(July 31, 2015 at 3:17 pm)orangebox21 Wrote: And that leads to disjunctive syllogism. Either truth claim A or truth claim B is true. As an example, one of the truth claims shared by all religions is that man is in a fallen or imperfect state and is in need of salvation/redemption/perfection [a claim atheist's would recognize as well]. To the best of my knowledge, all religions other than Christianity make the claim that salvation/redemption/perfection of man is found in man's own efforts. In other words, all other religions teach that man is his own redeemer. Christianity makes a different and mutually exclusive claim. Namely that you have the forgiveness of sins [salvation/redemption/perfection] through the effort of [God] Jesus Christ. It is by grace you have been saved, not of works. So on this specific issue, either Christianity is true or all other religions are true.
Or they could all be false.
Interesting that you did not include that choice in your dichotomy.
You'd believe if you just opened your heart" is a terrible argument for religion. It's basically saying, "If you bias yourself enough, you can convince yourself that this is true." If religion were true, people wouldn't need faith to believe it -- it would be supported by good evidence.
