tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5797034330399726254.post2881701313252595317..comments2023-07-22T19:09:38.803+10:00Comments on post supportMIKE: Dicky Deemikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03321272459192364067noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5797034330399726254.post-1990471230439074552007-05-22T12:03:00.000+10:002007-05-22T12:03:00.000+10:00I'm not saying he's understood the 'religious mind...I'm not saying he's understood the 'religious mind' rightly. I'm just saying that we are misunderstanding him if we think he is just going for the easy target (straw man).Mikey Lynchhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10778815574608699550noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5797034330399726254.post-40174073007860855472007-05-21T15:13:00.000+10:002007-05-21T15:13:00.000+10:00I'm not sure I understand you. So you think it's r...I'm not sure I understand you. So you think it's right for him to use extreme cases of the "religious mind" to illustrate his point?mikehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03321272459192364067noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5797034330399726254.post-72635509612829740052007-05-21T10:18:00.000+10:002007-05-21T10:18:00.000+10:00I have not seen the TV show, only read the 'God De...I have not seen the TV show, only read the 'God Delusion' book. I hope to blog my way through it as I give it a reread.<BR/><BR/>I think, to be fair, that Dawkins does have a more balanced view of the diversity within Xnty. Amongst the diatribe, he speaks respectfully at times about Xns he has had contact with. Most striking is where he describe how likeable and intelligent he found some millitant (ie clinic bombing) prolifers he once met.<BR/><BR/>We need to realise that what Dawkins is trying to do is not to build a straw man, but to find dramatic illustrations of the 'religious mind' as he sees it. These xtrme cases, in his mind, demonstrate what is endemic to religion, even milder forms.<BR/><BR/>From the point of view of a convinced secular-humanist- postivist-darwinian-type, *any* thought system that allows faith *any* place, even a complementary place, is an unjustifiable, and unnecessarily complicated, and ultimately irrational thought system. And from his point of view, he is right.<BR/><BR/>Of course, empiricism is itself is a metaphysical system...Mikey Lynchhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10778815574608699550noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5797034330399726254.post-12551689310468537842007-05-21T09:55:00.000+10:002007-05-21T09:55:00.000+10:00Is it right to fight straw men with straw men?Is it right to fight straw men with straw men?BSJ-romhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02304786061127486831noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5797034330399726254.post-60140284394087599132007-05-21T02:27:00.000+10:002007-05-21T02:27:00.000+10:00On faith and reason... we had a really great Doctr...On faith and reason... we had a really great Doctrine lecture by John Woodhouse which was about the uniqueness of the Christian understanding of knowing God. <BR/><BR/>I've cut and paste a bit straight from my notes:<BR/><BR/>Believing/trusting/faith God means believing/trusting/faith in God's word. To believe God is to believe God's promise in the gospel. Faith in God is a profound experience, but it is not a mystical experience. Some people think Christian faith is just a belief in the mysterious. Christian faith will always be partial. But faith is not based on what we don't know, it is based on the truthfulness of God to his word. It's believing God's word, not something mysterious. When God said to Abraham "to your offspring I will give this land". What part of that sentence was incomprehensible? He didn't know how it would happen, but he could understand it, it was intelligible to him. Christian faith is the same, the promise of sonship, resurrection, eternal life. None of this is incomprehensible. A Christian believer doesn't claim to know everything, but our faith consists in believing God's word, trusting Jesus Christ and the salvation that he promises.Bronhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17148165102738311880noreply@blogger.com