How To Believe The Impossible?

hamilcarr

Consider the following reasoning I read yesterday in a WT article on the virgin birth of Jesus:

Skeptics, including some theologians of Christendom, have a hard time believing that a virgin birth could give birth. For all their education, they fail to grasp a simple truth. As Gabriel put it, "with God no declaration will be an impossibility." (Luke 1:37) Mary accepted Gabriel's words as truth, for she was a woman of great faith. However, that faith was not gullibility. Like any reasoning person, Mary needed evidence on which to base her faith. Gabriel was prepared to add to her store of such evidence. He told her about her elderly relative Elizabeth, long known as a barren woman. God had miraculously enabled her to conceive!

Notice the juxtaposition of 'simplicity', 'truth', and 'faith' on the one hand, and 'education', 'skeptics', and 'theologians' on the other hand.

Now I'm really trying to see the simplicity of Luke's statement, but I don't get it (due to harmful propagandistic college education?). Could anyone help me to believe the impossible? And how do we distinguish between possible impossibilities and impossible impossibilities?

Awakened07

From Alice in Wonderland, by Lewis Carroll:
“There is no use trying; one can't believe impossible things." -Alice
"I dare say you haven't had much practice. When I was your age, I always did it for half an hour a day. Why, sometimes I've believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast.” -Queen

On one hand, faith is about believing beforehand; presupposition that something is true. On the same hand, the less evidence one has, the more virtuous the faith becomes, and the more proud the person can be for staying faithful to the belief in spite of the lack of evidence.

On the other hand, you have utterances like the one you quoted, about having evidence for faith. "It's not like there was no evidence; after all, Mary knew of a woman who hadn't had babies and therefore was known to be 'barren', but was now suddenly pregnant." But can it really be said that being childless/barren and becoming pregnant is on the same footing as getting pregnant on your own? Why does the Watchtower even mention Elizabeth's circumstances as proof, by the way, when Mary was visited by an angel, which would be much more powerful evidence of something supernatural taking place?

What Luke really says is "God did it.". That explains everything. I never had a problem with Mary's miraculous conception, 'cause I believed 'God did it.', and he can do anything and has created everything. No biggie for him. When you have that presupposition at the base, anything thereafter can be rationalized. You can easily believe impossible things six or more times before breakfast, because God makes it possible.

hamilcarr

Interesting thoughts.

“There is no use trying; one can't believe impossible things."

Maybe the thread title contains a tautology. After all, is believing possibilities still about belief?

Big Tex

From Alice in Wonderland, by Lewis Carroll:
“There is no use trying; one can't believe impossible things." -Alice
"I dare say you haven't had much practice. When I was your age, I always did it for half an hour a day. Why, sometimes I've believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast.” -Queen

That's a great quote. Here's another that applies to the Society's ideas about the virgin birth:

"Contrariwise," continued Tweedledee, "if it was so, it might be; and if it were so, it would be; but as it isn't, it ain't. That's logic."

-- Lewis Carroll; Through the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There

Narkissos

is believing possibilities still about belief?

Excellent and far-reaching question... which would call for a disambiguation of both "belief" and "possibility".

I would suggest that the very distinction of possibility from actuality (which is essential to our thought processes) involves some form of "belief". And that "belief" cannot operate without being creative (positing alternatives to the "actual") -- as in "possible worlds," or "what if".

The leap from the actual to the possible (which even the sternest rationalists make many time a day) is by no means smaller than the leap from the possible to the impossible. The play of belief needs both. The play of thinking additionally needs to know the difference.

feenx

I personally tend to lean more towards the side of what Einstein said about such things, "Reality is merely an illusion, albeit a very persistent one.”

Do I think it's possible? Sure. We live in a virtual human matrix. Would I ever discount a scholar or theologian or anyone for being skeptical? HELL no. Skepticism leads to ones personal truth, and that's what counts.

feenx
Indigo Insight

jaguarbass

I'll take a stab at your question.

With God nothing is impossible: that explains how and why we got here and where we are going and how to get there.

Everything in life takes work. And most things we do are choices. We make choices to put us in our comfort zone and choices to make us happy.

Also there is a verse that says no one comes to God unless he calls them.

So we all have choices in how to find happiness. If you dont need God, I's say your lucky because you can just go on with your life and not waste your time on spiritual things.

If you need God, in the area I grew up, Amerika, the bible seems to be the most popular God book.

The bible seems to be full of unbelievable stories. The bible also says in order to believe you must be as a little child. I take that to mean in ones thought process, ie simple minded, unquestioning. The bible also say God will give you faith if you ask for it and he will give you the amount of faith necessary.

So now I have covered 2 choices or options. 1, is you dont need God, in which case you probably wouldnt even be here, or you are wasting your time.

The second choice is you deal with the God book and it's salesmen.

A third choice is if you have a need for God but cant make sense of believing in the impossibilities, go to your doctor and ask for some paxil, prozac or something similar to slow your mind down and go with the flow.

A fourth choice would be to self medicat, alcohol thats the only drug I know about.

Here is a 5th choice, you believe in God, but you dont tell anyone or talk about him to anyone and you dont compare your image of him to anyone elses. That way it stays simple.

Once we try to make sense of anyone elses understanding of God it starts getting convaluted and complicated.

Most people arent very smart and their ignorance is like a gold tooth when they start talking about God.

It only shows when they open their mouths.

People are specialist, they can learn a lot about a subject but when they try to put all the subjects together the house of cards falls down.

To be thin takes work, dieting exercise.

To accomplish a task takes work staying focused and on task.

To believe the impossible takes work. Prayer, asking for faith, saying with God all things are possible. Thats why people who believe go to church, just like people who eat to much go to weight watchers and people who drink to much go to AA and people who want to be fit go to the gym.

You have to stay focused and on track.

SPAZnik

I enjoyed that jaguarbass.

How To Believe The Impossible?

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