***Eureka ... !!!

(Give the Man a Cigar ... !!!)

Jul 9, 2012 -- 6:57PM, JCarlin wrote:

Jul 9, 2012 -- 5:13PM, teilhard wrote:

You have essentially attempted to DEFINE "God" Out-of-Reality ...

Congratulations ... !!!

A trivial exercise, as ***you refuse to define God in any way real or not. 

Jul 9, 2012 -- 7:09PM, teilhard wrote:

I hold an "Empirical" Understanding of "Knowledge," i.e., that Knowledge derives from "Experience" ...

I DON'T necessarily IDENTIFY "Knowledge" and "Truth" but they ARE related ...

BOTH Knowledge and my UNDERSTANDING of "Truth" are subject not only to Personal Experience but also of course to Reflection (which is a TOTAL Thought Process that includes -- but is not LIMITED to or BY -- "Reason") ...

What method do you use to determine whether there is a God?  How can a person empirically know [knowledge derived from experience] a transcendent God?  

Christian theology taught that God is primarily understood via revelation (as revealed in Jesus and scripture).   Yet empirical evidence informs us that the scriptures are not historically reliable, much of it violates our modern moral conscience, and most of the details of Jesus life are completely unreliable.  The Wesleyian Quadrilaterial has only "one leg" left (reason).   Reason will lead a modern informed thinker to be a Naturalist.

A mystics inner light is not something that I can know for myself.  I would either trust that the mystic is gaining true insights or not.  Yet the mystics do not all agree!  What method do I use to determine (evaluate) the mystic's claims of receiving a revelation?

***My "Method ... to determine" [ ................. ] is the SAME Method I use to "determine" whether "The Flavour of a Quark" is that of a Ripe Strawberry or that of a Shot of Vodka (hint: it MUST be ONE or The OTHER -- It CANNOT be both, nor can it be NEITHER ...)

Jul 9, 2012 -- 9:36PM, Nino0814 wrote:

Jul 9, 2012 -- 7:09PM, teilhard wrote:

I hold an "Empirical" Understanding of "Knowledge," i.e., that Knowledge derives from "Experience" ...

I DON'T necessarily IDENTIFY "Knowledge" and "Truth" but they ARE related ...

BOTH Knowledge and my UNDERSTANDING of "Truth" are subject not only to Personal Experience but also of course to Reflection (which is a TOTAL Thought Process that includes -- but is not LIMITED to or BY -- "Reason") ...

What ***method do you use to determine whether there is a God?  How can a person empirically know [knowledge derived from experience] a transcendent God?  

Christian theology taught that God is primarily understood via revelation (as revealed in Jesus and scripture).   Yet empirical evidence informs us that the scriptures are not historically reliable, much of it violates our modern moral conscience, and most of the details of Jesus life are completely unreliable.  The Wesleyian Quadrilaterial has only "one leg" left (reason).   Reason will lead a modern informed thinker to be a Naturalist.

A mystics inner light is not something that I can know for myself.  I would either trust that the mystic is gaining true insights or not.  Yet the mystics do not all agree!  What ***method do I use to determine (evaluate) the mystic's claims of receiving a revelation?