On Sun, 02 Aug 2009 16:07:05 -0500, David H. Burns wrote:

> andrel wrote:
> A believer "knows", he/she will often deny believing as that
>> suggests that there is another option. I know that no god exists, but
>> at the same time acknowledge that others know that God does exist. An
>> outsider who does not share the same believe/knowledge may classify it
>> as (merely) a believe, for the believer it is knowledge. So whether it
>> are synonyms or not depends on the observer.
> 
> Well, of course one is free to use any word to mean anything one likes,
> and if it comforts one in one's faith to use "know" to mean "believe",
> one is free to do so. But if one wants what he says or writes
>   to be understood .... :)

Actually, though, "knowledge" comes in two ways, I think - first, through 
the act of learning, and secondly through an instinctive certainty.  I've 
always considered "belief" to be something that is "knowledge gained 
instinctively, with such a certainty that it forms a basis for what you 
do in your life".  I've not completed my own pontifications on this 
definition, but I do consider many people I know who are religious to 
have this kind of certainty about their beliefs - a certainty that makes 
it "knowledge" from their point of view.

Jim

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