So, eating beans is bad for your spirituality?
So said Pythagoras.
But I’ve always heard they’re ‘good for your heart.’ The more you eat…
Do you mean he’ll try more in general and by every means possible, or just that he’ll try more of this One, Weird, Itchy Trick?
It’s not working very well so far, is it?
What all-powerful being, if sane, would choose to remedy a severe and urgent problem with subtle and completely obscure signals? You’re making it sound like God is either mentally incompetent or crippled by shyness.
The former. He leaves the 99 safe in their pasture to go in search of the one lost sheep.
He has to allow for free agency so that we are accountable for what we do and say. Also, by small means, great things are brought to pass.
Do you believe that certainty is better than doubt?
This is the really weird thing about faith - it’s presented as a virtue when people doggedly and determinedly stand the ground of their belief against all opposition - but in fact it’s a pretty serious weakness.
It’s better to be right than wrong - right?
In cases where you are already right, It’s better to find out for sure that you could have been wrong, but are in fact, right.
In cases where you’re wrong, tt’s better to find out when you are wrong, as early as possible, so you can start being right.
Steadfast faith will not (cannot in fact) do any of that.
Yet that is what this mortal life is for. Our Heavenly Father wants us to walk by faith, trusting Him and following His example. Faith is not to have a perfect knowledge of things, but it is a hope for things not seen.
I have to admit that I don’t have perfect faith–not even close–so I’m the wrong person to ask about this subject. But we have to start somewhere.
I guess that’s going to be where we can’t possibly reach agreement then. It seems obvious to me thst it is more important, and useful, to seek truth rather than certainty.
I’ve found both.
That’s just your opinion.
You’ve given up looking.
Damn. I was hoping this thread would devolve into a bunch of fart jokes. That would make it a more valuable contribution to the forum.
I would love to hear the Teeming Millions’ experience with the basic signals listed in post #1.
- For atheists who absolutely believe that there is no God:
a) Recite your usual litanies that you trot out in the guise of logic, within your minds (i.e., “There is no God; if God exists he must be insane;” etc.).
b) Watch your body while doing so;.
c) Now recite something that you firmly believe is good while watching your signals;
d) Report back here with your findings.
Hypothesis 1: you should get a signal on your left leg or arm while testing letter a) above, if and only if you really believe in your heart that there is no God, and are
humble with an open mind without pride and having real intent to know the truth (God knows when you’re faking and He resists the proud).
- For Christians who believe the extra-biblical Nicene Creed:
a) Recite the Creed within your minds;
b) Watch your body while doing so;
c) Follow the remaining steps in #1 above.
Hypothesis 2: you should also get a signal on your left leg or arm, if and only if you really believe this Creed in your hearts, according to the conditions listed in Hypothesis 1 above, in addition to believing in Christ with faith that He will answer you in His own time, in His own way.
Please report back with your findings.
I can report exactly nothing of the sort happened. My left knee hurts, but it always hurts.
Blasphemer!!
I’m an atheist who considers the existence of gods to be extremely improbable, and who absolutely believes that there is no YWYH / Jehovah / Elohim deity. Is that close enough?
I did (a) thru (c). My body signals were the same while reciting “God is not real, and Joseph Smith was a poopyface” as they were while reciting “I love my children”. My right knee is a little sore. It’s been tender for the last hour or so. I think I tore a meniscus 11 years ago, so the pain comes and goes. I’ve got mild itches above both eyebrows, but they go away for a minute if I scratch them. I need to pee. The stigmata (stigmatum? what’s the singular for stigmata?) on my right palm is not itching at the moment.
Does this confirm or disconfirm your hypothesis?
Nothin’. My body isn’t the seat of my moral faculties. No muscular twitches, no scalp tingles, no massive coronary, nothin’.
Frankly, seems like a really stupid experiment. Suppose my left great toe twitched slightly. This would prove…what? God speaks directly to my toe? Some God.
I love this part.
Sounds like god has a bit of an attitude. “Resist me Lord at your own risk,” that’s what I would say.
Sure sounds like you’re the epitome of open-mindedness.
Perhaps he was inspired by a leg cramp.