@Austin Erlandson You are correct when you say we have a revelational epistemology (we only know what God reveals to us). But when you say logic can't prove or disprove things outside our current subset of knowledge, that means there could be contradictions somewhere out in the world that we don't know about. But is that true? For example, there may be creatures God has never revealed to us. We cannot reason from our present knowledge to a detailed description of them. But we can still know that no creature can both exist and not exist in the same sense simultaneously.

@Austin Erlandson If there can be real contradictions “out there” that we simply do not know about, then it could be true that God exists and God does not exist in the same sense at the same time. In that case, theism and atheism could both be correct. But then your argument that atheism is false collapses, because on your view “God exists” would not exclude “God does not exist.” The law of non-contradiction is what allows you to say one position rules out the other. Or taking your original position reality is non-locally real. If genuine contradictions can exist, then reality could also be non-locally real and not non-locally real at the same time and in the same sense. So why should your claim exclude its negation?

If I could have just one wish, the answer to that question will be yes.

Hahahaha

@Glen Veltum Yes. I would point her skepticism right back at her skepticism.

@Tim Tant I like just relying on the power of the gospel. That's always a good answer. I think it can be easy to forget that God is doing the work and only the gospel is the most powerful way to respond.

@Cynthia Flint I think this is really well said. As I’ve started learning about other religions, I’ve realized how much I take for granted having grown up around Christianity. I sometimes forget I have 40 years in the game, haha. I especially agree that some doctrines take time to settle in the mind. The Trinity is a perfect example. A person may genuinely want to believe, but still feel like their mind is hitting a wall. Where I’d maybe add a layer is this: I wonder if even those intellectual walls are still connected to the heart in some way. Not in the sense that every doubter is being dishonest or rebellious, but in the sense that the Bible seems to treat the whole person as fallen, including the mind and the ability to reason. So when Paul says “the mind set on the flesh is hostile to God,” I don’t think he’s separating the mind from the heart. I think he’s saying our reasoning itself is affected by our fallen nature. That’s actually why I think apologetics matters. We try to remove obstacles and help people think clearly, but ultimately the Holy Spirit gives a changed heart. What so you think about that? I think I’m agreeing with you that people can have real intellectual barriers. I just wonder if those barriers are still part of the deeper heart-level problem the bible describes.

That's funny 🤣