ence?
I am arguing that knowledge of God is innate.
Say you are watching Game A being played on TV and you know nothing about it, not the rules, no commentary, you can't even see the score, just the action on the screen. Through simple observation could you KNOW anything about the game? If you have basic knowledge such as, time, causation, ethics, and winning, but no knowledge of Game A is correct interpretation possible? If you have knowledge of Game B and you apply its rules to Game A, is correct interpretation of Game A possible? Now, if the mind contains the right presuppositions about the universe in general (the basic categories such as time and causation) and about Game A in particular, is correct interpretation possible?
My position is that knowledge of God is innate, but due to our flawed nature we choose not to interpret the data correctly, we apply the rules for Game B to Game A. Not because we don't have the evidence but because we simply like Game B better than A.
2007-05-31 10:49:16 · 9 answers · asked by HAND 5 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
I think that if we start by supposing that our Creator exists, then we have reason to make certain assumptions about the character of our Creator based upon our own character. I know right from wrong and I know that it is right to be loving and compassionate. If God created me, it is logical that he put that knowledge within me and if He did that, it is logical that He is the highest standard for love and compassion. I could keep going, but you get the point.
The flawed nature you mentioned is our inherent desire to be independent of God and accountable to no one. We will seek God if we decide within ourselves that our desire for His lovingkindness outweighs our desire to be independent of His judgment. It may not be a conscious decision but it is a decision.
2007-05-31 22:53:23 · answer #1 · answered by Matthew T 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I would disagree. Knowledge of god is not innate, or there would be no atheists and agnostics like myself. Also note that some religions contain many gods, and others have none at all (Buddhism, Yanomamo, etc)
You are right, however, that there is commonality in all beliefs in god, and I would argue it is emotional and psychological. It is certainly not "knowledge," as opposed to instinct.
So I could argue that all humans have the propensity for spiritual belief of some kind due to emotional or psychological reasons, but not that the supernatural exists.
2007-05-31 17:56:17 · answer #2 · answered by Dalarus 7 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Personally, I have never seen any evidence (valid or otherwise) for the existence of God in objective reality. I certainly do not agree that knowledge of God is inate because I think we are born with empty minds and are programmed by our parents and our culture. By the time we're mature enough to think for ourselves, most of us cannot help but imagine God is "obviously" real. A great deal of confusion is created by believers who are unable to descriminate between their own subjective experience and objective reality. I'm afraid I'm completely baffled by the Game A/Game B analogy -- (maybe cause I never watch TV sports), but I just don't see the point. Sorry.....
2007-05-31 18:10:33 · answer #3 · answered by Diogenes 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
What a bunch of simplistic nonsense.
People who don't believe in god are not 'denying' god. you cannot deny that which does not exist.
I have to wonder why that is so hard for believers to understand. Is it impossible to imagine that someone thinks differently and really doesn't see all the 'evidence' you attribute to a god?
It is not a choice to misinterpret anything. It is a simple lack of any proof that a higher power exists. A tree is proof only that a tree exists, not that some being must have created it.
2007-05-31 17:56:45 · answer #4 · answered by RU SRS? 4 · 3⤊ 0⤋
Nah, lots of people didn't and don't believe in your God, so what does that do to your thesis?
A need for religion perhaps exists, but this does not lead to knowledge of a God
Dawkins does a whole chapter of there perhaps being a genetic component to religious belief
Innate: the last recourse when there is no evidence.
2007-05-31 17:54:43 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋
Sounds like an elaborate way of justifying the time worn claim by Christians that atheists just don't want to believe or some such nonsense.
Does your "theory" apply to all the other gods, too?
2007-05-31 17:56:10 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋
I believe that it is innate as is knowledge of good and evil.
2007-05-31 17:59:41 · answer #7 · answered by super Bobo 6 · 0⤊ 1⤋
It's corruption of the soul from the devil man.
2007-05-31 17:56:18 · answer #8 · answered by G W 1 · 0⤊ 2⤋
this question is about as interesting as church.
2007-05-31 17:53:27 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 1⤋