Discussion on answer on How do Christians who believe in a witness of the Holy Spirit via thoughts & feelings respond to the claim that thoughts & feelings are unreliable?

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1:06 AM

@NotThatGuy let's break this into 3 steps: 1) recognizing a source (we agree it is often possible to do this), 2) developing trust in a source (all humans do this all the time, though we may disagree about which sources to trust), 3) the source reveals information about himself (this is commonplace in day to day interaction). Nothing here is unusual--this is how we form trusting relationships with anyone.

If a recognized source identifies himself as Jeff Bezos, it all hinges on #2, do I trust the source? God has given me reasons to trust Him (which, much to SpiritRealmInvestigator's chagrin, I do not believe are best shared on the internet).

8 hours later…

NotThatGuy

8:58 AM

@HoldToTheRod I wouldn't use the word "recognise" as opposed to "differentiate", because to me the former incorporates the knowledge that the source is the source, but maybe we mean the same thing.

#2 is good, but I wouldn't say it all hinges on that. #3 should be verified independently.

Maybe I should've used a more realistic example of text chatting with someone online (because who gets phone calls any more) and them claiming to be Jeff Bezos. Or, purely hypothetically, getting an email from someone claiming to be a Nigerian prince. Or some scammer on a dating site who isn't claiming to…

2 hours later…

NotThatGuy

10:32 AM

@HoldToTheRod If it were me, I probably wouldn't want to publicly share my personal experiences (either), but I might talk more generally about e.g. the specific ways in which God could give someone reasons to trust him (that may include my specific experiences). But the above is more about privacy, whereas if one doesn't want those experiences to be challenged, or has some other reason for not sharing them, this may not apply. And of course I'll respect you not wanting to share those experiences.

1 hour later…