A few questions about Christianity

Sep 11, 2012
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Thank you for your answer TheyCallMeDave, however statements like the following highlight one of the problems I and many other atheists have with religious discussion.

God made us all with a Spirit and a Soul for a purposed personal relationship with him...it is hardwired into our DNA. He also gave us FREEWILL because he didnt want to make us robotic in nature; so its up to us just HOW FAR we want to go with God in relationship...if, at all

There is no discussion here as to what spirit, soul and freewill are, God is not defined and it is not stated how it is hard wired into our DNA. Do you literally mean it is physically in our DNA? If so are you able to have a discussion as to which genes they might be and where they might occur in other animals as we share many genes with other animals. If you do not mean it is physically in our DNA I assume you mean it is hard wired into us spiritually, which then leaves questions about how this manifests physically and it's relationship to other spiritual movements.

So, as you embark on your Journey, remember that the more you surrender yourself to God and go examining him thru the means i listed above, the more he promises to reveal himself to you.

This statement reflects a common spiritual statement that does not employ a God at all. As you go through life the less you resist life's ups and downs the more aware you will become and the more you will be able to live better.

These statements about God, Soul and Spirit don't make sense to us without some quantification. Like the statement "Living life through Jesus". It means nothing to us and when we ask what it means we often get a mixed and confused responses.
 
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TheyCallMeDave

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Thank you for your answer TheyCallMeDave, however statements like the following highlight one of the problems I and many other atheists have with religious discussion.



There is no discussion here as to what spirit, soul and freewill are, God is not defined and it is not stated how it is hard wired into our DNA. Do you literally mean it is physically in our DNA? If so are you able to have a discussion as to which genes they might be and where they might occur in other animals as we share many genes with other animals. If you do not mean it is physically in our DNA I assume you mean it is hard wired into us spiritually, which then leaves questions about how this manifests physically and it's relationship to other spiritual movements.



This statement reflects a common spiritual statement that does not employ a God at all. As you go through life the less you resist life's ups and downs the more aware you will become and the more you will be able to live better.

These statements about God, Soul and Spirit don't make sense to us without some quantification. Like the statement "Living life through Jesus". It means nothing to us and when we ask what it means we often get a mixed and confused responses.

Thanks for responding. Im aware that much of what CHristians talk about are going to be foreign and confusing to the Critics because there is a whole new world that the Critics of CHristianity havent found nor can appreciate ; instead , they form an opinion that all of religion is lumped together and is nothing but a confusing melting-pot of blind faith . , when actually, nothing could be further from the truth.

I was once where you are today being an atheist thinking that is all there is and no real personal relationship with the Creator was possible since you cant see him , touch him, etc... But there is within each of us, a spiritual nature just like there is the emotional, physical and sexual nature of a human being...with the spiritual nature specifically designed for God to encompass in a very real sense ...not hocus pocus, but, a real living relationship with a real living theistic Creator.

What it requires first and foremost, is the WILL of a person to diligently investigate the existence of our personal theistic Creator via the creation around us, thru discovering the credibility of the Bible , thru the historical Jesus Christ, and realizing that all of the above is the truth based on objective historical and modern scientific evidences... the same that should be the standard of any test for credibility. It requires a totally UNBIASED mind otherwise a biased person will come to the table in a disengenuous manner automatically ruling out any competition.

SO, the question is : HOW WILLING are you to do a diligent personal investigation into the CHristian Faith which is going to put Atheism over a red hot fire ??? Are you initially willing to look over this site for instance, and go way beyond that even ? Answers for Atheists and Agnostics . If you truly want the answers to your many questions, I can help you...but I have to refuse people who already have their mind made up in order to maintain a personal philosophical bias which best fits with their lifestyle agendas and other possible personal motives . Lastly, if you are in fact an honest Seeker of the truth, then I might ask : Why dont you call yourself a Seeker/Skeptic/Agnostic instead of an Atheist which infers you think you know that IT is the ultimate truth and 'there is no God' ? Thanks.
 
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Mediaeval

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Regarding prayer, God either gives us what we ask for or something better. That has been my experience with prayer over many years.

Freewill simply means we are responsible for the choices we make. Our actions are not determined by physical necessity, as though they were the inevitable result of chemical, biological, or environmental processes and influences in and around us.
 
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Sep 11, 2012
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Hi again TheyCallMeDave,

But there is within each of us, a spiritual nature just like there is the emotional, physical and sexual nature of a human being...

I agree with this, but I do not believe or even feel that an intelligent creator is responsible for it.

I did have a look at the site you linked, but I found it to contain some inaccuracies. For example the site states that Richard Dawkins, the author of The God Delusion, actively promotes the belief that there is no God. This is incorrect. He is quite specific in saying that he promotes the belief that there probably is no God, which is different. Also he speaks specifically of the kind of God who listens to individuals prayers, who punishes people and sends people to hell etc., not of the kind of God of the more spiritual view such as in the interpretation that God is simply life and everything we perceive.

Correct me if I'm wrong but the website linked also discusses something outside of our universe that created our universe, hence a creator. What appears to be the difference between an atheistic approach and a religious approach is how can we attribute so many experiences to something we can't know exists, namely an intelligent designer?

I understand your challenge to me to do a diligent personal investigation into Christianity, and I ask questions about Christianity and question atheism all the time. I am very interested in the subject. But because the nature of atheism is self correcting, and the more I dig for the truth on these subjects, I find the basis of religious belief harder to see as the truth.

I dunno, maybe I'm missing something. Perhaps it's a case of what Robert Anton Wilson said in his book Prometheus Rising. "What the thinker thinks, the prover proves."
 
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TheyCallMeDave

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Hi again TheyCallMeDave,



I agree with this, but I do not believe or even feel that an intelligent creator is responsible for it.

I did have a look at the site you linked, but I found it to contain some inaccuracies. For example the site states that Richard Dawkins, the author of The God Delusion, actively promotes the belief that there is no God. This is incorrect. He is quite specific in saying that he promotes the belief that there probably is no God, which is different. Also he speaks specifically of the kind of God who listens to individuals prayers, who punishes people and sends people to hell etc., not of the kind of God of the more spiritual view such as in the interpretation that God is simply life and everything we perceive.

Correct me if I'm wrong but the website linked also discusses something outside of our universe that created our universe, hence a creator. What appears to be the difference between an atheistic approach and a religious approach is how can we attribute so many experiences to something we can't know exists, namely an intelligent designer?

I understand your challenge to me to do a diligent personal investigation into Christianity, and I ask questions about Christianity and question atheism all the time. I am very interested in the subject. But because the nature of atheism is self correcting, and the more I dig for the truth on these subjects, I find the basis of religious belief harder to see as the truth.

I dunno, maybe I'm missing something. Perhaps it's a case of what Robert Anton Wilson said in his book Prometheus Rising. "What the thinker thinks, the prover proves."

Im glad to see your interest in this vitally important subject ; what kind of exhaustive study and seeking for the answers have you personally done ? How biased are you toward atheistic/humanist materials and sources ? Do you believe that an atheistic worldview/origins is so accurate that you could defend that view using the affirmative atheistic constructs of Naturalism and Materialism (which is the automatic default from supernaturalism ) ?? Do you believe such a construct could explain the specified complexity by way of deliberate intelligent messages found in the DNA molecule which amounts to roughly 1,000 complete volumes of encyclopedias for each DNA Molecule ... or.... the migrational habit of the Monarch Butterly with ONLY its 4th generation making the trip from Canada to Mexico on the precise day of the fall equinox and returning from Mexico to Canada on the precise day of the spring equinox ....(as two quick examples) ???

Thanks.
 
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