The Fallacy of Absolute Certainity
Here is a superb article by Alister McGrath. It deals with the fallacy of absolute certainity with regard to any worldview. In it, he discusses the issue of faith as a necessity of all worldviews, including atheism. He also deals with arguments against the existence of God from both a philosophical and scientific perspective. The article is long BUT worth the time and effort. Let me know what you think after reading it.
Doubt and the Vain Search for Certainity
Doubt and the Vain Search for Certainity
posted by Michael D. Estes at 12:21 PM
3 Comments:
Great article. This is one of my favorite parts:
"To believe in God demands an act of faith—as does the decision not to believe in him. Neither is based upon absolute certainty, nor can they be. To accept Jesus demands a leap of faith—but so does the decision to reject him. To accept Christianity demands faith—and so does the decision to reject it. Both rest upon faith, in that nobody can prove with absolute certainty that Jesus is the Son of God, the risen saviour of humanity—just as nobody can prove with absolute certainty that he is not. The decision, whatever it may be, rests upon faith. There is an element of doubt in each case. Every attitude to Jesus—except the decision not to have any attitude at all!—rests upon faith, not certainty. Faith is not belief without proof, but trust without reservations—a trust in a God who has shown himself worthy of that trust. To use a Trinitarian framework: God the Father makes those promises; God the Son confirms them in his words and deeds; and the Holy Spirit reassures us of their reliability, and seals those promises within our heart."
Charlie,
Thanks for reading it. I, particularly, liked the definition of faith as put forward by W.F. Griffin. He wrote:
"[Faith] commences with the conviction of the mind based on adequate evidence; it continues in the confidence of the heart or emotions based on conviction, and it is crowned in the consent of the will, by means of which the conviction and confidence are expressed in conduct."
I thought that you would like the section that you quoted. Anyways, glad you enjoyed it.
Michael,
You know me too well.
Good thoughts, Ben. I agree.
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