, I’ve re-aired the interview on Philosophy for the People.
A couple of things from this video. The cosmological argument has validity because this universe must have a cause. And this cause must be unlimited both in power and knowledge.
Any appeal to an infinite regress or infinity of time and space leading to our universe is nonsense since it leads to absurdities. What are some of these absurdities? A major one is based on the apparent outcome from an infinity of time and or space. If anything is possible, then it must have happened. What would be an example of something possible that did not happen? Remember, there is an infinity of time and space. All one would have to do is go back in time or further in space to see an example of this thing that one said did not happen.
Two absurd implications of this are that I am writing this comment somewhere or at some time in the past in response to this very same OP. Not only once but an infinite number of times. Also, there will be intelligences with no limit in power and knowledge. Why would they be limited? So hello, not only God, but an infinite number of Gods of unlimited power and knowledge.
If anyone disagrees, please explain why it is not possible with infinite time and space.
So time must be finite, and so must space be limited.
Because this cause is unlimited in power and knowledge, there can be no other cause that rivals it as a cause. One can also logically deduce that this cause must be perfect because unlimited power and knowledge mean no state with more power and knowledge exists. Nor any other entity.
If the creator of this universe were of finite power and knowledge, what would prevent it from reaching more power and knowledge? Nothing logically would prevent this.
Second, from the video, most objectors to this entity of infinite power and knowledge will not listen to reason. Their protests will always be illogical and one way to discredit them is to show their position leads to absurdities. The video discusses this as a tactic to counter their objections.
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Another issue:
This morning, I had a friend send me his daily rant, of which many are amusing but some get at the problems of our world. Today’s pontifications included this.
“IF GOD EXISTS, I HOPE HE HAS A GOOD EXCUSE.”
The answer is: yes, He does. He wants a world of free choice and such a world must be in doubt. If God came down every Friday and said, “This is so,” and righted any wrong, would we have free will to do what is necessary to be with Him eternally? No, we wouldn’t.
So, there must be uncertainty.
To reach Catholicism as a way, without doubt, one needs ten words
1) Eternity (the promise)
2) God exists (what the forthcoming book is about but it is only part of the Way)
3) Jesus is God (God provided a Way)
4) Jesus created a Church (The early church was not called Christianity or Catholicism but called “The Way”)
So why are you a Catholic? Because God created a Church as the Way to reach Eternity.