Braincleaned said- Russell was not saying it was impossible — he meant it was impossible for him!
The context reveals the tone and intent of this quote.
Yeah, which is exactly what I pointed out in my post, when I said he bailed himself out at the last moment.
Braincleaned said- And yes, the latter is called "rationalization" — something he didn't subscribe to either.
Well of course he didn't subscribe to it: I don't think you'd find anyone who would recommend it, much less be able recognize when they're engaging in rationalizations! But the fact remains that people do use post-hoc rationalizations, whether intentionally or not, or consciously or not.
On a related point, as far as the definition of faith, even after tearing apart Hebrews 11 to explain it, TEC has dogmatically stuck to her odd interpretation in claiming it relies on perceivable evidence. I've beaten my head against that wall in this thread trying to explain it:
http://www.jehovahs-witness.net/jw/friends/260964/1/Question-regarding-Faith-adamah#.UnlWuiTQFLc
The main point of Hebrews 11:1 to realize that the first part of the definition found in the scripture focuses on what faith provides to others who see the acts of the one who has faith, and the second part focuses on how faith operates within the individual.
Many translations gloss over that conceptual distinction, or often mix them up.
So the first part that the NWT translates as, "faith IS the assured expectation of things hoped for" refers to the promise, or even 'promissory note' (Greek word is 'hupostasis', lit. a 'title deed', the tangible paper deed which is a SYMBOL of the buyer's ownership and right to inhabit a piece of land which can be presented to others to prove their claim). In Paul's use, this part is referring to the demonstration of faith that a Xian martyr might display to the rest of the World, eg convincing the ungodly to become followers of Christ by their example and willingness to die in the name of their God. This is the ACTIONS shown BY a faithful person.
The second part ("the evidence of realities not yet beheld") is referring to the role of faith plays in the individual, by supporting their belief in the PROMISE as yet unseen and unexperienced by them (eg the Heavenly hope, or even belief in the existence of God or Jesus, since they haven't YET experienced it with their own sensory organs).
TEC consistently misses that distinction, and expects everyone to accept that her personal experience of perceiving the voice of Jesus supports her internal faith, when faith is actually defined by Paul as belief DEVOID of any sensory or perceivable input or evidence, and is even belief DESPITE being presented with perceivable evidence to the contrary! Never mind Jesus' refusing to perform miracles (AKA signs) since it was ineffective at building faith: she sticks to her novel concept of Jesus giving her a personal auditorium as building her FAITH.
In that kind of belief system, to an external observer, 'faith' actually IS indistinguishable from 'dogma', so believers might as well use 'faith' as if it were a synonym.
Adam
