Do you question your religious beliefs? Would you like to?

[robsker]

Like all things, an inquisitive nature is healthy in moderation. We all see what it looks like when it goes WAY too far in the extreme - conspiracy theorist sort of behavior.

 

A lot of people seem to ask questions that they believe they already know the answer to, then try to shape what the evidence shows them rather than considering that the evidence might suggest that the answer they want to find isn't the correct one. I'm not saying that religious people do that across the board, but I know some do.

 

It wasn't long ago that I did everything I could to convince myself that God was real, but nothing I came up with ever really satisfied me.

 

You can take this suggestion or leave it, your choice:

 

Chances are, when you were searching for answers about your faith, you were looking for evidence in the world around you. The place that you have to look to find God is within yourself.

 

To most people who are not Christian, and even many who are, that statement might not make a lot of sense. So like I said, take it or leave it.

 

Jeremiah 17:9 makes clear that searching for God in yourself is dangerous and is not the place to look. The place to look for insight about God is not your heart (which is deceitful) or in the world... but the rather is the inerrant Word of God... God's revelation of Himself --- that is, the Bible. There and there alone you learn of God.

[robsker]

Atheism is boring and lacks imagination.

 

No thanks.

 

and, I'd add is indefensible as well.

[robsker]

Like all things, an inquisitive nature is healthy in moderation. We all see what it looks like when it goes WAY too far in the extreme - conspiracy theorist sort of behavior.

 

A lot of people seem to ask questions that they believe they already know the answer to, then try to shape what the evidence shows them rather than considering that the evidence might suggest that the answer they want to find isn't the correct one. I'm not saying that religious people do that across the board, but I know some do.

 

It wasn't long ago that I did everything I could to convince myself that God was real, but nothing I came up with ever really satisfied me.

 

For your consideration...

 

try to explain matter from non-matter or energy from non-energy or life from non-life or complex life from simple life or sentient thought on a molecular basis or....

 

what you will find is that there is no natural explanation for any of these things, nothing from the natural realm is reasonable based on the data alone --- so if you were asked to explain life without invoking the supernatural, you likely would be left unsatisfied as well.

[bennychico11]

"HuskerHacker"

As for answering the comment above I find myself wondering if you asked yourself the simplest of questions. Too often we make faith to hard by overlooking the simplest of things. The one question rarely asked is this. Is there another proclaimed king that loved his people so that he gave himself as a sacrifice? Ponder that, reflect on his teachings, (love your enemy, turn the other cheek, feed the poor, cloth the naked, heal the sick, walk peacefully with love)"

 

Is that really all it takes for you to accept a god? If someone just said "I'm a self proclaimed king...I love all of you...and I'll die for you". THAT'S the only proof you need for you to worship them? There are people walking this earth right now who do good things like that...but you don't accept them as a god do you?

 

 

"Yes, the science of today and the non-believers will point to things that aren't explained by faith but they do so while staying blinded to the evidence that only faith provides"

 

 

Such as? And you're going to have to define "faith" first.

You ask what those are? Everyday unexplained miraculous healing

Such as? Someone who gets over the flu? A sprained ankle that gets better? Cancer that goes into remission? These things do happen naturally all the time. Unless maybe your miracles are happening all the time then too? That headache I had earlier today...cured by GOD!

You only SEE them as miracles because you want to. But then you ignore all the healings that DON'T happen. Does god only help those who pray the hardest? What about healing amputees, too hard for him???

 

unexplained examples of someone saved by a mystery miracle person

 

Like someone stopping to help change your tire on the side of the road?

 

gold dust falling from the ceiling and covering the floor

 

Really? Gold dust falling from the ceiling is a miracle to you? I had a spider fall down from the ceiling once.

You might want to tell your god that gold dust is hazardous to our lungs

 

or those who have died and then returned saying they were told by Christ that it wasn't yet their time.

Do some research on near death experiences.

 

I just find it so funny how people see something like a dove flying off into the sunset and say "look an angel is watching over us". Or how in the recent school shooting you have pastors

who say the one little girl was saved by divine intervention. What, the rest of the children weren't worthy enough to save? You're seeing what you want to see. Where some might see god saving the little girl, I just see a tragedy where an idiot walked into a school and killed some people...while some of those other people happened to live. It's just cause and effect. He happened to point the gun at some people and not others.

 

If a King born has power, has fear, has greed, has desire and has people willing to die to defend him/her why then is it that we have but one King whom said we should love our enemy and turn the other cheek? His faith in that belief was so strong that he went to the cruelest of deaths without asking his followers to risk their lives.

 

Again, how is this your only prerequisite for a savior? It just has to be someone who says turn the other cheek and risks their life for you? I'm more than positive you can probably find another great, influential person who has lived over the years and has those kinds of traits.

 

I'd even question why his death is considered the cruelest death ever...and for a loophole HE created. There have been many other people crucified over the years. Many in your Bible. And many others who have died much worse deaths than that. I'll never understand why a blood sacrifice is something that is so revered in Christian culture.

[bennychico11]

For your consideration...

 

try to explain matter from non-matter or energy from non-energy or life from non-life or complex life from simple life or sentient thought on a molecular basis or....

 

what you will find is that there is no natural explanation for any of these things, nothing from the natural realm is reasonable based on the data alone --- so if you were asked to explain life without invoking the supernatural, you likely would be left unsatisfied as well.

 

http://en.wikipedia....iki/Abiogenesis

Evolution

 

...to start.

There is actually a lot of the scientific community working on natural explanations to these things. And what is not known right now, doesn't mean it's not unknowable. Sometimes it's okay to say "I don't know" in science.

But just because there is an 'I don't know', doesn't mean you can invoke the supernatural or "magic" as an answer. You can't answer a mystery with an even bigger mystery. You'd have to show evidence for the supernatural first.

[knapplc]

Before anyone claims to know God or to believe in the "one true God," they should be required to read the Koran, the Tripitaka, the Tao te Ching, the Avesta and the Bible. Maybe a few others.

 

When you grow up in a certain faith and you only read the sacred texts of that religion your "faith" is a reflection of that echo chamber, nothing more. You no more know God than you know Bilbo Baggins.

[bennychico11]

Atheism is boring and lacks imagination.

 

No thanks.

 

and, I'd add is indefensible as well.

 

I'm hoping he was just joking about the "lacks imagination" thing

But I wonder, how you do you see it as indefensible?

[The Dude]

Atheism is boring and lacks imagination.

How so?

[strigori]

Like all things, an inquisitive nature is healthy in moderation. We all see what it looks like when it goes WAY too far in the extreme - conspiracy theorist sort of behavior.

 

A lot of people seem to ask questions that they believe they already know the answer to, then try to shape what the evidence shows them rather than considering that the evidence might suggest that the answer they want to find isn't the correct one. I'm not saying that religious people do that across the board, but I know some do.

 

It wasn't long ago that I did everything I could to convince myself that God was real, but nothing I came up with ever really satisfied me.

 

You can take this suggestion or leave it, your choice:

 

Chances are, when you were searching for answers about your faith, you were looking for evidence in the world around you. The place that you have to look to find God is within yourself.

 

To most people who are not Christian, and even many who are, that statement might not make a lot of sense. So like I said, take it or leave it.

 

Jeremiah 17:9 makes clear that searching for God in yourself is dangerous and is not the place to look. The place to look for insight about God is not your heart (which is deceitful) or in the world... but the rather is the inerrant Word of God... God's revelation of Himself --- that is, the Bible. There and there alone you learn of God.

I can't accept that. Don't listen to what you think. Don't listen to anyone else, just listen to an old book. A book that happens to be written by men(who you are not supposed to listen to) and edited/assembled into its current form around 600AD.

[strigori]

Atheism is boring and lacks imagination.

How so?

Lack of colorful characters I would assume.

[Landlord]

I don't agree with robsker's assessment either, although I appreciate the point he's trying to get at. Essentially, for the Christian, Scripture needs to have a higher authority than our whims, feelings and emotions, because those are fickle and can't be trusted. However, God has revealed Himself "inside" each of us as well. Our moral code and conscience being the most easily identifiable way. There's a whole bunch of theologically sticky points involved in this discussion that I don't care to break down, but simply put, I just think we need to be very careful.

[knapplc]

I don't agree with robsker's assessment either, although I appreciate the point he's trying to get at. Essentially, for the Christian, Scripture needs to have a higher authority than our whims, feelings and emotions, because those are fickle and can't be trusted. However, God has revealed Himself "inside" each of us as well. Our moral code and conscience being the most easily identifiable way. There's a whole bunch of theologically sticky points involved in this discussion that I don't care to break down, but simply put, I just think we need to be very careful.

 

That's the problem - higher authority than whom? Because man wrote those scriptures, not any higher authority. Paul wrote the epistles and unknown authors wrote the Gospels. The authorship of the whole Bible is man.

 

The explanation, that they were "divinely inspired," is no different than the explanation for The Book of Mormon, which I'm certain you believe is heresy (as would most Christians). But they have equal authenticity, and in fact The Book of Mormon has a more identifiable authorship than the New Testament.

 

Every religion is based on that "higher authority," yet no Muslim is going to honor the Bible as his holy text, no Buddhist will do that for the Koran, no Christian for the Talmud.

 

The inescapable fact of religion by birth location dispels most God myths.

[Landlord]

I don't agree with robsker's assessment either, although I appreciate the point he's trying to get at. Essentially, for the Christian, Scripture needs to have a higher authority than our whims, feelings and emotions, because those are fickle and can't be trusted. However, God has revealed Himself "inside" each of us as well. Our moral code and conscience being the most easily identifiable way. There's a whole bunch of theologically sticky points involved in this discussion that I don't care to break down, but simply put, I just think we need to be very careful.

 

That's the problem - higher authority than whom? Because man wrote those scriptures, not any higher authority. Paul wrote the epistles and unknown authors wrote the Gospels. The authorship of the whole Bible is man.

 

The explanation, that they were "divinely inspired," is no different than the explanation for The Book of Mormon, which I'm certain you believe is heresy (as would most Christians). But they have equal authenticity, and in fact The Book of Mormon has a more identifiable authorship than the New Testament.

 

Every religion is based on that "higher authority," yet no Muslim is going to honor the Bible as his holy text, no Buddhist will do that for the Koran, no Christian for the Talmud.

 

The inescapable fact of religion by birth location dispels most God myths.

 

 

The book of Mormon might have more identifiable authoring, but it has other areas where it falls short. And I mean way short.

[walksalone]

“Religion is for people who're afraid of going to hell. Spirituality is for those who've already been there.”

 

― Vine Deloria

[knapplc]

I don't agree with robsker's assessment either, although I appreciate the point he's trying to get at. Essentially, for the Christian, Scripture needs to have a higher authority than our whims, feelings and emotions, because those are fickle and can't be trusted. However, God has revealed Himself "inside" each of us as well. Our moral code and conscience being the most easily identifiable way. There's a whole bunch of theologically sticky points involved in this discussion that I don't care to break down, but simply put, I just think we need to be very careful.

 

That's the problem - higher authority than whom? Because man wrote those scriptures, not any higher authority. Paul wrote the epistles and unknown authors wrote the Gospels. The authorship of the whole Bible is man.

 

The explanation, that they were "divinely inspired," is no different than the explanation for The Book of Mormon, which I'm certain you believe is heresy (as would most Christians). But they have equal authenticity, and in fact The Book of Mormon has a more identifiable authorship than the New Testament.

 

Every religion is based on that "higher authority," yet no Muslim is going to honor the Bible as his holy text, no Buddhist will do that for the Koran, no Christian for the Talmud.

 

The inescapable fact of religion by birth location dispels most God myths.

 

 

The book of Mormon might have more identifiable authoring, but it has other areas where it falls short. And I mean way short.

 

A Muslim, a Buddhist, a Jew and a Zoroastrian would say the same about the Bible.

 

That's the dilemma about religion - there's always another equally valid one around the corner, disputing this one.