Theist Quotes

• I have hitherto followed the lines marked out by the Theist in his attempt to prove that there exists a mind behind natural phenomena, and that the universe as we have it is, at least generally, an evidence of a plan designed by this mind. I have also pointed out that the only datum for such a conclusion is the universe we know. We must take that as a starting point. We can get neither behind it nor beyond it. We cannot start with God and deduce the universe from his existence; we must start with the world as we know it, and deduce God from the world.

  

  Chapman Cohen
  • Mind
  • Universe
  • Starting

• The trick is, after all, obvious. The Theist takes terms that can apply to sentient life alone, and applies them to the universe at large. He talks about means, that is, the deliberate planning to achieve certain ends, and then says that as there are means there must be ends. Having, unperceived, placed the rabbit in the hat, he is able to bring it forth to the admiration of his audience.

  

  Chapman Cohen
  • Life
  • Universe
  • Trick

• The theist and the scientist are rival interpreters of nature, the one retreats as the other advances.

  

  Joseph McCabe
  • Scientist
  • Rival
  • Theist

• I think it's a misreading of Dostoevsky to think of him as a programmatic theist. He's actually much closer to someone like William James. He's actually a pragmatist.

  

  Will Self
  • Thinking
  • Pragmatists
  • Misreading

• The theist must present an intelligible description of god. Until he does so, god makes no more sense than unie; both are cognitively empty, and any attempt at proof is logically absurd.

  

  George H. Smith
  • God
  • Proof
  • Theist

• If one believes in a god, one is a Theist. If one does not believe in a god, then one is an A-theist — he is without that belief. The distinction between atheism and theism is entirely, exclusively, that of whether one has or has not a belief in God.

  

  Chapman Cohen
  • God
  • Belief
  • Atheist