Realization Discovery and Religion
H.H. Price (3) states that "it may happen to a person that he realizes, with surprise perhaps, that he cannot help believing in God." Such a realization may be sudden or gradual, may be related to some experience or not, and may be the basis for life-changing attitude development. At issue herein is whether or not Price (3-5) has described a procedure that amounts to investigating the so-called "theistic hypothesis," gathering evidence for it and confirming it. Also of significance in this essay are the questions of whether the realization discovery model does or does not apply to religion and the more significant issue of whether the discovery of God through realization is like or unlike the process that is associated with making a hypothetical discovery.
The theistic hypothesis as described by Price (4-5) is based upon a set of premises suggesting that there must be a Supreme Being who created the universe, that this Supreme Being loves all humans he has created equally and unconditionally, and that he invites but does not compel his creatures to love him. The theistic hypothesis goes on to suggest, said Price (4), that
"it is in our power to accept this invitation if we will, though it is equally in our power to reject it; and finally that loving him is our highest good."
The notion that one can entertain this hypothesis without accepting each of the foregoing constituent propositions is linked to the necessity of suspending disbelief and garnering sufficient interest to try out religious practices or, in other words, engaging the self in an active search for God or at least being open to being found by God. This is not incongruous with investigating the theistic hypothesis, gathering evidence for it (or against it), and then confirming or denying it. What is necessary, said Price (7), is that anyone "interested" in religion must "assume that each of us has an...