RE: Credible/Honest Apologetics?
July 14, 2022 at 10:20 am
(This post was last modified: July 14, 2022 at 10:29 am by The Grand Nudger.)
(July 14, 2022 at 8:18 am)Angrboda Wrote:(July 13, 2022 at 9:14 pm)Neo-Scholastic Wrote: I agree with you that people do equivocate between the differnent connotations of the word faith. To me that's the kind of natural confusion resulting from an ambiguity in overlapping meanings of the English words, trust and faith.
With respect to first principles, I was thinking specifically about the principles of non-contradiction and sufficient reason. More generally, I consider the efficacy of human reason and the intelligibility of reality to qualify as first principles, although I call these positons "existential stances". All of these, the two transcendental certainties, plus the two existential stances, are my first priniples so to speak. On AF at least, most critiques of theistic demostration are based in a rejection of one or more the above mentioned first principles. That means that the critique tacitly asserts variously that reason cannot be trusted or that the universe is not intelligible. And maybe they aren't. Who is to say? People will never agree on first principles.
Not accepting the PSR does not imply accepting that reason cannot be trusted or that the universe is not intelligible. That's a non sequitur.
Nor does accepting it suggest, imply, or demonstrate a god. Let's go out on a limb and suggest that the trouble you have on these boards has absolutely nothing to do with any disparity in first principles, or because anyone thinks that reason can't be trusted, or that the universe isn't fundamentally intelligible, Neo. You might prefer to have those arguments, instead - but alot of people will take that to indicate that you would really rather prefer not to demonstrate any gods, in the first place.
I am the Infantry. I am my country’s strength in war, her deterrent in peace. I am the heart of the fight… wherever, whenever. I carry America’s faith and honor against her enemies. I am the Queen of Battle. I am what my country expects me to be, the best trained Soldier in the world. In the race for victory, I am swift, determined, and courageous, armed with a fierce will to win. Never will I fail my country’s trust. Always I fight on…through the foe, to the objective, to triumph overall. If necessary, I will fight to my death. By my steadfast courage, I have won more than 200 years of freedom. I yield not to weakness, to hunger, to cowardice, to fatigue, to superior odds, For I am mentally tough, physically strong, and morally straight. I forsake not, my country, my mission, my comrades, my sacred duty. I am relentless. I am always there, now and forever. I AM THE INFANTRY! FOLLOW ME!