I suspect no one has ever believed in g/G because of a Pascal's Wager who wasn't already riding the fence up his sacramentally Confirmed keester. Pascal, the mathematical rationalist, was a religious fideist and proposed the wager as a prophylactic against promiscuous doubt rather than as "a reason to believe".Pascal's wager — Agent Smith
I was referring to something along the lines of Pascal's wager. — Agent Smith
An additional problem is which god do we undertake this wager on? — Tom Storm
:roll:What is Christian faith supposed to be about, in philosophical terms? I would put it like this: it is about realising one's identity as a being directly related to the intelligence that underlies the Cosmos, a direct familial relationship, not as abstract philosophical idea. — Wayfarer
No doubt this is the case with the so-called "New Atheists" (except Victor Stenger or Rebecca Goldstein) which is why I consider their arguments (those of e.g. Dawkins, Hitchens, Harris, Dennett) to be irreligious humanist polemics instead of philosophical critiques of theism or theology.... many of the arguments about 'theism' are based on very confused accounts of what really is at issue.
I find it difficult to reconcile this ^ with this vI'm certain that I came into this life with some memory of previous lives, ill-defined but at times vivid. So I have the tentative view that life extends beyond the bounds of an individual birth and death — Wayfarer
If reincarnation is an actual thing, that's just the moment you must resolve to do better - no?you will realise that your life has been misdirected, at the precise moment when you know you have no more chances to do anything about it. — Wayfarer
That sounds a lot like an abstract philosophical idea.What is Christian faith supposed to be about, in philosophical terms? I would put it like this: it is about realising one's identity as a being directly related to the intelligence that underlies the Cosmos, a direct familial relationship, not as abstract philosophical idea. — Wayfarer
It's exactly as complicated as some scholar or theologian wishes to make it.As a consequence of these complexities, many of the arguments about 'theism' are based on very confused accounts of what really is at issue. — Wayfarer
Christianity is based firmly on the sin-sacrifice-redemption dynamic, wherein the god is a discrete entity, aloof and judgmental. — Vera Mont
Which Christian denominations do not consider Christ their saviour? — Vera Mont
That we were at one time keenly aware of a very great loss. Whether it's interpreted as a fall from grace, original, or the inability to speak the language of other animals, something happened. Something we chose. The move to settled agriculture alienated us from, and put us in conflict with Nature (including a vital portion of our own nature.)the question is what do these doctrines and ideas mean? — Wayfarer
I am not at all sure that there is a life beyond this one, but I'm certain that I came into this life with some memory of previous lives, ill-defined but at times vivid. So I have the tentative view that life extends beyond the bounds of an individual birth and death and so am alive to the possibility that heaven and hell are more than myth. So with that in the background, something like Pascal's wager assumes a greater urgency. I frequently contemplate the gloomy possibility that at the point of death, you will realise that your life has been misdirected, at the precise moment when you know you have no more chances to do anything about it.
What is Christian faith supposed to be about, in philosophical terms? I would put it like this: it is about realising one's identity as a being directly related to the intelligence that underlies the Cosmos, a direct familial relationship, not as abstract philosophical idea. (This is the gist of Alan Watt's book The Supreme Identity).
The name 'Jupiter' was derived from the Sansrit 'dyaus-pitar' meaning 'Sky Father'. There are versions of that name all through ancient culture. The name sounds like 'Jehovah' even though it is etymologically unrelated. But the point is, for a great many people, believers and unbelievers alike, Jehovah is conceived as a 'sky-father'. But underneath or concealed by the popular image, there's another level of meaning although it's very difficult to convey. The name 'Jehovah' was derived from the Hebrew yahweh, itself a derived from the tetragrammaton, a sequence of consonants that was literally un-sayable. In ceremonial religion, the name of God was invoked using other terms, but the 'sacred name' was unsayable because it was unthinkable, it was over the horizon of being, so to speak. By uttering the name casually, one profaned it, by bringing it into the profane world.
As a consequence of these complexities, many of the arguments about 'theism' are based on very confused accounts of what really is at issue. (David Bentley Hart's book The Experience of God addresses this confusion.) — Wayfarer
I frequently contemplate the gloomy possibility that at the point of death, you will realise that your life has been misdirected, at the precise moment when you know you have no more chances to do anything about it. — Wayfarer
The religious person perceives our present life, or our natural life, as radically deficient, deficient from the root (radix) up, as fundamentally unsatisfactory; he feels it to be, not a mere condition, but a predicament; it strikes him as vain or empty if taken as an end in itself; he sees himself ashomo viator, as a wayfarer ( :yikes: ) or pilgrim treading a via dolorosa through a vale that cannot possibly be a final and fitting resting place; s/he senses or glimpses from time to time the possibility of a Higher Life; he feels himself in danger of missing out on this Higher Life of true happiness. If this doesn't strike a chord in you, then I suggest you do not have a religious disposition. Some people don't, and it cannot be helped. One cannot discuss religion with them, for it cannot be real to them.
One cannot discuss religion with them, for it cannot be real to them.
Sure. Right now we can probably find many thousands of people who claim to have been abducted by aliens and taken away for a probing... — Tom Storm
Funny thing is that no sooner does one start to set out god's attributes then one runs into contradictions. — Banno
think most people believe in god because they are brought up with the idea - evidence and faith are post hoc. Children are taught there is a god and the notion becomes absorbed as part of their socialisation and enculturation. You're much more likely to have an experience of a particular God as an adult if you are properly primed from birth. — Tom Storm
The religious person perceives our present life, or our natural life, as radically deficient, deficient from the root (radix) up, as fundamentally unsatisfactory;he feels it to be, not a mere condition, but a predicament;
You can't seem to have a thread about theism without the atheists being sure to enter the conversation and passionately objecting, some more respectfully than others. — Hanover
I was referring to something along the lines of Pascal's wager. — Agent Smith
Why are you not more attracted to Ignostic atheist? — universeness
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