Brent Meeker writes:
> Tom Caylor wrote:
> > Brent Meeker wrote:
> >> An excellent essay. I agree with almost everything you wrote; and you put it very well. Would you mind if I cross posted it to Vic Stenger's AVOID-L mailing list. You can check out the list here: http://www.colorado.edu/philosophy/vstenger/
> >>
> >
> > Although Victor Stenger doesn't use the word "anti-natural", the
> > following equation is what he is assuming in his atheistic arguments:
> > supernatural = anti-natural.
> >
> > Therefore he thinks that a proof of theism would amount to finding a
> > violation of natural law. Since he finds no such violation (which I
> > would argue is a circular argument based on the definition of natural)
> > he claim this proves atheism beyond a reasonable doubt (what is the
> > measure of certainty/uncertainty?).
> >
> > In terms of Bruno's provability, this is akin to saying that a proof of
> > the existence of a non-trivial G*/G can be obtained by finding an
> > inconsistency in G. This does not make sense. This is like saying the
> > only god that can exist is an inconsistent god.
>
> A theist God (as opposed to a deist God) is one who intervenes in the natural order, i.e. does miracles. Stenger will readily admit that his argument does not apply to a deist God.
It's also possible that God intervenes all the time in a perfectly consistent
manner to sustain natural laws, such that if he stopped doing so the whole
universe would instantly disintegrate. This would make it seem as if God either
does not exist or, if he does, he is a deist, whereas in fact he is a theist. The
problem with this idea, and for that matter with deism, is that it is empty of
explanatory value. Ironically perhaps, it is God-as-miracle-worker which comes
closest to a legitimate scientific theory, albeit one without any supporting evidence
in its favour.
Stathis Papaioannou
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Received on Tue Nov 07 2006 - 23:11:29 PST