Is it possible that this person was deliberately avoiding such statements of declaration?
I imagine myself, hypothetically, discussing physics with an opponent who only believes in Aristotelian mechanics. I’m not going to come right out and declare “Objects at rest stay at rest”. Instead, I’m going to say “I believe that objects at rest stay at rest”, going under a mock hypothetical that perhaps my belief is an opinion and not a fact, and then slowly try to win my opponent over. Making guarded declarations instead of absolute declarations is a common tactic of persuasion. (I almost typed “appears to be a common tactic of persuasion” in the last sentence, which shows how strong this tactic is.)
Given that, I find it possible that the person actually did believe that God exists, but felt that saying “Oh, and by the way, God actually does exist” would have been unproductive. She could have been trying to construct an argument that goes somewhat like this:
(1) I believe that God exists.
(2) I am an intelligent person, therefore my beliefs are true.
(3) Therefore, God exists.
Perhaps it was clear to her that you didn’t believe (3), but she was holding out hope that she might convince you of (1) and (2), which would then force you to believe (3). If that is her line of attack, it would do her no good to declare (3), as it would more likely alienate you and make it harder for her to persuade you to believe (1) and (2).
Is it possible that this person was deliberately avoiding such statements of declaration?
I imagine myself, hypothetically, discussing physics with an opponent who only believes in Aristotelian mechanics. I’m not going to come right out and declare “Objects at rest stay at rest”. Instead, I’m going to say “I believe that objects at rest stay at rest”, going under a mock hypothetical that perhaps my belief is an opinion and not a fact, and then slowly try to win my opponent over. Making guarded declarations instead of absolute declarations is a common tactic of persuasion. (I almost typed “appears to be a common tactic of persuasion” in the last sentence, which shows how strong this tactic is.)
Given that, I find it possible that the person actually did believe that God exists, but felt that saying “Oh, and by the way, God actually does exist” would have been unproductive. She could have been trying to construct an argument that goes somewhat like this:
(1) I believe that God exists. (2) I am an intelligent person, therefore my beliefs are true. (3) Therefore, God exists.
Perhaps it was clear to her that you didn’t believe (3), but she was holding out hope that she might convince you of (1) and (2), which would then force you to believe (3). If that is her line of attack, it would do her no good to declare (3), as it would more likely alienate you and make it harder for her to persuade you to believe (1) and (2).