Another clarification, plus one not-so-brief response

Jacob Stoltzfus Foos@studbox.uni-stuttgart.de
Tue, 06 Apr 1999 11:48:22 +0200 (00923410102, 3709D866.FF6@studbox.uni-stuttgart.de)


The not-so-brief response:


> ROHM
> Good, Matt! Now you just have to "make assertions" based on facts,
> evidence, and sense - none of these things come into touch with your
> religion at any point whatsoever.
STOLTZFUS As I understand it, this is called "begging the question." Please support your claim that no doctrine, belief, principle, account, or historical datum regarding Christianity contains any element of truth; and that there is absolutely no evidence in support of Christianity. Please remember that in doing so, you are effectively claiming that 2000 years of human thought and society are worthless, irrational, and ignorant. Further, you would be engaging in a peculiar conceit that has plagued modern man since the Enlightenment: namely, that since he is "modern" and every society, culture, system of thought, etc., is barbaric and primitive, the society, culture, belief system, etc., of his time is inherently superior and is the pinnacle of human achievement. I do hope that none of us here feel that way -- if any of you do, please record it for posterity so that 100 years from now you can be politely laughed at and held up as an example of primitive, barbaric thought. Of course, if you do hold such an opinion of modern man, you won't believe that this will occur. Well, don't say I didn't warn you! The clarification: Okay, moving on. I want to address this whole "burden of proof" thing with which I keep getting rebuked. I guess I still haven't adequately explained just what it is that I'm arguing for. To put it plainly, I'm defending the claim that the Bible is internally consistent in its teachings; particularly those regarding man, God, and the relationship between man and God. I am not arguing the existence of God, nor that of sin, nor anything else you'd like me to prove. I feel no burden of proof regarding God's actual nature, only that what the Bible says about God's nature is consistent. I don't feel obligated (or, for that matter, qualified) to argue technicalities of logic with you. I hope that you can affirm my value as a person, even if my ability to reason and use logic is not up to your standards. Of course, who knows, perhaps your belief system doesn't require you to recognize the value of every human? That would explain some of the remarks I've read. This being said, I leave it up to you as to whether this is an issue you want to discuss. If the answer is no, I won't bother you anymore. If the answer is yes, I'll continue explaining the biblical definitions and the means by which I can, for example, believe that Yahweh is good even though He authorizes the deaths of children. Perhaps if only a few people want to discuss these issues, we can go private and not bother the rest of you. I certainly don't want to be a bore with my sermonettes and ignorance of the principles of logic. Respectfully yours, Jacob