"Good God, [Ridenour] thought, if You do not exist - terrible God, if You do -..." (p. 50)
Many people believe that ultimate reality is a person whereas many others, including myself, believe that God is a personification. The most comprehensive spiritual philosophy in India acknowledges that some practitioners of yoga and meditation refer to the ultimate reality by a personal pronoun, "He," whereas others refer to that same reality as "THAT": personalism or impersonalism. Some people even try to say that reality is both. The Infinite has diverse and apparently contradictory aspects.
Are our lives controlled by many finite deities, by a single omnipresent, omniscient, omnipotent deity or by Fortuna? My friend, Andrea, has told me about Fortuna, a personification of chance. If there are many, are they manifestations of one? I want to give thanks for many aspects of life but the thanks have to be conditional. Fortuna, if she is in charge, is to be neither entreated nor thanked but accepted - and she favours the brave. Dominic Flandry does not prevent but at least delays the inevitable.
Thank you, John Ridenour, not for answers but for reflections.
16 comments:
Kaor, Paul!
And I don't believe in mere "personifications." And I do believe there is a real, actual Being Who is God. A God who cares about us so much that He acted and acts in the world.
Ad astra! Sean
Sean,
That is a belief. I fail to find it coherent. Persons exist in relationships so the Absolute incorporates all persons but is not itself a person.
Paul.
Kaor, Paul!
And I find arguments for the non-existence of God equally unconvincing. You find arguments for the existence of God as along ago as Plato and Aristotle and as recently as Mortimer Adler unconvincing. That means philosophic arguments alone cannot definitely resolve such ultimate questions.
Ad astra! Sean
Sean,
But we do not have to prove non-existence. Existence has to be proved.
Paul.
Kaor, Paul!
And I believe, philosphically speaking, that it's enough to demonstrate the possibility of God. And that is also true of the antitheist arguments. The conclusion remains: philosophy alone cannot definitely resolve such questions.
Ad astra! Sean
Sean,
Then what does?
Paul.
Kaor, Paul!
Not many philosophical debates can arrive at empirically definite conclusions. One of the exceptions being it is impossible to claim statements like "It is my opinion that 2 + 2 = 5 cannot be false because no opinions are false." Absurd, of course.
Ad astra! Sean
Sean,
So what does resolve ultimate questions?
Paul.
Kaor, Paul!
If you mean philosophical arguments, none. All that any philosopher can do is propose possibilities. Which might or might not be convincing.
Ad astra! Sean
Paul,
But I don't mean philosophical arguments. I mean what does answer ultimate questions?
Paul.
I addressed myself. But the question is to me too.
Kaor, Paul!
Judaism and Christianity proposes answers to those ultimate questions their adherents believe are true because of divine revelation.
I was limiting my comments here as narrowly as possible, limiting myself to what we can agree on, because I know you don't believe the supernatural is real.
Ad astra! Sean
Sean,
But I need to be given a reason to believe that the supernatural is real.
I do believe from testimony and experience that meditation gives insights into the nature of being and consciousness. Such insights are one kind of "revelation," whether or not the single reality divides into realms that can be differentiated as "natural" and "supernatural."
Paul.
Kaor, Paul!
If God is real a good reason for faith and belief in Him can be found in John 3.16: "For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that those who believe in him may not perish, but may have life everlasting."
Because of being Catholic I tend to be wary and skeptical of the "insights" to be gained by meditation. St. Paul warned in one of letters how Satan can pose as angel of light, to deceive believers. Which is why the Catholic Church is so slow to accept as genuine all alleged miracles or private revelations, many of which were rejected as spurious.
Not that meditation plays no role in Catholicism, it does! But we believe it has to be guided under the Church's authority.
Ad astra! Sean
Sean,
John 3:16 convinces no one who does not already accept the appalling idea of a blood sacrifice.
Insights from meditation are about perceiving and understanding motivations, actions and their consequences, not about preaching private religious doctrines or claiming miracles. I do not visualize or see visions but, if someone does have a vision of a Buddha speaking about the Dharma, that is a visionary experience like many others. It is hardly Satan deceiving anyone.
Paul.
Kaor, Paul!
You asked, I responded, and you disagreed with my reply. Iow, an impasse.
Not all visions or alleged visions have to be fraudulent or dishonest. But many will be, that what I was trying to say.
Ad astra! Sean
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