James Kiefer’s Argument from Objectivist Principles
For the Existence of God

 

James Kiefer (April 29, 1935 – April 19, 2015), a mathematician best known for his Christian biographies, composed an argument for the existence of God addressed to Objectivists and others influenced by the writings of Ayn Rand.

The presentation of this argument exists both in audio form and in print form.

Related files will also be listed as they are ready.

  • Objectivism and Theism (a lecture in four audio files)
  • Full transcript of Objectivism and Theism, by James Kiefer
    MMPart 1 MMMMPart 2 MMMMPart 3
  • Nathaniel Branden’s lecture “The Concept of God,” to which James’s work is primarily addressed.
  • An excerpt from Branden’s lecture on free will, containing his essential argument and on which the kernel of James’s argument depends.
  • A review of Kiefer’s lecture by the philosopher Henry Veatch was published in Libertarian Review, May 1975.
      o Objections to the review (Libertarian Review, August 1975; Vol. IV, No. 8)
      o Kiefer’s reply to the objections (Libertarian Review, August 1975; Vol. IV, No. 8)
      o Letter to the Editor, by Edmund A. Opitz (Libertarian Review, September 1975; Vol. IV, No. 9) 
  • A version of the argument appears in Metaphysics, by Richard Taylor, who writes that he heard it from Kiefer himself.
  • Sources for arguments similar to this one
  • Notes for revision and expansion — Ongoing. 
    MMo Contents (updated April 25, 2021) 
  • MMo Excerpt from Part 2 (“On Timelessness”)
  • Other Writings of James Kiefer (New entries added August 20, 2020) 
  • Objections to the argument
      o Theistic Objectivism: An Autopsy, by Michael Emerling (author, 1975)
      o Review of Theistic Objectivism, by Roy A. Childs Jr.
       (Libertarian Review, September-October 1976; Vol. V, No. 5)
      o Replies to the review and Childs’s reply
       (Libertarian Review, November-December 1976; Vol. V, No. 6)
      o “A Neglected Argument against Theism,” by Tibor Machan — To come
       (The Journal of Speculative Philosophy, Vol. 2, No. 1 [1988])
      o “Reply to Machan,” by Ronald N. Neff — To come
     
  • A large collection of James Kiefer’s articles on the Scriptures, the Creeds, and Richard Hooker may be found here.
     
     
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    The James Kiefer section of Thornwalker.com was last updated April 25, 2021.

    Texts throughout this section are copyright 2008 by James E. Kiefer, printed by permission of his estate.
    Formatting, transcription, and other material (where noted) are copyright © 2001–2021 Ronald N. Neff, d/b/a Thornwalker.com

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