Jacoby-Shermer debate, 3/10

[This is part 1 of Dr Shermer's opening statement, refuting the existence of God.]

The debate between international Christian speaker Douglas Jacoby and agnostic and skeptic Michael Shermer took place Saturday June 23, the highlight of the 2007 International Apologetics Conference, sponsored by the Apologetics Research Society. The debate topic: Does God Exist?

Dr. Shermer is one of the three or four most famous atheist / agnostic scholars in the world, author of 12 books and President of the Skeptic Society. He has held dozens of debates, appeared on Oprah, 20/20, Dateline, Tom Snyder, Larry King Live and The History Channel. Dr. Jacoby, director of the Athens Institute of Ministry, has spoken in hundreds of cities in some 80 nations.

This exciting event was held before a packed house, with an overflow crowd watching close circuit monitors outside the venue. Kedron Jones (Board member of ARS) was moderator and affable host. Shermer and Jacoby both bring their best analytical skills to this debate. The interchange is lively, with both speakers willing to concede points made by their opponent. You will benefit greatly from weighing the arguments put forth. Douglas' clear and incisive arguments for the existence of God are persuasive. He argues from cosmology (both its creation and its complexity). and the unmistakable fact that moral absolutes are part of reality. Shermer makes the case that religions are socially constructed, historically dependent, and that the faith you adhere to and the god you believe in depend largely on when in history and where in the world you were born.

The two-hour debate is lively, engaging and instructional. You can watch each speaker's opening, rebuttal, rebuttal summary, and conclusion here at YouTube. For the entire debate in one DVD, however, including the 40+ minute Q&A session, please visit www.douglasjacoby.com. The Skeptics Society website is www.skeptic.com.

To post further comments, please visit Jacoby's forum at www.jacobyblogs.com.

Category:

Science & Technology

Tags:

• Jacoby-Shermer
• debate
• 3/10

[akambitsis3]

jacoby talked for 14 minutes and all he said was 'god did it'

[johnnyp76]

you need to take the outsider test for your belief. imagine you were a buddhist, or hindu etc. now listen to all the evidence and miracles in christianity. now answer the questions about plausibility. becuase you were brought up learning about miracles and jesus before you had a chance to know what is right and wrong, plausible and not. to someone brought up outside christianity, it is inherently implausible, to someone isnside it, it appears plausible.i know this, as i teach RE to younjg kids

[dwheel39]

If time, space, matter and energy (nature) all came into existence simultaneously then how could there POSSIBLY be a "natural" explanation for it's existence???? This is absurd. The origin of nature MUST constitute a METAphysical or SUPERnatural cause just by reason alone. There must be something outside of nature to bring it into being and "outside" cannot, by definition, entail an empirical or natural explanation. How can Shermer NOT see this?? He should be more "skeptical" of his own views :)

[dwheel39]

wait. . gaps in our scientific knowledge have been filled? How does describing the mechanics of how something works negate the question of it's origin? Does anyone else see this fallacy? It's like examining an auto factory run by robotic machines and then boasting, "ah ha! we KNOW how cars are made! This machine affects this one and so on...so therefore an "automobile designer" does not exist!

[LifeisBeautiful746]

Do atheists not understand that saying aliens made life on earth does not help there case? wake up people if aliens planted life then they would be made up of even more amazing stuff than what we are, which goes the opposite direction for the atheists argument.

[Ricardius1710]

Thanks for the video!

[Ricardius1710]

A natural explanation should always take precedence over a supernatural one. That's all there is to it. Even if there are no known natural explanations, it doesn't follow that god did it! It's okay for the scientist to say, we don't know, but we are researching and one day we will.

[GrahamSMcCann]

If Jacoby was brought up in a society with absolutely no religion - or anybody for that matter - he would still have evidence through the digging of science available, but there would be no way to study the earth to find Christianity or Islam etc, if it was not a mythology created by human societies and passed

[GrahamSMcCann]

Yeah, it really comes down to that, I mean he is a Christian apologetic.  If he was Islamic, he would be hooking it to Islam.@akambitsis3

[cristianfcao]

"Go forth and multiply!... but not in those words" LOL

[AtheismandSkepticism]

@198icbond

"plus how can the big bang theory exist? how can explosion cause order?"

Implying "we don't know stuff, therefore God dunnit".

And Christians still wonder why atheists don't believe in light of these 'amazing' arguments for God's existence.

[wildreams]

Go forth and multiply = Go fuck yourself?