I’m not trying to make you prove there is a god because I know you can’t. To date, no-one has. That isn’t the point of this conversation.
You came here to witness by asking an age old question and many have challenged you to examine your assumptions and beliefs. If that scares you, and it’s obvious that it does, then you have a choice to make.
Examine your beliefs and see if they stand up to question and reason,
or,
Use bible and verse as a shield against any challenge that may cast a shadow of doubt on your faith. As I see you’ve done here:
Regurgetation of biblical quotes does not bolster your argument. It shows an intellectual laziness and lack of critical thought. If you’re going to continue to hold fast to your system of beliefs, you should at least attempt to put some thought into it and present it in your own words.
I’ll do something I don’t think has been done in quite awhile; just answer Timo’s question, rather than challenging his beliefs.
I don’t believe in God simply because it is not possible for me to force myself to believe in something I know to be false. I find it as impossible as believing that two plus two equals seventeen.
You will perhaps argue that I cannot “know” God does not exist. From my perspective, however, I basically do know that; my certainly God doesn’t exist is so close to absolute that it is effectively total. I would compare it, for instance, to my certainty that I could not fairly shuffle a deck of cards and come up with precisely the same deck three straight times. The odds against that happening are 1 in (80658175170943878571660636856403766975289505440883277824000000000000 times 80658175170943878571660636856403766975289505440883277824000000000000) which is greater than the number of atoms in the observable universe. So it COULD happen, but I find it impossible to believe it will. I find it similarly impossible to believe in God. I cannot believe in things that unlikely.
Well, it wasn’t as if I was trying to be intellectually lazy or too lazy to think critically. I just thought it was a good enough argument, an argument that could have stood on its own.
I’d just like to add out of my own ignorance I thought so.
The default, critical, assumption is that “no god or gods exist” - you then look for evidence or ‘proof’ of ‘a god or gods’ to change that assumption.
None has been found.
This is the same exercise for any item - “birds do not exist” - oh, wait, what is that flying thing over there?
Unicorns do not exist - etc.
Even looking at your own ‘bible’ - you should see that Thomas did not just accept that Jesus was resurected - he asked for DEFINITIVE evidence before he believed.
There could be a god out there that nobody ever thought of, with goals we cannot comprehend. When all the evidence for all the gods so far add up to zero, the most optimistic response there is should be “I don’t know yet.”
Right haha, now it seems like you’re asking for physical proof, correct me if I’m wrong, and you won’t really find any, maybe never, until it’s too late. <----don’t get mad
Or like said in previous posts, until the true antichrist comes
Actually, 17 is the perfect excuse. This is an excellent time to examine what you’ve been taught in Sunday school and compare it to the variety of great thoughts and ideas that likely contradict what you think you know about the world so far.
Examining your beliefs is a healthy thing and it isn’t necessarily an easy process. The best thing you can do is listen and evaluate differing ideas. The worst thing you can do is stuff biblical scripture in your ears to avoid hearing new points of view.
It’s not a big deal. It’s just one of those things that always makes me look twice. Like “afghans take to the hills”. In my parlance, it’s “Afghani.” Brings to mind a bunch of blankets running for the mountains.
Same with Hindis - sounds like the actual language is doing something.
Timo, do you want to learn more about the Bible? In the Café Society forum there is a weekly Bible study thread going on, starting in order from the beginning of Genesis and continuing on one or two chapters at a time. You should check in there.
Yeah, I see it now. Hopefully I’m not wrong on this haha, but if you don’t believe in the Bible, it’s obvious that you’re not going to believe in the verses (Or God’s words) which make up the Bible, and just throwing verses out there isn’t going to make you believe because you don’t believe in the Bible.
But here’s a question: What if God can’t be found through human wisdom or physical evidence? What if he purposely made it as a leap of faith to love what you don’t see? What if that was the test?
Would it be cruel? Maybe. Is it unfair? Maybe. But just as stated before, how can a sculpture made out of clay argue with the potter? How can we argue with God? It’s like whether we like it or not, He is who He is. I mean you can argue with God, but he’s always right.
UU here…COMPLETELY and TOTALLY I disagree that only one can be right. Silliest notion ever.
Why can’t everyone have their own personal spiritual reality? Why can’t God be sort of like a wonderful piece of music, where each listener hears - or doesn’t hear - something special. If God is all-powerful, why couldn’t He chose to present himself to different people in the form they are most comfortable with.
Not that I necessarily believe such a God exists, my god is much less humanistic than that, but I see little reason why such a god couldn’t exist if gods exist at all.
In a way, in the end, if we don’t believe is it God’s fault?
He made a way for you, by sacrificing his only beloved Son so that you may inherit eternal life. Before, we shouldn’t even have eternal life, all of us, because we’re sinners, should have been sent to hell directly. But because he loved us, he sent his Son. He’s made a way, all you have to do is accept.
But you got all that from the Bible, didn’t you? That is just an expansion of “The Bible is true because the Bible says the Bible is true” circular reasoning.
