Rank Amateur

thanks, just thought the actual stated purpose was worth a line, along with the various philosophical and psychological conjectures.

There also is a chance that Jesus is actually the Son of God, and the purpose of His Church is our salvation. Just sayin.

Thanks - pretty sure I don't know enough about this to ask anything reasonably intelligent about it, but I won't let that stop me. My very novice ques...

is it fair to say that this "framework" is an amalgamation of the acts of freewill of others. Can't a case be made - that all of the things that go in...

Like say Aquinas?

So many of these chats come down to what is fact, reason or faith. As an example. You are standing at your front door about to open it. You can not sa...

Amateur question - Can this determinism be viewed as a regression of a series of acts of free will of others ?

for some - the purpose is your eternal salvation

IMO one finds the way to God thru the heart, not the head. It is by faith, not reason. It is the place of reason to test what we believe by faith to e...

thanks all yours, FYI Kant has the classic argument against Anselm's OA. It is probably the least favorite theist argument, but I think it is amazingl...

You have the start of the OA there. Just in case for some. By definition, God is a being than which none greater can be imagined. A being that necessa...

with tongue firmly in cheek - I hope this helps. The pick a religion decision tree: 1. Do you believe there is a God ? ( Title for most perfect being,...

I think you may be reading more into the quote, than its intention. I think all he was trying to do was establish some blurry borders between the disc...

you are either a troll or an idiot, there are no other options

you have completely missed the point. No surprise of course

My statement is, one can believe by faith alone what one chooses to, with no further support, with the caveat that this belief is not in conflict with...

If it is not, it very well should be a definition of ignorance to dismiss, disparage, or degrade the beliefs of others, without any other basis than y...

There is absolutely nothing ambiguous in the statement it is reasonable to believe that God does and does not exist. Since it is not a matter of fact,...

p1 - by definition facts are. I.e. 2 + 2 = 4, the cat is on the chair, the earth is round. P2 - facts do not stay in dispute by reasonable, sensible, ...

argumentative is not a philosophical argument- a string of unsubstantiated opinions may be provocative but until there is some semblance of a basis it...

thank you for your opinions- when you actually make an argument in defense of any of them I will be happy to respond

Some may prefer Russell to Thomas Merton on this point. “Philosophy is something intermediate between theology and science. Like theology, it consists...

The title of the thread is disparaging. It was, and is telling, that I had to point that out to you.

Thomas Merton “Reason is in fact the path to faith, and faith takes over when reason can say no more.” There are 3 ways people can believe something t...

It was all those comments of yours deserved for a reply.

Telling comment Further telling comment. That was a waste of bandwidth Absolutely none of that is in anyway true.

Maybe I’m sensitive, but why is it such a common thing to use such disparaging terms to refer to someone’s beliefs. It is not a matter of fact that Go...

I agree - all such matters are theology not philosophy. IMO the only real philosophical discussion should be " is theism in conflict with fact or reas...

a point of clarity - the Catholic view on this is, the Bible is inerrant in matters of faith and morals, and its purpose is for our salvation.

Seems your definition of free will is akin to having a personal genie

Every argument against free will, is just a construction of a sequence of acts of free will by others.

If God does have a purpose what makes us think we could see it, understand it, and know it as such ?

don't think my argument back has any supernatural grounds. in some type of syllogism - P1 - I am in complete possession of my unique future. P2 - My u...

So a man walks into a bar and says, I bet you an elephant will appear at the door of this establishment it exactly 35 seconds. Do not bet this man !!!...

two of my favorite quotes on this issue, taken together they about say it all. Reason is in fact the path to faith, and faith takes over when reason c...

Seems similar to the concept of skeptical theism. Shouldn't we be skeptical of judgments on the nature of "goods or evils" based solely on our percept...

Agree, and probably should have qualified the post some. But in general stand by the point that each successive generation has believed in the truth o...

well played

the actual history of science is a very long line of succeeding theories - each proving the last one false, incomplete or seriously flawed. And an equ...

Sounds more like cynicism than wisdom to me.

I believe that both the cosmological and ontological arguments are the application of reason. The make a reasonable argument that there at least in on...

Working from memory, but believe the major issue with the divinity of Jesus at Nicea was if He was begotten. Therefore had no beginning. Also if memor...

Faith and reason are different, but not in conflict by definition. You do many things by faith. Each time you ride an elevator or board a plane is an ...

I think such discussions can be more than entertainment. I do however prefer to state the proposition as therefore it is reasonable to believe God is ...

we, or maybe it is just me, are not communicating well. I have no clue how any of that applies to what I think.

I agree with you both, that our tools may well be inadequate to understand such a thing as God. And this point is at the heart of skeptical theism, wh...

hope to chalk it up to that right hand left hand thing.

I am not sure I have ever heard of someone claiming theism, acknowledging omniscience, and benevolence but excluding omnipotence. Can you fill in some...

thanks, there is no inherent conflict between science and theism. There is no inherent conflict between faith and reason. The are conflict between rel...

My whole point on apostolic tradition was in ref to this. Your own point below on the quote from John also seems in contradiction to your point above.