tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7251693339364322895.post4122738417371194217..comments2024-02-16T07:42:10.015-06:00Comments on SKEPTIC REFLECTIONS: ADMISSIONS OF A SECULAR EVANGELISTJOHN PHILLIPShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06357524637192990158noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7251693339364322895.post-27370254373276559942013-11-15T12:14:44.206-06:002013-11-15T12:14:44.206-06:00Lisa,
Your comment is an interesting one. You st...Lisa,<br /><br />Your comment is an interesting one. You state, “You will never know the truth until you experience relationship with Him (God).” I think that literally what you are saying is that it is not appropriate for me not to believe something unless I have “experienced” it. But that cannot be the case. Is it inappropriate, for example, for me not to believe in, say, UFOs or astrology or psychic auras or water divining rods unless I have “experienced” them? I think it is perfectly appropriate to come to the conclusion that something does not exist (or more precisely that there is no evidence to support its existence), say, telekinesis, on the basis of scientific experimentation, without having somehow to have “experienced” the phenomenon. Simply having an experience or believing something doesn’t necessarily make it real. Just because someone has an out-of-body experience doesn’t make that experience real in the sense that the person actually traveled outside of his body. It’s simply an internal sensation. I might also point out that I did in fact believe in God until I was 16. Was my experience flawed somehow? <br /><br />I agree with you that our perception and understanding of the world are imperfect and there may be (and probably are) all sorts of things that we simply don’t know about and can’t imagine. But we are getting better--through science and technology. We now have tools that we simply didn’t have before and those tools have broadened enormously our knowledge of the world. And at each step our reliance on supernatural explanations has shrunk. There is no reason to think that that progress will not continue. What has worked has not been to rely on established authority but rather to use our reason as best we can, speculate, make testable hypotheses, conduct tests, and draw conclusions. We are so fortunate to have hit upon this system for expanding our knowledge of the world.<br />JOHN PHILLIPShttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06357524637192990158noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7251693339364322895.post-70827529057030731602013-11-14T23:52:31.594-06:002013-11-14T23:52:31.594-06:00Science, application of reason and one more should...Science, application of reason and one more should be added...experience. I think we need all three. You can tell someone with ice cream looks like, feels like, how it's made, which kind is the best, the many ways it can be eaten, etc. But until you experience it, your understanding will be flawed. You will not know the truth about ice cream. The same is true about God. You will never know the truth until you experience relationship with Him. That's like seeing a picture of a women and writing to her and deciding to marry her, and you do this long distance and never meet or talk. How would you know if she was real? The mail order bride that never arrives! Or a baby in a womb...how can you convince this baby that there is only a quarter inch of tissue between the baby and another world completely different and with so many possibilities and so many to love? What if this is true of humanity...we just don't have the ability to discern the world beyond?Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17878921756248563809noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7251693339364322895.post-66872282601641144392013-11-11T06:16:37.874-06:002013-11-11T06:16:37.874-06:00Your last paragraph is exactly the way I feel with...Your last paragraph is exactly the way I feel with my complete dependence on my Heavenly Father. Jesus Christ has changed my life and how I relate to others and how I live my life. Faith is nothing to do with being a good person. I am just a trusting in Christ for this life and the life after life. Thanks John, So well written.Wandanoreply@blogger.com