"To believe in Atheism is to believe in reasonable and justified claims," he said.

Peed gave opening remarks for the HRCF, introducing questions about the validity and finality of scientific evidence that played a major role in the debate.

"We embrace the usefulness of science," he said. "But there are questions that are not scientific."

Peed said that phenomena such as free will and the origins of laws could not be traced to a scientific origin.

Peed elaborated on the "Big Bang" theory and the creation of the Earth as evidence for the existence of a Benevolent Creator. He also said that the universe was created for the sole purpose of sustaining life.

"It's not an amazing coincidence that the universe's expansion and collapse rates are balanced," he said.

During the rebuttal and the free-form cross-examination period, the teams addressed the opening statements of the other sides. The sides frequently returned to the issues of causality and of free will.