A Pondering of the Peculiar

[anyathesword]

Interesting thing to note, Isaac Newton, who was a Christian until his death, didn't believe in the trinity. He felt that no other entity should even be presented in an equal manner as god (I suppose Jesus was god's son and not god on earth to him. Interesting individual.).

That's wonderful, but there are many Christians who don't believe in life after death, hell, heaven, that mankind was not created individually from animals, that abortion isn't murder, that drinking and drugs are ok, etc.

So who's right?

 

[PsychoSarah]

That's wonderful, but there are many Christians who don't believe in life after death, hell, heaven, that mankind was not created individually from animals, that abortion isn't murder, that drinking and drugs are ok, etc.

So who's right?

Impossible to say, and pointless to argue, really.

 

[PsychoSarah]

People need to stop feeling that being correct is so important. It makes them ignore reason. On both sides of the issue, though I am sure each person is going to claim that those who do not share their ideas are the less reasonable ones. Oh, self serving bias, forbid people recognize their own flaws in realistic ways. I am no exception either, I just notice that I do it.

 

[46AND2]

Ok. God who is the Father lives in Heaven, He has the image of a man (for we were created in God's image; remember?) Jesus Christ is His Son, who came down to earth to die, overcome death, to save us and to rise again, alive. Now Jesus sits at the right Hand of God in Heaven. The Holy Spirit is God's Spirit, it is everywhere and makes sure that God's plan is carried out and it also communicates between us and God. These three, the Holy Spirit, God the Father, and Jesus His Son are Three different persons in One. They each have a purpose but work in harmony with one another.

Um, yeah...clearly what I meant was, explain the bit a bout "three different persons in one." And how this is not polytheism.

 

[AV1611VET]

Um, yeah...clearly what I meant was, explain the bit a bout "three different persons in one." And how this is not polytheism.

Does the "in one" tip you off that this isn't polytheism?

 

[Delphiki]

That's wonderful, but there are many Christians who don't believe in life after death, hell, heaven, that mankind was not created individually from animals, that abortion isn't murder, that drinking and drugs are ok, etc.

So who's right?

If they are all Christian, then none of them.

 

[46AND2]

Does the "in one" tip you off that this isn't polytheism?

Does the three tip you off that it isn't one?

 

[PsychoSarah]

Does the three tip you off that it isn't one?

I imagine that only one is the deity, and the other two are just holy beings.

 

[Delphiki]

Does the three tip you off that it isn't one?

You gonna get a picture of a diagram here soon, homey. Watch.

 

[46AND2]

You gonna get a picture of a diagram here soon, homey. Watch.

Already got it before. ;-)

 

[AV1611VET]

Does the three tip you off that it isn't one?

No.

 

[PsychoSarah]

You gonna get a picture of a diagram here soon, homey. Watch.

Someone just got gangster

 

[bhsmte]

How do you know that? Mankind has killed and warred with themselves since the beginning of recorded history, regardless of religion. If the Bible was never written and Christianity never existed, you honestly believe the world would be completely peaceful and there would be no wars? There easily could have been much greater and more devastating wars than there were with the presence of Christianity.

I agree with you here, that man would have warred and killed each other regardless of religion.

I don't know if no presence of christianity would have made things worse, because we also know, all religions are also abused by many to achieve control over people and personal gain.

 

[46AND2]

No.

Your argument isn't three IN one, anyway. Your argument stated 3=1, as you demonstrated in your claim that god violates the law of contradiction.

 

[PsychoSarah]

I agree with you here, that man would have warred and killed each other regardless of religion.

I don't know if no presence of christianity would have made things worse, because we also know, all religions are also abused by many to achieve control over people and personal gain.

I would imagine that things would be a little less complicated.

 

[anyathesword]

If they are all Christian, then none of them.

exactly so who is RIGHT? Where is our manual to know??? The BIBLE!!!!!!!!

 

[bhsmte]

Right, people across different cultures and ages have a different understanding of God. Is this really unexpected? The same observation occurs when we look at people's understanding of mathematics.

Some people see clearly. Some people are still in the basics and believe that pi is 22/7. Some people could make elegant proofs for the irrationality of root 2. Some people understand calculus for what it is and would explain it as a rather mechanical logical process - other people see the beauty of a Mandlebrot set and describe it as art. Some people think math is boring and prescriptive, others see it as incredibly creative. And yet, mathematics doesn't change. It is what it is.

I see beauty in a God who allows people to be on a journey and allows them to explore Him as they are. Not demanding perfection of understanding, not demanding that their understanding of Him be stripped of all culture. The diversity doesn't really bother me much at all. The diversity of humanity demands a diversity of understanding and no amount of logic will avoid that.

I would agree, when you have a concept like God, that has no hard facts to go on, you are going to get a myriad of different interpretations of who he is, etc. etc. One simple reason you will get various differences, is folk will pick the one that fits their own personal psychological needs the best and latch onto it. Later in life, their needs may change and they may change their denomination of christianity and or explanation of God, to better fit where they are in their life.

The core fundamentals of the christian story are next to impossible to reconcile with how the bible describes who God is, and it took me most of my life to come to that conclusion for myself. To many christians, when something good happens they contribute it to God, when something bad happens they put that on evil and man's sin, or claim God works in mysterious ways. Huge cop out IMO. If God was all loving and cared about all his creation, I can not see how the reality of the world can be reconciled with that statement.

To me, the question of; is there a God, is an important one, but the question of; what type of God would he be if he exists is another huge question. IMO, if a God exists, he would not be a personal God, who involves himself in altering people's lives, answering prayers etc. He would be a God that got the ball rolling in our universe and from that point on, has been absent.

 

[bhsmte]

What a poor excuse. Very weak. You could at least have tried: "I wrote a huge post explaining all this in detail last night but my cat jumped on the keyboard and deleted it."

Yes, Juv often comes up with creative excuses to not back his claims; beyond the wisdom of man, you aren't ready to hear it, etc. etc.

 

[PsychoSarah]

exactly so who is RIGHT? Where is our manual to know??? The BIBLE!!!!!!!!

But what if it is really the Torah? Or The Quran? Or the Iliad and other Greek stories? Most religions have at least one text similar to the bible in nature.

 

[juvenissun]

You don't need to define EVERYTHING about your god...how about just resolving this omnipotence thing? You know, actually address my argument, rather than claim you can do it, but refusing to do so.

It is easy. Just do not put any negative property in the definition.

For example, God is omnipotent, AND honest. This will rule out the property called lie. So you don't have to say God can not lie, but say God is honest. Logically, it makes a 180° turn on the argument.

[I wonder why can't you figure out this simple alternative]