I have to say that I have delved into this discussion today and gotten a ridiculously small amount of work done. But, such is a luxury of running your own business.
The point I'd like to bring up (I'd really like to post it at some point rather than have it on a comment page) is about Richard Dawkins' series called "The Root of All Evil?". I've compiled a good handful of responses to this presentation, but I'll bring up just one here, and that has to do with the very title of the videos (you can see them if you Google "the God Delusion"). By invoking the word "evil" Dawkins opens up an interesting can, in my opinion. I looked up the word in the American Heritage Dictionary and it does not have an exclusive spiritual bent to it. It does describe it as meaning, generally, bad. However, I feel, though I cannot prove this, that in our modern context, even globally, most people would either overtly claim some spiritual aspect of "badness" in their personal definition of evil, and if not overtly than they would not deny it if you gave a definition that included the spiritual aspect. Now, as the atheistic gospel authors, Dennet, Dawkins, Hitchens and Harris, might claim, there may be genes present in unintelligent humans that predispose them to a belief in the supernatural/spiritual realm. So, potentially, I'm talking out of my own genetic inadequacies. But, for what it's worth, spiritual activity has not been discussed here. Invoking the name of Jesus Christ for healing or exorcism or comfort works (I can give you personal accounts if you would like, though I am hesitant because I believe revelation is sometimes a private thing). The problem here is that this is only defensible scientifically in a marginal sense. For example, people who attend religious congregations on a regular basis tend to live longer (and happier, I believe?) than those who do not. There is research to show also that prayer in general (meaning not necessarily to one specific God, but for other people) by people who don't even know one who is sick has been demonstrated to increase the likelihood that the sick will get well, or better.
While it is clear we are inseparable from the animal kingdom in nearly every way, can't we say conclusively that the capacity of the human mind, and the capability of its individuals and communities to affect change in the world far (I can't think of a better word!) exceeds that of any other species on the planet? I think, then, the argument by the so-called four horsemen, or maybe just a few of them, would be that all of the denigration we humans have managed to carry out on the natural world is a direct result of the lessers-of-us' predisposition to believe in a God whose existence we cannot prove, or at least as a result of being angry with other people who do not believe the same.
I think the notion that there is no spiritual realm is the most dangerous of them all. To me, it's a bit silly, as has already been concluded on this blog from time to time, to try and prove something which cannot be proven or try to convince someone with reason that does not translate well to the other's perspective.
Paul, I believe the one thing that still remains in your framework as a possible reason to believe the Gospel (the good news of Christ and his promises kept) is fundamentally the only thing that really matters: the upside-down nature of the Kingdom which, as Robb has conveyed, puts the worthless shoulder to shoulder with the "worthy", as every knee bows and every tongue confesses that Jesus Christ is Lord. The thing about this is that it is extremely exclusive of any other conceivable pathway to God (whether your God is God or Reason). It says that Jesus is the only way to the Truth, the point that we will know everything we long to know, as God does. But what is truly remarkable about this is that no one, actually, is excluded who will claim Jesus' promise for themselves. That's right where humility is foundational.
Back to the spiritual. I believe that battle is waging. And I believe that reason (or some version of it) is fighting to disconnect us with the spiritual realm and, therefore, a deeper and stronger connection with each other and (I believe) our Creator. And I have evidence, if you'll believe it, that that is the case. And Jesus' name and the mention of his blood are the only things that protect us from the temptation to believe in a reasonable world.
