Why Should Christianity Be the Truth?

Oops, sorry about that.

Good question. I meant the objective evidence accepted by science. But you are right, I agree that there is such a thing as subjective evidence. Personal experience may not be sufficient for expecting others to agree with you but it is even more unreasonable to expect people not to go with what their own personal experiences have shown to them.

Hi Andrea
Sorry I was too brief with my last response. Yes, I joined the American Chemical Society after receiving my bachelors degree at Pomona College (1948). Later I received my doctorate in physical organic chemistry from the U. of Chicago studying reaction mechanisms based on the breaking of a carbon-to-deuterium bond. The details of these mechanisms depends greatly on a knowledge of the structure of liquid water. A great deal of research was undertaken in the mid 20th century to understand the structure of water–some of it was accepted for a time as suitably ‘explaining’ some properties, but not others. And, this far into the 21st century, we still lack a ‘Theory of Water’ properties that completely removes it from the ‘miraculous’ category.

Think of that: Science still cannot fully describe the molecule that makes Life possible!!!

There is a considerable fraction of Christians who interpret Genesis 2,3 as A&E eating from the forbidden Tree of Knowledge, which constituted Original Sin. IMHO, this constitutes the Ultimate Insult to a Creator who is All-Loving and All-Knowing. To put it another way: The attempt to use “scientific analysis” to support a Catholic’s belief in transubstantiation, is pure folly, regardless of the stated ‘outcome’. Does it lead to Salvation? To a life’s purpose?

As many a scientist before me, I realize that in pushing forward the frontiers of knowledge, I need Faith. I need to examine the work of my predecessors to see that it warrants a Faith that allows me to ‘stand on the shoulders of Giants’ fo move forward.
Wishing you the Blessings of Faith,
Al Leo

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Thank you for the kind response Al. Your message really underlines your study experience.
I don’t want to make anyone of you to believe in miracles, it is only a part of my belief that has its roots in Jesus Christ and his Gospel and not in healings or miracles. I was just saying that Catholic Church has scientific committees that analyze all supposed supernatural things and if a random fool goes to a priest saying “he sees the Virgin Mary” or something like that is before all checked in a psychiatric way than proceeding in the specific event…
Blessings,
Andrea

Regarding your original question I would ask what truth you have in mind. There is the what-truth of science and then there is the how-truth regarding the way human beings value and conduct their lives. Regarding the empirical truth of science there is ultimately only one correct answer even when that one truth is that sometimes light behaves as particles and others as a wave. But when it comes to the how truth of humanity the answers don’t cash out into ‘what’s’. In fact that truth is not even fully expressible in any fully complete manner. Efforts to express that truth are dependent on culture, language and each person’s experience. The adequacy with which what can be said will be found to approximate the truth must therefore be approximate and relative.

So when you ask if or why Christianity should be the truth you must recognize that you’re no longer operating in the empirical realm of what where the truth is confirmable in interpersonal ways. The mindsets and expectations appropriate to that question are different. Better to ask if Christianity is true for you and the community in which you live. If you decide some expressions are particularly apt, don’t rush to extrapolate too widely about who will share your appraisal.

Ultimately we are the weak link. The truth is larger than us. Whatever we manage to say of it will fall short. But if some ways to say it strike gold for you, go with it. But never think of it as your possession, it will never be reducible to a concept. You may have to go on refashioning the words with which you keep it alive for you. Fortunately as Christians you have an enormous book of rich stories which give you many places to take hold, perhaps enough to last a lifetime?

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I agree with you.
Before making questions about if God exists/Christianity is the truth/is God omnipotent…
We have before to do an act of humility on facts. These facts are summarized by Hawking
“We are just an advanced breed of monkeys on a minor planet of a very average star. But we can understand the Universe. That makes us something very special.”
He gave the answer to this as a coincidence formed over billions of years, I call it God’s plan on humanity … And this doesn’t mean that we are the only species that can understand the universe! I am strongly convinced that other intelligent forms of life exist(and have existed) in the universe, making the same questions of us and trying to find God in their way! How we are small and insignificant amazes me :open_mouth:

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I believe in fine-tuning, not that it can be proven at all, but I do like this counter to the self-selection effect objection:
 

Also, with regard to fine-tuning and the wasted space objection (and the likelihood of life elsewhere), this works for me…

 
It also is an argument against YECism (which belittles the import of Psalm 8:4), not only because of the vastness of the size of the universe, but also because of the vastness of its antiquity.

What is man, that you are mindful of him?[!]

That is a poor analogy. The universe isn’t anywhere near so fine tuned as that. 99.5% of planets in our region of space cannot support life, and there are many regions of the universe where life is impossible. Besides even where it is possible it is not like the place is fine tuned to support life, it is life which adapts to fit the environment not the other way around.

I do think God designed the the laws of the universe to support life, but that is a very different thing from saying that God designed the universe itself (its contents) to support life.

Have a nice day, Dr. McKain.

The laws are not designed. They are prevenient of the ground of being.

I certainly believe in prevenient grace in the sense of God acting to liberate our free will so we can make a choice. But no I don’t believe in any of this ground of being Paul Tillich stuff.

Christ rose from the dead or he didn’t. Other than some deeply philosophical stuff attributed to him I’m not sure how you parse it out. Either a moment in history happened or it didn’t… that is the fulcrum point as far as I’m concerned. The rest is feelings.

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