AGNOSTICISM
AGNOSTICISM
Dear Friend,
Agnosticism is simply the position of “I don’t know,” which theologically is about as stunning as saying the sun rises. Of course, we don’t know, and the fact is that not knowing is not a belief, an article of faith. Faith is not knowledge. Faith is what a person presupposes that makes understanding knowledge possible because knowledge is quite different from understanding.
We make all kinds of assumptions everyday as we try to figure things out. Charles Darwin through his voyages throughout the world encountered a whole set of facts which the traditional theory of creation did not seem to explain to his satisfaction. As a result, he latched onto a theory of evolution which for him explained his boat load of new facts. The theory of evolution had been around a long time before Darwin. Anaximander (610 B.C.-546 B.C.) viewed the universe as a boundless, open primordial mass in which human beings were gradually transmuted from other species, such as fish. Now, since so many people have come to believe the theory of evolutions, they have come to see it as fact which, of course, it isn’t. It is a theory like any other theory used to explain the interrelationships amongst the facts at hand. It certainly makes sense; however, we don’t know for sure.
By the way, the early church theologians and many medieval theologians did not think that the creation narratives in the book of Genesis were factual, but were rather told to explain the human condition, much like parables. For want of a better word, they are legends. The first narrative was probably used in the liturgy of the Second Temple about 500 B.C and was used to reassure people on a time of chaos. The second narrative dates from about 1300 B.C. and is a charming, insightful story about the hazards of hubris.
A belief in God is not a piece of knowledge. It is an actus fidei, an act of faith, which is not a claim to know anything about the existence of God. It is a presupposition. So when someone claims to be an agnostic, he or she is simply saying that they presuppose nothing which is an untenable thing to say since we all makes presuppositions every day of our lives. The question then of the agnostic is not that he or she doesn’t know anything, but what are his or her presuppositions. In short, I don’t much care to hear that you don’t know when I don’t know as well. I’d like to hear about your faith. On what or whom are you betting your life? That is the nature of faith.
Sadly, lots of people nowadays are without faith and attempt to pass off skepticism as faith. While skepticism is a necessary, built in “crap detecting machine,” to use Hemingway’s phrase, to avoid nonsense, such as claiming to know something about God, it is not replacement for faith, but more of that later.
Agnosticism is simple a statement that a person doesn’t know. Since that applies to every human being, it has little or no meaning. We all face the same set of brute facts. The real issue is how we arrange them into patterns of meaning. That arrangement is faith or presupposition or theory. Some theories or statements of faith make lots of sense in that they explain lots of things. Some don’t.
Standing on the sidelines is not much of a place to stand. "The hottest places in hell are reserved for those in a time of crisis maintain their neutrality." Dante
1265-1321.
Write to you later.
Copyright (c) Dana Prom Smith 2011
Dear Friend,
Agnosticism is simply the position of “I don’t know,” which theologically is about as stunning as saying the sun rises. Of course, we don’t know, and the fact is that not knowing is not a belief, an article of faith. Faith is not knowledge. Faith is what a person presupposes that makes understanding knowledge possible because knowledge is quite different from understanding.
We make all kinds of assumptions everyday as we try to figure things out. Charles Darwin through his voyages throughout the world encountered a whole set of facts which the traditional theory of creation did not seem to explain to his satisfaction. As a result, he latched onto a theory of evolution which for him explained his boat load of new facts. The theory of evolution had been around a long time before Darwin. Anaximander (610 B.C.-546 B.C.) viewed the universe as a boundless, open primordial mass in which human beings were gradually transmuted from other species, such as fish. Now, since so many people have come to believe the theory of evolutions, they have come to see it as fact which, of course, it isn’t. It is a theory like any other theory used to explain the interrelationships amongst the facts at hand. It certainly makes sense; however, we don’t know for sure.
By the way, the early church theologians and many medieval theologians did not think that the creation narratives in the book of Genesis were factual, but were rather told to explain the human condition, much like parables. For want of a better word, they are legends. The first narrative was probably used in the liturgy of the Second Temple about 500 B.C and was used to reassure people on a time of chaos. The second narrative dates from about 1300 B.C. and is a charming, insightful story about the hazards of hubris.
A belief in God is not a piece of knowledge. It is an actus fidei, an act of faith, which is not a claim to know anything about the existence of God. It is a presupposition. So when someone claims to be an agnostic, he or she is simply saying that they presuppose nothing which is an untenable thing to say since we all makes presuppositions every day of our lives. The question then of the agnostic is not that he or she doesn’t know anything, but what are his or her presuppositions. In short, I don’t much care to hear that you don’t know when I don’t know as well. I’d like to hear about your faith. On what or whom are you betting your life? That is the nature of faith.
Sadly, lots of people nowadays are without faith and attempt to pass off skepticism as faith. While skepticism is a necessary, built in “crap detecting machine,” to use Hemingway’s phrase, to avoid nonsense, such as claiming to know something about God, it is not replacement for faith, but more of that later.
Agnosticism is simple a statement that a person doesn’t know. Since that applies to every human being, it has little or no meaning. We all face the same set of brute facts. The real issue is how we arrange them into patterns of meaning. That arrangement is faith or presupposition or theory. Some theories or statements of faith make lots of sense in that they explain lots of things. Some don’t.
Standing on the sidelines is not much of a place to stand. "The hottest places in hell are reserved for those in a time of crisis maintain their neutrality." Dante
1265-1321.
Write to you later.
Copyright (c) Dana Prom Smith 2011
posted by OLD GEEZER'S REPORT at
3:01 PM
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