(October 2, 2013 at 8:51 am)Rational AKD Wrote: I've noticed a lot on these forums there are those who claim either that there is no evidence that supports theism or not enough. this brings a couple questions to my mind. what do you consider positive evidence to support a religious proposition such as theism?That depends on the claim. How do you approach other claims of fact or truth in your everyday life? You either believe, or disbelieve, or doubt to some degree until you can learn more. Theism may simply be making one claim ("a god, or gods, exist") but it encompasses many more claims and claims to evidence that must be considered. I don't think that there are any theists here who would feel that the matter was settled if the best they could do was create some doubt as to whether the existence of god is necessary.
So which claims are you purporting to have evidence for, and can we examine that evidence?
Rational AKD Wrote:the next question I have is what is considered an adequate amount of evidence for theism?See above. What are the claims, and what is the evidence? Some claims are easy enough to accept on their face: if I claim that I have a user account for this forum, you can accept that without any need of evidence apart from what is already evident. If I claim that I can read and write, it's much the same. If I claim I live in New York, you accept that this is possible and may even take my word for it. If I claim I live in a 100-room mansion you may begin to suspect that I'm having you on, although you might believe that it is not impossible for this to be the case. And so on. Each claim requires different levels of evidence to accept as true, and some are easier to accept on their face than others.
Again, what are your claims? What is the evidence for them?
"Well, evolution is a theory. It is also a fact. And facts and theories are different things, not rungs in a hierarchy of increasing certainty. Facts are the world's data. Theories are structures of ideas that explain and interpret facts. Facts don't go away when scientists debate rival theories to explain them. Einstein's theory of gravitation replaced Newton's in this century, but apples didn't suspend themselves in midair, pending the outcome. And humans evolved from ape- like ancestors whether they did so by Darwin's proposed mechanism or by some other yet to be discovered."
-Stephen Jay Gould
-Stephen Jay Gould