Can Math Prove God?

Three characteristics of the nature of math suggest theism, or something like theism. This is one of the most surprising arguments for the existence of God.

Truth Unites is a mixture of apologetics and theology, with an irenic focus.

Gavin Ortlund (PhD, Fuller Theological Seminary) serves as senior pastor of First Baptist Church of Ojai.

My books:

[dokidelta]

I'm an engineer myself, and I've pretty much always been a math guy since my freshman year of highschool. I remember absentmindedly flipping through a textbook as a teenager when I happened upon an illustration of bees constructing a hive. Beneath the illustration was an equation, along with a note, saying that this equation was encoded within the DNA of all bees of this species, and that based on this equation they instinctively understand the structural constraints of their hive and how they must build it. That's when I first got it.

Math is the language with which God has written the universe. It is just as holy and divinely inspired as the scriptures themselves. When you finally learn to master calculus, it's like seeing for the very first time. You become capable of comprehending the universe in ways that are literally impossible without it. Calculus is like a translation dictionary for comprehending the very mind of God. When I study the higher order maths, and applied sciences such as physics and astronomy, I believe that I am in a state of worship. It is the closest a human being can come to contacting the perfect and the divine in this very life, perhaps with the exception of Communion itself. How one can be a mathematician or a physicist and deny the Truth of a Divine Creator, a Grand Architect, is absolutely beyond me.

[madelynwinslow]

I remember a professor in a college class musing about if we're just inventing math, or if we're discovering math, which seems to be what you're getting at in the first point. Really good video!

[ikeaspiringpolymath]

I would totally go back a redo high-school math if I could. It strikes me as a far more wondrous discipline now than it did then.

[crazylazy]

Excited about these resources! When I started reading some of your books I was hoping you would start something like this. I am glad you are doing this. Thank you for doing these videos.

[anthonywhitney]

Maths is an area that I'm starting to realise is a great argument against materialism.

[ExpositTheWord]

Well done Gavin, Looking forward to more

[derekswezey]

After being required to look up the word "irenic" I am personally encouraged by your desire to reach out, not only to the like-minded, which is easy, but to humbly engage and foster open dialogue with differing positions. Would 2+3 still equal 5 if natural laws were not ordered and defined from the beginning?

[alexwells]

Euler's identity e^(i x pi)+ 1 = 0 is the most beautiful mathematical equation as far as I am concerned.

[adamjensen]

Top notch stuff. Looking forward to more content.

[bkyi]

Loved this one also. Any chance you might have a video exploring the connection between math and music? Thanks, Gavin!

[mickiegibbs]

As an 8th grade math teacher, I LOVE this video! Those are exactly the 3 things I try to get across to my students: math was discovered, it has beauty, AND it is useful in the real world! I don't guess I've ever thought about how those things point to God, but I totally see how they do.

[unexpectedTrajectory]

From a math major (who now does other things) and math enthusiast who didn't enjoy math until college, probably the reason math was never beautiful to you is you never got to see beautiful math. We make math in pri.ary school into a horribly tiresome process of learning to do the tasks we have calculators for. Yes, it's important for kids to understand and be able to do math, but I'm convinced we generally make it a hateful subject unnecessarily.

[philiptaylor]

Would be good if you could also include recommended texts with each video.

[margarettownley]

A uni maths lecturer of mine was once working through a proof for us that got into a terribly complicated tangle, and then right at the end - "almost as proof that God exists, " he said - the bulk of the terms dropped out and you were left with a beautifully elegant solution. I'm sure he was being tongue-in-cheek, but I had to do an internal fist pump! I've completely forgotten what equation it was, but I've never forgotten that moment of beauty and wonder.

[emailsamhill]

My son Marcus has been doing the “head explosion” mannerism when math “blows his mind” and we think that’s what you’re talking about here!

[deusimperator]

My father was a mathematician and an economist who taught me mathematics and I am a physicist and a mathematician (among others). My father used to say G-d is a mathematician and I can confirm it, All the physical sciences are just mathematics. The universe is ordered, and goal oriented.
HOWEVER, you say realist, yes realism is the best philosophical explanation for existence, but you are a protestant and your protestants fathers rejected realism as paganistic. In fact, there are only two faiths that are moderate realist in their philosophical approach towards theology - Judaism, and Catholicism.

[BillionFires]

This made me wonder about evolution from a purely naturalistic point of view. Why would human brains evolve the ability to do high level, abstract math long before there were immediate benefits? There wasn't any substantial mathematical advancement until the last few thousand years. Why would the ability to discern the invisible castle evolve long before any evidence that the castle existed? Not sure if that makes sense.

[lanceleebrick]

Yeah but why is pi instead of just a simple integer—seems like it would be more satisfying and elegant if that was the case. Maybe it is a reflection of the infinite ness of the

[markpaschke]

Very interesting discussion! Something I thought of that maybe you already did but that is the question of how math relates to the concept of descriptive laws vs prescriptive laws. I.E. the inverse square law of gravity vs the speed limit. The inverse square law of gravitation is itself a mathematical formula (as you mentioned) and as far as we know perfectly consistent. Is math an idea (divine or otherwise) that is used to describe reality or is math it’s own reality that we are ‘discovering’’? Someone else said pretty much the same thing. It’s a great question and I enjoyed the discussion. Perhaps this seems unsolvable because it is a case of mixing different logical spheres?

[joehinojosa]

How many " coincedencies" before it BECOMES IMPROBABLE TO BELIEVE IT IS COINCENDENCE BUT INSTEAD INTENTIONAL