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Some time during my initial philosophic/theological foray into what I now call Triessentialism, I encountered the idea of the anti-Trinity:
Where the Father is ultimate power and causal impetus, the atheist universe can only have endless void and the inexorable flow of all usable energy over time into its maw.
Where the Son is ultimate logic and infinite planning, the atheist universe can only have coincidences piling up through combinatorics over uncountable stretches of time to generate the unlikely human thinker.
Where the Spirit is ultimate purpose and strong love, the atheist universe can only have cosmic purposelessness and apathy for those who abuse free will for their own reasons.
Were we to find “Copyright 4004 BC Jesus Christ” encoded in English or Hebrew in the DNA of nerve proteins, there would be someone explaining how it’s a total coincidence, an artifact of decoding and combinatorics. Were scientists able to summon a tangible demon (who can throw lightning bolts and use telekinesis) reliably through ritual, there would be someone explaining it as a purely naturalistic phenomenon, citing Arthur C. Clarke.
Baileys abound in cosmological discussions, and mottes are few and far between. Thank you for helping us keep our epistemologies tidy.
So are you a Christian because it would be so much simpler and more desirable, or something? Believe in Aslan even if there is no Narnia?
No, I believe because I’ve experienced God’s love when I was at my most doubtful, because I received His revelations of philosophy at my most confused, and because I received His healing in the most unexpected ways when I was at my lowest. But to you that’s anecdotes, not evidence.
I also believe that there’s a Heaven and a Hell just on the other side of death, that there’s enough forensic historical evidence to show a coherent picture of a young Earth created by the Hebrews’ God, and that Jesus’ forgiveness and baptism in water and the Spirit have a miraculous, transformative effect on the human animal.
Unlike Puddleglum the marshwiggle, I’d rather be right than happy. Like Thomas the skeptic, I trust Him who surprised me with more evidence than I asked for, and joy besides.
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