(April 4, 2015 at 8:59 pm)datc Wrote: Since intellectual honesty and critical thinking are virtues, and the Christian God desires that we be virtuous, He most likely does value these things. I know I do.
The Pascal's wager may have some import for those who are already leaning heavily toward Christianity but who still have a few doubts in their hearts.
Think of it as the absolutely last resort for coming to true beliefs about God.
It doesn't even work as that.
By the way, the Muslims had an identical version of Pascal's Wager 500 years before Pascal was born.
Quote:I am a "gnostic theist" regarding a rather particular version of the Christian God. I can prove that He exists, and in proving it, unfold God's attributes one by one, or so I hope. By the end of these proofs a concept of God would have been built up, and it would be shown that this concept refers to something real. (I do not claim of course that my proofs are the only ones available; at any rate, metaphysics and theology are queens of the sciences, and as is well-known, to become queen, a pawn has to traverse the entire "field" of knowledge, and I certainly have not done that.)
I am wide open to your proof.
Please open another thread and lay it out. If it is convincing, I will be compelled to accept it.
So, yes, I'd be a (speculative) agnostic and (practical) atheist regarding all other types of gods; I don't know anything about them, nor do I care. My (mostly Catholic) God suffices for me.[/quote]
You'd believe if you just opened your heart" is a terrible argument for religion. It's basically saying, "If you bias yourself enough, you can convince yourself that this is true." If religion were true, people wouldn't need faith to believe it -- it would be supported by good evidence.
