Instigator / Pro
0
1378
rating
36
debates
38.89%
won
Topic
#1056

The Christian God Does Not Exist

Status
Finished

The debate is finished. The distribution of the voting points and the winner are presented below.

Winner & statistics
Better arguments
0
0
Better sources
0
0
Better legibility
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Better conduct
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0

After not so many votes...

It's a tie!
Parameters
Publication date
Last updated date
Type
Standard
Number of rounds
5
Time for argument
One week
Max argument characters
25,000
Voting period
One month
Point system
Multiple criterions
Voting system
Open
Contender / Con
0
1442
rating
22
debates
34.09%
won
Description

Please provide sources for all claims.

DEFINITIONS
Christian God - the God described in the Bible. He is supernatural, omniscient, omnipotent, and omnibenevolent.
Exist - To have current and objective reality.

ROUNDS:
1 - Main Argument
2 - Rebuttals
3 - Rebuttals
4 - Rebuttals
5 - Final Argument

Round 1
Pro
#1
=Definitions= 

Supernatural - Of, pertaining to, or being above or beyond what is natural; unexplainable by natural law or phenomena.

Omniscient – All-knowing

Omnipotent – All-powerful

Omnibenevolent – All-good

==================

=Arguments=

We must first determine what the Christian God is. According to the Bible, the Christian God is:

  • Omniscient, or all-knowing [1]
  • Omnipotent, or all-powerful [2]
  • Omnibenevolent, or all-good [3]
Now, let me explain why an omniscient, omnipotent, omnibenevolent being cannot exist.

==

Omniscience

Omniscience is impossible. If God is omniscient, is he aware of the things he doesn't know? If yes, then he is not omniscient, because there is something he doesn't know. If no, then he is also not omniscient, because there is also something he doesn't know.

But the claim that God is omniscient is also in conflict with some fundamental concepts of Christianity. If God knows everything, then he knows what we want, so then what is the point of praying to him? If life is a test and God knows the outcome of the test, then what is the point of life? 
 
==

Omnipotence

Omnipotence is impossible. If God is omnipotent, then could he create a stone that he himself would not be able to lift? If yes, he is not omnipotent, because he can't lift the stone he just created. If no, then he is also not omnipotent, because he can't create an unliftable stone.

==

Omnibenevolence

Unlike omniscience and omnipotence, omnibenevolence is actually possible. God, however, is not omnibenevolent. This is evident from all the horrible crimes God has commited in the Bible. Here are three events that disprove God's omnibenevolence: Sodom and Gomorrah, the Biblical Flood, and the death of the Egyptian firstborns.

Sodom and Gomorrah were two cities that God destroyed by sending fire and brimstone from the sky. God's actions killed every single inhabitant of the cities. God's reasoning for this mass murder was that the inhabitants were guilty of rape, homosexuality, and inhospitality. But not every single resident of the cities was guilty. Were two-year-old children having gay orgies? The answer is obviously not, which means that at least some residents of the cities were innocent. But if they were innocent, then why did God kill them? The only answer is: God is not omnibenevolent. An omnibenevolent being would never kill innocent people. Furthermore, God turned Lot's wife into a pillar of salt simply for disobeying his order not to look back at a city that was being destroyed. An omnibenevolent being would never do that. [4]

The Biblical Flood was caused by God and resulted in the deaths of thousands of people. God's reasoning for this mass murder was that the people were sinful and wicked. But not every resident of Earth could possibly be wicked. Were infant children also sinful and wicked? What about animals? God killed them all, even though they were innocent. An omnibenevolent being would never kill innocent people. Since God is also omnipotent, he could have found a way to kill the sinners and leave alive the others, but he didn't. This only further proves that he is not omnibenevolent. [5]

The death of the Egyptian firstborns is the most horrible of the three examples I'm using. God killed every single Egyptian firstborn son because the Pharaoh, the leader of Egypt, refused to let the Israelis leave Egypt. Since God is omnipotent, he could have easily just changed the mind of the Pharaoh and not kill thousands of innocent children. Also, do not forget that it was God who made the Pharaoh reject the offer in the first place - God hardened the Pharaoh's heart. An omnibenevolent being would never kill innocents, but God does. And it's ten times worse because God doesn't have to kill innocents, as he is omnipotent. He has other choices, but he kills anyway. [6]

Those three examples alone are enough to prove that the Christian God is not omnibenevolent. But just in case that's not enough, God outright states that he is responsible for evil in Isaiah 45:7 KJV. 

==

But let's say that God actually is omniscient, omnipotent, and omnibenevolent. For a second, let's ignore the logical inconsistencies of those claims and pretend that the existence of such a being would be possible. But even if we did that, the existence of the Christian God would still be impossible, because a being cannot be omniscient, omnipotent, and omnibenevolent at the same time. 

God is omnipotent and omnibenevolent. He both wants to destroy evil (omnibenevolent) and has the ability to destroy evil (omnipotent). But then why does evil exist? Either God is not omnipotent or he's not omnibenevolent. But Christians believe that God is both omnipotent and omnibenevolent, and so the Christian God is illogical.

Epicurus sums up this paradox in his quote [7]:

“Is God willing to prevent evil, but not able? Then he is not omnipotent. 
Is he able, but not willing? Then he is malevolent. 
Is he both able and willing? Then whence cometh evil? 
Is he neither able nor willing? Then why call him God?” 
==

Conclusion

I have proven that God cannot be omniscient and omnipotent. I have proven that God is not omnibenevolent. I have also proven that God cannot be omnipotent and omnibenevolent at the same time. This means that the Christian God, who is all three of those things, does not and cannot exist. All of those three characteristics are self-contradictory. It's possible that a higher power exists, but it's a fact that the Christian God does not and cannot exist. Over to Con.

=====================

=Sources=

[1] -  Psalms 147:5 KJV, 1 John 3:20 KJV, Jeremiah 1:5 KJV, Jeremiah 23:24 KJV

[2] - Luke 1:37 KJV, Jeremiah 32:27 KJV, Mark 10:27 KJV, Revelation 19:6 KJV

[3] - Psalm 100:5 KJV, Psalm 145:17 KJV, John 3:16 KJV
 








Con
#2
OK.

Words and language are an imprecise medium and so a proposition that may at first appear to be emphatic, very rarely is. 

Exist: 
As defined by the Oxford Online Dictionary.

a) Have objective reality or being.

b) Occur or be found, especially in a particular place or situation.


1:  A God can be found, particularly situated and placed within the Christian Bible.
After all, that is the whole purpose of the Bible. The elucidation of the Christian notion of God.
So quite emphatically, relative to definition (b) The Christian God does exist within the context of the Christian Bible.


2. A God can be found, particularly situated and placed within my head and also within my opponents head.
The Christian God exists as a self contained conceptual reality. Resultant of education and re-education, conditioning or data input. As such the Christian God exists as a concept in probably everyone that exhibits typical brain function.
How we personally choose to assimilate and process data and consequently formulate ideas and responses, varies relative to when, where and how we were conditioned.
Convention would probably label me as an Atheist. Nonetheless the notion of a Christian God still exists within me, as does any other notional God, where relative data has be made available.


3. Objective Reality: 
Well; objective reality is another extremely imprecise, multi- definitional can of worms. How can one data processing device, honestly determine the reliability of another devices honesty?
In short;  a Christian would say that they were being objective, whereas an atheist would say the opposite, and vice versa.  As such the indeterminate nature of objectivity can only ever be truly regarded as subjective in the context of hypothetical belief.

Reality alone, varies relative to context. Internal data processing is real in the context of physiology, so a God is also real enough within the context of our self contained consciousness. Whereas external or universal reality is either known or unknown. We assume that the limited knowledge that we have available is fairly accurate, but given the assumed vastness of the universe, what we don't know is considerable greater. So in this context both my opponent and I can only ever surmise that a God might or might not actually exist.


4. Being:
Now here's an imprecise word for you. Just look it up and pay particular regard to definition 3. (Online Oxford Dictionary)
A real or imaginary living creature or entity. 

So by definition a God that might exist could be either a real or an imaginary living entity. 

Imagination is internal data processing and existence is being and God is being and therefore God undeniably can exist in imagination.

And furthermore, imprecise definition informs us that entity is existence anyway. (Oxford Online Dictionary) So therefore God as an imaginary entity,  does exist. 


5. We are all self contained masses and how we function as a mass relies totally on how our brain functions. Other than how we are directly affected by our external environment any other external stimuli must first be subjected to internal assessment. Therefore as an Atheist, I conclude that Gods in the human context, can only be ever regarded as internal brain derived beings and as such in the context of brain derived definition Gods do exist.






Round 2
Pro
#3
=Rebuttals=

"A God can be found, particularly situated and placed within the Christian Bible."
A God is not found in the Bible. The notion of God is found in the Bible, not God himself. If I wrote a book describing an apple, that wouldn't mean an apple is found in the book. Just because a book claims that God exists doesn't mean that God actually exists.

"A God can be found, particularly situated and placed within my head and also within my opponents head."
A God is not found in my head. The notion of God is found in my head, not God himself. I can think about an apple, but that doesn't mean the apple is in my head. The thought of the apple is in my head. Just because the idea of God exists in your head doesn't mean God exists in the real world.

We are not debating whether the notion of the Christian God exists or not, because it obviously does. We are debating if the Christian God himself exists. Therefore, these arguments are invalid.

==

"We assume that the limited knowledge that we have available is fairly accurate, but given the assumed vastness of the universe, what we don't know is considerable greater. So in this context both my opponent and I can only ever surmise that a God might or might not actually exist."
Knowledge is a subjective and man-made concept. Knowledge is, by definition, the things we already know [1]. If we don't know something, then it isn't knowledge.
Furthermore, knowledge is infinite. Let's say that there is a couch in my living room. I know that there is a couch in my living room. That's knowledge. And I also know that I know that there is a couch in my living room, and that's also knowledge. This cycle of knowledge could go on forever. 

Your argument would be right if you were talking about the existence of a supernatural God in general. This debate, however, is specifically about the existence of the Christian God. The existence of the Christian God is illogical, as I have proven in my Main Argument. Something that is illogical in one part of the universe cannot be logical in the other. Therefore, this argument is invalid.

==

"So by definition a God that might exist could be either a real or an imaginary living entity."
An imaginary entity cannot exist by definition. Something imaginary is not real, i.e doesn't exist [2]. Just because the notion of the Christian God exists doesn't mean that the Christian God himself exists. The notion of unicorns exists, but does that mean unicorns themselves exist?

"God undeniably can exist in imagination."
Like I already said, God cannot exist in imagination. The notion of God can exist in imagination, not God himself. Imaginary entities do not exist by definition.

==

I remind my opponent that this debate is about the existence of a Christian God, not about the existence of deities in general. I have already proven that the God described in the Bible cannot exist.

=================

=Sources=



Con
#4
Rebuttals 1.

"We must first determine what the Christian God is".

Well;  no one knows what the Christian God is, as no one ever sees God. So God is actually indeterminate.
The Omni's are merely assumed character traits, which may or may not be pertinent or accurate. 
And supernatural as my opponent rightly defines, substantiates the fact that no one is able know what the Christian God is, because God exists beyond what is assumed to be natural.
So as we can see, everything we have that is relative to The Christian God or any other God are assumptions derived from our internal data processing mechanisms. (As referred to in my opening argument).
Therefore we are only able to assess the possibility of a God's existence within these same parameters. (As suggested in my opening argument).

The main thrust of my opponents argument is centred around discrediting biblical scripture by inferring contradictions.
But as I have clearly exemplified in my opening argument, words and language are imprecise and therefore easily manipulated. 
As an atheist my opponent, should already be of the opinion that biblical scripture Is more likely to be purely conceptual rather than factual.  

One of the most interesting aspects of my opponents argument was their constant references to a God that they propose to be non-existent.
39 times in fact. So quite clearly God exists somewhere within the realms of my opponents conscious mind.

As for the three Omni's: 
The three Omni's are, once again open to all sorts of interpretation, because of the imprecise nature of language and words. My opponent simply assumes one definition and meaning that is suitably relative to their particular argument. 

All knowing: Could simply mean knowing everything to be known.

All powerful: Could mean a variety of things, dependant how one chooses to interpret the word powerful. 

All good: Only God would have the authority to define goodness. Humans assume that there is a distinction to be made. We also assume importance and this would not necessarily be the case.


Epicurus Alternative:
God does everything that needs to be done. Therefore God is omnipotent
He is able and does what is necessary? Then he is self-confident.
He is both able and self confident? So hence all is good.
We are not able to judge him? So call him God.

Epicurus was just a bloke, who manipulated words and language in exactly the same way that my opponent and I do.


My opponent openly admits that a higher power could possibly exist. 
Christians assume the existence of a higher power and they refer to it as God.
In both of these two instances the higher power is unknown.
Therefore my opponents possibility and a Christians assumption are one and the same.
Round 3
Pro
#5
=Rebuttals=

"Well;  no one knows what the Christian God is, as no one ever sees God. So God is actually indeterminate."
The Christian God is the God described in the Bible. This has been stated in the debate description. Christianity assigns many different characteristics to its God, and I'm trying to prove how these characteristics are self-contradicting and illogical.

"Words and language are imprecise and therefore easily manipulated."
This is a bare assertion and needs to be supported by some proof. But even if this was true, this doesn't debunk my arguments.

"Biblical scripture is more likely to be purely conceptual rather than factual."
This is another bare assertion and needs proof to back it up. This has nothing to do with the fact that I am an atheist.

==

"One of the most interesting aspects of my opponents argument was their constant references to a God that they propose to be non-existent. 
39 times in fact. So quite clearly God exists somewhere within the realms of my opponents conscious mind."
God does not exist inside my mind. The notion of God exists inside my mind. And so does the notion of unicorns, but does that mean that unicorns exist? No. Just because some people think about God doesn't mean that God exists.

"The three Omni's are, once again open to all sorts of interpretation, because of the imprecise nature of language and words. My opponent simply assumes one definition and meaning that is suitably relative to their particular argument."
The three Omni's, as my opponent calls them, only have one definition each.

Omniscient - all-knowing
Omnipotent - all-powerful
Omnibenevolent - all-good

My opponent cannot just change the meaning of a word to suit his argument. Furthermore, the God described in the Bible knows everything, can do absolutely everything, and is all-good. This is obvious from the verses I presented in my Main Argument. My opponent cannot just ignore the Bible's definition of God and switch it with his own. And my opponent does exactly that:

"All knowing: Could simply mean knowing everything to be known. All powerful: Could mean a variety of things, dependant how one chooses to interpret the word powerful. All good: Only God would have the authority to define goodness. Humans assume that there is a distinction to be made. We also assume importance and this would not necessarily be the case."
I will refute each of those points below.

==

Omniscience
The God described in the Bible knows everything, not "everything to be known". You cannot just ignore Bible verses and change the characteristics of the Christian God. It's also incorrect to say that someone "knows everything to be known", because to determine what is to be known you would have to first determine what is not to be known. To determine what is not to be known, you would have to know that, but then it would be known.

Omnipotence
The God described in the Bible can do absolutely anything. As it says in Luke 1:37, nothing is impossible with God. My opponent cannot just ignore Bible verses and change the meaning of the word "omnipotent".

Omnibenevolent
The Bible states that God is all-good [1], and then states that God is responsible for all evil [2]. A being that is omnibenevolent cannot be responsible for evil. The Bible's claim that God is all-good contradicts its claim that God is responsible for all evil. Good is a subjective term, meaning that whether things are good or bad is subjective; but an all-good being cannot do evil by definition.

==

My opponent finishes his rebuttal with an alternative to Epicurus' quote.

"Epicurus Alternative:
God does everything that needs to be done. Therefore God is omnipotent
He is able and does what is necessary? Then he is self-confident.
He is both able and self confident? So hence all is good.
We are not able to judge him? So call him God."
1. What is "everything that needs to be done"? How do you determine what needs to be done and what does not need to be done? This is irrelevant regardless; the definition of omnipotent is not what someone does but what someone can do.

2. Self-confidence is irrelevant to this debate. Also, my opponent has not proven the claim that God is able in the first place. 

3. Someone able and self-confident is not automatically all-good.

This alternative proves nothing and is irrelevant.

"Epicurus was just a bloke, who manipulated words and language in exactly the same way that my opponent and I do."
This is an ad hominem attack and proves nothing.

==

My opponent concludes his rebuttal with this statement:

"My opponent openly admits that a higher power could possibly exist. 
Christians assume the existence of a higher power and they refer to it as God.
In both of these two instances the higher power is unknown.
Therefore my opponents possibility and a Christians assumption are one and the same."
The Christian God is not just a higher power. He is also omnipotent, omniscient, and omnibenevolent. As I have proven, being these things is impossible, and so the Christian God cannot exist. 

==

Conclusion

My opponent cannot change the definitions of words and ignore Biblical verses. I have already proven that the Christian God described in the Bible is omniscient, omnipotent, and omnibenevolent. I have also proven that a being cannot be those things. Therefore, the Christian God cannot and does not exist.

====================

=Sources=

[1] - Psalm 100:5 KJV, Psalm 145:17 KJV, John 3:16 KJV

[2] - Isaiah 45:7 KJV.
Con
#6
My opponent has not proved anything.

They have simply used words with variable definition and put them together in one particular order to suit their own purposes. Which is debating of course.
All pertinent words used within their discourse, such as exist and the three omni's have variable and alternative definition. (As identified in rounds 1 and 2).

All that I do, is utilise these legitimate variations and alternatives to construct an appropriate counter-argument. Which is debating of course.

The only certainty is, that this time worn argument will never be resolved. Because somewhat illogically maybe it will always be impossible to either prove or disprove
the existence of an actual entity, referred to in the Christian Bible as God.

So my opponent flogs a dead horse, whilst I present a perfectly reasonable argument primarily centred around the impreciseness and alternative definitions of the word exist.

We cannot monopolise words and language, therefore I would strongly assert that as long as I utilise words and language within the parameters set by accepted lexical convention, then my discourse on the existence of the Christian God as an intangible entity, is wholly valid.
Round 4
Pro
#7
=Rebuttals=

"My opponent has not proved anything."
I have proven that the God described in the Bible is omniscient, omnipotent, and omnibenevolent. I have proven that omniscience and omnipotence are impossible. I have proven that it's impossible to be both omnipotent and omnibenevolent. I have proven that God is responsible for all evil. I have proven that God cannot be responsible for evil and be omnibenevolent at the same time. I have proven that the Christian God cannot exist.

"All pertinent words used within their discourse, such as exist and the three omni's have variable and alternative definition."
These words do not have variable and alternative definitions. My opponent has not presented any proof that they do. My opponent cannot just make up another definition and call it "variable and alternative". Words have set meanings, you cannot just change those meanings to win a debate.

"So my opponent flogs a dead horse, whilst I present a perfectly reasonable argument primarily centred around the impreciseness and alternative definitions of the word exist."
The word exist was defined in the description of this debate - To have current and objective reality. My opponent can't just change the definitions of words in the middle of the debate. 

"We cannot monopolise words and language, therefore I would strongly assert that as long as I utilise words and language within the parameters set by accepted lexical convention, then my discourse on the existence of the Christian God as an intangible entity, is wholly valid."
Monopolizing a word is when only one person is allowed to say that word. Assigning a word one single meaning is not monopolization. My opponent cannot randomly change the definition of a word and then scream "You're monopolizing language" when he is called out.

==

Conclusion

My opponent does not understand that he cannot just change the definitions of words to suit his argument.

Omniscient - All-knowing

Omnipotent - All-powerful

Omnibenevolent - All-good

These words do not mean "knowing all that there is to be known", or "doing all that needs to be done". My opponent cannot just change the definition of a word. These words do not have variable definitions, only one definition each. Just because my opponent assigns these words different definitions with no basis whatsoever does not mean that the meanings of the words change.

If it's so hard for my opponent to understand what omniscient, omnipotent, and omnibenevolent mean, I'll boil it down for him. All-knowing, all powerful, and all-good. I have already proven that the God in the Bible is all of those things, and I have proven how being all of those things is impossible. Therefore, the Christian God is impossible. I remind my opponent that we are not debating whether a metaphysical deity exists or not, we are debating whether the God described in the Bible exists or not.




Con
#8
Rebuttals 3:

"I have proven that the God described in the Bible is omniscient, omnipotent, and omnibenevolent".
I thought that my opponent was attempting to prove the opposite?

"These words do not have alternative and variable definitions".
Check your dictionaries.

Exist:
Once again, check your dictionaries or refer to definition (b) as presented in round1.
"Occur or be found, especially in a particular place or situation".
We cannot simply ignore definition that does not suit our argument.


"I remind my opponent that we are not debating whether a metaphysical deity exists or not, we are debating whether the God described in the bible exists or not".
As far as I am concerned, the God described in the bible and the God that exists in mine and my opponents heads, is metaphysical.
Did my opponent not describe God as supernatural?


Further:
If a supreme being is going to be anything, then I think that it is fair to suggest that the Christian God would be omni-sensible.
So why would God bother to create a stone that it could not lift?


The 3 Omni's revisited:
The 3 Omni's are nothing more than assumptions made of an assumption. That is to say; assumed characteristics attributed to an assumed God.
Therefore the irony of my opponents predicament, is that they cannot actually destroy the reputation of the Christian God, unless they can first prove that a Christian God actually exists, so that they can then proceed to prove that the Christian God that therefore must exist, does not possess such characteristics.
All that would leave us with, would be an existent God that was not necessarily omniscient, omnipotent or omnibenevolent.

And furthermore:
Would humans have the right or the authority to determine a Gods character?
Would humans have the right or the authority to judge whether or not a god lives up to assumed expectations?

Conclusion:
My opponent does not understand that they cannot monopolise definition.
Monopolise: "Get or keep exclusively to oneself". (Oxford Online Dictionary).

And I'm finding it tough!
My opponent reiterates:
"I have already proven that God of the bible is all of those things".....If God of the bible has been proven to be all of those things, then God of the bible must have been proven to exist.
"And I have proven how being all of those things is impossible"...…. Super-contradiction!
Nonetheless:
Proving all of those things to be impossible does not prove that a God is not possible. God might not possess those characteristics. Given that those characteristics are only a Christian assumption. 

And God certainly does my opponents head in!
So it definitely exists in there somewhere as either a real or an imaginary entity.

Being = EXIST as either a real an imaginary entity.
EXIST = Being.
Entity = EXISTANCE.
As defined by Oxford Online Dictionaries. Check it out.
Round 5
Pro
#9
=Final Argument=

My opponent is either intellectually dishonest or incredibly stupid. He states that:

"Proving all of those things to be impossible does not prove that a God is not possible. God might not possess those characteristics. Given that those characteristics are only a Christian assumption."
So, he admits that the existence of the God described in the Bible is impossible, and he then says that the existence of a God in general is possible. I have said multiple times that this debate is not about whether a metaphysical deity exists or not, it is about whether the God described in the Bible exists or not. My opponent cannot ignore the rules of the debate to win the debate, but he has done so multiple times:

  • Con has changed the definition of the Christian God with no Biblical verses to back this definition up.
  • Con has changed the definition of the word exist with no evidence that shows his definition is correct.
  • Con has changed the definitions of the words omniscient, omnipotent, and omnibenevolent with no evidence that shows his definition is correct.
Con has also claimed that since the notion of God exists inside our heads, God must exist. This is a non sequitur. He accuses me of monopolizing language, even though monopolization means "to keep exclusively for oneself" and I am not forbidding my opponent from saying any words. Because he broke the rules of this debate and his arguments were completely destroyed, he completely changes the topic of this debate. Now he's saying that Christians have no authority to determine God's characteristics. I never said that Christians had authority to do that. But a God that does not fit those characteristics is not a Christian God, and we are debating whether the Christian God exists or not. 

TheAtheist out.
Con
#10
Finale.

The Orvan Snowflake does not exist.
Because the Orvan Snowflake is not omni-colourful.

To prove that the Orvan Snowflake is not omni-colourful
One must first prove the existence of the Orvan Snowflake.
So that one can prove that it is not omni-colourful.

It's the same old age worn argument.
Something that cannot be proven to exist, also cannot be proven to not exist.

Assumptions are not proof of anything.
And making assumptions of an assumption is stabbing even more wildly in the dark.

My opponent states that "The Christian God Does Not Exist".
Therefore I feel under no obligation to prove the opposite.
My main objective, is pointing out the futility of my opponents reiteration of the same old flawed and irrational, pseudo-hypothesis.

All that I need do is prove that my opponent using character assassination alone, cannot prove that the Christian God doesn't exist.
Unless they can first prove that there is an existent God that might or might not display the relevant characteristics.

Nonetheless:
By definition it is correct to suggest that the Christian God does exist.
a) As an imaginary Biblical character.
b) As an imaginary brain held concept.
(All relevant definitions taken from the Oxford Online Dictionaries, appear in Round1).

And has my opponent has shown throughout this debate.
The Christian God is often uppermost in their thoughts.