God: The Great Tempter

[robvalue]

This is another recurring problem when I talk to theists.

I often very much suspect they don't actually understand what they are saying. They use phrases they have heard somewhere, or maybe even come up with themselves as ad hoc rationalizations.

I would say that if you don't understand something, you can't believe it. You can believe that it is probably true based on other factors, but you can't actually directly believe it is true.

For example, I don't understand quantum mechanics. I have, at best, an incredibly superficial understanding. So I can't say I believe it is true, because I can't even describe what it is I'm believing. I don't believe it isn't true either, for the same reason.

However, I know the theory was arrived at using the scientific method, that it is falsifiable, and has practical applications which wouldn't work if the theory wasn't true. So I have indirect evidence that makes me feel comfortable that it is probably true.

I do know, however, that there are people who do understand it, and who I could go to, as well as a wealth of resources. I could investigate it further and learn more. I'm not going to hit a brick wall of "Because I said so" at any point.

With stuff like "God is outside time" and "jesus is 100% man and 100% God" and "God is Jesus, God is the Holy Spirit but the Holy Spirit is not Jesus", no one understands it. No one can explain it. No one can give any demonstration that it even makes sense, let alone is actually true. You will always come up against a wall with these things, because at some point, someone has simply made it up.

There's a crucial difference here, between this religious stuff and QM: I'm not basing any important decisions on QM. So even if it isn't true, it's not actually of any consequence to me. However, people can and do make massive life decisions based on religious stuff which doesn't make sense, and would be awful decisions if the religion is in fact fictional.