Research Questions
Faith
Believing what you cannot prove.
Opening your questions…
Research Questions
Faith
Believing what you cannot prove.
10 questions
Where to begin
Can you be good without God?In The Brothers Karamazov, Ivan's idea is that without God and immortality, everything is permitted. Plenty of people live decent lives without belief, and plenty of believers don't.Pick one of 4
- If God commanded cruelty, would cruelty become good?Socrates asked Euthyphro whether the gods love what is good because it is good, or whether it is good because the gods love it.
- If God is good, why do children suffer?A child suffers and dies, and nothing good comes of it that anyone can see. Believers have tried to answer this for as long as there has been belief.
- If you cannot know whether God exists, is it sensible to live as if God does?Pascal argued that the stakes make belief the better wager. The trouble is whether belief can be chosen for its payoff, and whether any god would want it chosen that way.Pick one of 4
- Ritual without beliefCan a prayer, a ritual or a holy day still mean something if you don't believe in what it is addressed to?
- Should you ever believe without evidence?W. K. Clifford said it is always wrong to believe anything on insufficient evidence. William James answered that some choices can't wait for proof.Pick one of 4
- The religion of your birthplaceIf you had been born somewhere else, you would probably hold different religious beliefs just as sincerely. What should that possibility do to your confidence?
- What is sacred to you?Is anything sacred to you — something you would refuse to sell, mock or trade at any price?
- What would it take for you to believe a miracle had happened?Hume asked which would be stranger: that nature's laws were broken, or that the witness was wrong. Decide what evidence could ever tip that balance.
- Would you want there to be an afterlife?Heaven, rebirth or nothing at all. Many people say yes at once, until they think about forever.Pick one of 4
