tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3891434218564545511.post4066230054154505251..comments2024-03-18T20:24:18.935-05:00Comments on Alexander Pruss's Blog: Do theists believe by faith in God that God exists?Alexander R Prusshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05989277655934827117noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3891434218564545511.post-62328310983459849002016-09-01T08:53:05.462-05:002016-09-01T08:53:05.462-05:00Christopher:
Great question!
When one believes p...Christopher:<br /><br />Great question!<br /><br />When one believes p by faith in x, one believes p because one trusts x's assurance with respect to p. <br /><br />Where does infusion enter in when this is supernatural faith? Here are some hypotheses:<br />1. The infusion is or creates the trust. In that case, the infusion is not the assurance. The infusion is that because of which one accepts the assurance. <br />2. The assurance is infused. <br />3. The believing is infused.<br />4. Some combination of 1-3.<br /><br />I think 2 is inadequate. Faith is a virtue, and supernatural faith is a supernatural virtue. Faith is constituted by the trust not the assurance. The act of this virtue is a response to assurance, much as the act of courage is a response to danger. One doesn't infuse courage by infusing danger, and likewise one doesn't infuse faith by infusing assurance.<br /><br />Similarly, 3 is inadequate. The believing is an act of virtue, but not the virtue itself, much as fighting justly is an act of courage, but not the virtue itself. Infusing the believing would not infuse the virtue.<br /><br />This leaves 1 and 4. Since the faith itself is constituted by trust, it seems to me that 1 is enough as an account of the infused virtue of faith. It may be that assurance and/or believing are infused as well, but that's not a necessary condition for faith as such to be infused.Alexander R Prusshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05989277655934827117noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3891434218564545511.post-53216894874793722932016-09-01T04:44:06.468-05:002016-09-01T04:44:06.468-05:00Would the infusion of Faith directly by God count ...Would the infusion of Faith directly by God count as "assurance" on this view, Alex?Christopher Michaelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02003454986381351202noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3891434218564545511.post-45400454234145462702016-08-31T21:17:14.234-05:002016-08-31T21:17:14.234-05:00Strictly (logically) speaking - in the first insta...Strictly (logically) speaking - in the first instance - I think it would be incoherent to believe that God exists through faith in God. But perhaps after the devotee believes on the basis of a logical inference, his faithful relationship grows to overshadow and even replace whatever rational basis he originally had for belief. For example he may later encounter serious epistemological doubts which call into question those original God-believing reasons; regardless he can stand firmly in belief because of a meaningful experiencing of God. So I think faith (trusting via experience) can replace reason as a sufficient grounding for belief in God's existence only after that initial period of ratiocination.Omar Najjarinehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09372105921822306854noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3891434218564545511.post-7153270904975746612016-08-30T14:24:24.654-05:002016-08-30T14:24:24.654-05:00I should add that assurance need not be verbal. Fo...I should add that assurance need not be verbal. For instance, someone may assure me by means of her character that she won't cheat at cards.Alexander R Prusshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05989277655934827117noreply@blogger.com