tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11714522.post2576855194527840244..comments2024-03-27T09:11:00.450-04:00Comments on Incinerating Presuppositionalism: Is the Christian God a "Necessary Being"?Bahnsen Burnerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11030029491768748360noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11714522.post-71519326409964510522018-01-09T18:05:01.710-05:002018-01-09T18:05:01.710-05:00Thank you, Jason. That makes sense now.
- James Thank you, Jason. That makes sense now.<br /><br />- James The Trainerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08081873338558591648noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11714522.post-83941593358338774392018-01-09T10:29:52.994-05:002018-01-09T10:29:52.994-05:00Hello The Trainer! I'll give it a try.
Hays s...Hello The Trainer! I'll give it a try.<br /><br />Hays says that the idea "God" refers to a being that necessarily exists, and he says that doesn't mean he's defining God into existence. According to him, it means: only IF God exists, he exists necessarily.<br /><br />But that implies that God's 'necessary existence' isn't necessarily so: it's contingent on his actual existence.<br /><br />JJason mchttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04117753894806913150noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11714522.post-14265258000886678682018-01-09T09:23:04.278-05:002018-01-09T09:23:04.278-05:00“by including necessity in the definition of “God”...“by including necessity in the definition of “God” as a hypothetical condition (“if…”), doesn’t that confer a contingent quality to the notion itself and the argument overall? It is essentially to say that *by definition* only if a certain condition is satisfied, then the requirements for the categorization in question are thus met. But that means that the categorization in question is contingent upon that condition being met, which in turn means that the very notion in question – since it is so defined this way – is contingent on a condition being met, which may or may not be the case.”<br /><br />Can someone clarify this point? I’m struggling to make sense of it.<br /><br />Excellent post, Dawson.The Trainerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08081873338558591648noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11714522.post-35904842863803141272018-01-08T13:58:19.728-05:002018-01-08T13:58:19.728-05:00I think there is a sense in which yes, The Christi...I think there is a sense in which yes, The Christian god is necessary. For devout Christians, God is a major character in the story of their lives, which they see as holding ultimate meaning. As far as they know, no non-religious alternative way of thinking will satisfy that. So, God is necessary to justify their struggles.<br /><br />Christians often testify that Jesus helped them through some tough times. Their faith helped them, i.e. their convictions: 'this is worth the pain, for the glory of God' and 'If I pray for it, I may get supernatural help'.<br /><br />Faith like this probably evolved as humans' intellectual capacity developed, giving us not only increased survival ability, but increasing awareness of our overall personal powerlessness, the uncertainty of survival in the harsh wilderness, and the inevitability of death. That could be depressing. So, I speculate that a tendency toward some 'positive-thinking' irrationality evolved alongside the rational faculty.<br /><br />This hypothesis goes well with the observation that richer cultures are less religious. But still, rich people get depressed and kill themselves. Hell, Christians do too.<br /><br />JasonJason mchttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04117753894806913150noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11714522.post-15046716389262377832018-01-04T12:22:21.532-05:002018-01-04T12:22:21.532-05:00Happy New Year! Hey Dawson, thanks for this insigh...Happy New Year! Hey Dawson, thanks for this insightful critique of Necessary Being apologetics. Once again you show that the Christian god is not a Necessary Being but an imaginary being. Look forward to reading your thoughts throughout 2018.- Joe PattersonJoehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01261581774826680756noreply@blogger.com