| Good observations. I’ll try to address a few of them. Re reliability. We know what we can observe. We see the machinery doing billions of billions of things with perfect consistency. The amount of interactions required is staggering. Whereas, humans quit trying to prove code correct after many 10,000 lines. The being is either keeping it running without failures being possible (God’s power) or is doing the equivalent of preventative maintenance. Both are logically possible. Re hardwired. That is a good hypothesis. I’d counter along C.S. Lewis’s lines that some things we seek aren’t merely imaginative. We have a strong, unique urge for specific things we need or are critical to our species, like food or sex. Those urges are tied to objective, real things. Our urges for God, love, and justice are just as strong and global. That’s because we’re designed for it. Re: how do I know. Well, there’s multiple forms of knowledge. They include evidentiary (eg historical), phenomenological (eg sensation of pain), logical, empirical, and revelatory. That last one is important because we can’t really know anything outside the universe unless told by those outside it. That God chose to reveal Himself to His creation solves some big problems we could never solve without that. “ Did not share it with me. Why?” He did. He works through people who carry His message of reconciliation, the Gospel. It was in the quote: https://www.gethisword.com His Word says God draws us to Him, faith is a gift, it comes by hearing His Word, and (per Jesus) His sheep hear His voice. If people are humble, and truly seeking Him, He supernaturally tells them the message is true. Convicted of their sin, they have a choice to make that determines if they face eternal punishment or receive the mercy of eternal life. God could’ve made it hard. He could’ve required people to be geniuses, know important people, be star athletes, or live perfectly on their own. Instead, Christ paid the price for our sins. Then, gave anyone who acts on a simple message to be saved. Anyone who shares that message might pull others out the fire, too. Believe, repent, and live for and like Him. He’s worth it. Hell’s not. |