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"God is greater than reason"

sandandfoam

Veteran Member
Mathematics isn't a hobby of mine (can't stand the stuff), so can you explain it?
I did check Wikipedia on it, but it may as well have been in Klingon. :D

I think it can be summed up as truths are stronger than proofs.
"There are true statements of number theory which it's methods of proof are too weak to demonstrate" - Hofstadter p.18
 

Breathe

Hostis humani generis
Wouldn't those truths still be logical, though?

Truths may be stronger than proofs, because not everything can easily be proved.
However, to say truths (or in this case, a Truth) are/is greater/stronger than logic seems to be a strange philosophy, as how can something illogical be true? Something can be true and appear illogical, but there is still the chance that the reason for that hasn't been discovered, but for a Truth to be greater than logic seems to imply it transcends logic, which seems illogical.

Or something. :confused:
 

sandandfoam

Veteran Member
Wouldn't those truths still be logical, though?

Truths may be stronger than proofs, because not everything can easily be proved.
However, to say truths (or in this case, a Truth) are/is greater/stronger than logic seems to be a strange philosophy, as how can something illogical be true? Something can be true and appear illogical, but there is still the chance that the reason for that hasn't been discovered, but for a Truth to be greater than logic seems to imply it transcends logic, which seems illogical.

Or something. :confused:
On a different tack - I see no reason at all to presume that any truth - if such a beast exists - would fit with logic. Do you?
 

Breathe

Hostis humani generis
On a different tack - I see no reason at all to presume that any truth - if such a beast exists - would fit with logic. Do you?
I'm not entirely sure.

I would like to think that truths are logical, and logical things are true, but I know that things can change as we learn more about the universe. At one point, people probably thought the sun was a giant ball of fire in the sky. That would have probably been a truth in those days, although they were wrong about what it actually was made out of.

Some things though are undoubtedly truths: 1+1 is always 2, no matter where you are in the universe, for a simple example. I don't know how far such truths extend outside of mathematics and physics (as well as what has been observed, like evolution), though.

For something as complex as a God, though, I don't think it will ever be answered.


Just my $0.02 on it. :)
 

sandandfoam

Veteran Member
I would like to think that truths are logical....
I think that regardless of whether one is theist/atheist/whatever that's the rub.
We seek pattern, order, predictability - logic.
I see no reason at all to presume that logic is a factor of the world as the world is in itself.
Logic and rationality are built on a need, on longing. Much like the god eschewed by many of my learned friends :D
 

Thief

Rogue Theologian
I think that regardless of whether one is theist/atheist/whatever that's the rub.
We seek pattern, order, predictability - logic.
I see no reason at all to presume that logic is a factor of the world as the world is in itself.
Logic and rationality are built on a need, on longing. Much like the god eschewed by many of my learned friends :D

Is this based on something that cannot be proven?
I believe in life after death.
The proving is not for the living....it belongs to the dead.
I already believe...can't show you the proof.
You will have to wait.
But that doesn't mean I'm wrong.

So as you say, 'logic built on need'.
I feel the need to live...though soon I will die.
I have built a foundation of logic to that effect.
When the 'proof' finally gets here, I go on for cause of preparation...and faith.

What happens to you?....having waited for proof and not built foundation?
Going to stand up from your dust...and then say to the angels...
'oh!...so you ARE real!'

But maybe you already believe?
 

gnostic

The Lost One
A god that is greater than reason, is a god without reason. Without reason than only chaos and irrationality exist.
 

Thief

Rogue Theologian
A god that is greater than reason, is a god without reason. Without reason than only chaos and irrationality exist.

Where do you draw the line?
A Creator that cannot reason?
The universe seems to be well built.
But chaos functions within it.
Chaos is controlled.

Or perhaps you are seeking a line you can make and God will conform to it?
Who is greater...you or the Creator?
 

Wissenssteigung

New Member
We can't see electricity, but we feel its presence

If you have a socket short-circuiting, then you can see electricity and possibly also feel it physically. With god, we cant see or feel it physically, we can only feel it psychologically.

We can observe his creation and we can conclude his greatness based on that and so many other things even if He himself is beyond reason.

But god is said to make/do things with a particular purpose(s), so he must have reason, otherwise he would be doing things randomly and chaotically. When one says common phrases like "god gave people free will he wanted to see if they'd worship him", that implies God is operating within reason. If he's beyond reason, then he may still give people free will but for no reason at all. Heaven wouldn't be a place that's nice, it'd be completely chaotic.
 

vijeno

Active Member
"There are true statements of number theory which it's methods of proof are too weak to demonstrate" - Hofstadter p.18

Then how does one know they are true? And also, isn't this only true of a certain type of statements - namely, self-referential ones?

ETA1: Okay, I looked that one up. It's about self-referential statements indeed. As far as I understand it, it does not imply that contradictory statements are true.

ETA2: So the issue still stands: Every definition of god that includes "god is absolute" but also says anything else - regardless of what -, is contradictory, because it ascribes relative attributes to an absolute god. And ex contradictio quodlibet. Thus, all monotheist religions are gibberish.
 
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Kilgore Trout

Misanthropic Humanist
I have often heard the stance that god is "greater than reason", so even if the claim of god's existence is unfalsifiable and therefore unscientific, everyone can happily believe whatever. After all, Ockam's razor only applies in science, so why bother...

People who make such statements generally lack a true understanding of reason - as well as god.
 

gnostic

The Lost One
thief said:
Where do you draw the line?
A Creator that cannot reason?
The universe seems to be well built.
But chaos functions within it.
Chaos is controlled.

What evidences do you have to support that the universe was created by some divine beings, let alone a god?

And a chaos controlled, is not chaos in the 1st place.

thief said:
Or perhaps you are seeking a line you can make and God will conform to it?
Who is greater...you or the Creator?

Which bring me back to my point, are where the evidences of god you're talking? This creator?

Why do you think this creator is above reasoning? There is no such thing as greater than "reason", unless you are talking about irrationality, and judging by this book you called bible, I am not surprise that this character you call god is without reasoning.

Consider the Revelation. Is that the reasoning of god?

Destroyed the world, and only a little over hundred thousand are saved, while billions are condemn to suffering both on earth and in hell?

It is not only irrational, but is not the sign of loving and compassionate god which Jesus has supposedly portrayed. it is a sign of sadistic butcher to allow billions of people to suffer when only handful are saved.
 

Thief

Rogue Theologian
What evidences do you have to support that the universe was created by some divine beings, let alone a god?

And a chaos controlled, is not chaos in the 1st place.



Which bring me back to my point, are where the evidences of god you're talking? This creator?

Why do you think this creator is above reasoning? There is no such thing as greater than "reason", unless you are talking about irrationality, and judging by this book you called bible, I am not surprise that this character you call god is without reasoning.

Consider the Revelation. Is that the reasoning of god?

Destroyed the world, and only a little over hundred thousand are saved, while billions are condemn to suffering both on earth and in hell?

It is not only irrational, but is not the sign of loving and compassionate god which Jesus has supposedly portrayed. it is a sign of sadistic butcher to allow billions of people to suffer when only handful are saved.

So the Creator is not allowed to pick and choose?
That would be irrational.
 

McBell

Unbound
Hi,

I have often heard the stance that god is "greater than reason", so even if the claim of god's existence is unfalsifiable and therefore unscientific, everyone can happily believe whatever. After all, Ockam's razor only applies in science, so why bother...

Are there any refutations to this claim? Pointers, perhaps...?

Thanks.
Seems to me that it is merely a load of bovine excrement people tell themselves in order to justify their unreasonable belief in something that has no measurable effect on reality.

But then, I have been told that I am a glass half empty type person.
 
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