It’s intriguing to think that one could prove the existence of a supernatural being – indeed, philosophers have been trying to do that for centuries. Mathematics and instructional technology teacher Jean Paul Corriveau tries his hand at it in his new book, GOD DOES EXIST! A RIGOROUS PROOF, but falls quite short, at least to the average reader. At times, Corriveau uses the structure of mathematical proofs – an interesting approach – but supplies his own assumptions as well as accepted scientific theories and facts to do this. He states repeatedly that his observations are objective and no assumptions are being made, but contradicts himself repeatedly. It should be mentioned that the god he is trying to prove exists is the Judeo-Christian god, and all of his theories and proofs stem from the text of the Bible.
The writing is not easy to understand, partly because of the subject matter, which delves into quantum physics and evolutionary theory, but also because the book is not well edited. Grammatical and punctuation errors are scattered throughout, and sources, some quite obscure, are not cited in the conventional manner. A particularly annoying practice is that Corriveau often references conclusions he’s going to make in chapters later on in the book, instead of working up to them so the reader can follow what he’s saying in the current chapter. A good editor would have flagged all of these problems.
Without delving into specific examples of the proofs he makes and his reasoning behind them, it’s hard to describe which portions of his book work and which don’t. Readers who have a thorough background in philosophy, mathematics or physics may do better with regards to understanding what the author is trying to say.
GOD DOES EXIST! A RIGOROUS PROOF, a philosophical treatise written by Jean Paul Corriveau, claims to present a rigorous proof that God exists. It’s a tough read that at times makes sense and is at times contradictory, leaving readers to wonder what they just read and how it proves anything at all.
~Susan Scheck for IndieReader