(December 10, 2009 at 10:09 am)Eilonnwy Wrote: Which would be an argument from personal incredulity. Just because it "makes sense to you" doesn't make it true.
E...my statement was not intended to be some logical proof of what I believe so while I understand your point, I think it is misplaced here. And while I agree with you that just because it makes sense to me doesn't necessarily make it true, likewise I also think that just because scientists can carry out an experiment that convinces you that something like abiogenesis is possible doesn't mean that abiogenesis is necessarily true (i.e., that that is what actually happened in the past).
(December 10, 2009 at 10:09 am)Eilonnwy Wrote: A lot of people seem to think they can just pick and choose which explanations they like and that makes it true. That has always baffled me. I try to accept what is demonstrably true, even if I have a hard time understanding it, and even if it is uncomfortable for me to accept it based on pre-suppositions.
You seemed to have made a leap here. I said something made sense to me. You seem to have taken this as saying that I came to my conclusion because I "like" the explanation. There is quite a difference.
Going back to what I actually said, does that baffle you? Don't you draw your conclusion based on what makes sense to you?
(December 10, 2009 at 10:09 am)Eilonnwy Wrote: Have you really done any research beyond questioning and then running back to the Bible to feel better? Have you looked for the answer elsewhere? I don't say this to be mocking, I just hear theists say things similar to what you have which amounts to "I questioned, so instead of looking for independent answers and weighing the evidence of the answers to come to a conclusion, I found some passage in the book or someone else who has rationalized it, liked what I heard, and happily doubts where quelled." That's not an honest inquiry, even if to the person who asked feels it is.
Yes I have...but you would have to take my word on that as I doubt I could demonstrate it to you
.(December 10, 2009 at 10:09 am)Eilonnwy Wrote: And as for the Bible making it worse, if you read it honestly you can see the contradictions, atrocities, absurdities that run rampant through the book.
Sounds quite similar to the True Scotsman Fallacy. If you read the Bible you can see.... I have read the Bible and I don't see.... Clearly you have not "honestly" read the Bible....
Maybe it is just that I have a different perspective on things than you and that perspective affects what I get out of the Bible compared to what you get out of it.
(December 10, 2009 at 10:09 am)Eilonnwy Wrote: You read my post on the Gospels, right?
I did. And I concluded that you have chosen to believe what some scholars conclude about the Bible and I have chosen to believe what other scholars conclude about the Bible. There is so much out there written on both sides of things and I think some good points made on both sides. One could research forever and still end up at that same point...a lot written and supported on both sides. I continue to believe in God and the Bible because after reading much of the for and against and having lived as both a non-Christian and a Christian, the for (Christianity) makes more sense to me even if I do not understand everything about God and the Bible and cannot answer all good questions about it.
