The Unknowable

When the atheist is told that God is unknowable, he may interpret this claim in one of two ways. He may suppose, first, that the theist has acquired knowledge of a being that, by his own admission, cannot possibly be known; or, second, he may assume that the theist simply does not know what he is talking about. If the atheist regards the second assumption as far more likely, if he suspects the theist of uttering nonsense, this is partially because the first assumption is appallingly convenient. The theist, in affirming the existence of an unknowable being, ... [has] an all-purpose excuse for exempting [his] claim[] from the burden of proof and the canons of critical scrutiny.
George H. Smith, Why Atheism? (2000)

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