Why choose the Catholic faith?

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Can you be more explicit on how you make the leap to 'prove that there must have been a non-contingent first being who set the universe in motion The best you could say here is that you don’t know.
You keep saying that I “don’t know.” I find this amusing, since that’s all you have to say when there is nothing left to say. You don’t understand what I am saying, thus you declare it to be illogical. That is not a way to go about a conversation.

Concerning the non-contingent being, I suppose you have now reversed your former opinion about the first mover? Logically, for there to have been a first mover, that first mover would have been non-contingent, because if it began the universe, it could not possibly be a part of it.

If you still don’t understand this, I’ll explain it in further detail.
I understand what you are trying to achieve, but it does not ‘make perfect sense for it to be a supernatural being’ I think your attempt needs more work, explicitly on the leap to there being a supernatural being. Why do you assume it would be a ‘being’. Why do you assume that it is necessary.?
We have already covered this part of the conversation; I’m not sure why you want to rewind. It is impossible for a natural being or object to create other natural objects by pure will. There must be a higher type of being to accomplish this.
Your positions strikes me as the ‘god of the gaps argument’ because we have not yet discovered or solved the problem of how the universe started, you ‘insert God’. That is the same argument no doubt, sun worshippers used, until man discovered how the sun actually works.
Starting with this occurence, I am going to begin counting how many times you use that same fallacious argument. Your “insert God” argument has been refuted by me and others about… oh, I don’t know, fifteen times, so don’t bring it up again. If you want the answer to that question, look up past conversations.
I am sorry dshix, but I contend that that is intellectually lazy. It reminds me of the debates with William Lane Craig, where he struggles to make the same contentions.

With all due respect it is not a logical conclusion, it’s wishful thinking.
When a person is not capable of understanding the premises, they do not agree with the conclusion. So it is with you: you have blinded yourself from seeing the premises, so the conclusion naturally does not appear logical.
 
This is what you believe: Science is the ONLY method we have for discerning truth.

You believe this based on faith alone, april.

I find that amusing. 😃

Just sayin’…

Now, if you can proffer some peer-reviewed scientific studies that demonstrate “Science is the ONLY method we have for discerning truth” then we can discuss those.

(Hint: don’t waste your time doing any searches on google. You won’t be able to find anything that proves your assertion.)
What do you mean by truth? Science just means knowledge. How can you discuss anything without knowledge of it - even at the simplest level.

I assume you are jesting - saying that I believe based on faith. I don’t hope for the answer I go looking.
I maybe be naive, but not blind.
 
What do you mean by truth? Science just means knowledge. How can you discuss anything without knowledge of it - even at the simplest level.

I assume you are jesting - saying that I believe based on faith. I don’t hope for the answer I go looking.
I maybe be naive, but not blind.
Science and knowledge actually mean two different things, if you accept the common definitions.
 
Now that is a great question! But what do you mean by ‘hard’ evidence? Like any attempt to study something we need to start with assembling what we know about the ‘spiritual world’, any ‘experts’ we have, interactions with the ‘spiritual world’, how it manifests itself and obviously develop a method of collating all the information on ‘spiritual world’ that we have and how to examine and test it’s veracity.

I can’t off the top of my head think of an application for this knowledge, but if there was, then maybe funding could be secured to develop practical applications.
How about you answer the question instead of presenting the distraction above. I used “hard” evidence in the same way you used it a few posts ago. Can you see it, feel it, taste it, hear it, smell it, measure it? (it = spirit)

Whether you see any any use for spiritual knowledge is irrelevant. It is knowledge whether you need it, want it, or not.
 
What do you mean by truth?
Ahha! So now you need to apprehend the discipline of philosophy, eh? 😃

It appears you are realizing that one needs to be able to entertain the discipline of philosophy in order to have a meaningful discussion.

To answer your question: truth is that which is reality.

As the great Catholic philosopher and theologian Thomas Aquinas said, "“A judgment is said to be true when it conforms to the external reality”
I assume you are jesting - saying that I believe based on faith.
Absolutely not jesting. Mortally, deadly serious.

But I do find it amusing nonetheless.

You are a man of faith because you believe something without a single scientific study to back it up. “Science is the ONLY method for giving us answers” can not be proven.

😃
 
You keep saying that I “don’t know.” I find this amusing, since that’s all you have to say when there is nothing left to say. You don’t understand what I am saying, thus you declare it to be illogical. That is not a way to go about a conversation.
With all due respect, I don’t want to humour you, by saying that I understand what you are saying that would be disingenuous, if not patronising. I understand that to you it makes sense. I imagine that it is hard if one is indoctrinated to think objectively.
Concerning the non-contingent being, I suppose you have now reversed your former opinion about the first mover? Logically, for there to have been a first mover, that first mover would have been non-contingent, because if it began the universe, it could not possibly be a part of it.
If you still don’t understand this, I’ll explain it in further detail.
I follow what you are saying, but it is classic pseudo science.
We have already covered this part of the conversation; I’m not sure why you want to rewind. It is impossible for a natural being or object to create other natural objects by pure will. There must be a higher type of being to accomplish this.
Again, I appreciate that you are bound by your doctrine and can’t stray to far from the path. I sort of admire your tenacity. But you are just fantasizing and not making a serious attempt at explaining the origins of the universe. But I understand you can’t deviate too much.
Starting with this occurence, I am going to begin counting how many times you use that same fallacious argument. Your “insert God” argument has been refuted by me and others about… oh, I don’t know, fifteen times, so don’t bring it up again. If you want the answer to that question, look up past conversations.
I promise to only bring it up when someone makes a point using the ‘insert god for explanation’ argument.
You can’t blame me for that. 🙂
When a person is not capable of understanding the premises, they do not agree with the conclusion. So it is with you: you have blinded yourself from seeing the premises, so the conclusion naturally does not appear logical.
You can’t call the imposition of a God into a theory as a valid conclusion - I would call it a delusion. You may as well say it was Elvis. You sound a clever chap. I was hoping for a bit more original thought.

dshix I get it, you believe what you are suggesting, I guess you have to. You can’t be indoctrinated and have the ability to change your mind. The church does not allow that, so it has to be more clever at distinguishing its position in the light of new knowledge. It can’t change its mind, because that would set a precedent that it could not cope with.
 
How about you answer the question instead of presenting the distraction above. I used “hard” evidence in the same way you used it a few posts ago. Can you see it, feel it, taste it, hear it, smell it, measure it? (it = spirit)

Whether you see any any use for spiritual knowledge is irrelevant. It is knowledge whether you need it, want it, or not.
Are you now arguing my position for me? 🙂
 
You can’t call the imposition of a God into a theory as a valid conclusion - I would call it a delusion. You may as well say it was Elvis. You sound a clever chap. I was hoping for a bit more original thought.

dshix I get it, you believe what you are suggesting, I guess you have to. You can’t be indoctrinated and have the ability to change your mind. The church does not allow that, so it has to be more clever at distinguishing its position in the light of new knowledge. It can’t change its mind, because that would set a precedent that it could not cope with.
If I can offer you a word of advice, I suggest you attempt to answer the arguments of others with something other than “you have to believe that”. That doesn’t actually answer any scientific or philosophical points. Of course this conversation goes nowhere if you do not counter the points themselves.
 
Ahha! So now you need to apprehend the discipline of philosophy, eh? 😃

It appears you are realizing that one needs to be able to entertain the discipline of philosophy in order to have a meaningful discussion.

To answer your question: truth is that which is reality.

As the great Catholic philosopher and theologian Thomas Aquinas said, "“A judgment is said to be true when it conforms to the external reality”

Absolutely not jesting. Mortally, deadly serious.

But I do find it amusing nonetheless.

You are a man of faith because you believe something without a single scientific study to back it up. “Science is the ONLY method for giving us answers” can not be proven.

😃
Ha Ha ! So we are back to the old chestnut that ends with - ‘we can’t actually prove anything’. We all know that, but it hardly moves the conversation on.

St Thomas Aquinas - Great - oh dear!! Sorry that was undeserved to say that, but it is always my reaction when someone mentions Aquinas 🙂
 
I hear what you are saying, but I still prefer old fashioned evidence. I don’t have faith in ‘scientists and their peer reviews’ per se, The beauty of science is that it can be tested. If something no longer holds true, then our knowledge advances and so on and so on. All of our knowledge is science. Nothing can be ‘outside science’.

At this point in human understanding, bodies don’t arise from the dead. Eye witness accounts are notoriously unreliable. I would imagine, even moreso after thousands of revisions over 2,000 years.
Our legal system, not sure about yours, relies on evidence and corroboration because eye witness events are unreliable.

I have a feeling it is not going to happen, which is a shame as evidence for a god’s existence would be a game changer.
And there you have it, Explaining away the evidence…

nothing is outside of science? prove it.

Revisions? the core of the church has never changed…

Bodies don’t rise from the dead? that is what makes it extrordinary!

Eye witness accounts are not ALWAYS unreliable. And there was corroboration

The evidence is there. you are rejecting it because it is not reaching your personal standards. You are pretty much saying how God should exist and behave. Who are you to decide that?
 
And there you have it, Explaining away the evidence…

nothing is outside of science? prove it.

Revisions? the core of the church has never changed…

Bodies don’t rise from the dead? that is what makes it extrordinary!

Eye witness accounts are not ALWAYS unreliable. And there was corroboration

The evidence is there. you are rejecting it because it is not reaching your personal standards. You are pretty much saying how God should exist and behave. Who are you to decide that?
I can’t see how I can explain away evidence - if it is evidence

OK OK Bodies arise from the dead.

I was referring to the Bible and it’s many revisions through the years. The one used in the UK was written 300 years ago by a large number of scholars, for example.

As I have mentioned in other posts - Science is the accumulation of knowledge. How can anything be outside that scope.
 
With all due respect, I don’t want to humour you, by saying that I understand what you are saying that would be disingenuous, if not patronising. I understand that to you it makes sense. I imagine that it is hard if one is indoctrinated to think objectively.
I am not indoctrinated to think any way. I have actually acquired my way of thinking personally, through reason. I found the Church to perfectly conform to those things I considered realistic.
I follow what you are saying, but it is classic pseudo science.
And that somehow disproves it? How, exactly, do you determine what is correct and incorrect? Your personal opinion?
Again, I appreciate that you are bound by your doctrine and can’t stray to far from the path. I sort of admire your tenacity. **But you are just fantasizing and not making a serious attempt at explaining the origins of the universe. ** But I understand you can’t deviate too much.
You know, the interesting hypocrisy here is that you have always made claims without providing sources for your claims. I can just as easily say that everything you have said is completely made up, simply because you have nothing to back up your opinions.

My tenacity, as you say, is not because I think you can be convinced. I have been pretty much certain you are a troll for a long time, because of the way you speak, and you haven’t given me any reason to get rid of that opinion. The reason I continue to argue with you is for the benefit of my own mental exercise and for those around me.
I promise to only bring it up when someone makes a point using the ‘insert god for explanation’ argument.
You can’t blame me for that. 🙂
Fair enough.
You can’t call the imposition of a God into a theory as a valid conclusion - I would call it a delusion. You may as well say it was Elvis. You sound a clever chap. I was hoping for a bit more original thought.
If you call the imposition of God into a theory a delusion, I will call the multiverse theory a delusion. There is actually less evidence for that theory than there is for God.
The other thing which is interesting about this conversation is that you keep trying to use “science” to disprove God. Do you not recognize that science and religion are two different things, and neither can exclude the other? Some of the greatest scientists in history were Catholic religious (gunpowder was invented by a monk) and many of the greatest scientists in the world were Catholic.

As a matter of fact, you may not believe it, but the majority of the scientific world today believes in a God of some sort, BECAUSE of science. That, however, is obscured because most of the outspoken scientists are atheists.

If you wish to convince anyone on this forum of anything, you must provide solid evidence for your claims, as we have. And by “solid evidence,” I mean evidence that pertains to the field in which we are speaking. Just as you cannot use a botany guide to understand astrophysics, so also you cannot use science to fully understand God.
dshix I get it, you believe what you are suggesting, I guess you have to. You can’t be indoctrinated and have the ability to change your mind. The church does not allow that, so it has to be more clever at distinguishing its position in the light of new knowledge. It can’t change its mind, because that would set a precedent that it could not cope with.
Don’t use the “brainwashed” argument. It is an automatic conversation destroyer. I use reason for my arguments, and almost none of the things I have said to you have been copied from an external source; it all comes from my mind.
 
Ha Ha ! So we are back to the old chestnut that ends with - ‘we can’t actually prove anything’. We all know that, but it hardly moves the conversation on.

St Thomas Aquinas - Great - oh dear!! Sorry that was undeserved to say that, but it is always my reaction when someone mentions Aquinas 🙂
All we are back to, april, is that you believe something based on FAITH ALONE.

That actually is something that the Catholic Church frowns upon. (But I’m guessing you didn’t know that.)
 
Only one note on this post: Science is an accumulation of NATURAL knowledge.
Nope. Science can study anything, the empirical, the nebulous, the philosophical, stars, planets, gods, ghosts, beauty, love - anything - there are no limits!! Open your mind
 
Nope. Science can study anything, the empirical, the nebulous, the philosophical, stars, planets, gods, ghosts, beauty, love - anything - there are no limits!! Open your mind
You fundamentally don’t understand what philosophy is if you think science can study it.
 
All we are back to, april, is that you believe something based on FAITH ALONE.

That actually is something that the Catholic Church frowns upon. (But I’m guessing you didn’t know that.)
I admire that you are doing your best, but I don’t. If someone comes up with new evidence or proof or a new theory that changes what we all thought up to that point, then we change our minds. I would to, even morality. The church sees that as a weakness, but it is one of the great characteristics of human endeavour - our ability to change our minds, in the light of new evidence.
 
You fundamentally don’t understand what philosophy is if you think science can study it.
You fundamentally don’t understand what science is if you think it can’t study philosophy.

There are no boundaries to scientific exploration.
 
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