RE: If you believe in the God of the Bible, why try to prove it logically?
June 14, 2013 at 11:00 pm
(June 14, 2013 at 4:49 pm)Zarith Wrote: Common arguments for the existence of God (such as the ontological argument, the teleological argument, first cause, cosmology, etc), only get you as far as an abstract notion of some sort of god -- the kind that philosophers talk about (if you accept the arguments, that is).
If you believe that the God of the Bible really exists and has the properties ascribed to him by this book, then other means are required to justify belief in this specific God. Typically this comes down to either scriptural authority, or divine revelation, or some combination of the two (for example, belief in the truth of the message of the biblical prophets is belief in both of these things). Am I omitting anything here? Note that I am including 'personal experience with God' under the umbrella of revelation, as God revealing himself to you.
But if you are willing to accept revelation / scripture as vehicles for determining truth from falsehood, then what is the point in attempting to construct a logical argument for the existence of God in the abstract? You already have what you consider proof of his existence, and a logical argument won't prove that your particular God exists. If you are trying to convince someone, they will still have to accept scriptural authority or divine revelation, will they not?
If belief in revelation / scripture is both necessary and sufficient, and logic alone is insufficient -- why bother?
Who's trying to prove God exist, I'm not and I do not believe I've seen any Christian here try it, most of us believe that it is God's work to prove He is real. God asks us to be a witness for Him and then He will draw people to Himself and let them decide to believe or not. Even the scriptures do not try to prove God's existence.
God loves those who believe and those who do not and the same goes for me, you have no choice in this matter. That puts the matter of total free will to rest.