41
votes
Why do non-LDS Christians accept the testimonies of the apostles but reject the testimonies of the 3 & 8 witnesses to the golden plates?
For those who have 'discovered' the Jesus of the Bible, resurrected from the dead and alive today, they swiftly spot that the Jesus of Joseph Smith is not the same Jesus. He is claimed to be the first ...
- 26.9k
34
votes
Accepted
How do Christians rebut Matt Dillahunty's objection that the resurrection of Jesus is untestable, unfalsifiable and thus unreasonable to believe?
Dillahunty's argument is self-refuting.
He commits the error inherent to all forms of verificationism. A simple, jargon-free description of verificationist principles would be: "you shouldn't ...
- 11.2k
32
votes
Accepted
If all demons are believers, then why are some humans atheists?
I imagine it's hard not to believe in the supernatural when you yourself are a supernatural entity.
Greater evil by no means necessitates greater unbelief; while we know very little about demons, they ...
- 1,678
14
votes
Believing that Christianity is "probably" true vs. being fully convinced that Christianity is definitely true?
Preliminaries
Having no philosophy / theology degree, but as an amateur aspiring to be a Christian epistemologist, I will share in this answer a way for a rational person who, after intellectually ...
- 22.2k
11
votes
Why do non-LDS Christians accept the testimonies of the apostles but reject the testimonies of the 3 & 8 witnesses to the golden plates?
Even if we accept that Joseph Smith received the golden plates as LDS describes it, neither LDS adherents nor skeptics can verify the translation.
Contrast this with Bible believing Christians, any of ...
- 464
10
votes
Why do non-LDS Christians accept the testimonies of the apostles but reject the testimonies of the 3 & 8 witnesses to the golden plates?
It is simplistic to suppose that a choice is being made by certain Christians to believe the testimony of twelve Israelites in the middle of the first century or to believe the testimony of eleven men ...
- 23.6k
9
votes
How can Protestants authoritatively declare something wrong or heretical under Sola Scriptura?
Speaking as a lifelong Protestant, I would say that in genuine Protestantism, the Head of every man is Christ. There is no hierarchy. None is above another. The greatest is as the least. But it is ...
- 23.6k
7
votes
Why do non-LDS Christians accept the testimonies of the apostles but reject the testimonies of the 3 & 8 witnesses to the golden plates?
Me and my friend made an effort to read the Book of Mormon. Of the many things I could say, one is pretty strong. A miraculous translation should not produce bad grammar; neither should it produce ...
- 329
7
votes
How do Christians rebut Matt Dillahunty's objection that the resurrection of Jesus is untestable, unfalsifiable and thus unreasonable to believe?
I'd suppose that the same arguments regarding existence might be made about Confucious, Plato, Melchizedek, Nero, and other historical figures. But what are counter arguments?
You might look for ...
- 13k
7
votes
How do Christians rebut Matt Dillahunty's objection that the resurrection of Jesus is untestable, unfalsifiable and thus unreasonable to believe?
Apart from the point about the argument being self-refuting from another answer, this argument proves too much. By the author's logic, the claim that George Washington used to be President of the ...
7
votes
Believing that Christianity is "probably" true vs. being fully convinced that Christianity is definitely true?
There remains a type of epistemic distance, in the evidence for the Christian faith, that is sufficient but not exhaustive. That distance is there for a reason. It's to avoid coercion.
The evidence ...
- 3,447
7
votes
If all demons are believers, then why are some humans atheists?
The text in question states that "even the demons believe" not that "all demons believe." One can certainly picture atheistic spirits wandering in the nether gloom, perhaps unware ...
- 5,180
7
votes
Accepted
How do Christians who believe in a witness of the Holy Spirit via thoughts & feelings respond to the claim that thoughts & feelings are unreliable?
Thoughts
When I encounter the claim that thoughts are unreliable, my response is:
Do you think so?
Is that thought reliable?
Descarte's famous line cogito ergo sum is part of his argument that one ...
- 11.2k
6
votes
How can Protestants authoritatively declare something wrong or heretical under Sola Scriptura?
How can Protestants authoritatively declare something as wrong or heretical under Sola Scriptura?
Actually, we have a perfect example in Jesus. Jesus, when he lived on earth as a man, constantly ...
- 3,270
6
votes
Why do non-LDS Christians accept the testimonies of the apostles but reject the testimonies of the 3 & 8 witnesses to the golden plates?
A Christian is one who has believed the testimony of the Scriptures concerning the Lord Jesus Christ and has thus received the testimony that God has given regarding his only begotten Son. By ...
- 14.7k
6
votes
Do any Christian groups or denominations teach reliable methods for scientifically minded individuals to seek and find God?
The "proof" of God's existence is that anything exists at all. I understand that there are many refutations of the ontological argument and that this will not satisfy the purely scientific ...
- 14.7k
6
votes
How do Latter-day Saints rebut GM Skeptic's objection against the epistemic value of personal spiritual experiences?
On GM Skeptic's main argument seems to be that religious experiences are simply the result of brain activity under special circumstances
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints believe that ...
- 8,697
5
votes
Accepted
Is there a name for a category of Christians who lack a doctrinal position in the debate about God's nature?
Christians have been around for 2000 years. We would think surely there is already a label out there that answers your question?
Short answer: Deist is the closest, with Thomas Jefferson as a famous ...
- 22.2k
5
votes
Why do Cessationists consider recent testimonial evidence for the gifts of the Spirit less reliable than 2000-year-old evidence for the resurrection?
There is no reference to tongues/healings/miracles in the pastoral epistles nor the later writings of John. References to Pentecost are about the utterance of foreign, earthly, languages.
Then no ...
- 23.6k
5
votes
Why do non-LDS Christians accept the testimonies of the apostles but reject the testimonies of the 3 & 8 witnesses to the golden plates?
because this is one of the positive arguments for the divine inspiration of the Book of Mormon -- which should be of the utmost importance if it happens to be the case.
Over and over in the Bible ...
5
votes
How do creationists address the similarity between Irreducible Complexity and God Of The Gaps?
Fair question. But your construction of the IC argument doesn't quite capture its essence. IC doesn't say "We don't know how it would work with only 9, therefore God." Rather, it says, "This complex ...
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5
votes
How do Christians rebut Matt Dillahunty's objection that the resurrection of Jesus is untestable, unfalsifiable and thus unreasonable to believe?
Centuries ago people argued about whether the parallel line postulate (parallel lines never meet) could be proved using the other axioms of geometry. It was finally proven that you cannot. If you ...
- 11.4k
5
votes
Accepted
How do Latter-day Saints rebut GM Skeptic's objection against the epistemic value of personal spiritual experiences?
Logical fallacies
This argument commits:
Circular reasoning--personal experience is used as a premise to argue for a conclusion about the validity of personal experience
Self-refutation--personal ...
- 11.2k
5
votes
What is our Protestant apologetic outline when somebody says faith & science cannot be mixed?
My response is to mention that I have a book here called, "Inventing the Universe - Why we can't stop talking about science, faith and God" by Alister McGrath. The blurb on this books says ...
- 26.9k
5
votes
Accepted
What is an overview of Christian epistemological views on scientific skepticism and the epistemic value of eyewitness testimony?
I'll offer a perspective that is compatible with many Christian denominations, though I would not claim it is representative of what all Christians believe.
Respect for skepticism
I have some ...
- 11.2k
5
votes
Accepted
How do Christians define knowledge and faith?
Short answer
In the context of your Q, comparing "faith" vs. "knowledge" as defined in the Q is like comparing apple and orange:
The "intellectual content" of a person's ...
- 22.2k
4
votes
Accepted
What is the source of Paul's issues with Sophistry?
The translation you quoted came from Weymouth New Testament, the only one using the word "sophistry" to translate the phrase "τίς ὑμᾶς ἐβάσκανεν ⧼τῇ ἀληθείᾳ μὴ πείθεσθαι⧽" (who ...
- 22.2k
4
votes
How can Protestants authoritatively declare something wrong or heretical under Sola Scriptura?
When you start by claiming, “Within Protestantism there is no universal definition of theology or how to understand the Bible…” that risks distortion of the facts. Good though the question is, it ...
- 26.9k
4
votes
Accepted
What positions with regard to epistemology exist in Catholicism?
There is actually an encyclical devoted almost entirely to this topic, St. John Paul II’s Fides et ratio, published in 1998.
In that encyclical, John Paul sets down some essential principles for ...
- 13.2k
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