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Author Topic: What are your reasons for believing whatever you may believe about Christianity?  (Read 17613 times)

God also allows us to go through suffering and trials to strengthen us, look at the Bible's Job for instance.
god was a huge richard to job
why would you give satan himself the ability to mess with a human being?
isnt satan the lord of all evils?
wtf god

God is not human, we cannot claim to know why he does what he does.
So why did you, over and over in this topic?

Seems convenient for you to only throw that into the mix now..
This may be an incorrect way to view things
Yes but never assume you know why God has done something.
There's no way I or anyone can know the answer to those questions, just as there is no way I or anyone can truly comprehend the complex nature of God.

That's like one translation. Here's 5 other translations that don't stipulate that you go to hell for voluntarily rejecting Christ, but just not believing in him.
That verse could be talking about people without any knowledge of Christ, but it doesn't specify either way. It only specifies as far as people that don't believe/obey Christ.
Also, the KJV is usually accepted as the most accurate english translation, but if you want true accuracy for the meanings of verses you'll need to go back to the Hebrew/Greek. Translating between languages is never perfect, translators often choose how best to represent words that don't have a literal translation in another language.

I'm not gonna tell you what to believe, but how does this actually sate your own skepticism?
If God exists, I cannot claim to know why he does things in the way he does. But the thing that matters is the question of his existence, which I personally see much evidence for.

god was a huge richard to job
why would you give satan himself the ability to mess with a human being?
isnt satan the lord of all evils?
wtf god
Much has been written on this question already
http://www.revelation.co/2008/10/09/why-did-god-allow-job-to-suffer-to-prove-a-point-to-satan/
http://www.gotquestions.org/God-Job-Satan.html

You still continuously made assertions about why 'god does what he does'

That verse could be talking about people without any knowledge of Christ, but it doesn't specify either way. It only specifies as far as people that don't believe/obey Christ.
Also, the KJV is usually accepted as the most accurate english translation, but if you want true accuracy for the meanings of verses you'll need to go back to the Hebrew/Greek. Translating between languages is never perfect, translators often choose how best to represent words that don't have a literal translation in another language.
So in other words, you have really no clue what the Bible is saying, but you're certain that the world is some kind of test that you can only pass by believing in Jesus?

If God exists, I cannot claim to know why he does things in the way he does. But the thing that matters is the question of his existence, which I personally see much evidence for.
Such as?


You still continuously made assertions about why 'god does what he does'
Anything not specified in the Bible is not necessarily a truth of Christianity, but it is what I believe most likely to be true.

So in other words, you have really no clue what the Bible is saying, but you're certain that the world is some kind of test that you can only pass by believing in Jesus?
It's quite clear what that verse is saying. It states that those who believe in Christ will live eternally, and those that don't will receive the wrath of God. Is someone who has no way of receiving knowledge about Christ a 'non-believer'? The Bible indicates that we can always find God, no matter our circumstances.

"For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse."
-Romans 1:20

Such as?
This is the question we should be focusing on. Personally, general revelation (God revealing himself through his creation) has played a large role in convincing me God must exist. There is no better explanation for the existence of matter, life, and ourselves than the existence of a creator, in my opinion.

Special revelation (God revealing himself through the supernatural) has not been big in my life, and I bet that is true for most people.

It states that those who believe in Christ will live eternally, and those that don't will receive the wrath of God. Is someone who has no way of receiving knowledge about Christ a 'non-believer'?
By definition, yes. You can't believe in some prophet you've never even heard of.

Personally, general revelation (God revealing himself through his creation) has played a large role in convincing me God must exist. There is no better explanation for the existence of matter, life, and ourselves than the existence of a creator, in my opinion.
You know that's not evidence, right? I'm not saying you aren't entitled to view the universe as the product of a deity, but the 'existence of matter/life' isn't direct evidence for the existence of anything but life and matter...

For instance, people will say that about pretty much any deity they've been raised to believe. "Man, this sunset is indescribably beautiful. Nobody but Allah could have made such a thing."
« Last Edit: October 14, 2015, 07:24:04 PM by SeventhSandwich »

One thing that can be said about allowing bad things to happen is that almost all bad things that can happen are caused by carelessness, decay, or other factors of nature that would happen whether we had free will or not.

If a bridge collapses sending cars toppling into the river and drowning their occupants, it's because that bridge was built by fallible imperfect humans and either they made an error in the bridge design or nature ran its course allowing for rust or bad weather conditions.

If a fatigued employee falls into a chum grinder and dies, it is due to his carelessness and lack of sleep that caused his demise. Once again, silly fallible humans.

If a child in Tanzania dies of malaria, it is because an insect (mosquito) already carried the transmissible disease and infected the kid just by going along with its normal instinctual lifestyle. Fallible humans? Not so much. Normal nature process? Yes. Disease, destruction, fatigue, and pain all began with the choice of free will. Either God can have his own robot army that coexist and never advance themselves, or else he will give us the chance to find our own enjoyment and make our own discoveries to better our lives instead of having it handed to us.

By definition, yes. You can't believe in some prophet you've never even heard of.
Is non-believers referring to people that choose not to believe? I think so. Doesn't mean your interpretation is necessarily wrong, I just believe otherwise.

You know that's not evidence, right? I'm not saying you aren't entitled to view the universe as the product of a deity, but the 'existence of matter/life' isn't direct evidence for the existence of anything but life and matter...
Can life and matter exist without a creator? I have many friends that argue matter could have simply existed since time began, but I find that hard to believe. Why did the matter exist? Did the existence of time cause matter to exist? What determined how much matter existed?

Can life and matter exist without a creator?
Why did the matter exist?
Did the existence of time cause matter to exist?
What determined how much matter existed?
Yes.
The root is the BiggangBang
That doesn't make a whole lot of sense
Nothing

Is non-believers referring to people that choose not to believe? I think so. Doesn't mean your interpretation is necessarily wrong, I just believe otherwise.
Then don't try to make the case that you know exactly what God is saying.

Can life and matter exist without a creator?
That's a question that's pretty much as fundamentally unsolvable as the existence of God. Asking 'why' things should exist in the Universe is a pretty quick way to hit a brick wall. Things just work the way they do. Can inertia exist without a creator? Who knows? It just does.

I'm making that clear because your guess is literally no better than mine. The fact you see the universe as the logical consequence of a God is pretty much your own personal view, and it doesn't represent fact or reality better than any of ours.

What determined how much matter existed?
Nothing
So the universe started with an arbitrary amount of matter? If we look at the universe as a computer program (which I think should be a valid brown townogy, please let me know if/why I'm wrong), we would need to either specify values for the amount of each kind of element, as well as their positions, or use some random number generator to establish the amounts and positions of each element. There's no way for it to just start with 70% carbon, 15% phosphorus, 12% hydrogen, 2% sulfur, 1% nitrogen, etc for no apparent reason.

I'll discuss my issues with the Big Bang in a bit.

Then don't try to make the case that you know exactly what God is saying.
As established earlier, I am not saying I know exactly what God is saying. I am just trying to answer the question with my own personal belief.

Yes.
The root is the BiggangBang
That doesn't make a whole lot of sense
Nothing
the big bang is a theory and a theory only

we just don't know what caused the big bang or if there was a time before the big bang, or if there really is a God.

 this is why I'm agnostic/skeptic because you really just dont know


what's the term for not giving a stuff?