To seek, or not to seek

“The Biggest Problem in Theism”

Crash Course Philosophy #13

The problem of evil is the question whether evil exists, and if so does it disprove the existence of God. Certain religions say there is a god who is all-loving, all-knowing and all-powerful. In these religions, the question to answer is how an all-loving and all-powerful god could allow evil to exist. https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Problem_of_evil

Atheism

Agnosticism

Agnosticism is the philosophical view that it is unknown (or even, unknowable) whether any deities (god or gods) exist or not. Some people who call themselves “agnostic” say that it is not possible for anyone ever to know if there are any deities or not… https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agnosticism

Richard Feynman – On Religion

Richard Feynman, Theoretical physicist. Nobel Prize in Physics 1965. “I don’t have to know an answer, I don’t feel frightened by not knowing things, by being lost in the mysterious universe without having any purpose, which is the way it really is as far as I can tell, possibly, it doesn’t frighten me. ” youtube.com/watch?v=P-Qdl6Gbx0k

Science and Religion || Mayim Bialik

Mayim Bialik – Actress and Neuroscientist: “this time I’m discussing how I can be both a scientist and a person who participates in a religious life, and how both make me who I am. I also discuss what God is and what God isn’t in a way that makes for a deeper love of the scientific world.”

Steven Phelps: The New Atheism Reconsidered

Steven Phelps – Review of The God Delusion By Richard Dawkins https://www.onecountry.org/story/new-atheism-reconsidered

“New Atheism”

In a talk on “Role of Religion in Today’s Society” Tom Price comments on the view “that religion should not simply be tolerated, but should be countered, criticised and exposed by rational argument wherever its influence arises”. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4p7oJoKkLgA&t=760s (discussion of ‘new atheism’ starts from 12:30)

Are miracles a proof?

https://colindibdin.com/miracles-and-proofs/

…in the sight of the Manifestations of God these marvels and miracles are of no importance…

‘Abdu’l‑Bahá, Some Answered Questions.

Insights from Bahá’í Writings

“The recurring proof of the existence of God, therefore, is that from time immemorial He has repeatedly manifested Himself”

https://www.bahai.org/library/other-literature/official-statements-commentaries/one-common-faith/

Knowledge of God

This seems to me to contain the key elements of a reasonable theology:

The door of the knowledge of the Ancient Being hath ever been, and will continue forever to be, closed in the face of men. No man’s understanding shall ever gain access unto His holy court. As a token of His mercy, however, and as a proof of His loving-kindness, He hath manifested unto men the Daystars of His divine guidance, the Symbols of His divine unity, and hath ordained the knowledge of these sanctified Beings to be identical with the knowledge of His own Self. Whoso recognizeth them hath recognized God. Whoso hearkeneth to their call, hath hearkened to the Voice of God, and whoso testifieth to the truth of their Revelation, hath testified to the truth of God Himself. Whoso turneth away from them, hath turned away from God, and whoso disbelieveth in them, hath disbelieved in God. Every one of them is the Way of God that connecteth this world with the realms above, and the Standard of His Truth unto every one in the kingdoms of earth and heaven. They are the Manifestations of God amidst men, the evidences of His Truth, and the signs of His glory.

Gleanings from the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh

The Recurring Proof of the Existence of God

Is a Leap of Faith Necessary?

“Find Me”

The tongue of Wisdom says: Whosoever possesses Me not, has nothing. Pass by whatever exists in this world and find Me. I am the Sun of Perception and the Ocean of Science. I revive the withered ones and quicken the dead. I am that Light which illumines the path of Insight. I am the Falcon of the Hand of the Almighty; I bear healing in My wings and teach the knowledge of soaring to the Heaven of Truth.

‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Star of the West, vol. 1, no. 3, April 28, 1910

An open and unbiased mind

Consistent with the scientific method of exploring material reality this passage alludes to spiritual perception as a basis for learning about spiritual reality:

this is the Day in which mankind can behold the Face, and hear the Voice, of the Promised One. The Call of God hath been raised, and the light of His countenance hath been lifted up upon men. It behooveth every man to blot out the trace of every idle word from the tablet of his heart, and to gaze, with an open and unbiased mind, on the signs of His Revelation, the proofs of His Mission, and the tokens of His glory.

Gleanings from the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh www.bahai.org/r/712711887

Gazing with the eye of insight

The passage below, extracted from The Seven Valleys by Baha’u’llah, indicates that a spiritual wayfarer finds the solution to “the problem of evil”.

And if, confirmed by the Creator, the lover escapeth the claws of the eagle of love, he will enter the Realm of Knowledge and come out of doubt into certitude, and turn from the darkness of wayward desire to the guiding light of the fear of God. His inner eye will open and he will privily converse with his Beloved; he will unlock the gates of truth and supplication and shut the doors of idle fancy. He in this realm is content with the divine decree, and seeth war as peace, and in death findeth the meaning of everlasting life. With both inward and outward eyes he witnesseth the mysteries of resurrection in the realms of creation and in the souls of men, and with a spiritual heart apprehendeth the wisdom of God in His endless manifestations. In the sea he findeth a drop, in a drop he beholdeth the secrets of the sea. Split the atom’s heart, and lo! Within it thou wilt find a sun.

Gazing with the eye of absolute insight, the wayfarer in this valley seeth in God’s creation neither contradiction nor incongruity, and at every moment exclaimeth, “No defect canst thou see in the creation of the God of mercy. Repeat the gaze: Seest thou a single flaw?”

Baha’u’llah, The Seven Valleys bahai.org/r/848955341

A fair-minded examination

…from a fair-minded examination of the actual utterances of the Founders of the great religions, and of the social milieus in which they were obliged to carry out their missions, there is nothing to support the contentions and prejudices deranging the religious communities of mankind and therefore all human affairs.

Bahá’í statement October 1985