Christianity requires no proof?

[schrackman]

Rick,

Bottom line is, none of this matters! Let Christians believe that God is Jesus let Scientists believe that men were fish. Who cares?

God cares.

[Didache]

Interesting (and unexpected!) thread. Just to lay down my own credentials here - I am a minister in London, as well as an amateur photographer, so I suppose you could say I am a professional at thinking through issues like these - not that I am necessarily good at it!

Rather than launch into a sermon, just a couple of points - First, of course there is no such thing as "proof" for God. Indeed, if God could be "proven" he would fail to be God. The reason is philosophically simple: any god who was small enough to fit into a human philosophical construct would be less than God, by definition. Theologians have come up with lots of ways of handling this - just two: the Via Negativa (Negative Way) which means that ANYTHING we say about God is false or only partially true (because he cannot be contained within the limitations of human language) and therefore the only ultimate way to address him is in silence and adoration (like monks do). The other way is to take a little bit of Hegelian philosophy and understand God as existing in apparent paradox. For instance, God is both transcendent and immanent, or both righteous judge and universal lover - things that might be mutually exclusive, but where belief in God might be found within a creative tension.

But, secondly, that is not to say that faith should be blind (it should not!). Indeed, there is a whole branch of theology (apologetics) which is based on the idea that belief in God should be rational and can be rationally expressed. In my experience, people who believe in God totally blindly only wind up losing their faith when reality puts up a road-block to the premises they have believed in. - probably not a faith worth saving imo. In the words of one of my favourite quotes "The God we believe in must be consistent with the fact of Auschwitz".

That's enough for now

Cheers
Mike

[Didache]

Having said all that ....

Mike

[walterick]

What is God?

And how do you know that it cares?

[schrackman]

Hi Rick,

What is God?

Short answers.

God is a Spirit, Creator, an object of worship.

And how do you know that it cares?

Divine revelation.

And you? Same questions, except, how do you know God doesn't care?

[walterick]

"God is a Spirit, Creator, an object of worship."

So am I

But, how did you come to that definition of what God is?

"Divine revelation."

What's that?

"how do you know God doesn't care?"

I don't know if God doesn't care. There is no evidence that he does. If God does exist in the form that Christianity says he does, then he clearly allows us to do as we please, which would actually be evidence that God doesn't care. But, it's certainly a comforting thought to believe that he does.

[schrackman]

Hi Rick,

Since I already answered some of your other points I'll just answer this:

But, how did you come to that definition of what God is?

"Divine revelation." What's that?

The Scriptures, otherwise known as the Bible.

I don't know if God doesn't care. There is no evidence that he does. If God does exist in the form that Christianity says he does, then he clearly allows us to do as we please, which would actually be evidence that God doesn't care. But, it's certainly a comforting thought to believe that he does.

If you do not know whether God cares or not, then may I suggest it was a bit presumptuous for you to say "Who cares?"

Furthermore, God doesn't allow us to do as we please, at least not with impunity. Rather he has given man freewill, the freedom to choose between good and evil. In this way not only is every man held accountable for his own actions, but he will likewise be recompensed accordingly.