Many, if not most atheists are quite intelligent. No, seriously. But atheism in most forms is completely indefensible, as an intellectual matter. We'll argue that later. Realize that Deism doesn't really matter, either. If it's true, it doesn't have an impact on us, because God won't intervene, and He'd be completely unknowable, to creatures so limited.
So theism axiomatically means a personal God. So, the only questions are, "What is the content and location/means of God's revelation?" See how we get there? We know by reason that God must be one, because two supernatural beings sharing the stage as it were, means one is not God. Something caused by something else can't be the Creator of the universe, no matter how far it is above humans.
If God is out there, and He communicates, you have to find Him. Do the terms "good" and "evil" refer to real things? If yes, then God must be all-good. Goodness itself. That would mean evil is the lack of some good that ought to be there. Evil has no being in itself; it couldn't. God is the Source of all Being. So an evil person or supernatural being was supposed to be good. The really hard mystery is, "Why does Goodness permit evil to exist?" But that sort of answers itself, doesn't it? If He is Goodness, God permits evil for some purpose of His goodness. In humility, we have to say we won't see it till all is revealed. It still sucks.
Still haven't opened a religious text of any kind. Cool, huh?
So theism axiomatically means a personal God. So, the only questions are, "What is the content and location/means of God's revelation?" See how we get there? We know by reason that God must be one, because two supernatural beings sharing the stage as it were, means one is not God. Something caused by something else can't be the Creator of the universe, no matter how far it is above humans.
If God is out there, and He communicates, you have to find Him. Do the terms "good" and "evil" refer to real things? If yes, then God must be all-good. Goodness itself. That would mean evil is the lack of some good that ought to be there. Evil has no being in itself; it couldn't. God is the Source of all Being. So an evil person or supernatural being was supposed to be good. The really hard mystery is, "Why does Goodness permit evil to exist?" But that sort of answers itself, doesn't it? If He is Goodness, God permits evil for some purpose of His goodness. In humility, we have to say we won't see it till all is revealed. It still sucks.
Still haven't opened a religious text of any kind. Cool, huh?
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