Theists - I want to know what you think

[Neo-Scholastic]

1. Do you think lacking a belief in god is rational? Why, or why not?

Lacking belief is a state of innocent ignorance, i.e. not having an opinion about a question you’ve never been asked. However, after becoming aware of a truth proposition one can react in three ways: consider the proposition true, consider it false, or not care. That IMO exhausts all the options. Innocent ignorance has ceased to be an option.

2. Do you believe atheists who say they don’t believe because of lack of evidence? If so, do you think that is a rational reason to not believe in god?

I take such statements at face value except when I observe someone repeatedly confusing evidence with proof. I believe it is reasonable to be an atheist but I do not think it is philosophically justified. To be clear, a rational person can hold opinions that on deeper study can be demonstrated to be incoherent. I see areas of legitimate debate both in favor of theism and against it. I also see poor arguments being accepted uncritically on both sides of the question.

3. Do you think rational skepticism is the correct perspective to be coming from when considering god-belief?

Yes. One should be able to see both sides of a question. That is different from a kind of hyper-skepticim, such as that of Hume and later the post-modernists, that eats its own tale.

4. Do you think an atheist and/or rational skeptic can reason their way to belief in god?

No. There must first be an acknowledgment of the Holy Spirit by a receptive heart. Faith is the position we reason from, not the position we reason towards.

5. Do you think an atheist and/or rational skeptic could be convinced by reasons, or do you think God would have to intervene in some way?

Reason can only remove objections to faith but ultimately faith comes from the Holy Spirit.

6. Why do you think so many atheists were once theists? Is it realistic to think a person could re-believe in god after deciding they could no longer believe due to lack of evidence? Why or why not?

I consider that a statistical artifact. The majority population is religious so most atheists come from that pool. In my own faith journey, I was not sufficiently fed to understand the reasons behind specific doctrines such as the hypostatic union and the Trinity. For this reason, I abandoned the Christian faith. Once I properly understood the doctrines, I found Christianity more reasonable than the logical conclusions of atheism.

7. Some of you had mentioned ‘sowing the seed’ as a reason to be here at AF. If you were going to explain to an atheist what the best reason is to believe in god, what would it be? I’m not trying to set up a ‘burden of proof’ trap. I just want to know what you think would be, or should be most convincing to an atheist and/or rational skeptic.

Find some people you consider good Christians (not me apparently) and ask them for their personal testimony. Apologetics are all fine and good, but the most compelling argument for the Christian faith is how it changes the lives those who embrace it.