Can existence predate matter in a physicalist worldview?

Photo by Boba Jovanovic on Unsplash

This is the third post in a series of friendly discussions between a humanist (Dean Brett, writing on Substack) and me, a Christian. Here we disagree on which myth (story) is false, and raise questions about morality, evolution and existence.)

Dean's response on June 24:

Gerald. Thanks for the pithy reply focusing on mythology, Physicalism, and God.

We apparently agree that myths are just stories, which can be true or false. When I started the conversation by comparing Humanism to Christianity as “morality without the mythology”, I did not mean to reject all myths. “THE mythology” was meant to refer to the mythology of Christianity, several examples of which I described, some of which you do not believe, even though most Christians do.

Of course all world views have a mythology, the question is which is accurate. I go with science, physics, chemistry, and evolutionary biology.

As to physicalism, I’ll buy your definition: “…Bucher’s (actually Buchner’s) definition…is pithily what I mean…” (The universe is composed of force and matter. )

You hold out the belief, hope, and faith that there is something more “…the possibility of transcendence and the immaterial…”