What if I believe it sometimes, and not at other times?

[Gottservant]

Hi there,

So I don't even want to single out a specific faith, at this point in time - I just want to posit the question:

what if I believe it sometimes, but not at other times?

I mean what is your framework, for "rest" if you will? Is the theory active "at rest" or "dormant"? Is dormancy a better readiness to respond, than "denial"?

The point being, without faith, you have no way of winning people over, to what you believe - you can't experiment, you can't adjust, you can't exemplify. There is a reason to be hesitant, of course: the subject in question might be loaded with bad faith or even bad science. You might not be able to process the belief in question, without contradicting what you know to be true (or truer, as the case maybe). The problem being, without a way to relax your expectations, your commitment fails.

Can it be taken further, simply as a matter of "rest"? Of course! You can rest for longer, knowing that's what you want to be able to do: preparation comes for things that get in the way of "rest", predators, parasites, diseases (local to a specific area or more broadly). There is a good reason to want to be delivered once "rest" has been reached, delivered from all these negative things. Faith, for example, has a resting point: namely, that "rest" is suitable while it is "dark". You can demonstrate that scientifically as "levels returning to normal more readily, where excitement is avoidable", but with that you have to accept that entraining what you believe about something developmental, has to stop, before you can continue with it in force.

So maybe you can guess what I would say "give it a rest" to, but to be fair I give "faith" a rest too. I am not asking anything I don't see a constructive point to: do you need to give science "a rest"? I think scientifically, you do... but it would be improbable that I could give you an explanation of why, that would not have to rest as well!

I'm praying the power of this, doesn't go over your head: in terms of "Evolution", it really is about the idea that an equilibrium needs to be punctuated, not merely for survival to get the upper hand, but also for survival to be definitive in its own right.

 

[Carl Emerson]

without faith, you have no way of winning people over, to what you believe

He does the winning - we are His servants that reflect His Love.

 

[Tolworth John]

I just want to posit the question

What if I believe it sometimes but not at other times?

Does truth change just because you do or do not believe it?

Truth is not dependant on how many people believe it.

Christianity is based on historical facts, on things that actually happen, no matter whether we find it impossible or unbelievable.

Jesus is a historical person, he lived, he was crucified, hurried and his tomb was found to be empty.
Atheists come up with complex, unbelievable stories to try to explain away the empty tomb.

Only a supernatural being can survive death. Jesus claimed to be God.
So what does one believe, some nonsense about a dying man moving tons of rock, terrifying Roman guards and convincing people who knew him that he was healthy!
Or that he rose from the dead, the stone was moved not to let him out, but to let the disciples in!

 

[com7fy8]

do you need to give science "a rest"?

I can trust God to guide if and when and how I use stuff that is said to be scientific.

In history, people of science have not always been correct. And the science of medicine involves the human body which God created; so I see they never will be able to fully understand what God has made and God keeps working.

"Evolution"

Each person's character and personality can effect what he or she is capable of believing.

And my understanding is that evolution is supposed to include survival of the fittest, and selection of superior beings because of their adaptability. And you can see how some number of humans live this way . . . able to put down others so they can move up. So, they can be motivated by a theory which says it is ok to compete to have more than someone else, including by putting someone else down.

Now, how does this way of seeing things compare with Christianity?

Before creation, Jesus already had all He had in Heaven with our Heavenly Father. And yet, Jesus is not conceited; so Jesus came to our level and has done all He can to share His own good with us.

This is not how evolution is said to work . . . and not how human history has worked, a lot of the time. A lot of the time, creatures can be mainly concerned only about their own selves, not with getting others to share in the good they have. Because we and our resources, as creatures, are limited in various ways; but not Jesus > He has enough and is strong enough to share His own without Him getting weaker and running out

So, in case there really were to be evolution, it would involve how the inferior works.

 

[Joy]

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