(May 11, 2025 at 5:49 am)Alan V Wrote:(May 10, 2025 at 9:07 pm)Belacqua Wrote: Dawkins lives in North Oxford. Oxford probably has a higher percentage of people who know theology well than just about any other city on the planet.
Why didn't Dawkins get on his bicycle and visit one of them, so that he could have it explained to him why this whole thing is an argument against something which they don't believe?
It is certainly true that God, "in the sense defined" by him, is a delusion.
(May 10, 2025 at 9:42 pm)Belacqua Wrote: Since divine simplicity is a fundamental point in Christian theology, this sentence is Dawkins announcing that he doesn't know what he's talking about.
The point which theologians often seem to miss is that the majority of believers do not believe in their rarified definitions of God, and that atheists critique ALL of the notions of God, typically starting with the most popular ones.
Further, I can't believe you skipped right over my correction of your idea that Dawkins only addressed the "simplest, most childish" idea of God. He certainly did not.
You are also calling the majority of believers "childish" and "delusional," which is exactly Dawkins' point.
Do you have any statistics on what the majority believe?
Dawkins' idea of God is simple and childish. But you're right, I'm sure there are simpler and more childish views as well.
I have no problem with the idea that the majority of believers have a simplistic view of things. I have no problem with Dawkins arguing against that view. But it means he still has all the hard work left to do.
