Q&A: Is It Possible to Persuade Someone to Believe Using Logical Tools?
Is It Possible to Persuade Someone to Believe Using Logical Tools?
Question
Hello Rabbi,
Recently I heard a claim from a Jewish intellectual and believer in the United States named David Wolpe, in which he argues that he has never succeeded in persuading anyone to believe in God on the basis of purely logical proofs. Do you agree?
Let me sharpen the question a bit: from your experience, have you seen an atheist become convinced of God's existence through the physico-theological proof or the cosmological proof, or only through the moral argument, or alternatively through some kind of emotional arguments?
Answer
I don't know. The process of persuasion is made up of many factors. Logic and proofs are one aspect, and it's impossible to measure their relative weight in the process. But it's not נכון to ignore them.
See a bit here (Column 36):
https://mikyab.net/%D7%A2%D7%9C-%D7%AA%D7%95%D7%A4%D7%A2%D7%AA-%D7%94%D7%99%D7%A6%D7%99%D7%90%D7%94-%D7%91%D7%A9%D7%90%D7%9C%D7%94-%D7%98%D7%95%D7%A8-36/