(April 20, 2014 at 6:56 am)Metalogos Wrote: Finally, I would ask the questioner to give a proof or argument that supports the position that the universe could exist and indeed does exist without an initial cause or Prime Mover.The most efficient approach is to ask to be introduced to the Prime Mover. That way, you can get to the excuses and rationalizations without all of the foreplay. And by phrasing the request in that manner, you can deal with the inevitable "what would it take to make you believe" by replying "a handshake."
God never shows up. The sooner you remind them of this, the sooner the whole sorry exercise comes to an unsatisfactory conclusion.
"Well, evolution is a theory. It is also a fact. And facts and theories are different things, not rungs in a hierarchy of increasing certainty. Facts are the world's data. Theories are structures of ideas that explain and interpret facts. Facts don't go away when scientists debate rival theories to explain them. Einstein's theory of gravitation replaced Newton's in this century, but apples didn't suspend themselves in midair, pending the outcome. And humans evolved from ape- like ancestors whether they did so by Darwin's proposed mechanism or by some other yet to be discovered."
-Stephen Jay Gould
-Stephen Jay Gould
