Came across a theistic evolution blog and he had a nice summary of his debate with atheists or rather a list of q's that really got to the heart of their arguments.
The bolded questions below are really the key q's to the debate if you ask me. Do you think there will ever be an answer to these questions? Or will it always be faith versus fact? Is it truly objective versus subjective?
http://theisticev.informe.com/blog/2007/11/
How do atheists come to the conclusion that God doesnât exist based solely on the fact that they have not themselves objectively seen Him? Why do they believe that God is simply a made-up notion in light of their lack of reasons to believe?
In order for the above questions to be answered, this question, which is central to this thread, must be answered: how do we determine if something exists or not? <--the hot question.
Still, in order for the hot question to be answered, we must also consider what is reality, and whether there is a difference between subjective and objective reality, or if subjective and objective realities are the same. Indeed, some may contend that objective reality is that which you and I can observe; however, as the aforementioned poster pointed out, this leaves a problem for such things as emotions. This would suggest that emotions (and internal thoughts) are, essentially, not a part of objective reality. I envision some of you saying now âwell, I can observe your emotionsâ. This, however, is a weak answer, and still doesnât place emotions in objective reality as defined above, as display of emotions may be false; what we see is not necessarily the true emotions, but rather a display of emotions that is impossible to distinguish from true feelings. One might contend that one âknowsâ the person; however, truth to be told, one really canât fully know someone insofar as one cannot tell their thoughts. So the question of what is reality, in a way, may be viewed as the fire that heats the hot question.
......
So the question still stands: what is reality?
And in answering that question, we curse ourselves with the hot question: how do we determine if something exists or not?
And ultimately this leads into the question of Godâs existence, and whether it is indeed best to assume the strictly negative position.
The bolded questions below are really the key q's to the debate if you ask me. Do you think there will ever be an answer to these questions? Or will it always be faith versus fact? Is it truly objective versus subjective?
http://theisticev.informe.com/blog/2007/11/
How do atheists come to the conclusion that God doesnât exist based solely on the fact that they have not themselves objectively seen Him? Why do they believe that God is simply a made-up notion in light of their lack of reasons to believe?
In order for the above questions to be answered, this question, which is central to this thread, must be answered: how do we determine if something exists or not? <--the hot question.
Still, in order for the hot question to be answered, we must also consider what is reality, and whether there is a difference between subjective and objective reality, or if subjective and objective realities are the same. Indeed, some may contend that objective reality is that which you and I can observe; however, as the aforementioned poster pointed out, this leaves a problem for such things as emotions. This would suggest that emotions (and internal thoughts) are, essentially, not a part of objective reality. I envision some of you saying now âwell, I can observe your emotionsâ. This, however, is a weak answer, and still doesnât place emotions in objective reality as defined above, as display of emotions may be false; what we see is not necessarily the true emotions, but rather a display of emotions that is impossible to distinguish from true feelings. One might contend that one âknowsâ the person; however, truth to be told, one really canât fully know someone insofar as one cannot tell their thoughts. So the question of what is reality, in a way, may be viewed as the fire that heats the hot question.
......
So the question still stands: what is reality?
And in answering that question, we curse ourselves with the hot question: how do we determine if something exists or not?
And ultimately this leads into the question of Godâs existence, and whether it is indeed best to assume the strictly negative position.
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