Is Belief in Jesus a Choice?

[bluegreenearth]

Do people make the choice to believe in the Biblical claims about Jesus?

[1213]

Demonstrate that atheists are necessarily choosing to discredit those evidences rather than being compelled to discredit them.

If there is something that compels atheists, please tell what it is?

Yes, it is called doxastic involuntarism.

Thank you. Good to know. I understand that means person has no own will and mind capable of independent thought. And in that case debating with atheists is generally pointless. Now I just wonder, why are atheists trying to make other people reject belief, if they believe in doxastic involuntarism.

[bluegreenearth]

Thank you. Good to know. I understand that means person has no own will and mind capable of independent thought. And in that case debating with atheists is generally pointless.

Doxastic involuntarism does not necessarily imply that a person is incapable of independent thought. It just means people cannot choose whether the evidence for a claim is sufficiently convincing or not. They encounter the evidence and are either involuntarily convinced or involuntarily unconvinced by it. It is entirely possible for someone to provide an atheist with an argument and the supporting evidence that will be involuntarily convincing to the individual.

Now I just wonder, why are atheists trying to make other people reject belief, if they believe in doxastic involuntarism.

My goal is not for other people to reject their belief but to ask them critical thinking questions about the reliability of the method they used to arrive at the belief. If they discover their method was unreliable and subsequently reject the belief, it will be because they were involuntarily convinced to do so. It is also possible for people to discover their methodology was unreliable but still retain the belief because they remain involuntarily convinced by fallacious reasoning.

Intellectually honest people who discover their methodology was unreliable but retain the belief anyway will acknowledge the fallacious reasoning and admit to having no justification for it. Phobias are like this. A phobia is basically an involuntary belief that you are immanently in danger from something when there is no real threat present. People with phobias do not choose to have those acute experiences of irrational fear but are able to acknowledge when there is no reasonable justification for it if they are intellectually honest with themselves.