Originally posted by Conrau K
No, I am reffering to logic in the sense of knowledge. Many theists proclaim that they know God exists despite the logical implausibility.
I act illogically all the time and I dont consider my self completely stupid. But if i were to evaluate something mathematically and despite all the relevant axioms, make up my own answer (randomly), i think there would be claim for stupidity.
Many theists shoot themselves in the foot by proclaim that they "know" God exists in any epistemic sense. But they can have "complete certainty" - and that's the colloquial sense of the term.
But let's stick with belief rather then knowledge (knowledge being justified true belief). Belief in God is not necessarily blind faith. Faith, yes, but there are many good arguments for believing in God, even if no one can prove God exists. And the same is true of the contrary, you can not prove God does not exist.
Consider the case of logic. Can you prove logic is true? No, to attempt so would be circular - a logical fallacy. To try to prove otherwise would be absurd - you have to presume logic is true to give an argument against it. So logic is not believed because it's provable, but because it just is. Logic is transcendental in that sense. It is immune to worldview assumptions.
The existence of God is likewise a transcendental proposition. We can neither prove nor disprove God exists. To prove God, you'd have to use have logically a-priori propositions. But to have such knowledge would require God's self revelation, which assumes God revealed himself, which begs the question. And to prove God does not exist, you'd have to claim to have access to total knowledge - therefore - you'd be God - which is absurd. So you can not logically "know" God exists any more than you can prove logic is true.
All in all, the existence or non-existence of God is a pointless debate. The question should be, if God exists, what would be true about him. Would he speak to us. Could we know things about him. In essence, can we know God.
Knowing God, is not to say we can prove God exists. It's merely to know things about God. But since even hypothetically, God is transcendental, if things can be known of him, it must be by his revealing them to us. Therefore the existence of the Bible, while in no way proving God exists, does give evidence in favor of that conclusion. For
if an almighty being, eternal and immutable and all-knowing, does exist, then the
only way we could know him, is if he wills it, and if he wills it, what better way then by speaking to us in a immutable fashion. So we have the written Word of God, more than 3000 years old, and yet is endures with little evidence of change or alteration.
Then there is apparent moral order. Many diverse and separate people seem to have common moral standards. Do not steal, do not murder, obey your parents, respect your elders, don't eat the yellow snow. OK, the last didn't count, but you get my point. We all have a sense of right and wrong. And while there are many theories for why, there is also the possibility we have a common creator that gives us innate knowledge of good and evil - that it is better to do things against your own self-interests for the better of others. That meeting the letter of the law is not excuse for violating the intent of the law. The God of Christianity fits with these observations. Not a proof, but evidence for Christianity.
So while belief in God is faith, it is not unreasonable or blind. One could even argue that besides the Bible and moral law, creation itself is evidence of God. Again, it's not a proof, but if God exists, then the apparent reliability of the laws of nature makes a sense. A perfect almighty being could create the world, give if form and substance. Give it rules, patterns, processes. Many of the things we observe are explainable by an eternal, immutable God.
And then for us to have any knowledge that is objectively true, what can we found it on? Is there any knowing if there is nothing but what we can physically sense? Can we really deduce anything useful from "I think therefore I am"? Is language just a product of evolution, and nothing can be known univocally and objectively, but only possibly and equivocally. God knows if knowledge is possible - but that presuppose God doesn't it - so I won't beg the question and just say that knowledge and language are evidence in favor of the self revelational God of the Bible.
Or just maybe it's all random matter in motion simply catching up with the odds. And maybe the skeptics are right, life has no certain meaning, knowledge is unknowable (
maybe since skeptics refrain from making any universal true/false statements), and "what you see is what you get, as far as it matters or you can tell"... Hey! It's an option! I won't deny it's one you can take, but it sure bites.
So I prefer the Christian worldview over skepticism and randomness and uncertainty. At least with the Christian worldview, you have a rational explanation for meaning, morality, and order in the universe. I mean, what's not to like? Christianity meets all the desiderata of a coherent and comprehensive worldview.
You telling me that's unreasonable? Call me a fool cause I think it works. Do I know it's true? No. But I'm pretty certain. And the contrary seems pretty bleak.