Some of the brightest scientific minds of our time, from Albert Einstein to Stephen Hawking, have made incredible insights into the earliest origins of the universe, but have failed to ultimately discover why there is something rather than nothing—why we exist. In A Case for the Existence of God, Dean L. Overman examines the latest theories about the origins of the universe and explains why even the most sophisticated science can only take us so far. Ultimately we must make a leap of faith to understand the world, and Overman argues that a leap into theism provides the most satisfying conclusions.
Overman explores fundamental questions about why our world exists and how it functions, using principles of logic, physics, and theology. In a time when religion and science are often portrayed as diametrically opposed, A Case for the Existence of God presents a refreshing view of the interplay between science and religion and makes a compelling case for the existence of God and his role in our world.
Dean L. Overman is former senior partner of the international law firm Winston & Strawn. A former Templeton scholar at Oxford University in the fields of information theory, physics, and religion, he has also studied theology at Princeton Theological Seminary and was a visiting scholar at Harvard University. He is the author of A Case Against Accident and Self-Organization.
Table of Contents
Foreword Preface Acknowledgments Chapter 1: Introduction Chapter 2: The question of God's existence: the radical contingency of the universe points toward a necessary being Chapter 3: Many generations of philosophers have made the mistake of assuming Hume and Kant's objections disposed of the cosmological argument Chapter 4: A universe with an infinite past would still require a necessary being to sustain its existence Chapter 5: Because the universe (or multiverse) had a beginning, it is contingent and has a cause for its coming into existence Chapter 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? Chapter 7: Evolution is not dispositive of the question of why there is something rather than nothing and why the universe is rational and intelligible Chapter 8: The mystery of information challenges a strict materialism Chapter 9: The existence of God gives an absolute that is consistent with the real existence of right and wrong Chapter 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 Chapter 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 Chapter 12: These nine witnesses testify to another way of knowing that is compatible with the empirical and the metaphysical rational ways of knowing, but is beyond the describable and requires personal participation, commitment, and personal transformation Chapter 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 Afterword Appendix A: The new mathematics of algorithmic information theory is relevant to theories concerning the formation of the first living matter Appendix B: The limits of mathematics and the limits of reason: Why everyone will always live by faith rather than certainty Appendix C: The evidence from contemporary physics supports the concepts of personal responsibility and free will Notes Selected Bibliography Index About the Author
