Recent content by Bellator

I'm not exactly sure why, but I do know it has always been true of me. Even when I was an atheist, religion fascinated me. I would always perk up with keen interest whenever I heard anyone mention the subject. Religion relates things that matter in our daily lives to things of cosmic and...

If a baker baked a cake, who baked the baker?

Hello Mr. Sheep and welcome! I hope you will find you are in good company here.

It is not quite the same, as we do not claim that knowledge in other fields can even in principle be derived from our revelations in a strict sense. There is perhaps a form of reductionism in that we believe revelation describes a complete way of life. I am of the opinion, for instance, that...

I like this actually. The very pursuit of natural science has its origins in the Christian idea of Logos (as I have previously stated), that there is a single order underlying everything. It still sounds to me like you are arguing against a strawman of reductionism. The reductionism I...

I find it funny that the term reductionist is used as a pejorative. I don't see reductionism as a bad thing. I believed in reductionism as an atheist, and I still would if I were still an atheist. There is something elegant about it. If all the sciences reduce to physics, it doesn't mean the...

Catholic and Orthodox Christians are keen on maintaining the integrity of our bodies. If there is a medical reason for doing something (organ donations, blood transfers, prosthetics, etc.) there is no problem, as the medical reason justifies it. However, anything that is purely for aesthetic...

I did not think the term idealism was used in the same sense in the case of "German idealism". Then again, I am not very familiar with it. Since you contrasted it with metaphysical materialism, I thought you were talking about idealism in the sense of George Berkeley's metaphysics. I don't...

Yes, it sounds like you'd fit my definition of materialist. Not sure idealism is really relevant here, idealism being the view that only ideas exist. [Edit: I should say idealism is the view than only ideas and minds exist] Its an uncommon position to take. Materialism should really be...

Pretty sure one cannot be Catholic if they never quote Chesterton :p

Materialism (or physicalism) is the idea that only physical things exist. Based on this response, you seem agnostic on the issue. Do you believe in the existence or possible existence of disembodied spirits? I read it round about 2006 I believe. I mostly remember how little the man ate...

For clarity, do you hold scientific materialism, Cino? Usually the term atheism implies this, but I don't want to assume. I spent about a decade of my life pursuing some kind of atheistic (and scientific materialist) mysticism. In the end, I have come to believe this sort of thing is not...

Thank you for your kind words!

Hello Interfaith Forums! I used to post here in the 2005 to 2009 time frame. I first joined the forums when I was in high school. I have fond memories of this place. It takes me back to my formative years. I'm a bit astonished it still exists, mostly in the form I remember, with all my old...

Is there a way to remove the signature if we already have one?