What would you lose if Christianity were not true?

[BigV]

If this life is all there is, and you followed a Christian lifestyle, what would be your loss if this life is the only existence we have?

Just to elaborate, I know Christians who claim they would lose nothing, but I think it's a contradiction, because same Christians claim they have given ALL to Christ also, like the hymn says... "I surrender all.."

 

[rockytopva]

If this life is all there is, and you followed a Christian lifestyle, what would be your loss if this life is the only existence we have?

Just to elaborate, I know Christians who claim they would lose nothing, but I think it's a contradiction, because same Christians claim they have given ALL to Christ also, like the hymn says... "I surrender all.."

There are over 100 trillion synapses in this brain of mine that need constant nutrition from the blood supply to keep their network alive. After 10 minutes without blood they will all die away. I can imagine that the brain will continue to think and reason 5 minutes after the heart stops and it is hard to tell what the thoughts would be, which would quickly fade away.

Loss? We all loose all at that point! A murderer’s last words were, "You can be a king or a street sweeper, but everybody dances with the grim reaper."

For we Christians we go with the hope of something better.

 

[mama2one]

.

 

[InterestedAtheist]

If we weren't Christians, we wouldn't have a daughter who is a true blessing.

God led us to adopt & gave us the hope to hold on as the wait grew from months (which we were told) to years.

Okay. Congratulations. I'm sincerely happy you had such good luck.
But if you suddenly had an epiphany, and discovered right now that there is no God - what would you be losing?

 

[InterestedAtheist]

Maybe you would gain something. Something wonderful:

Into the Clear Air - Daylight Atheism

“Due to my total change of world view I also had some very weird experiences that were not like anything I had expected. I was struck enormously by what I called ‘existential shock.’ I was completely amazed at the mere fact of existence. Not in a ‘wow that’s impressive’ manner but in a feeling that I only had religious words for. It was being struck by the amazing ‘sacrament’ of life – or the utter shock and opportunity of existence over its alternative. It was totally numinous and an almost disturbing feeling that existence is the case. I felt transformed, awed, excited – the whole world seemed more special than can ever be said. Life was far more poignant without Christianity than it had ever been with it. I was not expecting this to happen to me. I thought these experiences were what converted people to religion, not what you got when you left!”
—Steve Locks, “Why I left Christianity”

 

[Hammster]

If this life is all there is, and you followed a Christian lifestyle, what would be your loss if this life is the only existence we have?

Just to elaborate, I know Christians who claim they would lose nothing, but I think it's a contradiction, because same Christians claim they have given ALL to Christ also, like the hymn says... "I surrender all.."

If Christianity isn’t true, how would I know if I lost anything?

 

[*LILAC]

If Christianity weren't true, you would lose your soul.

 

[dzheremi]

What is all this math or quasi-math? Strange...

Anyway, it depends on how you look at it. Socially, very little, since I am the only Christian among my family or friends if we exclude the people I've literally met in church (who are an extreme minority, and we never did tend to hang out outside of that anyway; it's not like I have tons of stuff in common with Egyptian and Sudanese people outside of going to the same church, though it's fine because I didn't convert to Orthodoxy to make friends).

And I find it really hard to take people like this Steve Locks person seriously for precisely the same reason I have a hard time taking religious people seriously who report the same 'rush' as being the reason or effect that their 'meeting the Lord' or whatever has had on them: I don't care about people's feelings. At least not in that sense. One person may report these amazing sensations and revelations and all this stuff, whereas another person might say "I just stopped going", or "Ehh, I never really liked having to go anyway", or any number of other anti- or pro-religion things. And that's fine. People are inherently variable, and it's not my place to tell anyone that their reasons for converting from/to any particular religion are wrong. There are some that I see as being less legitimate than others (e.g., feelings-based epistemologies), but all that means is that they're not what would persuade or dissuade me personally. Clearly with all the people who convert or de-convert all the time and produce platitudes like Steve Locks does, this sort of thing must resonate with a lot of people. Good for them, I guess.

And I don't know the hymn you're referring to, OP.

 

[InterestedAtheist]

If Christianity isn’t true, how would I know if I lost anything?

If Christianity weren't true, and you discovered it somehow, would you have lost anything? And if so, what?

If Christianity weren't true, you would lose your soul.

If Christianity weren't true, you'd realise you never had a soul to lose in the first place.

 

[rockytopva]

Maybe you would gain something. Something wonderful:

Into the Clear Air - Daylight Atheism

“Due to my total change of world view I also had some very weird experiences that were not like anything I had expected. I was struck enormously by what I called ‘existential shock.’ I was completely amazed at the mere fact of existence. Not in a ‘wow that’s impressive’ manner but in a feeling that I only had religious words for. It was being struck by the amazing ‘sacrament’ of life – or the utter shock and opportunity of existence over its alternative. It was totally numinous and an almost disturbing feeling that existence is the case. I felt transformed, awed, excited – the whole world seemed more special than can ever be said. Life was far more poignant without Christianity than it had ever been with it. I was not expecting this to happen to me. I thought these experiences were what converted people to religion, not what you got when you left!”
—Steve Locks, “Why I left Christianity”

Well... We are going to try to stop you from doing things that will eventually be harmful to you. I can imagine, when Lucifer led his rebellion in heaven, taking a third of the angels with him, that there was an initial joy, transformation, awe, and excitement. This is the way of rebellion. When someone leaves a marriage or an established family they were possibly born into, there is an initial joy as they journey into the unknown into a blind hope.

 

[InterestedAtheist]

And I find it really hard to take people like this Steve Locks person seriously for precisely the same reason I have a hard time taking religious people seriously who report the same 'rush' as being the reason or effect that their 'meeting the Lord' or whatever has had on them: I don't care about people's feelings. At least not in that sense. One person may report these amazing sensations and revelations and all this stuff, whereas another person might say "I just stopped going", or "Ehh, I never really liked having to go anyway", or any number of other anti- or pro-religion things. And that's fine. People are inherently variable, and it's not my place to tell anyone that their reasons for converting from/to any particular religion are wrong. There are some that I see as being less legitimate than others (e.g., feelings-based epistemologies), but all that means is that they're not what would persuade or dissuade me personally. Clearly with all the people who convert or de-convert all the time and produce platitudes like Steve Locks does, this sort of thing must resonate with a lot of people. Good for them, I guess.

Feelings may be of no use in winning an argument or proving a case. But if the question is, "Do you gain something?" and the answer is "I gained happiness," don't you think that's a real and great thing to get?

 

[BigV]

And I don't know the hymn you're referring to, OP.

 

[InterestedAtheist]

Well... We are going to try to stop you from doing things that will eventually be harmful to you. I can imagine, when Lucifer led his rebellion in heaven, taking a third of the angels with him, that there was an initial joy, transformation, awe, and excitement. This is the way of rebellion. When someone leaves a marriage or an established family they were possibly born into, there is an initial joy as they journey into the unknown into a blind hope.

Right back atcha.
We see you heading into Christianity, or choosing to remain in it, and we feel sorry for you. We hope one day you will realise the truth.

 

[rockytopva]

Right back atcha.
We see you heading into Christianity, or choosing to remain in it, and we feel sorry for you. We hope one day you will realise the truth.

Had I not sensed the Holy Spirit I may have taken you up on it.

 

[BigV]

If Christianity weren't true, you would lose your soul.

But would I keep my pixies though? And what would happen to my fairies?

 

[dzheremi]

Feelings may be of no use in winning an argument or proving a case. But if the question is, "Do you gain something?" and the answer is "I gained happiness," don't you think that's a real and great thing to get?

No, frankly.

Again, I don't care if something makes someone happy or not. If you're happy being an atheist, good for you. If you're happy being a Christian, good for you. If you're happy being a Hindu, good for you. I don't care. I don't think the point of life is to be happy all the time.

 

[*LILAC]

But would I keep my pixies though? And what would happen to my fairies?

Seeing as those things are demonic, sure.

 

[dzheremi]

For example, I made it approximately 20 seconds through the hymn video posted earlier. I'm sure some people love it and find it really deep and edifying. Good, I suppose. More for them.

 

[Hammster]

If Christianity weren't true, and you discovered it somehow, would you have lost anything? And if so, what?

I’ll try a different way. How am I discovering that it’s not true?

 

[InterestedAtheist]

No, frankly.

Again, I don't care if something makes someone happy or not. If you're happy being an atheist, good for you. If you're happy being a Christian, good for you. If you're happy being a Hindu, good for you. I don't care. I don't think the point of life is to be happy all the time.

Who said anything about happiness being the point of life? Or about being happy all the time?
I just said that if you do leave Christianity you may find yourself happier for it.

happiness
noun
hap·pi·ness | \ ˈha-pē-nəs
\
Definition of happiness
1a : a state of well-being and contentment : joy
b : a pleasurable or satisfying experience

That doesn't sound like a benefit to you, in any kind of way? Well, if not, I suspect most people would disagree with you.