Embedded Files
Pick the Pegs -- Paint a Picture
Person Parachuting In (Starting Thoughts) 1--The person parachuting in is holding an ice cream cone. Picking an ice cream flavor is not like picking a religion. There is subjective truth vs. objective truth. Religion makes objective truth claims. You wouldn't pick a medicine based on how it tastes. 2-- He has a magician hat on (Penn Jilette said you would have to hate someone to not proselytize the good news to them). 3--He has one arm (an atheist might say he would believe if he saw an amputated arm grow back, but is this more impressive then ex nihilo creation of the universe?). 4--The ropes of the parachute remind of St. John Henry Newman's "Convergence of Probabilities"--all the little reasons together prove beyond a reasonable doubt, even if there is not a "smoking gun". 5--The parachute shows even if you know you're 99.99% safe, you still have to have faith and jump in.
Rock Stairs (Questions to Ask) "WAM CD" rolling down the stairs. Why are you atheist? What led you to that? --- What are the best/worst arguments for God's existence? --- Is there objective moral truth? --- What happens to consciousness when you die? --- Are humans different? Do they have dignity?
Natural Dam (Science and Reason) St. John Paul II is shown with the wings of "Science" and "Reason". He said science and reason were like two wings that lift the soul to truth. He has a medical detector. Science is good at finding some things but not others -- like a metal detector looking for diamonds . There is an atom bomb in the sand. Science can tell how to build one but not whether we should use one. The microscope shows that science cannot prove that science is the only way of knowing. That is a non-scientific claim. Science itself depends on the laws of the universe staying consistent and understandable to human logic.
Corn Cob Amphitheatre (Three Arguments) Causality -- Intelligibility -- Moral Law
Waterfall (Ex Nihilo) God made space, time, and matter. He is all-knowing, all-powerful, all-present, all-good, all-loving, infinite, and eternal. But if he's all-good and all-powerful, then how is there evil?
Cave (The Problem of Evil) 1- Does the presence of evil disprove God to you or make Him seem less likely? Although this is the strongest emotional argument, logically, the presence of evil actually shows that some things are objectively wrong. 2- Evil is not a "thing". It is a deprivation of a good (ie: blindness is deprivation of sight). Not how it's "supposed to be." Augustine. Aquinas. 3- Free will explains moral evil (Solzhenitsyn quote -- The dividing line between good and evil runs through every human heart). 4- Evil is allowable if more good comes a result (ie: justice, courage, love). 5-We have a limited perspective. We don't see the whole tapestry. 6-Christianity is unique; God enters into human suffering
The Trail Back (Reasons from Experience) Nature; music/art; conscience; love; peace; miracles; synchronicities; the Bible; near death experiences; liturgy; desire for God; personal story
Practice, Pray, and Pass it On
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