Can you be rational and believe in God?

We had to discuss this but I was kind of confused as to what to say because a person chooses to believe in God so why should that take away a persons ability to be rational?

Reply 1

Joe312

17

Original post by Iqra_hussain216

We had to discuss this but I was kind of confused as to what to say because a person chooses to believe in God so why should that take away a persons ability to be rational?

Because there is no rational reason to believe in God.

Reply 2

Notnek

21

Original post by Joe312

Because there is no rational reason to believe in God.

You can be the most rational person in the world but if you grow up being surrounded by people who believe in God and know nothing else, it's very hard to escape it. The brain makes it rational.

So maybe I would call belief in God irrational but I wouldn't say that a believer is an irrational person without knowing more about them.

(edited 4 years ago)

Reply 3

Joe312

17

Original post by Sir Cumference

You can be the most rational person in the world but if you grow up being surrounded by people who believe in God and know nothing else, it's very hard to escape it. The brain makes it rational.

So maybe I would call belief in God irrational but I wouldn't say that a believer is an irrational person without knowing more about them.

I could concede that they might be rational in other areas. For example they walk out of their front door rather than window each day. But regarding their belief in God I would want to say that they are irrational rather than just that belief in God is irrational generically.

I don't think the brain 'makes it rational', they just don't realise that it's irrational.

Oh dear

A generic god, yes. The Biblical God, no. It can be rationally argued that the specific God from the bible doesn't exist.

Mention that humans are irrational beings

Reply 7

Welshvisitor

20

Belief in god is irrational. We all have attitudes and behaviours that are irrational and others highly rational.

Reply 8

Justvisited

19

Original post by reyjusuf

A generic god, yes. The Biblical God, no. It can be rationally argued that the specific God from the bible doesn't exist.

Expand

Reply 9

jimbleby

7

Original post by Iqra_hussain216

We had to discuss this but I was kind of confused as to what to say because a person chooses to believe in God so why should that take away a persons ability to be rational?

The question is asking you whether there is a conflict between being described as a "rational person" and also believing in God. Think about why someone might say those two things conflict.

For example, the atheist Richard Dawkins calls belief in God "the God delusion", suggesting belief in God is irrational and even dangerous. Another kind of thinker that might think rationalist and religious belief are incompatible is a fideist. Fideism is the view that belief in God cannot and should not be about reason - it should be based on faith. You can't believe in God rationally. Kierkegaard is an example of a thinker like this. So, to be clear - religious people and atheists might agree that you can't rationally believe in God, though in different ways.

On the other side of the debate would be theologians like Aquinas who argue reason and faith are compatible. He even puts forward rational arguments for God's existence, such as the design argument and the cosmological argument. Think about any other thinkers you know that put forward rational argument for God.

Finally - make sure you interrogate the term "rational". What does that really mean?

Reply 10

reyjusuf

15

Original post by Justvisited

Expand

Too many human emotions and traits in the biblical god. It's clearly mankind creating god in their image

Reply 11

Notnek

21

Original post by Welshvisitor

Belief in god is irrational. We all have attitudes and behaviours that are irrational and others highly rational.

Yes exactly. People make irrational decisions all the time, often driven by emotion. We have evolved to be irrational in certain ways. I would only label someone “irrational” if they are more irrational than the average person.

Reply 12

Iqra_hussain216

OP

12

What example could I give that supports rationality and the belief in god
And an example that goes against the ability to be rational and believe in God
Im just kind of confused because people believe in God in different ways and some people are devout believers so would we argue that they’re irrational because if god commanded something would they just do it and go against rationality?
Im just really confused as to how they both clash

Reply 13

jimbleby

7

Original post by Iqra_hussain216

What example could I give that supports rationality and the belief in god
And an example that goes against the ability to be rational and believe in God
Im just kind of confused because people believe in God in different ways and some people are devout believers so would we argue that they’re irrational because if god commanded something would they just do it and go against rationality?
Im just really confused as to how they both clash

Did you read my post?

Reply 14

Freda123

10

A belief in God is based on faith and hope. ““By faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things that are visible.”
**Hebrews‬ *11:3‬ *ESV‬‬. A belief in God does not mean you are NOT rational.

Reply 15

Notnek

21

Original post by Freda123

A belief in God is based on faith and hope. ““By faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things that are visible.”
**Hebrews‬ *11:3‬ *ESV‬‬. A belief in God does not mean you are NOT rational.

Faith is just belief without evidence and therefore it is irrational.

Reply 16

bayness0

8

I think we can all agree that (I am waiting for the cries against the following statement) gods (all of them) require faith not rational thought. Therefore one can assert that belief in god is a belief in the irrational. We can compare this to many other irrational beliefs, such as: religion, ghosts, fairies, fate, astrology, karma, the power of thought, witchcraft, mages, conspiracy theories, the afterlife etc. I ask myself, does the questioner believe that anyone who beleives in a single irrational idea becomes incapable of rational thought?

I would say we are all composites of the rational and the irrational. I think the vast majority have some part of the irrational they like to believe in. Such belief can impact one's ability to be a rational person, just look at the views regarding sexuality from some religious groups! It is one's overall behaviour that makes one rational, not a single irrational belief, However, some people allow their irrational side to overwhelm their rational one.

As a society we neeed to be careful to avoid situations where the irrational groups manage to take power. This is particularly scary with religious groups. Currently we, slowly, are lifting ourselves from a religious dark age; but those with strong irrational beliefs are trying to drag the rest back down into the pit.

Reply 17

Freda123

10

Original post by Sir Cumference

Faith is just belief without evidence and therefore it is irrational.

Believing or not believing has nothing to do with the rationality of the individual. To others the belief may be irrational but the individual may be very rational in other things. So yes your point is credible.

Reply 18

Joe312

17

Original post by Freda123

Believing or not believing has nothing to do with the rationality of the individual. To others the belief may be irrational but the individual may be very rational in other things. So yes your point is credible.

Surely believing something irrational has something to do with the rationality of the individual?

Reply 19

PTMalewski

20

Original post by Iqra_hussain216

We had to discuss this but I was kind of confused as to what to say because a person chooses to believe in God so why should that take away a persons ability to be rational?

It doesn't.

As long as the input data is wrong, you can even believe in invisible pink goats storming the Proxima Centauri with BFGs 9000 from Doom, and technically be rational.

Can you be rational and believe in God?

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