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 highly understand that dealing with the Bible is dfficult, and there are times when I highly doubt myself, but, frankly, what would you be losing in believing in it?
I'm interested in what's true. I'm not going to get that by believing "just because."
Now, I haven't bored you yet, dealing with the Bibledoes take a little imagination. You have to pull some stuff apart to se what it's saying...
I have tried to do this. Thinking there was some carnal of truth in some metaphorical sense. The more I looked into it, the more facts I gained the less sense it made. I even tried to extend this line of thinking to other religions, thinking maybe each had a piece of the truth. That endeavour resulted in something just as convoluted as any one religion.
unlike a horoscope where it's telling you outright what will happen.
It's the same methodology. You're given a snippet and it let's your mind take it from there. In this way you can apply what;s being said to any number of scenarios.
Like in the example "Indeed, you'll probably clash with some of your relatives." This can be applied to any relative. You can even stretch it further to people you think of as relatives. You're making up what the horoscope means. This is the what you're doing with the Bible. You're taking a passage, finding something that seems to you like it might sort of fit and making that it's meaning. You're making up what the Bible says.
I'm one stubbon person. Almost unconvincable and always proof-seeking.
If you want evidence what are you doing believing in something that relies on faith (belief without proof) and at times even considers the requirement of evidence to be a bad thing?
Sorry that was a horrible explaination, let me give an example. For enviornment, depending on how your enviornment is, can change who you are. A rougher enviornment might make you into a rougher person, a softer enviornment might have the opposite effect. Much like with religion. Strict religion can have a negative effect, softer religion, perhaps a positive. I'm thinking of something like buddhism. Meditation and things like that.
not really seeing how some of your examples would work in such a way. As for religion having positive affects, sure it can. Though non of them require religion to achieve. With religion added even in a moderate way you're left with some negative affects. Even if it's just helping to create an environment where the more extreme versions can have more pull.
As for religion having positive affects, sure it can. Though non of them require religion to achieve. With religion added even in a moderate way you're left with some negative affects. Even if it's just helping to create an environment where the more extreme versions can have more pull.
Well even if it's not a needed tool it is still a tool. I'm just saying that it's a tool that can have positive and negative affects.
Remember the tower of Babel? People building a huge tower to reach God? That sounds a lot like imperialism leading to chaos. After the tower fell, God created a bunch of languages and gave them to different people so they couldn't understand each other
they were trying to build a tower to heaven if i remember correctly so God changed the languages.
I laughed at this for some reason. Do we really have to give reasons why Pascal's Wager has very little chances of being reliable? It has been repeated at least a million times on the forums.
You also said it's neutral, which it's not. It's like saying slavery is neutral because it's had positive economic impacts.
Religions also hurt people in the past, possibly even now. Ying-Yang. In every good, there's bad and vice versa.
in the big bang theory there is a huge explosion, now tell me what do explosions do? create or destroy? now people say that the big bang theory created the earth, but where did life come from? how is an explosion supposed to create life for all of these"billions of years" are you saying that the fact that the earth is just the right distance from the sun and that the atmosphere is just thick enough for life is all from an explosion? really?
@ManlyMan To spare everyone else of the pain, ('ll direct you to the NASA page about the Big Bang. Also, a link with some evidence. Poorly sourced, but it says practically the same thing like the wiki page.
But now question yourself, doesn't the big bang theory make as much sense as a magical man in the sky creating everything?
It was an expansion, not an "explosion" like you're thinking.
but where did life come from
Abiogenesis.
how is an explosion supposed to create life for all of these"billions of years"
It isn't and no one is claiming it did. The Big Bang Theory has nothing to do with theories about the origin of life. Just like theories about the origin of life have nothing to do with theories on how life changes.
are you saying that the fact that the earth is just the right distance from the sun and that the atmosphere is just thick enough for life is all from an explosion? really?
You be looking at it backwards. The reason life was able to form here is because it had the right conditions. Out of all the planets in the universe, how many of those are at places where such conditions are met?
in the big bang theory there is a huge explosion, now tell me what do explosions do? create or destroy?
As pointed out it was an expansion not an explosion. Though even if it were an explosion as you state, this still wouldn't rule it out as a creative force. Besides hydrogen and helium all other elements in the universe were created as a result of stars exploding. We have even observed short live elements formed as a result of nuclear bomb tests.
now people say that the big bang theory created the earth
No one who knows what they are talking about or is being honest says this. Those elements released by those exploded stars eventually begin to clump together. They become so dense they achieve fusion again, forming a new star. The existing material around this new star that doesn't make it into this star forming process is picked up by the stars gravitational pull. They to begin to clump together, eventually becoming large enough to create a stable orbit around the star and clear it's orbital path, resulting in what we call a planet.
You be looking at it backwards. The reason life was able to form here is because it had the right conditions. Out of all the planets in the universe, how many of those are at places where such conditions are met?
This of course is just based on estimates and is only looking at one class of star and one type of planet. But I do think it gives nice odds of another planet existing in another stars habitable zone that contains life in this galaxy.
in the big bang theory there is a huge explosion, now tell me what do explosions do? create or destroy? now people say that the big bang theory created the earth, but where did life come from? how is an explosion supposed to create life for all of these"billions of years" are you saying that the fact that the earth is just the right distance from the sun and that the atmosphere is just thick enough for life is all from an explosion? really?
Don't argue against theories you know nothing about, especially when your understanding of it contradicts itself. Study the theory before trying to convince us its wrong, and get a Ph.D in Astrophysics, Cosmology, and Theoretical physics before you try to prove scientists wrong. You knowing nothing about the subject doesn't mean there is nothing known about the subject. Scientists don't guess, that is for fools. They have reason to believe that the Big Bang Theory is an adequate explanation for the origin of the universe. The big bang theory is an accepted theory in science and you will find very few if any astrophysicist who disagree with it.
in the big bang theory there is a huge explosion, now tell me what do explosions do? create or destroy? now people say that the big bang theory created the earth, but where did life come from? how is an explosion supposed to create life for all of these"billions of years" are you saying that the fact that the earth is just the right distance from the sun and that the atmosphere is just thick enough for life is all from an explosion? really?
It's funny, no matter how long I am gone from this thread, I still see the same creationist arguments re-hashed over and over again. it's getting annoying to be frank about it (kinda one of the reasons i haven't been on in such a long time).
this argument of yours is doing a mixture of illogical things.
1.you are confusing scientific theories. 2.you are assuming that explosion is the big bang (not necessarily) 3.the earth had right conditions simply out of pure chance. nothing magical about it. like MGW said eariler, there are other earth-like planets that have the ability to house life in other solar systems.
unless you abandon your god, you will never abandon these 3 flaws in your argument. it's an unfortunate fact.
