The other day, someone said that you can't bring in ideas such as soul when having a reasoning debate because these are matters of faith, they can't be logical.
I beg to differ. All of theology is logical. After all theology is religious philosophy. I dislike both the ultra religious who seem to think that philosophy will lead you to question God's existence, and the ultra secularists who think that religious ideas are all non-logical and unreasonable. To the ultra religious I'd like to say that there is nothing wrong with questioning your faith. It is good to ask questions about tenets of faith because it allows us to further strengthen our faith. In fact most priests have to do two years of philosophy first before they can even touch theology. Augustine and Aquinas are the Catholic Plato and Aristotle respectively. Islamic theology helped to ensure that Greek philosophy did not die out in the world. Logic helps us understand the awesome nature of God and his creation. So don't run from philosophy, rather embrace it and the questionings that come with it. Even the apostles doubted. To the ultra atheists I'd like to quote St Augustine: "Credo ut intelligam - I believe in order that I may understand." Theology is actually highly logical. I find theology to be more logical than some of the atheistic arguments out there. If you say that the existence of God cannot be proven (i.e. it is Axiomatic), and so cannot be logical, then I'd like to point out that Math also has an axiom. Zero cannot be proven by mathematicians, they accept it despite it not being able to be proven (i.e. axiomatic). Should math not be considered a logical subject? If math cannot be logical, then computing should be thrown out as well, since math logic is used in programming. Mathematics is by far one of the most logical languages available to man. For mathematicians, zero is an article of faith, for the monotheists, God is. Just because religion has axioms does not mean that it cannot have logical explanations to its beliefs. I value the use of logic and reasoning in all endeavors. I think religion is greatly enhanced by it, and I think science has benefited from it. To not discuss ideas like the soul's place in self identity is to not discuss an important part of that debate. So for those who think that some ideas can't be discussed because they have a religious taint, I say go ahead. Religion is grounded in reason and logic. It is those who blindly follow that end up deviating from the path a lot more than those who question as they follow.
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AuthorLate 30s. Dad. Thinking about life, family, work, and retirement. Sharing those thoughts with others Categories
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May 2018
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