timberlandko wrote:And again you rely on the exclusively internal, circularly referential validation of your proposition as existant wholly and only within its own canon.
Here's a challenge for you; validy differentiate between "Faith" and "Superstition". Mind you, that "
VALIDLY" qualifier is the kicker; you may not use theistic doctrine, dogma, or canon to do so, as to employ such perforce entails the fallacy of
petitio principii, thereby insurmountably invalidating any argument thus based.
You guys are having all the fun. Can I get in here?
'Course, all I can do is point in a reasonable direction.
I would use the description of faith provided by Paul in Hebrews 11:1: "Faith is the assured expectation of things hoped for, the evident demonstration of realities though not beheld. . ."
John casts some light on the meaning of this in 1 John 4:1: "Beloved ones, do not believe every inspired expression, but test the inspired expressions to see whether they originate with God, because many false prophets have gone forth into the world."
This is just my opinion, of course, but it certainly seems that the bible writers are exhorting us not to take anything for granted. Well how may we do this? We certainly can't test our faith in the laboratory, can we?
Well, you know how I hate long posts, so I'll have to curtail this argument after having made this point. Jesus, in the Sermon on the mount reminded us to "Keep on asking, and it will be given YOU; keep on seeking, and YOU will find; keep on knocking, and it will be opened to YOU. " (Matthew 7:7)
I submit that faith will stand up to the above scrutiny while superstition will not.
