Responding to Atheistic Arguments by Analogy

“Some philosophers think maths exists in a mysterious other realm. They’re wrong. Look around: you can see it.”

Hmm…

Western philosophers have been debating for thousands of years about the meaning of mathematics and how it fits in and connects with the world. This is a debate that has not been resolved, yet no one takes seriously the suggestion that math is just a figment of our imaginations, that math is just a myth.

But this is what atheists today argue with regards to God.

Take all of the common “new atheist” arguments against God and they apply equally to mathematics.

“Where is the empirical proof that God exists?”

Well, that is exactly what is being debated with regards to mathematics. Does it have an empirical reality? Or does it have its basis in another realm? Or do we see the evidence “all around us”? You certainly can’t go outside and see, for example, the square root of negative 1. You can’t do an empirical experiment to prove Fermat’s last theorem. So does that mean math is not real, that it does not exist?

“The idea of God in religion has resulted in so much war and death?”

Interestingly enough, so has math since war strategy and technology all rely on mathematical calculation. The nuclear bomb is a product of endless amounts of math. Would the world have less war and hence less death and destruction if people abandoned math? Certainly, but we cannot ignore all the great positives that come from those who use math for good.

Sound familiar?

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Other than math, there are many things that do not fit the conventional profile of a physical, empirical object that can be subjected to scientific experiment and observation. That doesn’t mean that those things are any less real.

The same can be said about God, but while philosophers endlessly debate the question of things like mathematics, revelation is our source for understanding God as He is the only One that can reveal Himself to the world.

سُبْحَانَ رَبِّكَ رَبِّ الْعِزَّةِ عَمَّا يَصِفُونَ

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