RE: Atheism is irrational.
November 21, 2016 at 2:01 am
(This post was last modified: November 21, 2016 at 2:02 am by theologian.)
(November 21, 2016 at 1:20 am)Maelstrom Wrote:(November 21, 2016 at 1:17 am)theologian Wrote: there must be a Unmoved Mover, First Cause, Uncaused Necessary Cause, Perfect Being, and Supremely Intelligent Being, which people call God.
No, there needn't be.
Why? But, if there needn't be, then we shouldn't be here. But, we are here. Therefore, there must be God.
(November 21, 2016 at 1:32 am)Astreja Wrote:(November 21, 2016 at 1:17 am)theologian Wrote: We don't stop at seeing. We continue by looking for the cause of things. Why is there something, instead of nothing? And, if it is true that we all want to be happy and that is really the case, and if to be happy is to possess the good, and if God is Goodness Himself, then it follows that God is so relevant for us.
Speaking for Myself, I don't generally waste time "looking for the cause of things." I don't actually care that much about the question "why is there something, instead of nothing?" because religious answers are unconvincing and scientific answers are a work in progress, and neither is particularly relevant to My life.
If you are specifically promoting the god described in the Bible, I reject even the whiff of a possibility that such a being could be "Goodness Himself." I've read the Bible, you see, and found it grievously wanting. Rarely have I read such an unspeakably awful dog's breakfast of silly mythology, divine bad behaviour and ludicrous rationalizations of unconscionable morality. I could sit down with a word processor, a six-pack of beer and a long weekend and come up with a better "holy book" than that Myself.
Religious answers would be truly unconvincing without philosophical backbone. Scientific progress, even we give infinite more time, it cannot know whether thre is God or not, so science is not a good basis for knowing the whole reality. After all, science is just basing itself from the laws of nature, and just as how the rules of a chess game will not tell you whether there is a chess rules maker or not, science is not the good tool to know what is beyond laws of nature.
Before I promote the God of the Bible, I should convince you first through the use of reason why there is God, for after all, Bible presuppose God, because the authority of the Bible is derived from the authority of the Church, whose authority can be derived from God made-man, and that all presuppose the existence of God. So, it is a big mistake to know God directly from the Bible without the aid of the Catholic Church.
(November 21, 2016 at 1:45 am)Whateverist Wrote: The world is full of human beings making claims, not all of them believable and some not even coherent. Not every claim can be given extensive investigation. It is therefore necessary to do some quick triage to determine which claims warrant further study. No god claim has ever made it past triage in my experience.
Check the Neo-scholastics like Dr. Edward Feser. He has a blog and with the use of human reason, it can be seen that the error of atheism stems from scientism which is a self-defeating philosophy, or they just got classical philosophy wrong.
(November 21, 2016 at 1:47 am)Maelstrom Wrote: The Greeks learned quickly, because they relied upon logic rather than irrationality. They realized that their gods were just mythology. Christianity seems to be slow in understanding that.
On the contrary, the greeks prepared the way for founding natural theology. Hence, new atheists are so wrong in using the Greeks for promoting atheism. What Greeks are against are the mythology, and not the conclusion of Metaphysics which can reasonably and surely show that there must be God.
(November 21, 2016 at 1:59 am)robvalue Wrote: You didn't tell me why I should care.
You have a lot to say but you can't answer that question.
You should care because you are a man.