 | June 23, 2007 - Does God Exist Debate |
Event Sponsor: Apologetics Research Society - evidenceforchristianity.org/ The event sold out and filled the 400 seats in the auditorium, plus about 100 people outside whe were able to watch the event on a big screen TV (good planning!). The debate format was excellent, and both speakers and the moderator were respectful and well mannered. Each speaker had a 15 minute introduction, followed by a 8 minute cross-exam, then an 8 minute response. After that was about 45 minutes of audience questions where the question was posed to one of the speakers, then the other one had a 2 minute response. Then the 8 minute closing remarks. The audience was about 90% christian, as expected at a theology conference. Even though the debate was titled "does god exist", both speakers quickly were distracted to questions of morality, evolution, etc which are not central to the existance debate. Here are some points that were raised: 1) What started the big bang? Shermer gave the "we don't know" answer, but I think a better response is to focus on the argument that if god did it, then who created god? Jacoby's response was that god just exists. Well, if god can just exist, then the universe can equally just exist. 2) The universe is so perfect it must have had a designer, otherwise life wouldn't exist. True, but even though the odds are incredibly against life, the simple fact that we're here to ask the question means the odds are 100%. If the strong force was too weak to hold together atoms then we wouldn't be around to ask "why don't atoms exist?". The same goes with why humans exist at all. If we were intelligent horses, we'd be asking why having hooves and a tail were so perfectly created. 3) Absolute morality. Jacoby brought up the concept of absolute morality. Morality is clearly not absolute, different cultures have different values. Some societies have thought human sacrifice was moral. I was able to record the first hour of the conference from my seat. For the rest of the debate you can order a DVD from IPI Books for around $20. Unfortunately, this is when my battery ran out. To hear the rest of the debate, including the excellent Q&A portion, you will need to purchase the entire DVD from them. |
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