In the processing of reviewing a dialogue between non-Calvinist evangelical Ergun Caner and atheist/agnostic "Rational Response Squad," I stumbled across an interesting transcendental argument.
The Rational Response Squad asked for the three best reasons to believe in God.
Ergun Caner's very first response, interestingly, was to appeal to the universal practice of worship, stating that even those who did not believe in God at all "still held to a view of transcendants - you've got to believe in something greater than yourself, other than yourself." He stated this "universal yearning" is his "first apologetic."
It's certainly not mine, but I wonder how it strikes VanTillians?
-Turretinfan
Saturday, June 16, 2007
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3 comments:
This isn't a transcendental argument and it doesn't sound like Caner is using the term correctly when he states, "still held to a view of transcendants - you've got to believe in something greater than yourself, other than yourself" (unless I am misunderstanding his context). Believing in something greater than yourself may be beleiving in something that *transcends* yourself but this is not properlly speaking a transcendental (some precondition to 'x').
JB
I should note that in a sense this can be *part* of a transcendental argument if he is appealing to the fact all men have x (desire to worship)and y is the precondition to x. However, the argument in this form is very poor and it seems more likely that Caner is arguing that all men have a desire to worship something which transcends them, so, prima facie, there may be some god being which transcends men.
JB
Dear JB,
Sorry for my delay in responding.
Note that, properly speaking, the argument was a "transcendental" argument, because it relied on transcendents.
As you correctly note, it does not rely on "transcendentals" meaning preconditions. I'm not too strongly in favor of that nomenclature, though. I'd prefer just to call them preconditions, since they don't have anything to do with the concept of transcendence.
-Turretinfan
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