Re: Call me a fideist

Hi Glenn,

Sorry to hear of your problems. Please be assured of my prayers for you
both.

Responding to Terry, you recently wrote:

"Ask any adherent to any religion if he has the true religion and he will
tell you his is the true religion. But of course, they can't all be the
true religion or God/Shang Di/Ahura Mazda/Jupiter... is psychotic.

I see only two ways out of this dilemma.

1. Assume your way out of it--the fideist position.
2. find the religion which tells you something real about tangible reality
which would have been hard for them to know. That doesn't mean that one
proves that a particular religion is the real one. It only makes it
plausible and the others religions which tell you falsehoods about reality
are excluded from being candidates for the real religion."

May I suggest a third way? It is this:

3. Allow for the possibility that God/Allah/Shang Di/... has provided a
superbly crafted "watermark" in his revelation - one that defies all
naturalistic explanation and is tantamount to a guarantee of His being and
sovereignty.

Such a distinctive watermark may be found in the first verse of the
Judaeo-Christian Scriptures - a tangible example of non-biological
Intelligent Design! Glenn, for reasons best known to yourself you have
denied the validity of this fact in the past. Will you not now reconsider
and accept this unique phenomenon for what it is, viz a divine gift for the
strengthening of faith (where it already exists) and for the encouragement
of faith (where it has yet to take root)?

http://www.nwcreation.net/wiki/index.php?title=The_Beginning_of_Wonders

Sincerely, and with kind regards,

Vernon
Received on Sat May 28 16:39:37 2005