IS GOD REAL? HOW DO YOU KNOW?

by still thinking 778 Replies latest jw friends

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  cyberjesus

  bush is rare nowadays
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  snare&racket

  I am just glad people finally admit an absence of evidence (page 20)

  It is a good place to start when making a decision on the deity of your choice...
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  still thinking

  That seems to be the conclusion doesn't it snare?

  So in the end, all evidence is highly personal and cannot actually be shared with anyone else. If someone is not seeing any evidence and you are...there is no way to convince that other person UNLESS they CHOOSE to take YOUR WORD for it.
• 

  SweetBabyCheezits

  Here are a couple of fitting excerpts from The Age of Reason, also available online in its entirety through Project Gutenberg (among others).

  Revelation, when applied to religion, means something communicated immediately from God to man. No one will deny or dispute the power of the Almighty to make such a communication, if he pleases. But admitting, for the sake of a case, that something has been revealed to a certain person, and not revealed to any other person, it is revelation to that person only. When he tells it to a second person, a second to a third, a third to a fourth, and so on, it ceases to be a revelation to all those persons. It is revelation to the first person only, and hearsay to every other, and consequently they are not obliged to believe it.

  ................................

  The resurrection and ascension, supposing them to have taken place, admitted of public and ocular demonstration, like that of the ascension of a balloon, or the sun at noon-day, to all Jerusalem at least. A thing which everybody is required to believe, requires that the proof and evidence of it should be equal to all, and universal; and as the public visibility of this last related act was the only evidence that could give sanction to the former part, the whole of it falls to the ground, because that evidence never was given.

  Instead of this, a small number of persons, not more than eight or nine, are introduced as proxies for the whole world, to say they saw it, and all the rest of the world are called upon to believe it. But it appears that Thomas did not believe the resurrection, and, as they say, would not believe without having ocular and manual demonstration himself. So neither will I, and the reason is equally as good for me, and for every other person, as for Thomas.
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  mP

  how does the wts answer the scripture in deu about false prophets who make prdictions that dont come true within their lifetime.
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  still thinking

  And dosen't the bible and religion like to berate Thomas for his doubt? It's used as an insult and a weapon by religion. Almost the worst sin. And who wants to be considered a sinner? Especially when you WANT to believe.

  That writer has point...why is it only a few writers that have documented such an important historical event? In fact, why aren't there many many documents supporting ALL the things that Jesus did? You would think that if he was performing miracles involving thousands of people...raising the dead...etc...others would have noticed and thought it was important enough to write about. There is a distinct lack of supporting evidence to what the bible writers say.

  Also, if the aposltles went on to perform miracles too....why wasn't there more evidence of this too? Maybe they did it in secret?
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  mP

  still

  apparently all scribes were at the beach that week.
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  Nambo

  My parents split up when I was 18 months, abusive stepfather, Childrens homes etc, a couple of years after coming in the "truth", back home after the book study and seeing my miserable existance in comparison to the seemingly idylic JW families, I said to God, "Wheres my dad, why cant I have a dad like other people, where are my brothers and sisters"? (I had no contact with my Father for 27 years at this stage).

  The very next morning at work the girl opposite my desk had no work in yet so she was playing on her office computer and asks me, "Whose name do you want me to look up"?

  I said my Fathers name, it came up on her screen!, though usually living abroad, he had a policy with the company I had at that time worked for for a year.

  When I told the girl of last nights prayer, she said, "wow, Ive been used by God", allthough not religious herself.

  I still have contact with my Father, and God continued to answer that prayer as he turned up more of my international family, one of my newly found half-sisters turned out to be in the "truth" as well!
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  tec

  So neither will I, and the reason is equally as good for me, and for every other person, as for Thomas.

  Actually, Thomas had already demonstrated his faith in Christ. He stood by Him, listened to Him, obeyed Him, followed Him and His teachings. He had already 'proven' himself, so to speak.

  Peace,

  tammy
• 

  still thinking

  Welcome Nambo!

  That could be considered evidence I suppose, but ONLY if you choose it to be.

  You don't think it could have been coincidence? You maybe were thinking about him...used the web to look him up and he just happened to be there? Is that NOT possible?

  I think I am going to start a thread about coincidence...or I am happy for this thread to take that direction....Is there really such a thing as coincidence? Or is everything that happens to us and our environment interconnected to the point that all things are connected in some way to each other?