mindseye "God IS the essence of the universe and existence, similar to the Chinese conception of the Tao.
Now I realize this is not what most people think about when they talk about God.
Wise words indeed!
THE GLADIATOR
JoinedPosts by THE GLADIATOR
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107
Please someone, explain scientifically how an omnipotent,omniscience,omnipresent,almighty GOD came from nothing
by smiddy inonly scientific responses needed smiddy
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107
Please someone, explain scientifically how an omnipotent,omniscience,omnipresent,almighty GOD came from nothing
by smiddy inonly scientific responses needed smiddy
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THE GLADIATOR
Giordano "...it took the god person billions of years to develop into....god."
Why does the cohesiveness and awesomeness of the universe require a god. To create the universe the god would have to be more powerful and awesome than its creation.
There are forces at work throughout the universe that have been present for billions of years. The universe may be conscious of its existence, though not in the way we think of consciousness. There may well be other life in far away galaxies.
To me, this is billions of miles away from a personal god we can kneel down to, worship or talk to.
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THE GLADIATOR
Over the years I have had some heavy debates with Christians on this forum, both as Gladiator and under my real name. Whenever I quoted bible versus that contradicted their assertions, they would state that the bible is not inerrant or reliable. At other times they would quote from the same bible as the final authority to support their beliefs.
Whenever I questioned the duplicity of this contradictory behaviour, I was told that I was stuck with a Jehovah's Witness mentality that affected my attitude towards the bible. They urged me to embrace a more elastic view of the bible and belief. A flexible, slippery, imaginative attitude that perceives the bible as a no more than a metaphor.
As it happens I see my time spent as a Jehovah's Witness as a positive experience. It has enabled me to smell bull a mile off.
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Belief in evolution begets belief in God
by yadda yadda 2 ina strange statement i know.
but consider.... if humans evolved, and humans are a relatively recent evolution, then would it not make sense to believe there might be other far more ancient intelligent beings (who would appear to humans to be like gods/a god) who began evolving long before humans?
in a sense, to believe in human evolution hardly refutes god's existence, unless you believe that us humans are the only thing in the entire universe that has evolved into a salient, intelligent, self-aware being.
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THE GLADIATOR
NewChapter I don't know what you are on today - but I want some!
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Belief in evolution begets belief in God
by yadda yadda 2 ina strange statement i know.
but consider.... if humans evolved, and humans are a relatively recent evolution, then would it not make sense to believe there might be other far more ancient intelligent beings (who would appear to humans to be like gods/a god) who began evolving long before humans?
in a sense, to believe in human evolution hardly refutes god's existence, unless you believe that us humans are the only thing in the entire universe that has evolved into a salient, intelligent, self-aware being.
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THE GLADIATOR
Why do humans feel a need to believe? We can take in facts, knowledge and then just say uh-hu.
I don’t believe in the sun - I see it. I don’t believe in thunders storms - I witness them, therefore I know they can occur. I have never been outside of the Solar System but I know there are other galaxies because I have seen the evidence.
I can study evolution, visit a natural history museum and see that evolution is supported by evidence. Details have yet to immerge but scientists are on the right track. No belief is required.
There is no need to refute the existence of ‘God.’ I have seen no evidence that such a concept exists. The same goes for demons, devils, imps, pixies, leprechauns and so on. Once we start to imagine what might exist, our imagination can run wild.
Sticking with the facts and adding to our knowledge as new information is presented does not require belief, just patience.
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Being publicly religious is a lot like being a NUDIST
by Terry innudists let it all hang out.. "look at me!
" is their motto.. being the center of attention doesn't bother them as much as it encourages them to be all they can be...in full public view.. .
in fact, exhibitionism is at the core of this personality.
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THE GLADIATOR
When it comes to nudists (they prefer to be called naturists but what the heck) I am not bothered by people with attractive bodies baring all but the ones with ugly bodies should keep it to themselves.
The same applies to religion. People that have nice beliefs and love everybody are fine. Ugly religious beliefs, like hell-fire and damnation, should be kept to oneself and not aired in public.
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Evidence for God...
by tec inlife come from the living, and this is a universe of life.
his teachings are truth.
which is why i weight it against the truth of the teachings (and one other thing that i will get to).
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THE GLADIATOR
passwordprotected To Christians, Christ personally contacting them is evidence to them, which as you say, makes it subjective evidence. According to the bible Christ spoke his followers in person and after his death, so this is what is expected. At the end of the day, one believes this happens or they don’t. I'm lucky if the bin man speaks to me.
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Christians Expect Too Much of God Compared To Witnesses?
by passwordprotected inmy wife and i were chatting about this last night.
having left the jws, we quickly became heavily involved in a born-again christian church, and the culture associated with it.. i've completely jettisoned any faith in supernatural god beings, and we were chatting about how intense christians are about god and how much they expect their version of the sun god to do in their lives.. however, as witnesses, you always had a fairly low expectation of jehovah, right?
you never really expected him to "show up" and help you, did you?.
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THE GLADIATOR
passwordprotected Good to see you are still around and posting.
I read your post on the Evidence for God thread which expanded on what you are saying here.
I agree with you. Nothing I can add.
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The true, unsung hero of the Bible....
by Unlearn inmy undisputed hero of the bible is known by several names, depending on who you talk to...devil, satan, lucifer, etc.. read it, and you'll find that he was the only one who really stood up for you.. he asserted that you could make decisions for yourself...and told you the very real truth that, just because the piece of meat in your chest stops thumping, you positively do not 'die'.. he was your hero.
he stood up to a daddy-maniac and said, 'just because you made us doesnt mean you have the right to tell us what to do.
i thought we were free?'.
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THE GLADIATOR
soft+gentle Perhaps you are looking too deep and projecting modern thinking on to an ancient culture. The answer could be very simple.
The snake is an unusual creature it swallows its prey whole after poisoning it with deadly venom. It is feared by humans and animals alike. It is a prefect symbol for evil. Snakes have often been viewed in a negative light and are associated with black magic. Snakes or serpents have also been consider guardians of temples and holy places. Many tribes have used the snake as a totem .
The same people that decided the snake was an ideal symbol for evil, wisdom, and ceremony, also though that thunder was god’s arguing in heaven.
The human race has moved on just a tad.
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How can everything weve learned be a lie?
by bats in the belfry ina reporter tracks down the remnants of harold campings apocalyptic movement and finds out you dont have to be crazy to believe something nuts.. .
an excerpt of his write-up:.
another engineer i came to know had spent most of his retirement savings, well over a half-million dollars, taking out full-page newspaper ads and buying an rv that he had custom-painted with doomsday warnings.
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THE GLADIATOR
" How can everthing we've learned be a lie?"
Because we had the wrong teachers.