sidewinder

I would like to ask what you think of the philosophical theism. It's basically the personal belief in a personal god. I haven't found where philosophical theists have a set of doctrines followed by all philosophical theists. I read a book by Martin Gardener where he explained his brand of philosophical theism and why he believed in a personal god.

His underlying reason for believing is it makes a positive difference in his life. He admitted that this does not amount to the existence of god being true. Overall, he stated that it's perfectly rational to believe in a personal god. He also stated that it's rational to believe in the power of prayer and in immortality.

Gardner stated that it's impossible to prove or disprove the existence of the personal god. Those "tough" questions about the personal god, he is perfectly happy to call them mysteries (unanswerable)which we may or may not have answered in the afterlife. He does not follow any religious tradition, and if I remember correctly, he had criticism about some of them.

My question is: do you think it's rational to believe in a personal god of your making?

IvanK

I'd have to say that by accepting that there are unanswerable mysteries about something he believes in without proof, Gardiner forfeits all claim to the term "rational belief." Not to say that he and others haven't found a valid pragmatic solution, but what it seems to be a solution to is their own inability to construct a meaningful life in the absence of certain supernatural beliefs.

Samhain

sidewinder:

It depends. Does that personal god conflict with objectively true facts? If not, I can't see why it's irrational. It just seems nothing more than a childhood invisible friend.

Koyaanisqatsi

Is it rational? No. It is not.

Is it rationalization? Yes. It is.

More importantly, is it Freudian? Now you've won anything off the top shelf.

God and/or gods are nothing more than the Ego glorifying itself, while at the same time dumping all responsibility for the Id and all of the rules and regulations of the Superego onto an external construct.

A personal god construct is more healthy than a nebulous god construct (like the christian cults rely on), but it still just a bundle of denial.

Take it to its logical conclusion and recognize that you--we--are our own god constructs.

Why do you think the christian cult's number one trigger is that very concept? Just try it. Go into any christian chat room (hell, any "existence of god" room here) and type, "I am my own God" and you'll have hell fire rain down upon you (literally, if you are also a cult member).

[ April 30, 2002: Message edited by: Koyaanisqatsi ]</p>

Ender

I think the "God" concept is an expression of the fundamental nature of Man. One we never will get rid of because of our belief in grammar.

~WiGGiN~

Pangea

Looking for something beyond this reality to credit for this reality does not seem rational to me. Maybe I am not understanding the 'personal god' thing. If someone is looking for something inexplicable to pin 'ultimate responsibility for everything' on, they are not without faith. I see it as a form of denial.

Maybe it is like having an invisible friend?

Heleilu

I think the draw of an invisible super-powerful ally is very great. Not only can he/she save you from intolerable situation, he/she is also an all-purpose explanation at need.

Just out of curiosity, what does God have to do with grammar? There doesn't seem to be a correlation between religious belief and grammatical ability (except that some believers have a harder time with the concept of normative grammar).

Ender

Language is a metaphor for reality- ergo the Cartesian Self, as well as the "subject" are constructs of language and little else. That goes for God as well, by inference.

The ego does not exist- it is a fable, a fiction, a play on words, nothing more than a conceptual synthesis. So, christians as well as metaphysicians of the self hold a crude fetishism in the belief in the self and that it has the character of "being."

"The "subject" isn't given but something addded and invented and projected behind what there is." (Will to Power 481)
~WiGGiN~

Gar

I believe in a personal rhinoceros of my own making that keeps away the flesh-eating monkeys of my own making.