"Philosopher Kenneth Samples has identified a set of truths that cannot be verified algorithmically or scientifically: logical truths, metaphysical truths, and objective moral truths. Some truths must simply be accepted to be able to do science at all." - Reasons to Believe
"...every worldview under the Sun must deal with the problem of pain and suffering..... having God in the equation is humanity’s last best hope of making sense of this issue." - Reasons
"If I was the world’s only Christian, or the world’s only kind of Christian, I would have good reason to question my faith....But it’s beautifully and wonderfully true that our God is the God of all kinds of people and that he is building a kingdom of young and old, great and poor, black and white, wise and simple, famous and unknown." - Challies
I moved on from our recent, very brief Facebook exchange, thinking it would never come to mind again. I thought, “He’s not even trying, why bother?”
But it keeps circling back. You made me think about how my beliefs might look from your point of view, and you asked a couple of questions that deserve answers.
I’ve decided this, though: I’m not going to try to answer your questions in the messy, more-heat-than-light environment of social media. Instead, a friendly open letter.
One disclaimer: I’m not good at finding things on Facebook once they’re no longer in my face. So I’m answering what I remember as the gist of your questions.
I want to offer a challenge before I dive in to my answers. You seem to be a pretty open minded person. You were open minded enough to consider, at some point, that there might not be a God.
Can you be open minded enough to consider how it could make sense to believe there is a God? Let me clarify. I’m not trying to change your mind here. What I mean is open minded enough to imagine my point of view and understand the basics of what I believe and why. Some atheists have gone to the trouble to do this with Christianity. (This article in The Atlantic may provide some examples.)
"This issue focuses on Bible prophecies that God has already fulfilled. The purpose is to highlight what God’s prophets predicted in advance which then came to pass. .... God’s Word predicted them clearly, specifically, and accurately ahead of time." - P&D
"it was the spirit of honest inquiry, not polemical argumentation, that prompted me to write the article, inviting atheist readers to respond" - Michael Brown
"To anyone who has been burned by Christians, I gently offer a simple insight: those representing (or misrepresenting) Christ are not Christ. You probably know that, but it bears repeating." - TGC
"Becoming and remaining a Christian requires a 'step of faith' rather than a leap of faith. And that step of faith is not unique to Christianity. Throughout life we do many things that require a step of faith." - Roger Olson
[Editor's note: Patheos is so ad-ridden now it's almost impossible to read an article there. I recommend opening the link in Firefox and enabling the Reader View (press F9)]
