How to Consider Belief in God

[philothea]

I was raised atheist, and I am an overly analytical person, so I have this thought process. I tried to discuss it with a bunch of science fiction writers but no one would talk to me. Maybe I'll have better luck here.

A flow chart would work best, but I'll see what text can do.

1) Do you belive that the supernatural is possible? (By supernatural I mean that which cannot be scientifically studied, things which do not produce a consistent cause -> effect relationship.)

If you say "no", then you are an atheist, and even if God himself shows up for tea, and raises all your great-grandparents from the dead in your presence, you'll assume you've gone insane and dismiss what you've seen. And, of course, anything else supernatural is out: luck, astrology, psychics, etc.

If you say that the supernatural is possible....

2) Would personal experience be the only thing that could cause you to belive in something supernatural?

If you say "yes", then you're an agnostic. If your best friend, your mom, and your dog all told you that something miraculous just happened while you were (oops) off in the bathroom, you wouldn't believe it because you weren't there. (Ref: St. Thomas the Apostle). You might want to consider going to some places where people have had conversion experiences, or try an occasional prayer of "if you're out there, you better let me know..." It would, after all, smell of elderberries to be wrong in this sort of thing.

3) If you say that something other than a direct, personal experience of the supernatural might convince you, well... then it gets more complicated. Whose testimony would you believe? What criteria would you use to analyze it?

Things (IMO) to look for:

- self-consistency
- testimony from people you find (otherwise) admirable
- evidence of miracles (hey, why not?)
- historical correlation
- application to your own life

Analyze any supernatural beliefs in this sort of way.

Of course, if you're raised with certain beliefs, this doesn't work the same, but still, it's good to think about why you believe what you do.

[Thy Geekdom Come]

[quote name='philothea' date='Apr 14 2005, 07:43 PM'] If your best friend, your mom, and your dog all told you that something miraculous just happened... [/quote]
If my dog tells me that something miraculous happened, I would say, "no kidding!"

[philothea]

[quote name='Raphael' date='Apr 14 2005, 07:05 PM'] If my dog tells me that something miraculous happened, I would say, "no kidding!" [/quote]
Hee hee.

[Semalsia]

[quote name='Philothea']Do you belive that the supernatural is possible?[/quote]

No. If supernatural were to exist that would make it natural. And therefore in the realm of science. (=> God would have to work in the realm of science)


[quote name='Philothea']even if God himself shows up for tea, and raises all your great-grandparents from the dead in your presence, you'll assume you've gone insane and dismiss what you've seen.[/quote]

I would not discard that possibility. However, there are other explanations. What I'm seeing might be really happening, but that doesn't mean it's God who is talking to me. I would not immediately assume it has to be God.