Q&A: The First Existent
The First Existent
Question
Hello and blessings.
A. In your first book in the trilogy, at the end of the ontological proof you brought your own final refutation. I wasn’t able to understand what that refutation was.
B. In the discussion about those who forbid investigating matters of faith lest one come to heresy, you said that this has no real meaning because, either way, if he is persuaded by the arguments for heresy then he was already a latent atheist from the outset, since he had already accepted the assumptions, etc. This claim is not necessary, because it could be that as a result of the inquiry the person decided to adopt different assumptions, and then he changed from a believer into an atheist, and was not such from the outset.
Answer
But even if that decision had not yet been made, if he were to encounter the other arguments he would decide that way, so even if he has not encountered them, he is still considered a latent atheist. Indeed, it is not entirely necessary.