Asha'man

I am 100% certain that Christianity makes claims that cannot possibly be true.

I am 100% certain that Christianity makes claims that appear nonsensical, but could possibly be true if they were clarified and revised.

I am 100% certain that Christianity makes some claims that are true.

So, what exactly are you asking again?

Hmm, lets try it this way: I am 100% certain that Christianity is mostly wrong. But then, what exactly does “mostly” mean? And how exactly do you define Christianity?

Eudaimonist

The burden of proof is on the shoulders of Christians, and I can't say that they even have me convinced that Christianity is a rational possibility that has a 1% chance of being true. (In the sense of showing rational evidence of perturbations in the orbits of Neptune and Pluto that might indicate a 1% chance of an unknown tenth planet.)

I honestly don't know how to calculate the sort of percentage you are asking for. It is asking me to speculate about that which I am ignorant -- which is asking me to engage in pure, rationally baseless, imaginative speculation.

Am I 99% or 100% convinced that leprechauns don't exist? I dunno. I just don't think that belief in leprechauns is rationally justified. I don't worry about proving that things don't exist. How would I do this without begging my imagination?

See my point?

[ October 25, 2002: Message edited by: Eudaimonist ]</p>

HelenM

When it comes to beliefs, I'm 99% rather than 100%.

Helen

Autonemesis

I am 100% sure that Christian doctrine is not descriptive of reality.

K

Helen:

Then we are in the same boat. It's just that I have one additional god out of the thousands that I'm 99% sure doesn't exist.

Psycho Economist

I think you're trying to open the door for a Pascal's Wager argument... that said, 95% certainty is good enough for science. It's good enough for me. (I can't personally put a number on my lack of belief; it seems irrelevant to me.)

Seriously, I won't accept any claims of a supernatural nature (for lack of a better phrase) until first ruling out 1) a natural cause for the phenomenon in question and 2) the fallibility of human perception.

For example, I'll believe in a ressurection (i don't care whose) when I know the pre-death physical shows the guy in question was alive and healthy; the autopsy records show he was dead, what killed him and when; and the post-ressurection physical establishes he is indeed alive, and is the same person (genetics, DNA, personality tests, et c.) he was before.

Anything less, and we run a serious risk being suckered by one or both of those two problems I mentioned earlier.

Yggdrasill

I am not 100% sure Christianity is wrong. And I am not 100% sure I exist. That sums it up neatly.

Mad Kally

I am 100% sure that Christianity, the Tooth Fairy and the Easter Bunny are wrong!

99% sure about Santa..

Grizzly

I'm also somewhere in between 99% and 100%. It's the skeptic in me. I'm 100% sure there are no square circles, but that's about it in the 100% certain category.

GeoTheo

Helen,
Are you into philosophy? There is philosopher, I can't recall his name, that wrote somthing on the "Fixity of belief". It kind of says people really don't like doubt and try to move away from it as quickly as possible. So I am not sure how being 99 percent sure of somthing translates into action. How would a persons actions be different in how they live out their belief if they are 99 as opposed to 100 percent sure? I must admit I have doubts but I don't know how long these doubts will last until I move into a firmer position. As it stands now I would say I am 100 percent sure about Christianity in some form but unclear on my position on certian doctrines. Yesturday I was probably 100 percent skeptical of Christianity the day before about 50 percent.
I don't know If I could consistently be 99 percent sure of Christianity. I think it would be transitory.