Christianity And Skepticism

Reality is often far more nuanced than many people will dare to suggest.  There are numerous things that can be proven in full [1], things that very little can be known about (there is no such thing as absolute ignorance about a matter, since one can always at least know that necessary truths apply to any given facet of reality), and things that rest somewhere in between these two.  Many rush to claim that Christianity can be demonstrated to be true or false, overlooking the true complexity of the issue.  In truth, many of the epistemological issues involved with investigating the veracity of Christianity do not lay on points of minimal knowledge or absolute certainty.

Can any component of Christianity be completely proven?  Of course!  There are specific examples I have cited before: the existence of an uncaused cause [2], the distinction between consciousness/soul and body [3], and the existence of a material world [4] are all things which are both central aspects of Christian theology and demonstrable from the strict exercise of rationality.  Since a fact which reason demonstrates is absolutely certain, these particular aspects of Christianity cannot be false.  If any of these things could not be established by wielding the laws of logic, some of the most foundational parts of Christianity would be uncertain.

What, however, of the existence of angels, the historical claims of the Bible (such as those about the reigns of particular monarchs), or the Bible's descriptions of a particular kind of afterlife?  None of these things can be defended except by appealing to mere evidence, which is fallible and always falls short of actual proof.  Evidence, of course, is always proof that evidence exists, but it can do nothing more than provide varying degrees of probabilistic support for a notion.

The ultimate unverifiability of certain aspects of Christianity does nothing to erase the great amount of historical evidence for its veracity.  There is no cognitive dissonance in being a skeptic about the truth of Christianity's unverifiable components while being committed to living out its values in light of the extensive evidence for Christianity as a whole.  In fact, this nuanced stance is the only rational position one could hold regarding Christianity.  There is no such thing as a rational denial that Christianity is evidentially fortified and that parts of it can be proven; there is also no such thing as a rational claim that the entirety of Christianity is certainly true.

A Christian who believes that it is impossible for certain aspects of Christianity to be false does not understand reason or sound epistemology.  There are components of Christian metaphysics and theology that could be false, though there is evidence in their favor and no evidence against their veracity.  Additionally, if even a single actual internal contradiction within Christianity or a disparity between Christianity or a single external truth was discovered, at least that part of Christianity would be false and therefore untenable.  General ignorance and intellectual stubbornness are the only reasons why these facts are not accepted by every Christian.

Logic, people.  It is very fucking helpful.

[1].  https://thechristianrationalist.blogspot.com/2018/11/the-extent-of-absolute-certainty.html

[2].  https://thechristianrationalist.blogspot.com/2017/04/the-uncaused-cause.html

[3].  https://thechristianrationalist.blogspot.com/2018/09/the-breath-of-life.html

[4].  https://thechristianrationalist.blogspot.com/2017/07/dreams-and-consciousness.html