Treacle Worshipper

As I understand it, a non-cognitivist is someone who doesn't relate to the concept of god at all. In any way. They just don't get it.

Having been a committed Xian for a large part of my life, I'm now wondering if it's possible for someone to become a non-cognitivist. I look at stuff about god(s) now & it simply doesn't make sense.

Has anyone else had a similar experience?

(I think this is separate from reading some of the Xian apologetics on this board and feeling my brain cells dying.) (NB. Xians: I said "some". I obviously didn't mean you, so I must've meant someone else )

Well, I think I'll go & be tired somewhere else. Hopefully the serious point I started with has got through somehow.
TW

Arvel Joffi

Although I grew up in a very spiritual, kind of New Agey family, I've never been remotely Christian. So my whole life I've viewed the Abrahamic religions with a sense of bewilderment. I just don't get it. While I understand completely the concept of a spiritual aspect to our lives, I absolutely do not get this big old guy in the sky routine. Even the concepts of pure good and evil are foreign to me. There is nothing so black and white in this universe. (<-- Except that statement. )

So, getting back to your OP...um...I dunno. I suppose if it's something that your concerned about then, in your case, no. But if you get to a point in your life where it simply doesn't matter, then yeah.

Philosoft

All it really takes to be non-cognitivist about something is the realization that the concept you associate with a particular term is not (or cannot be) an accurate representation of the thing in actuality.

Example: a common attribute of the JC God is non-physicality. But, if you ask someone what mental concept he or she associates with the word "God," you might get something like, "an old man with a white beard, dressed in robes, holding a staff." Obviously, this is a concept of a physical being, and as such, cannot be an accurate representation of God.

In fact, a being that is non-physical cannot have a true associated concept, because of the way we mentally represent things. Really, the only thing the concept "God" contains thus far is a collection of attributes and actions. The old man those things are often associated with isn't God.