RE: Disproving Odin - An Experiment in arguing with a theist with Theist logic
March 13, 2018 at 9:58 am
(March 12, 2018 at 10:19 pm)LadyForCamus Wrote:(March 12, 2018 at 7:29 pm)SteveII Wrote: You are right that by definition God has no explanation. But your second phrase does not follow from the first part (or any other logic). In other words, there is nothing in the definition of God that even suggests that his existence cannot be demonstrated. For example, why couldn't God demonstrate his existence by coming to earth and telling everyone?
Regarding your question "why should I take seriously...?" even if you don't believe, you should understand the concept that a good part of the world believes.
A clarification here because I realize my wording was unclear. What I meant was, by definition, god needs no explanation. Additionally, he cannot be demonstrated to exist.
God could certainly demonstrate his existence by coming to earth and telling everyone. I’m not sure why he doesn’t do it right now as I’m typing this. I’m not sure why he would do it just the one time, and then expect every human on earth going forward to simply accept the Bible at its word. The Bible is not a demonstration of god. It’s a claim about a god. If god could be demonstrated to exist, we’d ALL be theists.
So, you’re asking me to rationally accept a thing that:
1. cannot be demonstrated and...
First, I am not asking you to accept anything.
Second, you use the word 'demonstrate'. I have listed countless times reasons why people believe there is a God. These reasons 'demonstrate' the concept to be rationale. You cannot say any of them are false. So what you are actually saying is that these reasons (as you understand them--which is a very important point) haven't met your standards to believe. That's fine. But what you cannot say is that I have not demonstrated...period. What you mean is that I have not demonstrated sufficient for your belief.
Quote:2. cannot be coherently explained
There is nothing incoherent about the God of Christianity. If you think so, I will need a specific point to address.
Quote:...as the explanation for all of reality?
Why would anyone do that?!
You can't get around it: If the God of Christianity exists, he would be the explanation of all our reality -- it follows by definition. There is no trick here. Any atheist philosopher would admit this. This puts you right back at the beginning of your question 1.