Episode 65, ‘The Awe-Some Argument’ with Ryan Byerly (Part I – Pantheism)

Welcome to Episode 65 (Part I of II), where Ryan Byerly’s Awe-Some Argument for Pantheism is discussed. Ryan’s argument for pantheism (the belief that “God is the universe and the universe is God”) provides an exciting and unique take on not just the type of god humans should believe in, but also the way in which they might come to establish its existence. In short, Ryan thinks that the emotion of awe—that profound, ineffable feeling that one has when they see Van Gogh’s Starry Night or a meteor burning up in the atmosphere—can point people in the direction of things which are divine. The greatest object of awe, says Byerly, is the cosmos, and therefore, the cosmos is the most divine thing.