At bottom, the difference between us is how we know what we know and how sure we are that we know it (epistemology.)
Some, for instance, only value knowledge which derives from sensory experience, a trusted mentor, a consensus of a group of experts and reasoning.
But my greatest source of knowledge is spiritual. I’m more certain of that knowledge than any other kind of knowledge, including reasoning and sensory perception. And trusting mentors is waaay down on my list - #8 as I recall.
You ask for evidence of God. He lives in me and I live in Him – I’ve known him for nigh onto a half century. He brings the Scriptures alive in me as my eyes scan the words. And that’s not counting all the personal miracles. Evidence?! Jeepers, anyone in my shoes for only a second, would never again ask for evidence. LOL!
But that is the way God made it – so that no one could boast. No signs, no finding him by reason alone.
And I'm not asking science to go looking for Him (which would be silly IMHO) - but rather to keep an "open mind" - not start with a philosophy, unnecessary presuppositions, reduced boundaries, blueprints into which the conclusion must fit, etc.
great: I ask for evidence as opposed to testimony, and am given testimony.
scienTISTS (and those who support science) should keep open minds, certainly.
I do.
science ITSELF should remain unsullied by pink unicornism and other poofery. pink unicornism and other pooferies are different from science and already exist in their own pastures.
those who hold poofery dear should quit urinating over the fence onto science's pasture.
simple courtesy.
I don't consider that knowledge of anything other than the way my mind works. Reasoning (ie math) I consider as reliable as its axioms, ie 100%. Sensory perception is right up there too. Why? among aother things, I can compare notes with other people, and get a sense that we're sharing the same reasoning and reality.
But "spiritual knowledge" strikes me as completely undisciplined, a product of the imagination. There are as many flavors of it as there are mystically-inclined people. No real conssensus.
You ask for evidence of God. He lives in me and I live in Him – I’ve known him for nigh onto a half century. He brings the Scriptures alive in me as my eyes scan the words. And that’s not counting all the personal miracles. Evidence?! Jeepers, anyone in my shoes for only a second, would never again ask for evidence. LOL!
That's one fundamental way we differ, AG. If something like that happened to me, I'd hope I had enough rationality left to voluntarily make an appointment with a neurologist. I'd be worried that I'd had a stroke, or come down with temporal lobe epilepsy or somesuch thing, or that someone had slipped a psychedelic agent into my coffee. Although the sensation of a visit from the Spirit World might be overwhelming, I'm sure that part of me would "know" that it's not real.
It's that good ol' observer problem again: I've seen people on hallucinogens "experiencing oneness with the universe", and after they came down, they said it was a really interesting and emotionally-charged experience, isn't it amazing the tricks the mind can play on itself.
BTW, I don't think you're "crazy" or anything like that; all I'm saying is that we have really different ways of looking at things.