Case For The Existence Of God by Dean L. Overman

1 Introduction 1
2 The question of God's existence : the radical contingency of the universe points toward a necessary being 7
3 Many generations of philosophers have made the mistake of assuming Hume and Kant's objections disposed of the cosmological argument 33
4 A universe with an infinite past would still require a necessary being to sustain its existence 39
5 Because the universe (or multiverse) had a beginning, it is contingent and has a cause for its coming into existence 43
6 The philosophy of nature set forth in this book emphasizes the intelligibility of the universe noted in Einstein's statement : "The most incomprehensible thing about the world is that it is comprehensible" : a significant issue in examining the "something that exists is, Why is it intelligible? 53
7 Evolution is not dispositive of the question of why there is something rather than nothing and why the universe is rational and intelligible 67
8 The mystery of information challenges a strict materialism 73
9 The existence of God gives an absolute that is consistent with the real existence of right and wrong 89
10 Evidential force of religious experience : if God is a person, God can be known to only a very limited extent by abstract reasoning and is more fully known by personal acquaintance in an I-thou relationship with the wholly other 101
11 Recorded experiences of encounters with the divine bear witness to a way of knowing that includes Kierkegaard's Kendskab, Buber's I-thou, Otto's Wholly other, and Marcel's Mystery 115
12 These nine witnesses testify to another way of knowing that is compatible with the empirical and the metaphysical rational ways ofknowing, but is beyond the describable and requires personal participation, commitment, and personal transformation 147
13 Concluding reflections and summary : theism requires a leap of faith, but it is a leap into the light, not into the dark; theism explains more than atheism, which also requires a leap of faith 151 Afterword Armand Nicholi Nicholi, Armand 161 App. A The new mathematics of algorithmic information theory is relevant to theories concerning the formation of the first living matter 163 App. B The limits of mathematics and the limits of reason : why everyone will always live by faith rather than certainty 181 App. C The evidence from contemporary physics supports the concepts of personal responsibility and free will 185 Notes 189 Selected bibliography 211 Index 217