(February 7, 2018 at 9:57 pm)Cyberman Wrote:(February 7, 2018 at 9:37 pm)SteveII Wrote: If God exists, he does so necessarily (as in could not have been otherwise). Because of this, it makes no sense to ask what it the explanation of God. Either he always did exist or he does not. The question is: are there reasons to think that God does exist? I gave three categories of reasons. Incontrovertible proof? No. Reasons? Yes.
You're palming a card here. You went from 'if "God" exists then it must exist' to 'if "God" must exist then it does exist' without so much as a pause for breath.
What is the justification for entertaining the concept at all? Btonze- and Iron-age man lacked our understanding of the nature of reality and our tools to investigate it, at least to the degree that we can. They can be forgiven for seeing gods, demons, spirits etc in every shadow and every tree. We haven't had the luxury of such an excuse for the last couple of centuries.
Not so. Your first sentence summarized the Ontological Argument. That's hard to understand so I don't bring it up. I don't think anything in the referenced post claims that God must exist. I was making the point that if he does, he needs no explanation.
Justification? I outlined the reasons I have. Others would have had a different set of reasons since the beginning of humans. Regarding Jesus, even an iron-age man knows when someone heals the lame, raises the dead, walks on water, and is crucified, buried, and rises again. When you see that, one should pay attention to the message. Regarding today, personal experience and witnessing/believing the testimony of others is probably the single most powerful reason for belief.
