LawfulGood's Journal: Burden of proof

In response to:

I don't actually HAVE the burden of proof here.

First of all, that's a very well thought out post. I don't agree with a lot of it. But it's clear that you've thought a lot about the subject. Which makes sense, given your sig... :-)

The difference is that I recognize that I don't actually HAVE the burden of proof here.
I believe the burden of proof is shared. It is true that the Christian must provide evidence for Christian doctrine. But I think that a default position of believing in God generically is very reasonable. If, for no other reason, than the presence of order. Imagine that you were walking down a beach and found a pocket watch. Would your first reaction be

1. How marvelous. The natural forces of the tide and erosion formed this time piece. Look at how all the gears naturally evolved to keep time.

2. or

3. Someone dropped their watch.

The default assumption is that the watch was manufactured by an intelligent being. Now if that is true for the watch, how much more so for the universe! Or even just our bodies. How much more ordered and designed are our repertory and circulatory systems than that watch. How much more designed are our brains, our eyes and our hands. It seems to me that it is the atheist that must prove why I shouldn't believe this to be the work of an intelligent God.

In order for your proposed thing to be relevant, it's got to actually AFFECT something about the universe, and that means evidence theoretically exists for it (but might not be found yet).
I would, and have, argued that there is evidence for God.

The only reason you can't disprove god is that the term is fuzzily defined.
The definition of God isn't fuzzy at all. God is:

1. Omnipotent
2. Omniscient
3. Omnibenevelent
4. Omnipresent
5. Necessary (can't cease to exist)

Now we could spend a lifetime investigating and discussing any one of those and only scratch the surface. The subject is vast, as it would have to be if we are really talking about God. But the being himself is well defined in general terms.

Thanks for the conversation!