The question of God's existence : the radical contingency of the universe points toward a necessary being -- Many generations of philosophers have made the mistake of assuming Hume and Kant's objections disposed of the cosmological argument -- A universe with an infinite past would still require a necessary being to sustain its existence -- Because the universe (or multiverse) had a beginning, it is contingent and has a cause for its coming into existence -- The philosophy of nature set forth in this book emphasizes the intelligibility of the universe noted in Einstein's statement : "the most incomprehensible thing about the world is that it is comprehensible." A significant issue in examining the "something" that exists is : why is it intelligible? -- Evolution is not dispositive of the question of why there is something rather than nothing and why the universe is rational and intelligible -- The mystery of information challenges a strict materialism -- The existence of God gives an absolute that is consistent with the real existence of right and wrong -- Evidential force of religious experience : if God is a person, God can be known to only a very limited extent by abstract reasoning and is more fully known by personal acquaintance in an I-Thou relationship with the Wholly Other -- Recorded experiences of encounters with the divine bear witness to a way of knowing that includes Kierkegaard's Kendskab, Buber's I-Thou, Otto's Wholly other, and Marcel's Mystery -- These nine witnesses testify to another way of knowing that is compatible with the empirical and the metaphysical rational ways of knowing, but is beyond the describable and requires personal participation, commitment, and personal transformation -- Concluding reflections and summary : theism requires a leap of faith, but it is a leap into the light, not into the dark; theism explains more than atheism, which also requires a leap of faith.
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