UM Hosts a debate on existence of God

Story by:  Andrew Mechum

      On Tuesday November 5 the University of Montevallo hosted a debate on the existence of God.  Resident philosophy professor Dr. Michael Patton debated visiting professor Dr. Jason Baldwin on how we can be certain God is real.

     The debate on both sides was well thought out but no sparks flew in either direction. However the philosophers came at the question from two different directions giving the audience an opportunity to hear arguments for the existence of God from perspectives they may not have heard before.

UM Philiosophy professor Dr. Michael Patton

     Patton made the point that much of what we believe about god, if we believe in one at all, is determined by when and where we are born. If we had been born in the Middle East we would believe in Allah or the sun god Ra if we were born in ancient Egypt by Patton's reasoning.

    Patton said that he enjoyed the debate with Baldwin and would welcome him back to do another debate adding, "I thought it went very, very well."
 

Notre Dame Philosophy Graduate Dr. Jason Baldwin

  Baldwin came at his argument from the perspective that our very existence and its complexity is not just a random happenstance.  He argued that there must be a superior intelligence to explain the multitude of things that we see existing in our world.

  While this was the first debate of this nature Baldwin had participated in he was appreciative of Patton's view points and said he, "is a very sharp but also affable and funny guy."

    This debate was sponsored by the Montevallo Campus Ministry Association and the univeristy.  UM regularly hosts debates of such as the one last Tuesday.  For more information on events like this one visit UM's website or the campus ministry website.