Food for Thought: A Discourse on Deities

[Joseph Sweeney]

So I was eating my metaphysical cake the other day and drinking my decanter of philosophical wine -- as I often do on a Sunday evening -- while mulling over some interesting counter points to the argument from non-belief. It goes without saying that there were a good number of interesting comments on the subject to be had, but it was the not the argument itself (well, not ONLY the argument itself), nor even a specific counter-point that has brought me hither to the land of Scape.

Rather, I was struck by a couple of interesting discussion topics that I would like to explore more in-depth. The topics of interest are two in number.

First, I think there is an interesting contrast between theists who maintain that the existence of a deity is demonstrable and verifiable, and those that hold he/she/it can only be experienced or observed through pure faith or personal revelation. I am curious as to the beliefs of those theists on Heroscapers and just why you believe one way or the other, and what makes you most convinced of that which you adhere to. Does philosophy convince you that a deity exists? Is there a verse in the Bible that holds that faith is the only way to know god and hence you feel you can only believe in god, but not demonstrate his existence? Do you think that because god is not of our universe, he cannot be shown to exist by methods used within our universe?

Secondly, how do you respond to the argument of non-belief?

I'd like to preface the discussion with a quote from Blaze Pascal, "God being thus hidden, any religion that does not say that god is hidden is not true, and any religion that does not explain why does not instruct."

I have provided a hasty syllogism of the argument, as I need to go to the grocery store momentarily:

Premise 1: God is omniscient, omnipotent, and omnibenevolent
Premise 2: God desires for all souls to know that he exists so that we may be saved*
Premise 3 (from 1 and 2): There should be no reasonable doubt that God exists.
Premise 4: Reasonable doubt for the existence of God does exist
Conclusion (from 1, 2, 3, and 4): Either God is not omniscient, not omnipotent, not all loving, there is no threat to humanity by way of non-belief, or God does not exist.

*1 Timothy 2:4

Anyway, gotta dash because one does not live on metaphysical cake alone, but by real cake as well!

~JS, eagerly awaiting responses on the subject