Hi. I hope you're all keeping well, and for anyone who's come into contact with me on the forums, I hope I wasn't too intense (I get told I'm like that sometimes).
Anyway, let me get to the point of this thread. I have a few genuine logical problems regarding various aspects of Christianity, that I have asked so many times, to so many Christians, but never gotten a logical solution to. If anyone here feels up to the task, please, I'd love to hear a logical solution. I'll post one problem at a time, and this one is the first, of maybe eight or ten problems that I'd really like to explore over the coming days or weeks. I'm interested in how you guys get past these, and I'm not here to mock or scoff, I'm just a genuinely curious person and I'd like to know if anybody has thought about these, and if so, come up with any logical solutions. So, anyway, thanks for your time, and here goes.
Problem 1: The Problem of Denominational Correctness
So, within Christianity, there are many different denominations, obviously. And these denominations hold specific doctrinal views on the bible. Their adherents (in all my experiences with Christians) are predominantly exclusivist, meaning that they believe their interpretations to be the singular, genuine truth about God. But I see a logical problem with this. If all denominations and faith groups assert that they have the exclusive, specific, genuine truth, then it is logically impossible that all these denominations are correct in that assertion. A specific truth isn't a general truth, and thus there can only be one specific truth, not thousands.
So, the obvious first question to ask would be:
If there is only one, singular, genuine, true interpretation, what is it?
But of course, the replies I have received on that question have been predictable; the adherents of a particular denomination have asserted that their interpretations are correct. This is just as often asserted in direct terms (I am a Methodist and I believe thus), as in indirect terms (only faith is required for salvation). But never have any of these assertions been accompanied by a logical reason why a nonbeliever such as myself should trust any one particular person making the assertion, over another. There have been no responses which included a foolproof (or even remotely close) mechanism for determining an interpretation's correctness in contrast to another's incorrectness, logically. In all cases so far, I have been left to arbitrarily choose any of these denominational interpretations on a basis of nothing more than the assertion of its correctness itself. This, for me, is like when my son says he didn't throw the sand first, and my cousin's kid says she didn't throw the sand first.
Who to believe?
So, since I can't establish any logical reason that one interpretation wins out over another, other than personal choice, I'll move on to the second question in this problem, which is:
If we can't establish beyond any doubt which denomination is actually correct, what does it matter, logically, if we choose any one denomination over the other?
Now, to get them out of the way, there are the obvious theological problems with this question, the most obvious one being that it matters for a Christian's salvation whether they've "gotten it right" or not. If they believe a heresy, they might not get to heaven. But again, we cannot establish (logically) between the denominations, an agreement on which teachings are heresy and which aren't. Therefore even if it does matter for a person's salvation which denominational beliefs they hold, it's irrelevant, because we can't establish for certain which denominational beliefs are the true, singular, correct ones. So, at least to me, everybody is essentially making yellow snow in the wind on that.
So the next subproblem in this problem is:
If we can't rationally establish why it is logically preferable to believe in say Methodist doctrine over Baptist doctrine, other than a personal belief that one's chosen interpretation leads to heaven, then even if one denomination has stumbled upon the truth, surely no denomination can be logically certain that theirs is it, given that every single denomination except for one, must be incorrect, and we have no way of logically deducing which one it is.
Now, obviously, people form particular denominations can be certain of their correctness without actually being correct, but nobody can be certain of their correctness in a totally objective, true sense, if we're unable to objectively and totally define which denomination is actually the right one. This, for me, puts what is thus far an unfixable hole in the whole idea of the Christian concept of "truth". Because even though a person might absolutely be convinced they have the "one true truth", I simply can't accept their word for it, based on everything I've already said.
So, if someone can present to me a logical mechanism for determining which one of these denominational interpretations is actually true (if any, because it is actually possible that in not being able to establish for sure which is true, that nobody has actually found the true one yet. We just don't know) I'd be very grateful for that. Otherwise, I can't help thinking that denominationalism is all a bit pointless.
So yea, thanks again for reading, and I'll keep a close eye on the thread and point out any responses I think are worth exploring.
'Til next time,
Omni.
Anyway, let me get to the point of this thread. I have a few genuine logical problems regarding various aspects of Christianity, that I have asked so many times, to so many Christians, but never gotten a logical solution to. If anyone here feels up to the task, please, I'd love to hear a logical solution. I'll post one problem at a time, and this one is the first, of maybe eight or ten problems that I'd really like to explore over the coming days or weeks. I'm interested in how you guys get past these, and I'm not here to mock or scoff, I'm just a genuinely curious person and I'd like to know if anybody has thought about these, and if so, come up with any logical solutions. So, anyway, thanks for your time, and here goes.
Problem 1: The Problem of Denominational Correctness
So, within Christianity, there are many different denominations, obviously. And these denominations hold specific doctrinal views on the bible. Their adherents (in all my experiences with Christians) are predominantly exclusivist, meaning that they believe their interpretations to be the singular, genuine truth about God. But I see a logical problem with this. If all denominations and faith groups assert that they have the exclusive, specific, genuine truth, then it is logically impossible that all these denominations are correct in that assertion. A specific truth isn't a general truth, and thus there can only be one specific truth, not thousands.
So, the obvious first question to ask would be:
If there is only one, singular, genuine, true interpretation, what is it?
But of course, the replies I have received on that question have been predictable; the adherents of a particular denomination have asserted that their interpretations are correct. This is just as often asserted in direct terms (I am a Methodist and I believe thus), as in indirect terms (only faith is required for salvation). But never have any of these assertions been accompanied by a logical reason why a nonbeliever such as myself should trust any one particular person making the assertion, over another. There have been no responses which included a foolproof (or even remotely close) mechanism for determining an interpretation's correctness in contrast to another's incorrectness, logically. In all cases so far, I have been left to arbitrarily choose any of these denominational interpretations on a basis of nothing more than the assertion of its correctness itself. This, for me, is like when my son says he didn't throw the sand first, and my cousin's kid says she didn't throw the sand first.
Who to believe?
So, since I can't establish any logical reason that one interpretation wins out over another, other than personal choice, I'll move on to the second question in this problem, which is:
If we can't establish beyond any doubt which denomination is actually correct, what does it matter, logically, if we choose any one denomination over the other?
Now, to get them out of the way, there are the obvious theological problems with this question, the most obvious one being that it matters for a Christian's salvation whether they've "gotten it right" or not. If they believe a heresy, they might not get to heaven. But again, we cannot establish (logically) between the denominations, an agreement on which teachings are heresy and which aren't. Therefore even if it does matter for a person's salvation which denominational beliefs they hold, it's irrelevant, because we can't establish for certain which denominational beliefs are the true, singular, correct ones. So, at least to me, everybody is essentially making yellow snow in the wind on that.
So the next subproblem in this problem is:
If we can't rationally establish why it is logically preferable to believe in say Methodist doctrine over Baptist doctrine, other than a personal belief that one's chosen interpretation leads to heaven, then even if one denomination has stumbled upon the truth, surely no denomination can be logically certain that theirs is it, given that every single denomination except for one, must be incorrect, and we have no way of logically deducing which one it is.
Now, obviously, people form particular denominations can be certain of their correctness without actually being correct, but nobody can be certain of their correctness in a totally objective, true sense, if we're unable to objectively and totally define which denomination is actually the right one. This, for me, puts what is thus far an unfixable hole in the whole idea of the Christian concept of "truth". Because even though a person might absolutely be convinced they have the "one true truth", I simply can't accept their word for it, based on everything I've already said.
So, if someone can present to me a logical mechanism for determining which one of these denominational interpretations is actually true (if any, because it is actually possible that in not being able to establish for sure which is true, that nobody has actually found the true one yet. We just don't know) I'd be very grateful for that. Otherwise, I can't help thinking that denominationalism is all a bit pointless.
So yea, thanks again for reading, and I'll keep a close eye on the thread and point out any responses I think are worth exploring.
'Til next time,
Omni.
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