More On Beyond Belief
I want to add my thoughts to BK's observations about the Beyond Belief conference.
I actually think today's militant style atheists do us a service by formally declaring their atheism to be a full fledged worldview. Like any worldview, it must explain all of reality including morality, meaning and destiny. The explanation must pass the two main tests of truth. First, it must correspond with reality. Second, it must cohere with itself ... that is, the presuppositions of the worldview cannot contradict one another. If you think like me, you cannot help but feel this is a good thing. As a Christian, I like to hear materialists attempt to defend the origin of morality or the meaning of life. As one commenter wryly noted on BK's Beyond Belief post, in one breath the atheist praises the beauty and majesty of the world ... and in another breath, displays a slide show if missshapen children with birth defects. So which is it? The more the materialist tries to make sense of reality, the greater the case for Christianity becomes.
Secondly, the mere name of the conference belies an important point. Beyond "belief". Christianity is lumped into the category of "belief". Science gets lumped into the category of knowledge. Supporters of naturalism love to divide the world into things we can know versus things we merely believe. This epistemological tactic is quite effective and defenders of classic Christianity need to expose it as a fraud.
Christianity is a knowledge tradition. Knowledge is true beliefs with logos (justification). Read Peter's sermon in Acts 2. "36 Let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified." [ESV] Catch the words there? Know. For. Certain. Does that sound like mere belief to you? In one sense, Christianity is "beyond [mere] belief" as well ... not in the sense of being incredulous, but in the sense that we are called to know God and know for certain that Jesus Christ was the promised Messiah.
I actually think today's militant style atheists do us a service by formally declaring their atheism to be a full fledged worldview. Like any worldview, it must explain all of reality including morality, meaning and destiny. The explanation must pass the two main tests of truth. First, it must correspond with reality. Second, it must cohere with itself ... that is, the presuppositions of the worldview cannot contradict one another. If you think like me, you cannot help but feel this is a good thing. As a Christian, I like to hear materialists attempt to defend the origin of morality or the meaning of life. As one commenter wryly noted on BK's Beyond Belief post, in one breath the atheist praises the beauty and majesty of the world ... and in another breath, displays a slide show if missshapen children with birth defects. So which is it? The more the materialist tries to make sense of reality, the greater the case for Christianity becomes.
Secondly, the mere name of the conference belies an important point. Beyond "belief". Christianity is lumped into the category of "belief". Science gets lumped into the category of knowledge. Supporters of naturalism love to divide the world into things we can know versus things we merely believe. This epistemological tactic is quite effective and defenders of classic Christianity need to expose it as a fraud.
Christianity is a knowledge tradition. Knowledge is true beliefs with logos (justification). Read Peter's sermon in Acts 2. "36 Let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified." [ESV] Catch the words there? Know. For. Certain. Does that sound like mere belief to you? In one sense, Christianity is "beyond [mere] belief" as well ... not in the sense of being incredulous, but in the sense that we are called to know God and know for certain that Jesus Christ was the promised Messiah.
Comments
"The more the Christian tries to make sense of the Bible, the greater the case for Atheism becomes."