Why would a God want me to believe something, for which there is no evidence? What is the added value of that kind of belief? Wouldn't you say we generally want to avoid believing in things for which there is no evidence, or against which there is evidence.
This is a subject, that i discussed in another thread. The added value, is faith. In other words, it shows faith and trust, for you to believe someone or believe in him, despite having no evidence for doing so.
Well, all of these things are true of many great works of literature. I just don't see how you are able to draw the line between the "earthly" and the divine authorship. If it's how it makes you feel, I don't find that a particularly compelling reason - we're demonstrably bad at judging the true nature of things, when we do it based on our "gut feeling".
Yes, very true. My feelings towards it on it's own is not enough. But when you add the other reasons to it, it is enough for me to believe in it as such. Not having contradictions counts, and then the fact that i find the rules in it, to be completely fair is also another plus. So, all of them together, with putting in mind that this explanation to life and purpose i'm given through the Quran i find very reasonable and makes things so much more obvious and understandable. So, all of these things, which doesn't occur in any other things i've read, makes me view it that way.
And if I tell you the Qur'an had no such effect on me, what will you say to me? Was the translation poor? The Qur'an to me is as I imagine the Bible is to you. You have more than a billion people claiming that it is the word of God, that it has been inspired by God and has inspired them, once they've read it, they have no doubt of its origins.
They describe the same kind of process you've described - yet, clearly - to both of us - they have made a great error in judgment. So, it's not just that they have misunderstood the Qur'an, it's much more than that - they've found another divinely inspired book and they're sure of it. What do you make of this? Would that not, at minimum, imply that that's a very unreliable way of establishing the authorship of a holy book?
How can you claim that the Qur'an conveys the teachings of God effectively, when there are so many different interpretations - some on very minor matters, some on crucial point - of what the teachings are? Which teachings is it conveying effectively? And is not beauty in the eye of the beholder? Do you believe some things are beautiful in an absolute manner, regardless of point of view? Not just beautiful to me or you, or to us or them, but beautiful beyond interpretation, regardless of interpretation, inspite of interpretation?
This is very much true too. Like is said, there is room for opinions or preference. Just like the very concept of God is not agreed upon, the Quran isn't too. Some, will not feel anything when they read it. That could be for many reasons, may be they don't agree with some of the rules, may be they find the stories too fictional to be believed, and so on. Which like i told you, is very much understandable. However, it doesn't make it not perfect. Just like my believe in it as perfect, doesn't make it so. We will only be sure later on, when the times comes for these things to be verified.
As for the part about other people believing in other scriptures. This means, that my believe in the Quran to be so, is not enough on it's own. So, i have to read other scriptures to see, wether or not the same standards apply to all of them, or to another one at least. Which i did, like others did with the Quran, and different outcomes will come of that. I might read he bible and find contradictions, or things that i don't agree with, or concepts that i don't buy for whatever reason. While for another person, it will be the exact opposite.
So, if we assume that all scriptures meet these requirements for some, and for others they don't, which means that any of them could be the words of God, or none of them is the word of God. That leads back to the point of faith. That yes, while there is no proof that the Quran is indeed the word of God, i find it the one most likely to be so(for having such attributes, which i couldn't find in other books), and i have a very strong believe in it as that.
In other words, i couldn't find any errors in the Quran, which was not the case with other scriptures(in my opinion). Now, as to why, for someone who thinks just like i do, and is unbiased, finds the Quran not to be so, that could be for more that one reason. One of them, is that he may find the Quran meeting all the attributes i claim of it, however that is not enough for him to make the leap of faith. for another, he might have misunderstood something, or he just disagrees with something in the Quran.
For the part about interpretations, different opinions doesn't necessarily mean unclarity. Because aside for certain things, i believe the Quran to be very clear, and doesn't leave that much room. It only requires certain effort for you to understand, then it is all clear.
