The Universal and Enduring Value of Religion.

SEA OF FAITH IN AUSTRALIA (SoFiA) - Melbourne.

Some of us are participating in SoFiA's online event.

Dr. Paul Tonson will present the topic and lead the discussion.

"Some of us coming from a religious background are very open to serious discourse with the secular mind. This discourse is taking place in the circle of Sea of Faith in Australia. Moreover there is a long historical consideration as to whether the word 'faith' should be dropped. Prior to this discourse I was already thinking a lot about the language of the word 'faith'.

A unique perspective offered by David Miller as an Atheist is that it takes Faith to be an Atheist. This tells me that the shared bottom line we have is something about acknowledging the unknown, perhaps meaning we live life making decisions and deciding values without having a totally rational or empirical evidential basis.

If this negative way of defining Faith, meaning to deny that empiricism or rationalism are sufficient, is adequate, then it is not necessary to say that faith means a belief in mysterious or in the numinous, let alone impose God talk on the discussion. In this case the word Faith may still have universal currency.

On a separate path, my way of thinking about faith has been to think of it as a stance towards life. This is certainly not contradictory to nor distinct from the above but goes a step further. For it places the idea of faith as an existential rather than intellectual matter. With this viewpoint Faith is a quality of the decisions we make to develop life in a certain way despite what we don't know. I believe this would be very consistent with what Kierkegaard offered in his amazing writings."

The ZOOM LINK will appear on this page for those who RSVP.
Meeting ID: 838 0210 9384 - - Passcode: 259034

~ SoFiA promotes the open exploration of religion, spirituality and the search for meaning. They welcome ALL viewpoints, including Atheism.~

SOFiA Website.

Facebook: 'Sofiatalk' - Please join their ongoing discussions.