I’m pretty sure that religion and an Evidentialist God often don’t contradict each other. This article has many examples from Christianity, though I’m certain there are many more examples in other religions:
“Yet most religious traditions allow and even encourage some kind of rational examination of their beliefs.”
Which also says “from the earliest of times, Christians held to a significant degree of compatibility between faith and reason.” and Aquinas had a rule that ″an interpretation of Scripture should be revised when it confronts properly scientific knowledge.’’
Obviously pieces of the Bible can be used to justify any viewpoint, but I think it’s at least worth mentioning this one verse that points directly against the Christian God being evidentialist:
John 20:29 Jesus said to him, “Because you have seen me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen, and have believed.”
I see this as saying that doubting your faith by needing evidence is less noble that having full trust in your faith by not requiring evidence. In other words, true faith doesn’t need evidence.
I found this quote when someone pointed it out displayed at the front of a church, and regardless of its relevance to this conversation, I think it’s a fascinating verse, especially since it was considered important enough for this church to place in large writing at its entrance.
I think one takeaway is that given the stakes of the question- people should actually assess the arguments offered for each religion’s truth. It’s probably not correct to just assume a thought experiment (the Evidentialist God is as plausible as Gods for which there is (at least purported) evidence that many find convincing.
But if Evidentialist God is the most likely, we should dedicate ourselves to spreading Bayesian statistics or something like that.
I think it makes sense to spend a substantial amount of time researching religions. If you’re terminally ill, you should convert now.
Also, how you weigh suffering/joy probably matters. If Mormonism is true, it’s super-hard to go to Hell/become a son of perdition. So if you want to minimize odds of eternal punishment, joining the LDS Church may be less attractive. But they do have essentially tiers of heaven so if you’re more joy-motivated, research them!
Interesting. That passage could be interpeted very differently though like in favor of an evidentisalist God. (E.g. seeing is effortless while believing is harder and includes mulling over evidence).
I’m pretty sure that passage is in the context of doubting Thomas tho that dude was in a very different context. Instead of gods walking among us, we have many mutually exclusive religions vying for our attention. To have blind faith in one seems like a good way to end up in the wrong ideology.
As that article demonstrates, many experts in Christianity concluded reason is an essential guide to the correct ideology. And im sure they saw the passage ur refering to. So I’m inclined to belive them over some church you passed. Not to mention the strong evidentialist streak in other religions too.
I’m pretty sure that religion and an Evidentialist God often don’t contradict each other. This article has many examples from Christianity, though I’m certain there are many more examples in other religions:
“Yet most religious traditions allow and even encourage some kind of rational examination of their beliefs.”
https://www.iep.utm.edu/faith-re/
Which also says “from the earliest of times, Christians held to a significant degree of compatibility between faith and reason.” and Aquinas had a rule that ″an interpretation of Scripture should be revised when it confronts properly scientific knowledge.’’
Obviously pieces of the Bible can be used to justify any viewpoint, but I think it’s at least worth mentioning this one verse that points directly against the Christian God being evidentialist:
John 20:29
Jesus said to him, “Because you have seen me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen, and have believed.”
I see this as saying that doubting your faith by needing evidence is less noble that having full trust in your faith by not requiring evidence. In other words, true faith doesn’t need evidence.
I found this quote when someone pointed it out displayed at the front of a church, and regardless of its relevance to this conversation, I think it’s a fascinating verse, especially since it was considered important enough for this church to place in large writing at its entrance.
I think one takeaway is that given the stakes of the question- people should actually assess the arguments offered for each religion’s truth. It’s probably not correct to just assume a thought experiment (the Evidentialist God is as plausible as Gods for which there is (at least purported) evidence that many find convincing.
But if Evidentialist God is the most likely, we should dedicate ourselves to spreading Bayesian statistics or something like that.
I think it makes sense to spend a substantial amount of time researching religions. If you’re terminally ill, you should convert now.
Also, how you weigh suffering/joy probably matters. If Mormonism is true, it’s super-hard to go to Hell/become a son of perdition. So if you want to minimize odds of eternal punishment, joining the LDS Church may be less attractive. But they do have essentially tiers of heaven so if you’re more joy-motivated, research them!
Interesting. That passage could be interpeted very differently though like in favor of an evidentisalist God. (E.g. seeing is effortless while believing is harder and includes mulling over evidence).
I’m pretty sure that passage is in the context of doubting Thomas tho that dude was in a very different context. Instead of gods walking among us, we have many mutually exclusive religions vying for our attention. To have blind faith in one seems like a good way to end up in the wrong ideology.
As that article demonstrates, many experts in Christianity concluded reason is an essential guide to the correct ideology. And im sure they saw the passage ur refering to. So I’m inclined to belive them over some church you passed. Not to mention the strong evidentialist streak in other religions too.