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On Twitter, the debate about the existence of God, at least amongst those atheists and theists that I regularly interact with, has achieved detente. Now, most individuals comfortably accept that the existence of God cannot be proven or disproven.

The question now often is: Why God at all?

Furthermore, the atheists ask, what evidence is there of an ordered reality?

Good question(s).

Both are tough to answer because, yeah, If you cannot reason or minimally show some SELF-control (free will), you will not recognize or accept objective truth. See the post’s lead image.

Objective truth is conceptually above free will (depicted as a red line). One must exercise free will (SELF-control) to pause HABIT to see objective truth. Emotions (your evolutionary brain) will undermine SELF-control. Thus, you cannot reason in an emotional state.

Yet, objectivity (reasonableness) is necessary. Did you know that atheists often deny the existence of free will? They do. Here’s the outspoken atheist Sam Harris on the subject:

A belief in free will touches nearly everything that human beings value. It is difficult to think about law, politics, religion, public policy, intimate relationships, morality—as well as feelings of remorse or personal achievement—without first imagining that every person is the true source of his or her thoughts and actions. And yet the facts tell us that free will is an illusion.

Sam Harris, See his book The Illusion of Free Will.

Yet, free will does exist. It is otherwise known as SELF-control. SELF-control is free will, and free will opens the door to reason. Sam Harris is below that SELF-control line. If you asked him, he would likely deny that objective truth exists.

For reason, the UNKNOWN hypothesis is everything

Therefore, I say (like Voltaire, though I am not a deist), “If God did not exist, we would have to invent him.” I say this because my definition for “reason” practically demands it (see post image).

Here’s why:

To prove absolute truth, even the UNKNOWN hypotheses must be disproved (the sufficient condition). This suggests that for our capacity to reason, we must assume that there is a reason for EVERYTHING–i.e., as I often say, an “ordered reality.”

A reason for everything? It is hard to contemplate without a creator. Moreover, the UNKNOWN hypothesis is the placeholder for absolute truth, which is key to reason. If you take away absolute truth, truth collapses down to subjective truth only. Thus, reason is gone. Consequently, “God’s” truth is key to reason.

Interestingly, and this is why it persists as an emotional debate, see also Proverbs 16:4 – The LORD has made everything for its purpose, even the wicked for the day of trouble.