Theists, are you immune to being decieved?

[Statler Waldorf]

*Didn’t Read Image*

Didn’t read = didn’t refute.

Ah... there's the Stat I've learned to enjoy...

Sadly, today, I don't have the half hour to reply point by point.

Wow, it only takes you a half hour? It usually takes me longer than that.

Regularity in Nature is observed. We observe that there's something that consistently exhibits the same behavior, so we've named these things. Cataloged them and now use the catalog when we refer to them.

Yes, I am aware of that. However, I want to know what is causing these regularities. Simply observing that they exist does not explain why they exist.

Gods, on the other hand, we can't observe...

True enough statement.

You say it yourself, "the god of the bible"... not necessarily the real god, if such a thing exists... but the one described by the bible.

Well the only real god is the one of the Bible.

It's not something we can observe. We can only trust in the contents of that bible and accept it... or not. Sadly, for the bible, there are many other such books, some describing similar gods (jews' yahweh, muslim's allah), some describing very different gods (hindu vedas, egyptian book of the dead...).

Sure, but believing in something unseen can still be justified belief. Only Yahweh has revealed characteristics and promises that can explain the regularities we see in Nature. Secondly, even if we could not pin it down to which god we are dealing with, that does not justify believing that no god exists. At the very least you and I should be discussing which god we believe it is rather than whether a god even exists or not.

So, if trust is to be put on one of them, then how to decide in which?

What you will find is that Yahweh is completely unique from other conceptual gods and when you infer what the necessary attributes must be of a god you end up with Him.

I'd go with observation... but none of the gods described is the sort that actually shows up for scrutiny...
That leaves trust none as the most honest position available.

I keep trying to observe gravity, but alas it never shows up for scrutiny either.

So, how do I account for the regularity in Nature? What causes this regularity? Why is it regular?
I don't know.

Well I commend you for honesty. Genesis 8 tells us that it is Yahweh, and that makes perfect sense to me.

I think we first need to establish that there is an underlying reason for such regularity. There may not be.

There has to be a reason for it.

String theory seems to be a step towards accomplishing that goal... let's wait and see how that turns out.

You seem to have undermined your objections above by now claiming to have faith in a rather ad hoc theory that is utterly unobservable and untestable.

Until then, I see no reason to trust your favorite book of mythology... nor any other, for that matter.

Even though it has answers to questions that you admittedly cannot answer?

Merry christmas, stat!

I hope you had a great one! I certainly did.