Category: 
June 29, 2010
[This is part 2 of Dr Jacoby's opening statement, affirming 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.
Duration : 0:8:9
No related posts.
Horaayy..there are 25 comment(s) for me so far ;)
If one knows how to …
If one knows how to speak he can control the masses. Back when the strongest survived, if you were weak u would die. God were created to counter their weakness. Boxers, ufc fighters and so on are controlled by educated or articulate people. Cause mentally they’re WEAK. Hitler,MLK, Ghandi, have all this in common, they knew how to get their idea or beliefs across. Gods are man made to control the weak and masses. The strong minded are viewed as evil or a threat.
Morality 101:
Do …
Morality 101:
Do you want to be killed or raped or pillaged or defrauded? No?
Wanna make some laws that we should all not do that and educate and if necessary punish people who do? You do? Ok, how bout this single commandment:
Do what you want so long as you don’t hurt anyone, and, if, having taken reasonable and careful precautions not to, you still do, then do all within your power to make ammends as the offended party asks.
One commandment, not 10 or 613.
Do unto others… …
Do unto others… is a FLAWED moral concept: if you’re brutal you’ll allow far greater abuse than a peaceful person: it gives a loophole to precisely the worst and most desperate elements,
AND
It throws the ball entirely into the human court, it FAILS to provide ANY INDEPENDENT measure.
I can never get my …
I can never get my head around theists that quote statistics and mathematical probability. That would seem to be cheating, imo. If you believe in miracles, then by default you are dismissing probability as a reliable resource, right?
@diogok Scientists …
@diogok Scientists and doctors are some of the most intelligent, driven and admirable people on the planet, but this does not make them flawless. Smart people are often quite good at convincing themselves of stupid things. Furthermore a scientist usually thinks in ways parallel to what they study, which can easily cloud their thoughts from logic and make their own preconceived ideals more prominent in their way of thinking.
Funny how people …
Funny how people without any degree in science here are trying to argue with Dr. Jacoby using “scientific” arguments, forgetting that he is the one with a “DR” title. And worst, by using arguments that he already replied to.
Guys, I think YOU should do your homework…
Well, for now, I will stick with the Dr.
I can’t believe …
I can’t believe that someone with a “Dr.” in front of his name can’t see that looking back at how inprobable an event is AFTER it happened tells you nothing. Just because the chance to win in the lottery is small doesn’t mean noone ever wins it.
Hes such a …
Hes such a missinformed noob.. but lets grant him that scientists believe nothing made something.. How did your god come about? … oh well hes outside of nature.. blabla you.
there was no …
there was no explotion, no sound there was no air, jacoby needs to do his homwork
Religions are …
Religions are entitled to as much criticism as anything else. Why they should have some ingrained respect given to them is beyond me.
You are the ones believing in something which by its very nature would want you to discard any rational thoughts about the way the world works and completely ignore science. Religion and Science are both by their very nature completely incompatible. To say otherwise is completely “ignorant, stupid, needy, retarded” (delete as appopriate).
Out of courtesy I …
Out of courtesy I am having a few specials today: I’m a big fan of “Nazi Germany was a Christian nation perfectly situated for the holocaust,” “how Christianity was derived from pre-existing pagan religions and how the early founders knew thins,” “the strong correlation between Christianity and divorce, sexual deviancy, and serial killers” – I’m an expert in all three….I’m ready when you are – no name calling and tons of evidence to boot
The non-religious …
The non-religious don’t supply evidence? For what? Get me started I’m ready to go – evolution? contradictions in the Bible? the fact that we don’t get our morality from “Judeo-Christian values”? separation of Church and state? I’m excited…..you start and I’ll supply completely free of name calling too; I won’t even charge extra
“What I like the …
“What I like the best about people that insult based on religion is they always go for personal insults. They never present concrete fact. Ever.”
Here is a list of “good Christian names” slung at Thomas Paine: Judas, reptile, hog, mad dog, souse, louse, archbeast, brute, liar, infidel”
Mike Huckabee recently referred to atheists (as a group) as narcissists
Do you want me to send you my hate mail from Christians or should I direct you to Richard Dawkin’s hate mail from Christians?
My biggest problem …
My biggest problem with the “life sitting on a knife’s edge ergo God did it” argument is that it represents the complete antithesis of design. Did God not make the laws that would cause our destruction? (either side of the knife’s edge) – if you understand the law of large numbers then our existence appears to be part of a completely random universe – that of a “blind watchmaker” …there are too many riddles and unnecessary parts to make it design. Why rest your design on a knife’s edge?
3 Matthew 7:12 – …
3 Matthew 7:12 – very nice verse….unfortunately Jesus was a little late; Confucius, Lao Tse, Buddha, and about half a dozen ancient Greek and Roman philosophers had said it already centuries earlier – but don’t worry, Jesus did bring something completely original to him – eternal hell: before him shoal and hades were the underworld but were not eternal places of damnation, what say you Jesus:
“Think not that I come to bring peace to earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword”
Matthew 10:34
To follow in …
To follow in DeusMerdaeEst’s path – 1. Morality is innate: look to nature; the animal kingdom has no religion and yet they develop their own moral codes and have organized families – how could that be? human beings also display similar moral characteristics with/without religion or despite differences in religion
2. If you do not think that God is a dictator – you have not read the Old Testament nor do you understand “sins of the father” as an ideological concept
Don’t you just love …
Don’t you just love it when christians try to sound scientific? He trys to argue for a god, but does nothing for a christian god. Maybe it’s a Allah that we all should be sticking our butts in the air for.
What I like the …
What I like the best about people that insult based on religion is they always go for personal insults. They never present concrete fact. Ever.
it’s always “ignorant, stupid, needy, retarded” or “imbecile” as this ever so eloquent fool here has put it.
It’s pathetic that none of you can have any sort of respect. Not to mention you assume and generalize more than any religious person and yet you criticize us for ironing out all the “details”.
And no, I don’t think that (what Deus said).
imbecile.
imbecile.
“you realize the …
“you realize the saying “treat others as you want to be treated COMES FROM THE BIBLE.”
So before jebus was born, people thought it was perfectly ok to kill, rape, and steal? Any evidence for that? Oops. I forgot, you guys don’t do evidence.
“These so-called innate moralities you speak of are not innate.”
I’ts pretty pathetic that you need a book of ancient prubble, the promise of heaven and the threat of to make you behave.
you realize the …
you realize the saying “treat others as you want to be treated COMES FROM THE BIBLE.
“So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you,” Matthew 7:12
These so-called innate moralities you speak of are not innate. If that were true then we would be living in some sort of fairytale paradise where everyone automatically does “the right thing” based on internal moral code.
Also no one said God is a dictator, you assumed that.
Don’t “assume” it makes an of U and ME. get it?
Youtube: Mountain …
Youtube: Mountain of Fire. The Real Mt Sinai. Jabel Al Lawz Saudi Arabia. God melted half a 4000 Ft. Mountain.
Andy: I totally …
Andy: I totally agree. See my answer above (Religios are emotionally needy…with regard to the supernatural). That’s why they can’t just walk away from things they don’t understand. They NEED to believe that something is controlling the universe (so they invent religions), and they need to FORCE you to accept it.
Religios are …
Religios are emotionally needy followers. The little logic they have is trumped by their childish need to be accepted as part of a group – something they perceive as greater than themselves. They dont care about proof; anything they dont understand can simply be ascribed to some supernatural force. Ignorance is bliss but not sufficient for these blind cliques who will censor, ostracize, and destroy in the name of their phony beliefs.
After listening …
After listening that clown in a purple jacket ramble on and on I noticed one thing…the only reason he believes in God is because, according to him, there is not enough sufficient proof for the Big Bang. I have two questions; one from another Atheist and one from my self: Assuming the big bang and evolution is 100% wrong what is the proof for Creationism? If the Big Bang & Evolution is wrong DO I HAVE TO BELIEVE IN ANY ALTERNATIVE THAT IS OUT THERE OR CAN’T I JUST SAY THAT I DON’T KNOW?