Belief Can't Be Forced

Steve Jones at Freethinking Faith insightfully points out that you can’t force yourself to subjectively believe something:  You either believe it, or you don’t.  He says:

Believing is not like turning a knob on the dashboard.

Regardless of the intricate chain of reasoning that apologetics offers us, I can no more MAKE myself believe something than I can force myself fall in love or make a given song my favorite just by exercising my will.   It doesn't work that way.

No amount of reasoning can compel me to believe the story of Balaam [and his talking donkey] as long as it subjectively sounds legendary to me.

On the other hand, the resurrection of Christ subjectively sounds believable to me.   I don't know why — that's just the way it is.

And I accept that fact and have chosen to be Christian despite it.

(Emphasis original, extra paragraphing added.) 

Comments

[Michael Carey]

Let us pray that God chooses you also.

[D. C.]

Boy, Michael, I'd sure hate to live life thinking my only options were (i) to guess right — on the basis of zero verifiable data — about what would cause God to choose me, or (ii) to guess wrong and spend eternity in unimaginable torment.

I truly feel sorry for those who do think this.

Thanks for writing.