So... do Athiests have a logical explanation for everything?

Question

Honestly, I'm starting to notice a pattern..

Any "rational" person would know that logic could never explain everything in the universe.

Many Athiests often say, "Religion was created by man."

Well, hate to burst anyone's bubble, but so was logic and reasoning.

I'll state this in the most neutral position as possible:

If Religion is faulty because it is made by man, then isn't logic also faulty because it is made by man?

If logic isn't faulty because it is made by man, then it would be perfect. And if it were perfect, that would define "logic" as God. Are you worshipping logic?

Sounds silly, doesn't it?

Science and it's theories and laws have always changed and been questioned, just as man has changed through the generations.

The Bible has remained the same.
And if you think the Bible has changed it's themes, why don't you offer the "proof"?
"Lack of proof" is a main reason for Athiesm.
You never knew Sophocles; you respect his teachings. What about God?

2 + 2 always equals 4. Human's didn't make up that concept.

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Yeah, they did.

Answer 1

Yes, this is all a pretty old discussion. It has to be presupposed that our observations about the real world are at least somewhat consistent with real world. If I see a tree, and you see a tree, there must be a tree.

So in evaluating science and religion, we can look to which belief system has rendered the most truth. Theology brought us the opinion that the universe revolves around planet Earth, that illness was caused by demonic possession, and that God created the universe 6,000 years ago.

Each of those hypotheses has proven completely absurd. And yes, you have to have some trust in our ability to analyze the truth of those claims. That's axiomatic.

Answer 2

you can prove "logic" it applies to an analysis that is based on a pattern that the mind can approach. A "map" if you will that people can follow to reach a conclusion based on common sense. Logic dictates that all questions be answered and adressed. It is ok to say "I don't know yet" or "we haven't found the answer to why that happens yet".

Faith on the other hand simply invents answers without any basis in rationality. The questions it doesn't know, are none, as it can take the liberty of simply inventing a convenient answer, then when proven wrong, they can invent a convenient reason why the answer was wrong the first time, AND why the answer now changed when it was contradicted.

Logic is not in fact "made" by man, it is ingrained in man, all men have logic and the ability to reason. That is what separates us from most other creatures, unlike religious people who seem to lack the ability to reason and would rather think like a lower level animal (notice I didn't mention chimps and dolphins as thier mental capacity is likely higher than the average religious nut, as they use logic to solve problems and form social organizations in thier respective habitats).

Religious fanatics on the other hand seem to have the mentality of swarming animals/creatures like ants and bees that simply live and follow the orders of thier queen. Guess what we can create AI equal to (possibly higher now) that level, you have become obsolete models. Time for you to be replaced.

Answer 3

Religion is not faulty because it was made by man. Religion is faulty because it claims to be made by god and claims to be immune from logical deconstruction.

The logical parts of a particular religion (e.g. thou shalt not kill) are accepted by those who have nothing to do with that (or any) particular religion.

The bible has, indeed, remained the same. It still talks about the stars embedded in a firmament that separates us from heaven. Still, I can respect the bible in exactly the same way as I respect Sophocles. Some of the bible's teachings are good, some are wrong, some are nonsense - just like the teachings of Sophocles.

Answer 4

Sophocles was a playwright. Reasoning can be mistaken, but logic is as universal as mathematics. A single person can misapply logic and be wrong, yes. Logic itself is not faulty, only the people using it. As a scientist, I'd have to say that science is beautiful to me because everything is always in question. No one in the scientific community is afraid to say "I don't know". Science is a constant search for the truth. Sometimes you find out that what was doctrine before has been proven to be incorrect by a new set of evidence.
The real difference between scientists and religious folks is that religious folks believe that they know the truth, beyond a shadow of a doubt, never look for proof and except no outside evidence to the contrary. They are resistant to new ideas and intolerant of anything that threatens to contradict their known set of truths. They lack the desire to find things out for themselves. They are content to accept as truth what was written or spoken hundreds and thousands of years ago without question.
There has been hope in recent years though. In 1991, Pope John Paul II changed the official Church doctrine and admitted that the Earth revolves around the sun and acquitted Galileo Galilei of writing as much. It didn't help Galileo, though.

Answer 5

We cannot "understand" anything in the universe without logic. We can accept it because we experience something, but we can't understand it without a logical test of premises and conclusions.

Atheists do not claim to understand everything, nor do they claim that every understanding they have is inarguably correct. But they do investigate, test and verify their assumptions about the world. In contrast, believers merely accept revealed "truth" without question or test.

Logic was developed in the same way that mathematics was developed, as a series of definitions and rules that operates with reliable consistency and identifiable limits. It is a tool for analyzing experience. Religion is a tool for regulating behavior and "explaining" what is assumed to be unexplainable, on the basis of unqualified authority and "revelation".

Logical principles have been conscientiously applied to theology, but there is always a faith gap due to the unprovability of the existence or non-existence of God. The best logical explanation of natural phenomena can fall before the discovery of an undetected assumption or the light of new evidence. But it picks itself up, brushes itself off and tries again, getting closer to the truth. Religion merely maintains that it is correct despite any contradictory evidence. One person's steadfastness is another's stubbornness.

Religionists have been known to use the tools of logic in their daily life. Yet many forbid their use in the religious sphere. Why? Does it represent "testing God"? If God created everything, what is the difference?

The Bible DOES change, within itself. The "jealous", territorial God of Moses is different from the foreigner-welcoming God of Ruth and Jonah. The God who prescribes exacting rituals for his worship in Leviticus despises such rituals in Amos, preferring the true worship of social justice. The God of Deuteronomy promises a reward to the virtuous and punishment to evildoers, in this life. But the God of Job and Ecclesiastes admits that many good people suffer and many evil people die old and happy. And that doesn't even cover the God of Christianity! Goes God change his mind, or does our understanding of "God" change? The words of the Bible rest securely in ink on paper, but they reveal a rollercoaster of "understanding" about the nature of God.

The "pattern" you are noticing is nothing more than an indication that atheists don't stop learning. In contrast, some religionists stopped long ago.

Answer 6

If I were to suggest that between the Earth and Mars there is a china teapot revolving about the sun in an elliptical orbit, nobody would be able to disprove my assertion provided I were careful to add that the teapot is too small to be revealed even by our most powerful telescopes. But if I were to go on to say that, since my assertion cannot be disproved, it is intolerable presumption on the part of human reason to doubt it, I should rightly be thought to be talking nonsense. If, however, the existence of such a teapot were affirmed in ancient books, taught as the sacred truth every Sunday, and instilled into the minds of children at school, hesitation to believe in its existence would become a mark of eccentricity and entitle the doubter to the attentions of the psychiatrist in an enlightened age or of the Inquisitor in an earlier time.

Answer 7

No. Logic is based on the laws of the universe. For instance, mathematics is one of the purest disciplines of logic. 2 + 2 always equals 4. Human's didn't make up that concept. They may have developed the language in which to express such concepts, but the concept itself simply exists.

God is much more debatable. There are a plethora of reasons why God may or may not exist, but one of the biggest problems with the concept of God is that it always insists on claiming to be "outside" logic. Try to logically discuss valid spiritual doubts with a spiritual leader, and they give you round-about, "you gotta have faith" style answers. True religion is the opposite of logic, and therefore can embrace any concept, real or imaginary, with equal passion.

Answer 8

so what you are saying then is worship god who was made by man THEN LOGICALLY HE ISN'T PERFECT! you obviously don't understand logic or theory do you? the bible has changed in many forms like wise the religion, i.e MUSLIM,Hinduism, Sikhism I COULD GO ON AND ON. its all based on the same thing. just written differently and DONE differently. hasn't this ever dorn on you? that your all worshiping the same god? and when has science ever claimed to explain everything in the universe? get you facts right first before you start to blab

Answer 9

No, not everything. There are some things we will never know, logically or otherwise.

You're absolutely right, though. Both religion and logic were made by man. The difference is in the results, not just that they are man made. You are confusing two issues.

First, it's not that religion is made by man, but that gods are. The history of religion shows them to be man made and not just some divine authorship. God wrote nothing.

Logic is man-made but has never claimed to be otherwise. It's virtue lies in its track-record.

Religion makes claims that it says are absolute truth, but doesn't back them up with logic or evidence. Science makes claims that it doesn't claim are absolute truths. It realizes that nothing is known for sure and just tries to verify whether they are true or not through logic and evidence. The latter is just a better process for determining how things work around us.

Answer 10

The Bible didn't change its themes, man changed it's themes, there was once ONE Bible, and then many people read it and rewrote it to what they believed it was saying, then we get to today, and there are so many different religions with different beliefs, that no one knows who is right, or if there even is a God, it really sucks, but it's true, people have faith and believe there is a God, but no one knows for certain, science changes it's theories on things as well, no one is silly for their thoughts, for one person to have a thought that is called silly by another, is just like the person being called silly, calling the accuser silly.