These aren’t impressive academic credentials either.
Perhaps you should read some papal encyclicals or other learned treatises and assign them the appropriate weight.
Polycarp, for example, is not a Catholic priest, but I would assign his opinion more weight than I would one of the deaconas or some of the priests at my hometown parish church.
And plenty of people are raised Catholic and know very little about Catholicism.
Can I get a link to Hitler’s painting of the Madonna, by any chance?
Um, so? I didn’t know I had to have a PhD to express a reasoned opinion.
Way ahead of you.
If Polycarp can be shown to have much more education/intelligence or the deacons shown to be poop flinging monkeys, then yes, I might have this opinion too. Because I don’t know Polycarp’s or the deacons education/knowledge level I’m going to go ahead and stick with what I do know.
And I am not one of them.
Not a great image but here it is:
Examining things closely has only strengthened my beliefs. I don’t believe in things like YEC or a worldwide flood anymore, and yet my connection to God has become immensely more personal and powerful. I tested everything and held on to the good, if you will.
YMMV.
Um, did you read this before you hit Submit? Cuz these look awfully contradictory to me.
Please to explain the contradiction.
Well, first you say:
Notice the lack of exceptions or conditions. So things you examine closely strengthen your beliefs.
Then you say:
Now I’m not sure what YEC is, but I do know what the worldwide flood is. So you don’t believe in it anymore. But you indicate that you used to, with the word ‘anymore’. So examining the worldwide flood made you lose your belief in it? But wait, it can’t, because, things you examine only strengthen your belief!
Yeah, that’s called a contradiction.
YEC = Young Earth Creationism, or the belief that God created the world approximately 6,000 years ago on a Tuesday in October.
So you’re saying that disbelief in YEC and/or a worldwide flood can not coexist with belief in God?
Oh.
No, I’m saying that you have attempted to claim that both 1) examining religious beliefs makes the belief stronger and 2) that you have lost belief in things you used to believe in (YEC and the flood) because of examination, and that’s a contradiction.
Why don’t you believe in the worldwide flood btw?
Let me rephrase. Once I figured out that science and myth don’t have to match in order for me to glean positive things from both, I was able to focus on that which really matters: getting to know God personally without anyone or anything else getting in the way.
Where’d all the water go?
You know god personally? Whoa, that’s sweet! That’s gotta be really handy.
So what you’re saying is that it doesn’t make sense. So, do you believe Jesus was killed and resurrected? Or that he turned water into wine? Or that Lazarus was ressurected? Or that god killed all the firstborn of Egypt in one night? Or that Noah lived to 800 years old (or whatever, the exact number escapes me)? Etc
Yeah, it comes in handy.
I think I’ll leave any further discussions of my beliefs out of this thread, as it’s hijacked enough already.