RE: Why must Christian apologists tell lies?
August 30, 2012 at 6:25 pm
(This post was last modified: August 30, 2012 at 6:26 pm by DeistPaladin.)
(August 30, 2012 at 5:18 pm)CliveStaples Wrote: Hmm. I don't see why that's true; just because something is true doesn't mean that it's obviously true.
Because if Christianity were true, it would be proven by science and history.
Quote:Christian apologetics is a field of Christian theology that aims to present a rational basis for the Christian faith, to defend the faith against objections and misrepresentation, and to expose error within other religions and world views.
Exactly. You start with the Christian faith and try to present a "rational basis" for it. However, since you started with the conclusion and then work your way to it, it is highly flawed reasoning at best.
This is like "aiming to present a rational basis for a War with Saddam's Iraq, to defend that policy against objection and to expose error within other policy options."
If this is your aim, you WILL find reasons to go to war with Saddam's Iraq. They will be poor reasons. They will stand a good chance of leading you astray. However, you will find ways to justify the conclusion you already made before the search began. Such is the nature of confirmation bias, cherry picking, special pleading and other logical fallacies likely to be used.
Furthermore, the entire practice is inherently dishonest. Apologetics claims to be pursuing a "rational basis" to believe something but the belief is already established before the evidence or arguments are examined. This is not rational. This is inherently fallacious.
Dishonesty on top of fallacy.
Quote: If apologetics is about defending Christianity against objections, it includes defending Christianity against the objection "A person searching for truth would not end up a Christian".
A person who is honestly searching for the truth starts with the admission "I don't know". Only by admitting you don't know can you be open to wherever the evidence leads you.
The person who is dishonest about his or her intentions to find the truth starts with the conclusion and selectively looks for reasons to believe it.
Atheist Forums Hall of Shame:
"The trinity can be equated to having your cake and eating it too."
... -Lucent, trying to defend the Trinity concept
"(Yahweh's) actions are good because (Yahweh) is the ultimate standard of goodness. That’s not begging the question"
... -Statler Waldorf, Christian apologist
"The trinity can be equated to having your cake and eating it too."
... -Lucent, trying to defend the Trinity concept
"(Yahweh's) actions are good because (Yahweh) is the ultimate standard of goodness. That’s not begging the question"
... -Statler Waldorf, Christian apologist
