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God and the Philosophers

Faith & An Unreliable God

Patrick Wilson argues that it’s irrational to trust an untrustworthy God.

It is important for many theists to show that their belief is rational, and this often involves them rejecting obviously irrational beliefs. Holding that the Earth is six thousand years old is irrational because it directly conflicts with strong scientific evidence to the contrary. Saying that God could move any hypothetical object while at the same time being capable of creating a rock so vast that even He could not budge it is also irrational because the two claims are logically incompatible. Nevertheless, some religious claims are quite feasible. Someone who, for instance, thinks God guided the world’s evolutionary process or in some sense inspired human authors to write sacred texts can often reconcile their faith with an open and affirming attitude towards scientific discovery and analytical thinking.

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