New Proofs for the Existence of God: Contributions of Contemporary Physics and Philosophy - Softcover

Spitzer, Robert J.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0802863833 ISBN 13: 9780802863836

Verlag: William B Eerdmans Publishing Co, 2010

Inhaltsangabe

With the incredible popularity of recent books championing agnosticism or atheism, many people might never know that such books almost completely ignore the considerable evidence for theism uncovered in both physics and philosophy over the past four decades. New Proofs for the Existence of God responds to these glaring omissions.

From universal space-time asymmetry to cosmic coincidences to the intelligibility of reality, Robert Spitzer tackles a wealth of evidence. He considers string theory, quantum cosmology, mathematical thoughts on infinity, and much more.

This fascinating and stunning collection of evidence provides solid grounding for reasonable and responsible belief in a super-intelligent, transcendent, creative power standing at the origins of our universe.

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Über die Autorin bzw. den Autor

Robert J. Spitzer, S.J., former president of Gonzaga University, is founder and president of the Magis Institute for Faith and Reason, Irvine, California, and host of a popular series on FWTN. His other books include Healing the Culture, The Spirit of Leadership, and Five Pillars of the Spiritual Life.

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New Proofs for the Existence of God

Contributions of Contemporary Physics and PhilosophyBy Robert J. Spitzer

William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company

Copyright © 2010 Robert J. Spitzer
All right reserved.
ISBN: 978-0-8028-6383-6

Contents

Acknowledgments........................................................................................................................xiiiIntroduction...........................................................................................................................1PART ONE Indications of Creation and Supernatural Design in Contemporary Big Bang Cosmology............................................13Introduction to Part One...............................................................................................................13Chapter One: Indications of Creation in Big Bang Cosmology.............................................................................14Chapter Two: Indications of Supernatural Design in Contemporary Big Bang Cosmology.....................................................47Postscript to Part One: Inflationary Cosmology and the String Multiverse, by Bruce L. Gordon, Ph.D.....................................75PART TWO Three Philosophical Proofs for the Existence of God..........................................................................105Introduction to Part Two: Methodological Presuppositions of Philosophical Proof: Reasonable and Responsible Belief.....................105Chapter Three: A Metaphysical Argument for God's Existence.............................................................................110Chapter Four: A Lonerganian Proof for God's Existence..................................................................................144Chapter Five: Proof of a Creator of Past Time..........................................................................................177Chapter Six: Methodological Considerations and the Impossibility of Disproving God.....................................................216PART THREE The Transcendentals: The Divine and Human Mysteries.........................................................................239Introduction to Part Three.............................................................................................................239Chapter Seven: The Divine Mystery: Five Transcendentals................................................................................242Chapter Eight: The Human Mystery: Five Yearnings for the Ultimate......................................................................259Conclusion to Part Three: The Divine and Human Mysteries...............................................................................285CONCLUSION Five Questions Toward the Unconditional Love of God.........................................................................287References.............................................................................................................................292Index..................................................................................................................................308

Chapter One

Indications of Creation in Big Bang Cosmology

Introduction

The General Theory of Relativity, Hubble's redshifts, Penzias's and Wilson's universal background radiation, black holes, quantum cosmology, inflationary theory, and a host of other ideas and discoveries have led to a grand scheme of universal origins called the "Big Bang theory." In the view of many physicists, this remarkable cosmological theory points to a creation event as well as an ordered unfolding of the universe.

I. The Big Bang Theory

What the Big Bang theory says is that everything in the "observable universe" is the remnant of a huge explosion called the big bang that took place about 13.7 billion years ago. (The term "observable universe" is used to refer to that portion of the universe that can be observed at the present time from earth. There is a "horizon" beyond which we cannot see, no matter how powerful the telescopes we use, because light has simply not had time since the big bang to reach us from more distant places. As time goes on, more and more of the universe will be observable to us. In a billion years from now, if we are still here, we shall be able to see a billion light-years further). While people still talk of the Big Bang "theory," it is no longer doubted by cosmologists that the big bang actually happened, i.e., that it is a historical fact. In science the word "theory" does not necessarily imply that an idea is merely a hypothesis. Often it means a very solidly established and well-tested explanation of a body of phenomena, in which case it is regarded as "the theory," the correct theoretical explanation of the experimental and observational data. (One talks about the "BCS theory" of superconductivity, for example, despite its having been completely confirmed as correct). Moreover, cosmologists think they have a fairly good overall picture of the history of the observable universe since the big bang. What, if anything, may have happened before the big bang and what may exist beyond the bounds of the observable universe (i.e., beyond the "horizon" of what can be seen from our place in the universe) is the subject of much speculation, some of it reasonable and some of it pretty wild. The generally agreed-upon "overall picture" of what has happened within the observable universe since the Big Bang is sometimes called the "standard" model of cosmology.

In the standard model of cosmology, space-time is described by Einstein's theory of gravity, which is called General Relativity. According to Einstein's theory, space-time is a four-dimensional manifold, which acts somewhat like an elastic medium. It can stretch, warp, and vibrate. When cosmologists say that the universe is expanding, they do not simply mean that objects within the universe are flying away from each other through space, they mean that space itself is stretching. Galaxies that are very distant from each other are getting farther apart, not because they are moving through space (which is a relatively small effect), but because the space in between them is getting stretched out. In an analogy that is often used to explain this expansion, the universe is likened to the surface of an expanding balloon with all of the galactic clusters like little spots painted on the surface of the balloon. As the universe (balloon) expands, the galactic clusters (paint spots) all move away from one another. So, it is not that the paint spots are sliding over the balloon's surface (though they are a bit), but instead the balloon has more area (or in the case of the universe, volume).

All of this stretching of space is described by Einstein's theory. How space-time stretches and warps is determined by the matter and energy filling the space and how it is distributed. In the vicinity of a massive object like the earth, for instance, space-time is warped in such a way that objects moving near the earth have their trajectories affected, and they seem to be attracted to it by the "force" of gravity. In the Big Bang theory, the fact that the galaxies are flying apart from each other is explained by the space of the universe expanding. As one looks back in time, the galaxies were closer together, because there was actually less space! The farther back one looks, the smaller the distance between galaxies was. Extrapolating back, one can deduce that all the matter in our observable universe would have been in the same place about...

Details zur Ausgabe

• Verlag: William B Eerdmans Publishing Co
• Erscheinungsdatum: 2010
• Sprache: Englisch
• ISBN 10: 0802863833
• ISBN 13: 9780802863836
• Einband: Taschenbuch
• Anzahl der Seiten: 319
• Kontakt zum Hersteller: Nicht verfügbar
• Verantwortliche Person: GS1 Slovakia; https://www.gs1sk.org; ; Nantersk� 23; Žilina; 010 08; Slowakei