Mathematics and God

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Connections between mathematics and God include the use of mathematics in arguments about the existence of God and about whether belief in God is beneficial.

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Mathematical arguments for God's existence

In the 1070s, Anselm of Canterbury, an Italian medieval philosopher and theologian, created an ontological argument which sought to use logic to prove the existence of God. [1] A more elaborate version was given by Gottfried Leibniz in the early eighteenth century. [1] Kurt Gödel created a formalization of Leibniz' version, known as Gödel's ontological proof. [1]

A more recent argument was made by Stephen D. Unwin in 2003, who suggested the use of Bayesian probability to estimate the probability of God's existence. [2]

Mathematical arguments for belief

A common application of decision theory to the belief in God is Pascal's wager, published by Blaise Pascal in his 1669 work Pensées . The application is a defense of Christianity stating that "If God does not exist, the Atheist loses little by believing in him and gains little by not believing. If God does exist, the Atheist gains eternal life by believing and loses an infinite good by not believing". [3] The atheist's wager has been proposed as a counterargument to Pascal's Wager.

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Related Research Articles

Agnosticism is the view or belief that the existence of God, of the divine or the supernatural is either unknowable in principle or currently unknown in fact. It can also mean an apathy towards such religious belief and refer to personal limitations rather than a worldview. Another definition provided is the view that "human reason is incapable of providing sufficient rational grounds to justify either the belief that God exists or the belief that God does not exist."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Blaise Pascal</span> French mathematician, physicist, inventor, writer, and Christian philosopher (1623–1662)

Blaise Pascal was a French mathematician, physicist, inventor, philosopher, and Catholic writer.

Gödel's ontological proof is a formal argument by the mathematician Kurt Gödel (1906–1978) for the existence of God. The argument is in a line of development that goes back to Anselm of Canterbury (1033–1109). St. Anselm's ontological argument, in its most succinct form, is as follows: "God, by definition, is that for which no greater can be conceived. God exists in the understanding. If God exists in the understanding, we could imagine Him to be greater by existing in reality. Therefore, God must exist." A more elaborate version was given by Gottfried Leibniz (1646–1716); this is the version that Gödel studied and attempted to clarify with his ontological argument.

Natural theology, once also termed physico-theology, is a type of theology that seeks to provide arguments for theological topics based on reason and the discoveries of science, the project of arguing for the existence of God on the basis of observed natural facts, and through natural phenomena viewed as divine, or complexities of nature seen as evidence of a divine plan or Will of God, which includes nature itself.

The teleological argument is an argument for the existence of God or, more generally, that complex functionality in the natural world which looks designed is evidence of an intelligent creator.

In philosophy, rationalism is the epistemological view that "regards reason as the chief source and test of knowledge" or "any view appealing to reason as a source of knowledge or justification", often in contrast to other possible sources of knowledge such as faith, tradition, or sensory experience. More formally, rationalism is defined as a methodology or a theory "in which the criterion of truth is not sensory but intellectual and deductive".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pascal's wager</span> Argument that posits human beings bet with their lives that God either exists or does not

Pascal's wager is a philosophical argument advanced by Blaise Pascal (1623–1662), seventeenth-century French mathematician, philosopher, physicist, and theologian. This argument posits that individuals essentially engage in a life-defining gamble regarding the belief in the existence of God.

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Christian apologetics is a branch of Christian theology that defends Christianity.

The Atheist's wager, coined by the philosopher Michael Martin and published in his 1990 book Atheism: A Philosophical Justification, is an atheistic response to Pascal's wager regarding the existence of God.

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The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to atheism:

Atheism, in the broadest sense, is an absence of belief in the existence of deities. Less broadly, atheism is a rejection of the belief that any deities exist. In an even narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there are no deities. Atheism is contrasted with theism, which in its most general form is the belief that at least one deity exists.

The aspects of Bertrand Russell's views on philosophy cover the changing viewpoints of philosopher and mathematician Bertrand Russell (1872–1970), from his early writings in 1896 until his death in February 1970.

Agnostic atheism or atheistic agnosticism is a philosophical position that encompasses both atheism and agnosticism. Agnostic atheists are atheistic because they do not hold a belief in the existence of any deity and are agnostic because they claim that the existence of a divine entity or entities is either unknowable in principle or currently unknown in fact.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Philosophical theism</span> Belief that a deity exists or must exist

Philosophical theism is the belief that the Supreme Being exists independent of the teaching or revelation of any particular religion. It represents belief in God entirely without doctrine, except for that which can be discerned by reason and the contemplation of natural laws. Some philosophical theists are persuaded of God's existence by philosophical arguments, while others consider themselves to have a religious faith that need not be, or could not be, supported by rational argument.

An ontological argument is a philosophical argument, made from an ontological basis, that is advanced in support of the existence of God. Such arguments tend to refer to the state of being or existing. More specifically, ontological arguments are commonly conceived a priori in regard to the organization of the universe, whereby, if such organizational structure is true, God must exist.

Christian agnosticism is a theological position drawing influences from Christianity as well as agnosticism. Christian agnostics hold that it is difficult or impossible to be sure of anything beyond the basic tenets of the Christian faith. They believe that God or a higher power might exist, that Jesus may have a special relationship with God, might in some way be divine, and that God might perhaps be worshipped. This belief system has deep roots in the early days of the Church.

Christian existential apologetics differs from traditional approaches to Christian apologetics by basing arguments for Christian theism on the satisfaction of existential needs rather than on strictly logical or evidential arguments. Christian existential apologetics may also be distinguished from Christian existentialism and from experiential apologetics. The former is a philosophic outlook concerned with the human condition in general; the latter consists of evidential argumentation based on religious experience.

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Ontological arguments". plato.stanford.edu. 2007-02-15. Retrieved 2007-03-04.
  2. Unwin, Stephen (2003). "Doing the math with God". plato.stanford.edu. Retrieved 2007-03-04.
  3. "Blaise Pascal (1623)". ronaldbrucemeyer.com. Retrieved 2007-03-04.

Further reading