Hi there general and betty. I was just listening in to the conversation and I hope you will pardon the interjection.
general, do you deny the reality of de se knowledge? Or do you think it right logically, from your world-view, that theoretically all knowledge, given the right circuitry, could be publicly accessible?
One remark I would like to make regarding revelation is that it is not mere private or subjective experience, although it is not exclusive of it. Revelation includes events in space/time history that are the subject of claimed eyewitness reportage. In other words, historical events are available to public scrutiny, and therefore transcend the circularity of reason alone.
Cordially,
...revelation is ... not mere private or subjective experience, although it is not exclusive of it. Revelation includes events in space/time history that are the subject of claimed eyewitness reportage. In other words, historical events are available to public scrutiny, and therefore transcend the circularity of reason alone.
Great points, Diamond, and most welcome. Thank you.
general, do you deny the reality of de se knowledge? Or do you think it right logically, from your world-view, that theoretically all knowledge, given the right circuitry, could be publicly accessible?
Good question. I am hesitant to express a firm opinion, since this is essentially calling for my prognostication about what the future holds. As it stands now, I think that it is highly likely that there are things that we will never understand about the universe around us. This should not be taken as a reason to shut down and stop expanding the boundaries of what we know, however - if such a line exists, I do not know where it is. What I do know is that we aren't there yet. ;)
But this is a highly speculative position, of course. I cannot say with any degree of certainty that such a line, even if it exists now, will exist tomorrow. Who knows what tools and methods for examining the world around us will be available tomorrow, or in a hundred years, or a thousand? For all I know, God Himself has left His signature on the universe in such a way that the source is unquestionable and undeniable given the objective application of reason, but we simply don't have the tools to see it yet.
To give you a sort of understanding of the sorts of conceptual problems we have in dealing with the universe, the nearest star to us is 4.3 light-years away, give or take. That's about 7,854,437,234,000 miles. Now, although I can post that number, and we can all marvel at its size, it is plainly impossible to grasp the full meaning this sort of enormous distance in human terms - "human terms" just don't cover that sort of scope. If you tell me your house is a mile down the road, I have some sense of that distance from experience, and I understand the implications of "a mile". Or, if you tell me your city is about 500 miles from some other sort of city, I have some sense of that distance, and I understand the implications of that statement. But posting the number "7,854,437,234,000" does not give us a sense of just how enormously far that is. Grasping that sort of scope is not something our minds are attuned to do.
But, if someone invents that wonderful Star Trek warp drive tomorrow, such that the nearest star is twenty minutes away, that changes things radically. I have a very good conception of what "twenty minutes" means - I'm about a twenty minute drive from downtown, if the traffic is cooperating. Suddenly, that enormous and ungraspable distance has been rendered into human terms, and what seems to be incomprehensible is understandable. That doesn't mean I suddenly grasp how far 7,854,437,234,000 miles is, but it does mean that I don't really have to any more - I can sidestep that gap in my ability to conceptualize, given the right tools.
Which is why I hesitate to draw firm conclusions in this area. As it stands now, there is much we cannot understand. But I can't say what will be tomorrow. Whenever I am pessimistic about such things, I remind myself of what Faulkner once said - "I believe that man will not merely endure: he will prevail." So we shall have to wait and see. ;)
Revelation includes events in space/time history that are the subject of claimed eyewitness reportage. In other words, historical events are available to public scrutiny, and therefore transcend the circularity of reason alone.
True. Then the question becomes one of the sufficiency of the evidence.