(May 14, 2015 at 3:48 pm)Hatshepsut Wrote:(May 13, 2015 at 11:38 pm)Randy Carson Wrote: If God says something, then it IS true whether you understand it or not.
That's unlikely to fly on Atheist Forums. I believe in God and assume he is true in his doings, though I'm less confident that personal revelation, or even statements in the bible, always represent God saying something directly, or at least saying it in words like humans do, because I'm not sure gods rely on words like we do. We use phrases like "the word" in connection with deity to assert that the deity thinks and communicates, but our cognitive limits force us to equate this thinking and communication to our own, which does use words and language. Human languages are highly fallible, however. A perfect being need not be limited by what words can express.
If I'm wanting to steer an atheist gently toward sympathy or understanding for theism, I can't just say "because God says it's so in the bible." The only currencies really accepted here are scientific and philosophical truths, with even the latter getting a jaundiced eye at times.
In theology itself the bible, while to be read carefully and revered, is only one source among many. I can't limit myself just to what one collection of texts says. Christian thought outside the bible, the texts of other religions, and yes, science and philosophy, including atheism and humanism, should have a role in helping us form our understandings of deity.
Thank you for your thoughts. I presumed that LOGIC would be relevant in an atheist forum, and consequently, saying "If...then" would still have meaning.
I'll be more careful.
