PWJ: S1E6 – MC B1C4 – “What lies behind the Law”

Our penultimate chapter of Book I of “Mere Christianity” is Chapter 4 and is entitled “What lies behind the Law”. In this episode, Jack digs into the consequences of the Moral Law and, in particular, what we can know about the universe in which we live.

Unfortunately, there were some small issues in this episode with my microphone, a bit of a crackle, but hopefully I’ll have it sorted out by the next time Matt and I record agin.

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Episode 6: “What lies behind the Law” (Download)

— Show Notes —

* My outline for the Chapter 4 is available here.

* Jack divides the worldviews concerning the universe into two categories (and later three):

1. The materialist view
2. The religious view

* When we were speaking about the breathtaking sequence of coincidences necessary for life to exist, I referenced a video produced by the Unbelievable radio host, Justin Brierley.

* We mentioned the Big Bang Theory which was put forward by scientist and Catholic priest Georges Lemaitre.

* I briefly referenced the Kalam Cosmological Argument which, when expressed as a syllogism, is as follows:

1. Whatever begins to exist has a cause;
2. The universe began to exist;
3. Therefore: The universe has a cause.

The conclusion of this argument is that if time, space and matter came into existence at the beginning, the cause of the universe must be timeless, spaceless and immaterial. Sound familiar?

* We referenced some other proofs for God, such as the Five Ways of St. Thomas Aquinas. For a wonderful presentation on these and some of the other proofs for God, I’d recommend this recording of a talk given by Professor Peter Kreeft, as well as the recently-released book by the philosopher Edward Faser called “Five Proofs of the existence of God”.

* Matt spoke about “Why we’re Catholic”, a book by Trent Horn, which he recently received from a generous podcast cohost!

* Matt talks about his interaction with famous Atheist, Richard Dawkins, who wrote “The God Delusion”. That discussion referenced Lawrence Krauss and his book “A Universe from Nothing”. In response to this, I mentioned a rather funny moment on a TV show where Richard Dawkins was a guest along with Cardinal George Pell, Archbishop of Sydney.

* We discussed “scientism”, the popular idea that all knowledge must be reduced to scientific knowledge and that other sources of truth, such as philosophy, must be discarded. One of the main problems with this view is that this is not scientific! It’s a philosophical claim! Additionally, science is based on an number of axioms which cannot be proved by science and must simply be assumed:

1. A world outside our minds must exist
2. We must be able to attain true knowledge of this world
3. Logic must be operable
4. Our sense must give us trustworthy data
5. Nature must be orderly and constant

* The two proponents of “Life-Force Philosophy” mentioned were the playwright George Bernard Shaw and the philosopher Henri Bergson. George Bernard Shaw was a great supporter of Eugenics and here is a a brief video clip of him espousing his rather disturbing views.

* Rejoice, there is a C.S. Lewis Doodle this week!