Does God Exist? The Ontological Argument Debate 🤔✨ Dr Gavin Ortlund vs AOC favourite agnostic Joe Schmid

Unbelievable?

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Christianity, Religion & Spirituality

4.6 • 2.3K Ratings

🗓️ 17 January 2025

⏱️ 78 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In this thought-provoking episode of Premier Unbelievable, host Vince Vitale is joined by two brilliant minds to unpack the ontological argument for the existence of God: ✨ Dr. Gavin Ortlund – President of Truth Unites, theologian, author, and YouTuber and 🎓 Joe Schmid – Philosophy PhD student at Princeton, metaphysics expert, creator of Majesty of Reason and Alex O'Connor's favourite young agnostic. In this thought-provoking episode, we explore: 🔹 Anselm's famous ontological argument and its philosophical legacy 🔹 A priori reasoning and what it means for theology and metaphysics 🔹 Modal arguments and the concepts of necessary vs. contingent existence 🔹 Critiques, including Kant’s objections and parody arguments This dynamic conversation unpacks the complexities of God’s existence, philosophical rationality, and the nature of being itself. Whether you're a philosopher, theologian, or curious skeptic, this episode will challenge your perspective and expand your understanding. 🌌📚 Meet the Guests: 1️⃣ Joe Schmid Joe is a Philosophy PhD student at Princeton University, specializing in metaphysics and philosophy of religion. He has co-authored the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy entry on ontological arguments and written two books: Existential Inertia and Classical Theistic Proofs and The Majesty of Reason. On his YouTube channel, Majesty of Reason, Joe creates lectures and hosts philosophical discussions. 📚 Follow Joe Schmid: 🌐 Website: josephschmid.com ▶️ YouTube: Majesty of Reason 🐦 Twitter/X: @majestyofreason 2️⃣ Dr. Gavin Ortlund Gavin is the President of Truth Unites, a theologian, and author of nine books, including Why God Makes Sense in a World That Doesn’t and What It Means to Be Protestant. He holds a PhD in historical theology from Fuller Seminary and is a fellow of several esteemed organizations, including the Keller Center for Cultural Apologetics. Gavin also shares content on theology, apologetics, and church history through his YouTube channel, Truth Unites. 📚 Follow Dr. Gavin Ortlund: 🌐 Website: truthunites.org ▶️ YouTube: Truth Unites 📸 Instagram: truth.unites 👍 Facebook: Truth Unites Page 🐦 Twitter/X: @gavinortlund 👉 What do you think? Can the ontological argument prove God’s existence, or is it just a fascinating mental exercise? Let us know in the comments below! 🎧 Listen now on your favourite podcast platform or watch the full video for more deep philosophical insights! #Philosophy #Theology #ExistenceOfGod #OntologicalArgument #Anselm #Metaphysics #Kant #Agnosticism #FaithAndReason #PhilosophicalDebate #GodExists #LogicAndReason #PhilosophyPodcast SOCIAL LINKS Twitter: https://twitter.com/unbelievablefe Facebook: / https://facebook.com/premierunbelievable Instagram: / https://instagram.com/premierunbelievable Tik Tok: / https://tiktok.com/@premier.unbelievable 👉 Get bonus content, updates, fascinating articles, and early access to new episodes—absolutely free! Join now at www.premierunbelievable.com 🎉📢 • Subscribe to the Unbelievable? podcast: https://pod.link/267142101 • More shows, free eBook & newsletter: https://premierunbelievable.com • For live events: http://www.unbelievable.live • For online learning: https://www.premierunbelievable.com/training • Support us in the USA: http://www.premierinsight.org/unbelievableshow • Support us in the rest of the world: https://www.premierunbelievable.com/donate

Transcript

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0:00.0	Sponsor a child with compassion and provide them with life-changing support,
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0:19.0	Compassion Ambassador Philippa Hanna told us,
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0:28.6	Lorraine Cato said,
0:30.0	For me, compassion is, they know exactly what they're doing.
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0:58.2	in Jesus' name. What does it mean for an argument to beg the question? What's the relationship
1:04.2	between possibility and conceivability? Antological argument is a bit of a misnomer. It's a bit of a
1:10.6	simplification, really, because this is a family of arguments. You could think of the ontological argument is a bit of a misnomer. It's a bit of a simplification, really, because this is a family of arguments.
1:13.6	You could think of the ontological argument almost as we're bombarded with God or we're bumping into God at the rational plane.
1:20.6	We can get an equally convincing reverse argument for God's non-existence, and in fact God's impossibility, right?
1:25.6	Hey, God's either necessary or impossible. The enduring nature of this throughout Western philosophy, I think, should encourage people not to dismiss it too quickly.
1:33.3	There's more here than meets the eye.
1:35.3	At one point you called this the Rocky Balboa of philosophical arguments.
	...

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