- \n
- Justin \u2013 Opening Statement<\/em><\/a><\/li>\n
- Leah \u2013 Rebuttal<\/em>
\n\u2013part 1<\/a>
\n\u2013part 2<\/a><\/em><\/li>\n- Justin \u2013 Rejoinder<\/em>
\n\u2013part 1<\/a>
\n\u2013part 2<\/a><\/em><\/li>\n- Leah \u2013 Opening Statement<\/a><\/em><\/li>\n
- Justin \u2013 Rebuttal<\/a><\/em><\/li>\n
- Leah \u2013 Rejoinder<\/span><\/strong><\/em><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
In his last post, Justin has accused me of relying blindly on a \u201cNaturalism of the Gaps.\u201d \u00a0In his view, my belief that there is likely to be a non-theistic explanation for the unresolved question of the cause of the Big Bang is unwarranted. \u00a0I\u2019m not going to write out my response to this criticism in full because it has already been beautifully written<\/a> in a post by Common Sense Atheism<\/a>. \u00a0In short,<\/p>\n
BELIEVER: There\u2019s still something mysterious about consciousness, and you shouldn\u2019t accept a \u201cNaturalism of the gaps,\u201d either.<\/p>\n
LUKE: But when I say I\u2019m a Naturalist I\u2019m not saying I\u2019ve searched the whole universe and I know everything in it is natural. I\u2019m just saying everything I know to exist is natural. I don\u2019t know how consciousness works, but I have no reason yet to think it\u2019s supernatural, and that\u2019s why I\u2019m a Naturalist. Besides, I do have good reason to suspect consciousness will turn out to be natural after all. The entire history of human inquiry gives me every reason to suspect that, even though I can\u2019t know it for sure until we get much further along in our study of consciousness.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
\nI don\u2019t understand the precise workings of the Big Bang any more than I understand all the facets of the complicated problem of consciousness. \u00a0I\u2019m still not going to bet that this is the one problem that\u2019s solved by throwing up my hands and shouting \u201cMagic!\u201d (which is essentially what Prime Mover Theism amounts to) until I see more evidence.<\/p>\n
Pushing the argument beyond deism into a defense of Justin\u2019s own Christianity would have involved building up an alternate framework, that makes claims of its own. \u00a0Attempting to disprove the status quo by setting up a false dichotomy that maintains the only possibilities are atheism and prime mover theism and then claiming a weak point in atheism requires the alternative be true is flawed argumentation.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\nFrankly, I\u2019m still a little baffled as to why Justin has basically taken the position that only the power of the Holy Spirit, as channeled through my boyfriend, could be expected to bring into a relationship with God. \u00a0He found this point important enough\u00a0to make it the opening and closing paragraphs of this debate. \u00a0It seems odd to me that a benevolent, omnipotent being\u2019s desire to bring grace into my life could be utterly stymied by any of the factors that could cause two college students to break up (though I suppose I now have an excellent weapon in my arsenal the next time my boyfriend and I have a dispute: \u201cYou know, I\u2019m pretty sure someone who shines with the light that comes from the indwelling of the Holy Spirit and has been partially conformed into the likeness of Jesus would love<\/em> to take me to the Elm City Waltz<\/a>.\u201d)<\/p>\n
On a more serious note, Justin placing the responsibility \u00a0for proving the existence of the Christian God onto my boyfriend suggests a strange theology of salvation. \u00a0It suggests that individual Christians are the primary proof and means of salvation for their fallen friends in a way that goes beyond even what I\u2019ve put<\/a> forward<\/a> in some of my posts on evangelism.<\/p>\n
One of the frequent atheist arguments against the existence of God involves proving the characteristics attributed to God are fundamentally in conflict. \u00a0Some atheistic objections are pedantic (i.e. If God is all powerful, can he microwave a burrito<\/a> so hot that he himself cannot eat it?) while others have been provoking thought<\/a> for millennia. \u00a0One frequently discussed problem is how to reconcile God\u2019s infinite justice with the problem of salvation. \u00a0The only satisfactory defense I have seen remains C.S. Lewis\u2019s\u00a0The Great Divorce<\/a>.<\/p>\n
Justin\u2019s position that there is no way (with the possible exception of the presumed superpowers of my boyfriend) to convince me of the truth of Christianity, rather than a deist Prime Mover makes me dubious. \u00a0If a god is going to make belief in Jesus Christ a prerequisite for salvation, there should be some reasonable way for me to acquire that belief. \u00a0At the end of the day, I have no more reason to make a leap of faith and commit myself to Christ than I do to devote my life to Islam.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
This post is part of a debate with Justin of The Faith Heuristic. The topic is: The Evidence Supports the Existence of a God. The debate is structured as follows: Justin \u2013 Opening Statement Leah \u2013 Rebuttal \u2013part 1 \u2013part 2 Justin \u2013 Rejoinder \u2013part 1 \u2013part 2 Leah \u2013 Opening Statement Justin \u2013 Rebuttal […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":127,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[99,68],"tags":[100,25,113],"class_list":["post-400","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-debates","category-epistemologyphilosophy","tag-debating-justin-martyr","tag-soteriology","tag-threshold-for-belief"],"yoast_head":"\n
Riposte to Justin Matyr: Closing up the Gaps<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"This post is part of a debate with Justin of The Faith Heuristic. The topic is: The Evidence Supports the Existence of a God. The debate is structured as\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/unequallyyoked\/2010\/07\/riposte-to-justin-matyr-closing-up-the-gaps.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Riposte to Justin Matyr: Closing up the Gaps\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"This post is part of a debate with Justin of The Faith Heuristic. The topic is: The Evidence Supports the Existence of a God. The debate is structured as\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/unequallyyoked\/2010\/07\/riposte-to-justin-matyr-closing-up-the-gaps.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Unequally Yoked\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2010-07-03T18:18:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2012-03-29T03:26:57+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/blogger.googleusercontent.com\/tracker\/4256452356987023523-1373758224473374845?l=www.unequally-yoked.com\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Leah Libresco\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Leah Libresco\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/unequallyyoked\/2010\/07\/riposte-to-justin-matyr-closing-up-the-gaps.html\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/unequallyyoked\/2010\/07\/riposte-to-justin-matyr-closing-up-the-gaps.html\",\"name\":\"Riposte to Justin Matyr: Closing up the Gaps\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/unequallyyoked\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2010-07-03T18:18:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2012-03-29T03:26:57+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/unequallyyoked\/#\/schema\/person\/17ee17592b35b40040d5f5f7ea5ab464\"},\"description\":\"This post is part of a debate with Justin of The Faith Heuristic. The topic is: The Evidence Supports the Existence of a God. The debate is structured as\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/unequallyyoked\/2010\/07\/riposte-to-justin-matyr-closing-up-the-gaps.html#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/unequallyyoked\/2010\/07\/riposte-to-justin-matyr-closing-up-the-gaps.html\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/unequallyyoked\/2010\/07\/riposte-to-justin-matyr-closing-up-the-gaps.html#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/unequallyyoked\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Riposte to Justin Matyr: Closing up the Gaps\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/unequallyyoked\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/unequallyyoked\/\",\"name\":\"Unequally Yoked\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/unequallyyoked\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/unequallyyoked\/#\/schema\/person\/17ee17592b35b40040d5f5f7ea5ab464\",\"name\":\"Leah Libresco\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/unequallyyoked\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/20e1e6a3a94c4e7928687804a41d888d?s=96&d=mm&r=r\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/20e1e6a3a94c4e7928687804a41d888d?s=96&d=mm&r=r\",\"caption\":\"Leah Libresco\"},\"description\":\"Leah is the author of Arriving at Amen and Building the Benedict Option. Her further writing can be found at leahlibresco.com.\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/unequallyyoked\/author\/leahlibresco\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Riposte to Justin Matyr: Closing up the Gaps","description":"This post is part of a debate with Justin of The Faith Heuristic. The topic is: The Evidence Supports the Existence of a God. The debate is structured as","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/unequallyyoked\/2010\/07\/riposte-to-justin-matyr-closing-up-the-gaps.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Riposte to Justin Matyr: Closing up the Gaps","og_description":"This post is part of a debate with Justin of The Faith Heuristic. The topic is: The Evidence Supports the Existence of a God. The debate is structured as","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/unequallyyoked\/2010\/07\/riposte-to-justin-matyr-closing-up-the-gaps.html","og_site_name":"Unequally Yoked","article_published_time":"2010-07-03T18:18:00+00:00","article_modified_time":"2012-03-29T03:26:57+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"https:\/\/blogger.googleusercontent.com\/tracker\/4256452356987023523-1373758224473374845?l=www.unequally-yoked.com"}],"author":"Leah Libresco","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Leah Libresco","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/unequallyyoked\/2010\/07\/riposte-to-justin-matyr-closing-up-the-gaps.html","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/unequallyyoked\/2010\/07\/riposte-to-justin-matyr-closing-up-the-gaps.html","name":"Riposte to Justin Matyr: Closing up the Gaps","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/unequallyyoked\/#website"},"datePublished":"2010-07-03T18:18:00+00:00","dateModified":"2012-03-29T03:26:57+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/unequallyyoked\/#\/schema\/person\/17ee17592b35b40040d5f5f7ea5ab464"},"description":"This post is part of a debate with Justin of The Faith Heuristic. The topic is: The Evidence Supports the Existence of a God. The debate is structured as","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/unequallyyoked\/2010\/07\/riposte-to-justin-matyr-closing-up-the-gaps.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/unequallyyoked\/2010\/07\/riposte-to-justin-matyr-closing-up-the-gaps.html"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/unequallyyoked\/2010\/07\/riposte-to-justin-matyr-closing-up-the-gaps.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/unequallyyoked"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Riposte to Justin Matyr: Closing up the Gaps"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/unequallyyoked\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/unequallyyoked\/","name":"Unequally Yoked","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/unequallyyoked\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/unequallyyoked\/#\/schema\/person\/17ee17592b35b40040d5f5f7ea5ab464","name":"Leah Libresco","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/unequallyyoked\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/20e1e6a3a94c4e7928687804a41d888d?s=96&d=mm&r=r","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/20e1e6a3a94c4e7928687804a41d888d?s=96&d=mm&r=r","caption":"Leah Libresco"},"description":"Leah is the author of Arriving at Amen and Building the Benedict Option. Her further writing can be found at leahlibresco.com.","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/unequallyyoked\/author\/leahlibresco"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/unequallyyoked\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/400","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/unequallyyoked\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/unequallyyoked\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/unequallyyoked\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/127"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/unequallyyoked\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=400"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/unequallyyoked\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/400\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/unequallyyoked\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=400"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/unequallyyoked\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=400"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/unequallyyoked\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=400"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}} - Leah \u2013 Rebuttal<\/em>