Editing Mathematics and God

Connections between '''mathematics and God''' include the use of [[mathematics]] in arguments about the [[existence of God]] and about whether belief in God is beneficial.

==Mathematical arguments for God's existence==
In the 1070s, [[Anselm of Canterbury]], an [[Italy|Italian]] medieval [[philosopher]] and [[theology|theologian]], created an [[ontological argument]] which sought to use [[logic]] to prove the existence of God.<ref name="Ontological arguments">{{cite web|url=http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/ontological-arguments|title=Ontological arguments|publisher=plato.stanford.edu|date=2007-02-15|accessdate=2007-03-04}}</ref> A more elaborate version was given by [[Gottfried Leibniz]] in the early eighteenth century.<ref name="Ontological arguments" /> [[Kurt Gödel]] created a formalization of Leibniz' version, known as [[Gödel's ontological proof]].<ref name="Ontological arguments" />

A more recent argument was made by [[Stephen D. Unwin]] in 2003, who suggested the use of [[Bayesian probability]] to estimate the probability of God's existence.<ref name="Bayesian probability">{{cite web|url=http://www.bede.org.uk/unwin.htm|title=Doing the math with God|publisher=plato.stanford.edu|author=Unwin, Stephen|year=2003|accessdate=2007-03-04}}</ref>

==Mathematical arguments for belief==
A common application of [[decision theory]] to the belief in God is [[Pascal's wager]], published by [[Blaise Pascal]] in his 1669 work ''[[Pensées]]''. The application is a defense of [[Christianity]] stating that "If God does not exist, the Atheist loses little by believing in him and gains little by not believing. If God does exist, the Atheist gains eternal life by believing and loses an infinite good by not believing".<ref name="Pascal's Wager">{{cite web |title=Blaise Pascal (1623) |url=http://www.ronaldbrucemeyer.com/rants/0619b-almanac.htm |accessdate=2007-03-04 |publisher=ronaldbrucemeyer.com}}</ref> The [[atheist's wager]] has been proposed as a counterargument to Pascal's Wager.

==See also==
* [[Existence of God]]
* [[Natural theology]]

==References==
<references/>

==Further reading==
* [[Daniel J. Cohen|Cohen, Daniel J.]], ''Equations from God: Pure Mathematics and Victorian Faith'', Johns Hopkins University Press, 2007 {{isbn|0801891868}}.
* [[Mario Livio|Livio, Mario]], ''Is God a Mathematician?'', Simon & Schuster, 2011 {{isbn|1416594434}}.
* Ransford, H. Chris, ''God and the Mathematics of Infinity: What Irreducible Mathematics Says about Godhood'', Columbia University Press, 2017 {{isbn|3838270193}}.
*{{cite book|last = Unwin|first = Stephen D.| title = The Probability of God|publisher = Crown Forum|date = September 2003|location = New York|pages = 272|isbn = 978-1-4000-9754-8}}

{{God arguments}}

[[Category:Arguments for the existence of God]]
[[Category:God]]
[[Category:Mathematics and culture]]


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