I grew up atheist for 16 years. I had always kept an open mind towards religion, but never really felt a need to believe in it. My sister started going to a Wednesday night children's program at a church. Eventually, I was dragged into a Christmas Eve service. Scoffing, I reluctantly went, assuming that this was going to be a load of crap, but when I went, I felt something. Something that I've never felt before. I felt a sense of empowerment and a sense of calling. Jesus called upon my soul, just like he did with his disciples. he wanted me to follow him. Now, my life is being lived for Christ. He died on the cross for my sins, and the sins of everyone who believes in him. He was beaten, brutalized, struck with a whip 39 times, made to carry a cross up to the stage of his death. This I believe to be true, and I can never repay him for what he has done. I still have my struggles with Christianity, but I've found this bit of information most useful. Religion is not comprehensible in the human mind, because we cannot comprehend the idea of a perfect and supreme being, a God, but we can believe it in our heart, and that's the idea of faith. Faith is, even though everything rides against me believing in Jesus, I still believe in him because I know that it's true in my heart. I invite my fellow Brothers and sisters of the LORD to talk about how Jesus has helped you in your life. No atheists and no insults please
I want to know if you mean that if you reject Jesus, or if you reject God. Because if you mean the former, what should happen to all the Jews?
usually and mostly christians believe that if you reject jesus you are going to hell and thats it. i did read somewhere that the translation is wrong and that those who believe in jesus are sent streight to heaven while those who arent are judged before it is decided where they are going
usually and mostly christians believe that if you reject jesus you are going to hell and thats it. i did read somewhere that the translation is wrong and that those who believe in jesus are sent streight to heaven while those who arent are judged before it is decided where they are going
....How can a translation be that off?
"Here it either says to kill all heretics or something about bananas. Then it either says to wash your cloths in the blood of the innocents or to not wear poly fibers. What do you think Fred?"
"I say we cut the difference. We will go for kill all heretics and don't wear poly fibers."
I am an Agnostic, that way I can make fun of both atheists and christians at the same time! Pretty neat, huh?
You sound like someone who doesn't know what the hell they are talking about. agnostic refers to a lack of knowledge, it has nothing to do with belief or lack there of. If you believe any gods exist you are a theist if not then you are an atheist. Your lack of knowledge does not exclude you from that.
You sound like someone who doesn't know what the hell they are talking about. agnostic refers to a lack of knowledge, it has nothing to do with belief or lack there of. If you believe any gods exist you are a theist if not then you are an atheist. Your lack of knowledge does not exclude you from that.
"Within agnosticism there are agnostic atheists (who do not believe any deity exists, but do not deny it as a possibility) and agnostic theists (who believe a deity exists but do not claim it as personal knowledge)."
Mage is correct about the definition. It means that you believe that there is not enough information to decide either side. The problem is that the limit of the English language reduces us to use words that make it seem like there is only different shades of gray.
Maybe you should actually read your link since it's stating what I said, agnosticism is about knowledge.
"Agnosticism is the view that the truth values of certain claimsâ"especially claims about the existence or non-existence of any deity, but also other religious and metaphysical claimsâ"are unknown or unknowable."
I know you're trying to use the term in this sense. "In the popular sense, an agnostic is someone who neither believes nor disbelieves in the existence of a deity or deities, whereas a theist and an atheist believe and disbelieve, respectively."
However this is a false stance to take as agnosticism doesn't deal with belief in the first place. This stance treats atheism as an active disbelief and ignores that it can be simply a lack of belief As mentioned in the link Thomas Huxley was the one to coin the phrase agnostic in this sense, however even his use of the word was to imply his lack of knowledge as to whether a god existed or not. This is because he believed (again falsely) that atheism held a certain "gnosis" to it. I can excuse this error on Huxley's part given for his time the idea of atheism constituting a lack of belief rather then active disbelief was rather new and it wasn't until the 20th century did it really catch on. Prior to this concept of atheism as a simple lack of belief it was thought that one couldn't simply lack belief in a deity.
but I keep an open mind because it is a possibility.
It's fine to keep an open mind to all possibilities however this does nothing to tell us of the probability. There are also those who are less honest who try to conflate possibility with probability. Even those like William Lane Craig who poses that if something is possible, therefor it exists. God is not good - William lane Craig - part 1
