Recent content by ug333

I agree, you didn't. That's why I posed it as a question, as I thought it might be implied but I was far from certain. So perhaps you can clarify what you meant in that last paragraph. Because I wasn't quite clear. Thanks!

Because there are multiple books all claiming such evidence. Because literally any idea could be written down on paper, that doesn't make any idea true. An historical document may be sufficient evidence to believe the mundane from a physical perspective (A man existed named Julius caesar) but I...

I would believe a claim with sufficient evidence. A well documented amputee being healed would be very convincing that something is going on to me and to MANY skeptics, and it wouldn't have to be personal to me at all. Several of them would be unquestionable evidence of something amazing. Yet...

I never said I dismissed it. I said it wasn't sufficient to be convincing. It's reasonable to assume that there is an explanation for the universe's existence. It's not reasonable to assume that we have that explanation without sufficient evidence. And so long as we don't have that evidence...

I never said anything about worship. I'm just talking about belief. Belief is necessary but not sufficient for worship. But if I was convinced that a deity existed, and I was further convinced that it was a trustworthy moral guide and worthy of worship, I would trust it and worship it.

I think it is far more reasonable to admit we don't know anything about the universe before the big bang, because we have nothing beyond hypothesis. So I don't believe it came from something or came from nothing. I really just don't know. It's not about which one is more reasonable, because I...

Wow, there was a LOT posted in my absence. Thank you all for taking the time to help me explore these ideas. I will attempt to explain why the general themes here have failed to persuade me in the past, because responding individually would be difficult. But there are a LOT of great posts here...

I do not believe that something came from nothing, nor do I believe in eternal existence. I simply don't have an opinion about what came before the big bang, if such a concept is even cohesive. Those things are beyond our current understanding of the universe. As such, it's an acceptable...

So far I have only been in discussion with Christians, largely because of my personal background. I have investigated other faiths when I was de-converting and didn't find any evidence that made them more convincing that Christianity. The short and simple answer of what I found problematic was...

This is the kind of argument that will never convince me. You are convinced I wasn't a real Christian before. At the time, I certainly was convinced that i was a real Christian, and that I had a personal and transformative relationship with Jesus. Since I don't know what you experience, and you...

There is no evidence of the laws of thermodynamics being violated that I am aware of. The shorthand "order from disorder" is just that, a shorthand. The only outstanding question I am aware of regards the state of the universe prior to the big bang. And, quite simply, we don't know. That is...

So long as the religion interacts with the natural world, I think methodological naturalism can provide us evidence. The supernatural forces can never directly be tested, but they can be indirectly tested. Of course with methodological naturalism, there will always be the response "we don't...

To me, there is a fatal flaw in this logic. Let's say I were to take a true historical account with many verifiable points and edit it to add something that is supernatural? Would the validity of the rest of the account serve to justify belief in the supernatural claim? For me, it would not. I...

By no means is the a deepity. I agree with your assessment, all things begin with epistemology. My approach focuses on the axiom that reality exists. I further assume that my senses provide me a reasonable approximation of reality. From there, I attempt to minimize assumptions when discussing...

An open call for evidence I've created the thread above. Please come on over and let's talk!!