The Existence of God
About this course
Can a rational person believe in God? Is it possible to have a relationship with an infinite, omnipresent Being? Who made God?
Join Rabbi Rowe as we trace Judaism all the way back to its greatest contribution to society: monotheism.
Rabbi Daniel Rowe is the Executive Director of Aish UK. He holds a BA in Philosophy from University College London and an MPhil in Philosophy from Birkbeck College. He studied for a decade in Israel in various Talmudic institutes and is considered one of the most dynamic Jewish speakers in the UK, teaching in campuses, communities and schools across the country.
Rabbi Rowe is known for his ability to tackle difficult topics and has numerous videos and articles online. In 2016, Rabbi Rowe took part in a live televised debate with a leading atheist, dubbed "The God Debate".
Rabbi Rowe has played an instrumental role in the creation and development of many organisations and initiatives such as the Forum for Jewish Leadership, the Aleinu Conference and Shabbat UK.
Course Outline
Taking a look at the Solomon Asch experiment, Daniel examines the impact of conformity and social pressure on our beliefs.
Most atheists would argue that the burden of proof for the existence of God doesn’t lie with them. In fact, the opposite is true. Daniel tells you why the question of how did everything get here actually flips this argument on its head.
Using his MPhil in Philosophy of Mathematics, Daniel shows how the world must have had a starting point and something outside of creation is the most rational explanation for it.
If everything in creation is finite and therefore had a beginning, then how can one argue that there is an infinite creator who created everything?
Most people imagine infinity is the biggest number possible. Here, Daniel argues that bigness has nothing to do with infinity at all. True infinity means it has no boundaries at all.
There is only one number that has no size, limits or boundaries. Did you guess it? It’s zero. Is it possible that there could be a being that never entered into the dimensions of size? That would be an infinite being.
Daniel takes the example of mathematics as a necessary truth and contrasts that with scientific truth to show how the First Cause Argument holds today.
Is it possible to create something from nothing? In almost every case the answer is no. What about a thought? Daniel shows that when we think something up, its existence is entirely dependent on us. Do we exist in the mind of God?
Daniel demonstrates that even though God is infinite, there is scope to have a relationship with infinity.
