John
Doe
wrote:
|
|
Hi, guys —
What is a person's evidence for the existence
in God?
John
|
|
{
What
is a person's evidence for the existence in
God? }
|
|
Mary
Ann replied:
|
Hi, John —
- the person
- the question
- existence
- the concept of such a thing
as evidence
I am being facile, but if you think
about these things long enough, you
will stumble upon,
by yourself, the best way!,
the age long arguments for the existence
of God.
The only one missing is beauty, which
would be you.
Mary Ann
|
John
replied:
|
Mary Ann,
- Could you please refer my question
to somebody capable of giving
a coherent response?
John
|
Mary
Ann replied:
|
John —
The evidence for the existence of
God is first, the subjective experience
of the questioner, who knows his
own spiritual nature.
Then there is the personal character
of the questioner, who seeks personal
fulfillment in an infinite way.
Then there is the evidence of the
design and intelligibility of the
universe.
The questioner obviously believes
that there is such a thing as truth,
understanding of truth, and evidence-based
true knowledge. There can be none
of these if there is no God.
There is the fact of the existence
and motion of the universe.
Finally, there is beauty and our
wonder at beauty. Beauty is termed
the radiance of being or
the radiance of truth. Absolute and
personal Truth, beauty, being, and
love.
These are what we call God.
Mary Ann
|
John
replied:
|
Mary Ann,
You seem to be saying the beauty
of things is your evidence and a
person's subjective experience is
also evidence.
- Do you believe your definition
of evidence can be mistaken or
faulty in any way?
John
|
Mary
Ann replied:
|
John,
You asked for evidence, not for evidence
from physical science. There are
degrees of evidence and kinds of
evidence. The fact that I think,
will, and sense a disjuncture between
my mortality and my essence is evidence
that my soul is immortal.
Truth and beauty are evidence for
God. The problem now is not that
people don't accept this.
The problem now is that people don't
believe there is such a thing as
truth or beauty!
Yet the same people will still contradict
themselves by believing physical
science, and in the fact that reality
exists . . . though that is changing
also, as the reality-itself-is-illusion idea takes hold, or as science is made to serve political
agendas.
As for beauty, C.S. Lewis has a good
take on that in the
Abolition of Man, which I would recommend.
Mary Ann
|
John
replied:
|
Mary Ann,
First of all, thank you for your
responses but let's see if you can
actually answer my question this
time. It's simple:
- Do you believe that a person's
evidence can be mistaken or faulty
in any way?
John
|
Mary
Ann replied:
|
That was not the question you asked
at first. A person can be mistaken
in his logic, and even in his perception (hallucinations, for example). Evidence,
itself, is just data, from which
one reasons. I believe that our senses
do apprehend reality. The data for
the existence of God are:
- Creation and
- The self-revelation of God.
There is also historical evidence
that surrounds it, and renders
it probable, but which does not
bring about faith.
For example, the statement that
Christ is divine is not derivable
by reason because He has to reveal
it. There are signs and evidences
that He is divine. One of the
famous arguments by
C. S. Lewis is that Christ is either:
We know he is not the first nor
the second, by all human measures. We
know that the Apostles paid with
their lives for their testimony in
the Resurrection. Our faith stands
or falls on the trustworthiness of
their testimony so if one is examining
the Christian faith, one should,
besides asking God for help, carefully
study that issue.
Mary Ann
|
|
|
