- We are saved by grace alone, through Christ alone
- Jesus alone saves; our works don’t earn us salvation
- Salvation is a gift of God, even the faith to believe God is a gift
- We must ‘cooperate’ with God’s grace.
Do you accept God for who he says he is in the Bible because the written words are true?
And do you know that the words are true because there is enough external evidence to warrant true belief?
Or do you trust God and his words because you always have and don’t really think about why you do?
I ask because I learned of another way to justify one’s belief in God. Listening to a podcasted discussion (Unbelievable with Justin Brierley) between 2 philosophers the other day introduced me to the concept of ‘properly basic beliefs’ and ‘non-propositional’ logic.
As a layperson, I gleaned that a properly basic belief is one not based on other propositional truth or on evidence, but accepted and trusted. These are beliefs that can’t be proven. Examples might be:
The American philosopher, Alvin Plantinga, offers this example:
This way of ‘argumentation’ does presuppose that we humans have the capacity to think rationally. (to use this lingo, “the belief that humans are designed to think rationally” is properly basic)
Plantinga points to the ‘sensus divinitatis’ in every human as evidence that the existence of God is a rational conclusion. This sense of the divine appears in every culture across the expanse of history.
So what do you think? For Christians who are commanded by Jesus to explain the good news of God’s rescue plans to all we encounter in our daily lives, is this approach sufficient? Probably not. But as we live out ‘the Great Commission’ we are learning and assembling a ‘tool kit’. I’m reassured just knowing that intelligent Christian thinkers across the centuries have vetted what is probably common to all people I meet. There ARE convictions we hold as rational without being able to articulate any propositional or evidential reason other than, “I just believe it!”
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