I think there's another answer to this, which is to regard doubt as essentially the dialectical side of faith -- not its polar opposite. It must be remembered that doubt and disbelief are not the same thing, and that doubt, more often than not, is merely that point at which we've reached the limit of our own understanding. It is in these moments that our faith is not only tested but strengthened and reinforced, just as steel is purged of impurity in fire and thereby strengthened. Our response to God in such periods of darkness and unknowing is the real measure of our faith in Him: do we despair or do we love? If we despair then we do risk diminishing and losing our faith, but if we love we will move into a deeper experience of God and grace that will fortify us and give us true peace and rest.
I don't have to go on probability because God is with me every day. There a lots of probables in my life too, but not with my Father. So glad about that! My God is my father and He speaks to me, directs me, gives me knowledge, and wisdom. My father surrounds me with His love, yes He protects me. My Father is with me every single moment and I can't remember a moment when He was not there from the moment, yes the moment that I received Him into my life. The moment I put my faith and trust in Him as a child, He never left. He never left, He just never, never left. I respect the presenter's argument, it's intellectualism. But you can't have a personal relationship with God through intellectualism. I know this is taught and I understand apologetics & I respect your views. However, I'll tell you this; one day if you are a Christian and came to Christ intellectually through apologetics arguments that is ok, but some day in your life, some day, His presence will mean more, so much more than all the knowledge. If you don't experience that here, you will when you see Him face to face. Some day when you see Him, very soon, you won't need all the answers to the universe or wondering what this or that verse meant. Because, you'll just want to be close to Him. You see His presence means more than all the knowledge.
Evidence of God the Creator: All of creation; nonphysical soul and mind; design information in all physical things. The physical brain continuously creates the mind. The soul (you) and mind have no weight, volume, mass, temperature, etc., and can’t be isolated to perform functions as electricity can. Atheists believe God has to be in creation to be believed. The evil created by nonbelievers proves faith in God is much better than atheism.
Well belief in a personal god grounds rationality itself for me: no God no intelligibility.....no metaphysical foundation for science as the unprovable uniformity of nature, causality, immaterial, unchangeable universals logic, math geometry ......no science: hardly destroyed mental agility. Atheism has no ground for anything regarding human flourishing, and in light of the 100,000,000 people killed in this century under atheistic regimes...it is hardly a modern enlightenment. Naturalism undermines the deliverances of reason as any determinism does.
What an incredibly poor argument for belief. He's basically rephrasing Pascal's Wager, which is a joke. He's also showing an incredible lack of imagination.
I think there's another answer to this, which is to regard doubt as essentially the dialectical side of faith -- not its polar opposite. It must be remembered that doubt and disbelief are not the same thing, and that doubt, more often than not, is merely that point at which we've reached the limit of our own understanding. It is in these moments that our faith is not only tested but strengthened and reinforced, just as steel is purged of impurity in fire and thereby strengthened. Our response to God in such periods of darkness and unknowing is the real measure of our faith in Him: do we despair or do we love? If we despair then we do risk diminishing and losing our faith, but if we love we will move into a deeper experience of God and grace that will fortify us and give us true peace and rest.
Steven Hunter thank u so so much for this! As I’ve been going through my first great test of faith and doubt this helps me work through this mire
Steven Hunter Wow. I’m legitimately in awe with this comment. Thank you for that.
I don't have to go on probability because God is with me every day. There a lots of probables in my life too, but not with my Father. So glad about that! My God is my father and He speaks to me, directs me, gives me knowledge, and wisdom. My father surrounds me with His love, yes He protects me. My Father is with me every single moment and I can't remember a moment when He was not there from the moment, yes the moment that I received Him into my life. The moment I put my faith and trust in Him as a child, He never left. He never left, He just never, never left. I respect the presenter's argument, it's intellectualism. But you can't have a personal relationship with God through intellectualism. I know this is taught and I understand apologetics & I respect your views. However, I'll tell you this; one day if you are a Christian and came to Christ intellectually through apologetics arguments that is ok, but some day in your life, some day, His presence will mean more, so much more than all the knowledge. If you don't experience that here, you will when you see Him face to face. Some day when you see Him, very soon, you won't need all the answers to the universe or wondering what this or that verse meant. Because, you'll just want to be close to Him. You see His presence means more than all the knowledge.
Evidence of God the Creator: All of creation; nonphysical soul and mind; design information in all physical things.
The physical brain continuously creates the mind. The soul (you) and mind have no weight, volume, mass, temperature, etc., and can’t be isolated to perform functions as electricity can.
Atheists believe God has to be in creation to be believed.
The evil created by nonbelievers proves faith in God is much better than atheism.
Just goes to show how badly the presupposition of a personal god destroys your mental agility.
Well belief in a personal god grounds rationality itself for me: no God no intelligibility.....no metaphysical foundation for science as the unprovable uniformity of nature, causality, immaterial, unchangeable universals logic, math geometry ......no science: hardly destroyed mental agility. Atheism has no ground for anything regarding human flourishing, and in light of the 100,000,000 people killed in this century under atheistic regimes...it is hardly a modern enlightenment. Naturalism undermines the deliverances of reason as any determinism does.
Michael Moore amazing response
What an incredibly poor argument for belief. He's basically rephrasing Pascal's Wager, which is a joke. He's also showing an incredible lack of imagination.