Joad: an excluded category

Saturday, March 13, 2010
Meditation:
    I tell you this [about riches in Christ] so that no one may deceive you by fine-sounding arguments.
    —Colossians 2:4 (NIV)
Quotation:
    The fact that a belief is subjectively determined does not mean that it is untrue; it may be a rationalization of our wishes and may, nevertheless, be in accordance with the evidence. Sometimes we are in the fortunate position of knowing that this is so. We may hold a belief to be true because we wish it to be true, and we may at a later date gratefully acknowledge that the evidence is strongly in its favour. It is by no means to be taken for granted that religious beliefs do not fall within this category. I make this point because many people argue as if it were sufficient to show that our religious beliefs are rationalizations, ... in order to disprove them; as if the fact that religious beliefs fulfilled our wishes and comforted our feelings was in itself a reason for supposing them to be false.
    ... C. E. M. Joad (1891-1953), God and Evil, New York: Harper, 1943, p. 228 (see the book)
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, rid my mind of all controversies concerning You. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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