is it valid to say "I dont believe in God"?

[Guest JeffCR07]

hahaha, I heart Anselm.


Are there more Anselmians around besides me??? In all honesty, I'm the only one I know... :ph34r:

[Paphnutius]

Havent you heard? Thomism is all the rave as of late!

[Guest JeffCR07]

hahaha, well, being an Anselmian, strict thomism is about 150 years ahead of my time

[infinitelord1]

[quote name='JeffCR07' date='Apr 24 2005, 09:29 PM'] I hope you will excuse that I am not going to add to the debate above, but rather, directly answer the initial question of this post:

St. Anselm addresses much of what you are asking about the Sixth Chapter of his [i]Monologion[/i], when he discusses how it is to be understood that God created all things [i]ex nihil[/i] or "from nothing"



In this way, we see that the term "nothing" or even the term "non-existence" does indeed connote, though it does not connote [i]some[/i]thing. Rather, it connotes a lack of something.

Thus, one must be careful in the use of the term, but the term can still be used. For example, if I say "pink elephants are non-existent" I should be prudent to qualify my statement. Rather, I should say "pink elephants are non-existent in material reality."

In this way, though the idea of "pink elephants" exists, by the use of the term non-existent I connote that there is a lack of real existence corrolating to the idea of "pink elephants."


Your Brother In Christ,

Jeff [/quote]
this is exactly the point i was trying to make

[infinitelord1]

well jeff.....you know another anselmian.

[infinitelord1]

you know....we will never be able to prove god logically. I dont even know why i sit here everyday trying to do this. It is fascinating, but i am starting to learn that it still will never be enough proof in my mind to actually say god exists. I think it is more probable that he does, but im not sure. I will never be sure, unless i personally had a physical encounter with him. I pray for this all the time......deep down i know it will never happen.

[Guest JeffCR07]

[quote name='infinitelord1' date='Apr 25 2005, 12:20 AM'] well jeff.....you know another anselmian. [/quote]
hahaha, nice to meet you! What all have you read by Anselm?

[Guest JeffCR07]

[quote name='infinitelord1' date='Apr 25 2005, 12:25 AM'] you know....we will never be able to prove god logically. I dont even know why i sit here everyday trying to do this. It is fascinating, but i am starting to learn that it still will never be enough proof in my mind to actually say god exists. I think it is more probable that he does, but im not sure. I will never be sure, unless i personally had a physical encounter with him. I pray for this all the time......deep down i know it will never happen. [/quote]
Anselm would disagree. He would say that belief in God cannot be possessed without Faith, and that, to some extent, faith preceeds understanding. However, he is quick to point out that Christian doctrine, and most especially the idea that God exists, can be shown to be logical.

This is because in Anselm's mind, it is [i]illogical[/i] to deny God's existence, but that doesn't change the fact that people do. This is why, in his mind, it is the Fool of whom scripture speaks when it is written that he says in his heart "there is no God."

Thus, the man without faith is illogical, but that doesn't change the fact that he is without faith.