Transcript People almost invariably arrive at their beliefs not on

Lecture 2a
Why do you believe
what you believe?
“People almost invariably
arrive at their beliefs not on
the basis of proof but on the
basis of what they find
attractive.”
--Blaise Pascal
(17th century French philosopher)
Why do you believe what you
believe?
SOCIOLOGICAL
REASONS
PSYCHOLOGICAL
REASONS
RELIGIOUS
REASONS
PHILOSOPHICAL
REASONS
BIBLICAL
Parents
Comfort
Scripture
Consistency
Friends
Peace of mind
Pastor/Priest
Accurate
Exegesis
Coherence
Society
Meaning
Guru
Culture
Purpose
Rabbi
Geography
Hope
Imam
Community
Identity
Church
Peer Pressure
Feelings or
Intuition
Tradition
Completeness
TRUTH
Biblical,
Theological
Systematic
Coherence
Mysticism
Adapted from: James Sire, “Why Should Anyone Believe Anything At All” in Telling the Truth, D.A. Carson, ed.
One goal in apologetics is to
(1) expose inadequate
justifications for belief and (2)
provide a solid basis for
validating or invalidating
truth claims.