Objection 2:
(A) If the God of evangelical Christianity were to exist, then:
(C) Thus, if the God of evangelical Christianity were to exist, then he would probably prevent Christians from becoming confused or conflicted about matters that are the subject of G-beliefs.
(D) But some Christians are confused about such matters.
(E) And many Christians disagree with one another about such matters.
(F) Therefore [from D & E], Christians have not been prevented from becoming confused or conflicted about matters that are the subject of G-beliefs.
(G) Hence [from C & F], probably the God of evangelical Christianity does not exist.
(A) If the God of evangelical Christianity were to exist, then:
- He would love all Christians and want a personal relationship with them.
- People would need to have G-beliefs (among other things) in order to have the sort of relationship with God that he would want them to have.
(C) Thus, if the God of evangelical Christianity were to exist, then he would probably prevent Christians from becoming confused or conflicted about matters that are the subject of G-beliefs.
(D) But some Christians are confused about such matters.
(E) And many Christians disagree with one another about such matters.
(F) Therefore [from D & E], Christians have not been prevented from becoming confused or conflicted about matters that are the subject of G-beliefs.
(G) Hence [from C & F], probably the God of evangelical Christianity does not exist.
Evangelical Christianity=Handbook Model & 'Personal Relationship Model'
Handbook Model: The Bible teaches doctrine and morals with every affirmation that it makes, so that together those affirmations comprise something like a handbook or textbook for Christian belief and living, a compendium of divine and therefore inerrant teachings on a full array of subjects. This implies that all matters of Christian belief and practice can be learned by sitting down with the Bible and piecing together through careful study the clear ‘biblical’ truths that it teaches.
Personal Relationship Model: We can have a personal relationship with Jesus, or God, patterned after a relationship with a spouse. This kind of relationship would require a certain number of G-beliefs, and so if God didn't 'clearly' reveal such G-beliefs in the Bible, it would be surprising to think that evangelical Christianity is correct in this respect as well.
Thus, what this argument shows is that the Handbook Model of the Bible, and the 'Spousal' Personal Relationship Model espoused (no pun intended) by EVANGELICAL Christianity is false, but this argument doesn’t show that Christianity is false. In order to show that Christianity is false, you would have to show that God does not exist and/or that Jesus was not the Messiah.
The following rough draft contains my response to the above argument specifically (although condensed into different premises) and also the materials for other arguments from confusion (i.e. the argument from ethical confusion, or doctrinal confusion, and Loftus' argument etc.):
Handbook Model: The Bible teaches doctrine and morals with every affirmation that it makes, so that together those affirmations comprise something like a handbook or textbook for Christian belief and living, a compendium of divine and therefore inerrant teachings on a full array of subjects. This implies that all matters of Christian belief and practice can be learned by sitting down with the Bible and piecing together through careful study the clear ‘biblical’ truths that it teaches.
Personal Relationship Model: We can have a personal relationship with Jesus, or God, patterned after a relationship with a spouse. This kind of relationship would require a certain number of G-beliefs, and so if God didn't 'clearly' reveal such G-beliefs in the Bible, it would be surprising to think that evangelical Christianity is correct in this respect as well.
Thus, what this argument shows is that the Handbook Model of the Bible, and the 'Spousal' Personal Relationship Model espoused (no pun intended) by EVANGELICAL Christianity is false, but this argument doesn’t show that Christianity is false. In order to show that Christianity is false, you would have to show that God does not exist and/or that Jesus was not the Messiah.
The following rough draft contains my response to the above argument specifically (although condensed into different premises) and also the materials for other arguments from confusion (i.e. the argument from ethical confusion, or doctrinal confusion, and Loftus' argument etc.):
| argument_from_confusion.docx |
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