{"id":803,"date":"2024-04-21T13:11:28","date_gmt":"2024-04-21T13:11:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/maverickphilosopher.blog\/index.php\/2024\/04\/21\/the-sun-also-rises-on-solar-and-christian-belief\/"},"modified":"2024-04-21T13:11:28","modified_gmt":"2024-04-21T13:11:28","slug":"the-sun-also-rises-on-solar-and-christian-belief","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/maverickphilosopher.blog\/index.php\/2024\/04\/21\/the-sun-also-rises-on-solar-and-christian-belief\/","title":{"rendered":"The Sun Also Rises: On Solar and Christian Belief"},"content":{"rendered":"

A reader sends us to an article that begins like this:<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

The need for a return to God is clearly evident in today\u2019s deranged and dysfunctional world. It is a need, exceeding all others, that must be fulfilled in order to keep enemies of God from interfering with human life. <\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

And then a little later we get an unsourced quotation from C. S. Lewis replete with a non-functioning hyperlink:<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

C.S. Lewis:<\/strong> \u201cI believe in Christianity as I believe that the sun has risen: not only because I see it, but because by it I see everything else.\u201d This points directly to the essence of the faith in Christianity and to its need in life. A short explanation, found here<\/a>, includes the observation: \u201cAt first glance, this quote may appear simple, but upon closer examination, its deep meaning and profound importance become evident. Essentially, Lewis suggests that his faith in Christianity is not solely based on tangible evidence but also on the transformative impact it has on his perception of the world<\/em>.\u201d [My emphasis.]<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Since the quotation is unsourced, I cannot check whether Lewis said what he is quoted as saying. If he did, it is a silly thing to say. Let me explain.<\/span><\/p>\n

This morning I observed a beautiful sunrise. And so I believe that the Sun rose this morning. I also believe that the Sun is the source of the natural light we enjoy on Earth.  But it is false, and indeed silly, to say that one who believes in Christianity believes in the very same way.  The difference is obvious. I cannot help but believe that the Sun rose this morning: I saw it with my own two eyes!  Seeing is believing in a case like this.* That the Sun rose is given, if not indubitably, then for all practical purposes.** There is no need for a leap of faith beyond the given.  The will does not come into it. In no way do I decide to believe that the Sun has risen. Examples like this one refute a universal doxastic voluntarism.<\/span><\/p>\n

But if you believe that God became man in Jesus of Nazareth, if you believe that the God-Man is fully divine and fully human, that he is one person in two natures, then you believe beyond the sensorily given.  (You also arguably believe beyond what is intelligible to the discursive intellect.) You cannot see God the way you see the Sun. To 'see' God in Jesus you need the 'eye' of faith which is quite obviously not a physical eye but a spiritual 'eye.'  The last sentence in the quotation reads:<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

Essentially, Lewis suggests that his faith in Christianity is not solely based on tangible evidence but also on the transformative impact it has on his perception of the world<\/em>.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Better, but still bad. Someone who comes to embrace Christianity comes to view the world in a way very different from the way he viewed it prior to his becoming a Christian. True! So, yes, his worldview has been transformed. But that transformation is no part of the evidence of the truth of Christianity; if it were, then the transformation that occurs in someone who goes from being a Christian to an atheist or a Christian to a Communist  or a Christian to a Buddhist, etc. is a transformation that is evidence of the truth of atheism, Communism, Buddhism respectively, etc.<\/span><\/p>\n

Article here<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

______________<\/span><\/p>\n

*There may be other cases in which seeing does not suffice for belief. I am thinking of G. E. Moore's putative counterexample: "I see it, but I don't believe it!"<\/span><\/p>\n

** The hyperbolic skepticism of Descartes is not to the point here.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A reader sends us to an article that begins like this: The need for a return to God is clearly evident in today\u2019s deranged and dysfunctional world. It is a need, exceeding all others, that must be fulfilled in order to keep enemies of God from interfering with human life.  And then a little later … Continue reading “The Sun Also Rises: On Solar and Christian Belief”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[372,58,66,382],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-803","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-belief","category-christian-doctrine","category-faith-and-reason","category-lewis-c-s"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/maverickphilosopher.blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/803","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/maverickphilosopher.blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/maverickphilosopher.blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maverickphilosopher.blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maverickphilosopher.blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=803"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/maverickphilosopher.blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/803\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/maverickphilosopher.blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=803"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maverickphilosopher.blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=803"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maverickphilosopher.blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=803"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}