for the agnostic.....

[Amittai]

...

Steve Jn 14:21-24 is addressed to insiders, please go and address it to insiders somewhere. Won't God call you to account for misusing His word?

 

[Amittai]

@ISteveB , you have actually presented a good proof that your faith is flawed.

... Maybe you misunderstood those Bible verses or took them out of context or something.

Exactly

 

[Amittai]

... many agnostics and so-called atheists will one day find salvation because they choose to follow Jesus' teachings (even if they fail to recognize it). Many souls will choose Him on that fateful judgement day because their faithful indwelling spirit led them and they willinging followed that path. God will sort such things out on that day. I have observed the Spirit at work in many people over the years and sometimes we can see the fruits of that labor in the choices that they make. I am convinced that gates of heaven are wide open to the honest doubter.

Thank you Rodan6.
The repentance Jesus calls us to is from oppressing our fellows.

 

[Amittai]

... Hope that fall you'll take doesn't catch you too far off guard ... I do however pay attention to warnings when they come from YHVH. I know his warnings are for my well-being.

You seem to know a suspicious amount about "weddings" and "alleyways". Are those the initials of your "underworld" boss? Are you an algorithmated caricature aimed at wasting our time?

 

[Amittai]

Here are a number of resources which I think are helpful.

Dr. Gary R. Habermas - Online Resource for the Resurrection of Jesus Christ
Cold Case Christianity by J. Warner Wallace - Christian Apologetics
Home | Clay Jones
Os Guinness – A quiet voice on behalf of faith, freedom, truth, reason and civility
Home Page
Home page - John Lennox
https://digitalcommons.liberty.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1024&context=lusol_fac_pubs
An Examination of the Testimony of the Four Evangelists, by the Rules of Evidence Administered in Courts of Justice

...

For a start Liberty.edu are Manifest Destiny Hegelist (underlyingly similar to Teilhard) and RZIM are a far too watered down version of reformed (and brahministic into the bargain) to be of use to outsiders.

Guinness is usually nice and often has something to say to everyone.

 

[Amittai]

Rachel20 said: ↑
FYI the whole point of discussing first-person knowledge is to show the vast majority of what we think we "know", myself included, is blind belief using the definition of the other poster. This shouldn't paint me as a person who "thinks she is right about everything". To the contrary I'm questioning how any of us can know much about anything using the other posters definition.​

No. you said:

But I can't recall having met you before. Of course, maybe I did, and I forgot about it?

Maybe you should work on expressing yourself more clearly.

This is clear but Rachel isn't a Kuhlmannist. It's Steve that's the Kuhlmannist. We are all a little bit individual you know. I think you have a better initial instinct in posting than him and I want you to make it more effective. Why would you want to treat us the way Steve treats us?

 

[InterestedAtheist]

When people make this kind of a statement, I've learned over the past 20 years they do so because they are not able to control the discussion.

Just take it for what it is. I've no interest in talking to you if all you have come here to do is preach.

If they need an atheist for a debate, they go to the philosophy department. The physics department isn't much use.
As I considered that, I realized that atheism only has value in the realm of the speculative, and is worthless in the realm of reality.

I think you got it wrong.
Apologetics is full of logical fallacies. Who better to point them out than a philosopher?
You're right, atheism has nothing to do with the real world. All it is concerned with is listening to theism's arguments, and pointing out its mistakes.

I read the last few pages of your discussion with InterestedAethist and was impressed with your argument of "doing" as the way to find God. It really is the only way to find Him. So many Christians fail to follow the teachings of Christ. Perhaps their faith is such that they believe the claim of Christianity is sufficient as insurance against poor choices.

I'm interested to see that neither of you seem to realise that what you're doing is conceding defeat. You come on to a debating forum where Christians are invited to defend their beliefs with rational arguments, and say there is no way you can do that.

If you do think you have rational arguments for the existence of God, I would of course be interested to see what they are. So far all I've seen on @ISteveB 's part is a great deal of...self-confidence. Warranted, I'm sure. I look forward to hearing his arguments.

 

[Clizby WampusCat]

Only one problem with that. According to Isaiah 55:

8“For My thoughts are not your thoughts,
Nor are your ways My ways,” says the LORD.
9 “For as the heavens are higher than the earth,
So are My ways higher than your ways,
And My thoughts than your thoughts.​

So... whose logic? Man's? the finite, constrained to live on a tiny planet, on some backwoods solar system, in a smaller galaxy up of untold billions of stars, most larger than ours, in a neighborhood of hundreds of millions, if not billions of galaxies, in a universe of an unknown size?
And according to the God who spoke it all into existence- Psalm 33:6-9-- in Isaiah 40:12--- he holds the entirety of the cosmos in the span of his hand.... And you're going to tell me that it doesn't fit your comprehension of logic?




Nope.

Jesus said--- strive to enter in the narrow gate, for many will seek to enter, and will not be able.
Luke 13:23 And He said to them, 24 “Strive to enter through the narrow gate, for many, I say to you, will seek to enter and will not be able. 25 When once the Master of the house has risen up and shut the door, and you begin to stand outside and knock at the door, saying, ‘Lord, Lord, open for us,’ and He will answer and say to you, ‘I do not know you, where you are from,’ 26 then you will begin to say, ‘We ate and drank in Your presence, and You taught in our streets.’ 27 But He will say, ‘I tell you I do not know you, where you are from. Depart from Me, all you workers of iniquity.’ 28 There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when you see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, and yourselves thrust out. 29 They will come from the east and the west, from the north and the south, and sit down in the kingdom of God. 30 And indeed there are last who will be first, and there are first who will be last.”

Matthew 7:13 “Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. 14 Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.​

So... haven't forgotten a single person.




Not according to what you say below here.
For someone who studied the bible, and didn't find it convincing, your statement below regarding the becoming a child, and goalpost moving--- you are batting 0.000.

It's always been there. Jesus said it while he was here on earth. Matthew 18:3.
So, this makes me wonder if you ever actually paid attention to when you claimed to have read the bible.
So.... moving goal posts? Not even remotely. The goal post has remained the same for millennia!
Telling me this only shows you were not paying attention in the first place.
Which raises the issue of--- are you sure you sought him with a whole heart?



You'll think otherwise when you get there should you, in the end, choose wrongly.


HE plainly states---

The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.​

And

“I call heaven and earth as witnesses today against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both you and your descendants may live;​

and

“For I have no pleasure in the death of one who dies,” says the Lord GOD. “Therefore turn and live!”​

So.... you tell me... based on these 3 passages, does he want you to believe him?


Well then, duly noted. According to Malachi 3:16, he's documented this in his books, and will be talking with you about it on the day of judgment.




And why do you think I believe the verses are true?
Do you think that it just might be that i believe them to be true, because I've spent 43 years doing them?
Or do you think that your lack of experience is what truth is?


yeah, says the individual who refuses to answer questions.


I didn't need you to. You however clearly need me to believe you.
Furthermore--- it's your eternity.



I already have. You keep dismissing it, and refuse to even explain what you did to not know.


Human nature.
It's called--- being made in God's Likeness and Image.


Not giving me a reason to believe you tells me that you don't actually want to be believed. Further demonstrating that you're not interested in dealing with this. To which I can only ask--- why are you even here?


Millions, eh....?
Engineers never go far enough to actually know.
Chemists don't get taught it.
Neither do biologists.
and according to a recent Physics Today magazine article, there are somewhere between 360,000 to 964,000 physicists.
so.... who are the other--- millions?
Then, do you have any idea why the physicists actually know what the speed of light is?

We actually did the experiments. We followed the instructions provided, and did what we were told, and verified what they claimed!
No different from a Jesus follower doing what Jesus told us, what his original followers told us, and then verified what he claimed.






Which do you want....
an argument that you'll dismiss, or God to show you himself that he exists?

Personally, I'd prefer God himself show me.

In summary you are choosing to believe your interpretation of the bible over what I have told you was my experience. That is ok.

I have done what the bible says to the best to my ability and I did not receive any indication from God that He exists. I really don't think that a loving God that wants to know me would keep that knowledge from me because I did not do some detail in the bible. If so, then that is on God.

I hope you take into consideration some of the feedback you have received here by others.

 

[Rodan6]

Thank you Rodan6.
The repentance Jesus calls us to is from oppressing our fellows.

Indeed you are correct. Prejudice, bigotry and the persecution of others separates us from God.

 

[Rodan6]

Just take it for what it is. I've no interest in talking to you if all you have come here to do is preach.


I think you got it wrong.
Apologetics is full of logical fallacies. Who better to point them out than a philosopher?
You're right, atheism has nothing to do with the real world. All it is concerned with is listening to theism's arguments, and pointing out its mistakes.


I'm interested to see that neither of you seem to realise that what you're doing is conceding defeat. You come on to a debating forum where Christians are invited to defend their beliefs with rational arguments, and say there is no way you can do that.

If you do think you have rational arguments for the existence of God, I would of course be interested to see what they are. So far all I've seen on @ISteveB 's part is a great deal of...self-confidence. Warranted, I'm sure. I look forward to hearing his arguments.

There are plenty of rational arguments for the existence of God, since God is the absolute of love and logic. But, to know God is a purely personal experience. Anyone is capable of finding Him but you must first accept the fact that you probably won't find physical evidence that you can show someone else. This is too great of a stumbling block for many people. As for me, it does not bother me to know that I can't produce physical evidence of what I have found.

It is like gaining entrance to a room full of secrets. You are permitted to look, but prohibited from taking anything out of the room when you leave. My desire to know was greater than my fear of ridicule--I could produce no evidence to others for what I had seen.

No, the bible doesn't prove God exists. The bible reflects the opinions and viewpoints of the men who wrote it, colored by the age in which they lived. It contains many great truths, but includes many falsehoods as well. The greatest truths to be found in this wonderful collection of scripture will be forever hidden from those who choose to worship every word.

 

[ISteveB]

Steve, your posts quite simply suffocate people with bible verses to the point where I for one say, oh what the heck, and stop reading.

Hi Par.
I actually have a basis for why I use the bible to emphasize, and support my points.

The bible is the basis for why we follow Jesus.

As Peter tells us in his letters.

God has given us everything we need for life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who has called us by his own glory and virtue. 2 Peter 1:3.

God tells us in Hosea 4:6 that his people perish because of the lack of knowledge.

So, I can argue with people about what they don't want to know, or I can simply present the truth, and let them decide whether they want to actually know God for themselves.

Especially since God actually provided the truth for us.

Isa 55:8-11 WEB 8 “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, and your ways are not my ways,” says Yahweh. 9 “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts. 10 For as the rain comes down and the snow from the sky, and doesn’t return there, but waters the earth, and makes it grow and bud, and gives seed to the sower and bread to the eater; 11 so is my word that goes out of my mouth: it will not return to me void, but it will accomplish that which I please, and it will prosper in the thing I sent it to do.

I.e., God has imparted his word to have his life-giving power.
His purpose is to give life to all who believe him.
Moreover, as part of his life-giving Word, there's an innate attribute, which results in our deaths if we refuse to believe him.

I.e., it achieves His purposes.

Jesus said

Joh 3:16-21 WEB 16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only born Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have eternal life. 17 For God didn’t send his Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world should be saved through him. 18 He who believes in him is not judged. He who doesn’t believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only born Son of God. 19 This is the judgment, that the light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the light; for their works were evil. 20 For everyone who does evil hates the light, and doesn’t come to the light, lest his works would be exposed. 21 But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his works may be revealed, that they have been done in God.”

I am sure you have heard it said that the quickest way to get someone to be an atheist is to get them to read the bible.

of course. It's the standard excuse given by people who prefer their sin over the truth.

Joh 3:16-21 WEB 16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only born Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have eternal life. 17 For God didn’t send his Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world should be saved through him. 18 He who believes in him is not judged. He who doesn’t believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only born Son of God. 19 This is the judgment, that the light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the light; for their works were evil. 20 For everyone who does evil hates the light, and doesn’t come to the light, lest his works would be exposed. 21 But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his works may be revealed, that they have been done in God.”

It's a curious thing.
I find excuses speak more to a bad justification for condemning yourself to an eternity separated from God and living in abject misery forever.

I have read the bible and a lot of it I dismiss as just plain silly or superstitious nonsense.

Of course.
You apparently missed the part where it says that the preaching of the gospel is foolishness to those who are perishing.
It says elsewhere that there comes a point in an individual's life where they lose their faculty to reason clearly.

1 Corinthians 1:18-29, Romans 1:18-24, Hosea 9:7.

Other bits I just don't have the foggiest idea what it means, but there are bits that I do understand what is being said, and they are the bits that worry me most.

Yes, that's what it says in 1 Corinthians 2.
Jesus said that his words are Spirit and they are life.

So, what you feel is gibberish, silly, or superstitious nonsense....

God has explicitly said brings eternal life to those who believe him.

Those bits portray your god as being a very unpleasant character who kills in fits of anger, who even sends his own son to suffer a terrible death. I find the idea of human sacrifice to be barbaric, to say the least.

Then you will have exactly what you want.

The biblical god does seem to have calmed down some when you read the new testament, but I feel he is just saving himself in order to have one final hooray on judgment day. Bet you can't wait Steve!

Do I look forward to the return of Jesus?
Absolutely!
That is part of God's Grace, through which we are saved, by believing God.

Tit 2:11-14 WEB 11 For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men, 12 instructing us to the intent that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we would live soberly, righteously, and godly in this present age; 13 looking for the blessed hope and appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, 14 who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify for himself a people for his own possession, zealous for good works.

So, what you appear to misunderstand is that God gave his only son to save us from the consequences of our sin.

As he described in Romans 5.

Rom 5:6-12 WEB 6 For while we were yet weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. 7 For one will hardly die for a righteous man. Yet perhaps for a good person someone would even dare to die. 8 But God commends his own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. 9 Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we will be saved from God’s wrath through him. 10 For if while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we will be saved by his life. 11 Not only so, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation. 12 Therefore as sin entered into the world through one man, and death through sin; so death passed to all men, because all sinned.

Then, in Ezekiel 18, God pleads with us,

Why will you die?
I take no pleasure in the death of those who die.

 

[cloudyday2]

Hi Par.
I actually have a basis for why I use the bible to emphasize, and support my points.

The bible is the basis for why we follow Jesus.

No it is not. I thought that was the point you made in your OP - that people believe in Jesus because they experience Jesus in some way.

AFTER experiencing Jesus a person is likely to have confidence in the inspiration of the Bible. I have heard some claim that the Holy Spirit makes the words of the Bible ring true for a Christian.

However, you've got to use a different strategy with non-believers. I think the Bible is just another book where some parts of it might have been inspired but lots of it was twisted by cynical Christian (NT) and Jewish (OT) leaders.

 

[Amittai]

...

So, I can argue with people about what they don't want to know, or I can simply present the truth, and let them decide whether they want to actually know God for themselves ...

But you're not presenting truth. You're misre-presenting truth.

 

[Amittai]

Hi ...

Steve have you responded to my 101-104 (inclusive) yet?

 

[ISteveB]

No it is not. I thought that was the point you made in your OP - that people believe in Jesus because they experience Jesus in some way.

What did you think the basis from which my OP is developed?
It's based on Jeremiah 24:7, and John 14:23, and the first letter of John.

When we believe God, and place our trust in Jesus, God gives us his life.
It's described in the bible as the spiritual regeneration, where we are made spiritually alive and made completely right with God.

AFTER experiencing Jesus a person is likely to have confidence in the inspiration of the Bible. I have heard some claim that the Holy Spirit makes the words of the Bible ring true for a Christian.

That is what the bible says, and what our experience with him have been.
Where do you think that statement was derived from?
According to 1 Corinthians 2,

1Co 2:9-16 WEB 9 But as it is written, “Things which an eye didn’t see, and an ear didn’t hear, which didn’t enter into the heart of man, these God has prepared for those who love him.” 10 But to us, God revealed them through the Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God. 11 For who among men knows the things of a man, except the spirit of the man, which is in him? Even so, no one knows the things of God, except God’s Spirit. 12 But we received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit which is from God, that we might know the things that were freely given to us by God. 13 We also speak these things, not in words which man’s wisdom teaches, but which the Holy Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual things. 14 Now the natural man doesn’t receive the things of God’s Spirit, for they are foolishness to him, and he can’t know them, because they are spiritually discerned. 15 But he who is spiritual discerns all things, and he himself is judged by no one. 16 “For who has known the mind of the Lord, that he should instruct him?” But we have Christ’s mind.

So... yes. We base our worldviews on God's Word, and the Holy Spirit.

Jesus said
Joh 16:13-15 WEB 13 However when he, the Spirit of truth, has come, he will guide you into all truth, for he will not speak from himself; but whatever he hears, he will speak. He will declare to you things that are coming. 14 He will glorify me, for he will take from what is mine, and will declare it to you. 15 All things that the Father has are mine; therefore I said that he takes of mine and will declare it to you.

However, you've got to use a different strategy with non-believers.

Sounds great. The problem here is....God is the one who has chosen the most effective method of accomplishing his purposes.
And since we don't want to just get people to intellectually acknowledge that God is real.
According to James, the devil and his demons believe God is real and they tremble.
They're acutely aware of God's reality and their end.

The goal is to simply make them aware that they have a choice of where they want to spend their eternity.

1Co 1:21 WEB For seeing that in the wisdom of God, the world through its wisdom didn’t know God, it was God’s good pleasure through the foolishness of the preaching to save those who believe.

Considering that God has infinite knowledge of all eternity, and the end, he knows the best possible ways to achieve the goal of saving the human race.

I think the Bible is just another book where some parts of it might have been inspired but lots of it was twisted by cynical Christian (NT) and Jewish (OT) leaders.

Do you think that you have all the knowledge necessary to actually know that you are right and have an accurate perspective?

God has said otherwise.

Isa 55:8-11 WEB 8 “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, and your ways are not my ways,” says Yahweh. 9 “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts. 10 For as the rain comes down and the snow from the sky, and doesn’t return there, but waters the earth, and makes it grow and bud, and gives seed to the sower and bread to the eater; 11 so is my word that goes out of my mouth: it will not return to me void, but it will accomplish that which I please, and it will prosper in the thing I sent it to do.

So, while I appreciate your perspective, I'm following Jesus, not the atheist mindset or beliefs. Nor am I following the worldviews of generic theists.

That's not my job description. My job description is to give God's message in the manner that God has explicitly stated.

 

[ISteveB]

Steve have you responded to my 101-104 (inclusive) yet?

No. I have not.

You're going to have to learn patience and wait until I get to them.

It's the great thing about written medium.
They remain.

 

[Moral Orel]

No it is not. I thought that was the point you made in your OP - that people believe in Jesus because they experience Jesus in some way.

AFTER experiencing Jesus a person is likely to have confidence in the inspiration of the Bible. I have heard some claim that the Holy Spirit makes the words of the Bible ring true for a Christian.

I read Steve's response to your post, and I had some thoughts on the exchange between you two. The order in which people are convinced of God's existence and the inspiration of the Bible is all jumbled up because there isn't a logical reasoning process behind it, it's all an appeal to emotion. First you hear stuff in the Bible that you like, so you want it to be true, then you find reasons to believe it and ignore reasons to disbelieve it. That's what it means to "seek with your whole heart". As long as your desire for it to be true is greater than all your other desires, even the desire to be logically consistent and reasonable, then you'll make it true. That's why Steve says you need to abandon human logic and accept God's logic. It's all a ruse. Why else would it be that only atheists want to talk about the nasty stuff in the Bible like genocide and slavery and rape, and Christians only want to talk about the positive inspirational stuff like Proverbs and Psalms and a lot of the NT? Because people want the positive stuff to be true and they want the ugly stuff to not exist.

You have to remember that we humans are not purely rational creatures. We're much too emotional for that. The most convincing and persuasive arguments are actually just appeal to emotion fallacies. No one is immune to it. Belief is a feeling, we can't escape that. I think my viewpoints are closer to accuracy than bias because I enjoy feeling smug about being correct and being able to demonstrate it. See? Even when I'm trying to be purely logical, it's still based in emotion.

 

[cloudyday2]

I read Steve's response to your post, and I had some thoughts on the exchange between you two. The order in which people are convinced of God's existence and the inspiration of the Bible is all jumbled up because there isn't a logical reasoning process behind it, it's all an appeal to emotion. First you hear stuff in the Bible that you like, so you want it to be true, then you find reasons to believe it and ignore reasons to disbelieve it. That's what it means to "seek with your whole heart". As long as your desire for it to be true is greater than all your other desires, even the desire to be logically consistent and reasonable, then you'll make it true. That's why Steve says you need to abandon human logic and accept God's logic. It's all a ruse. Why else would it be that only atheists want to talk about the nasty stuff in the Bible like genocide and slavery and rape, and Christians only want to talk about the positive inspirational stuff like Proverbs and Psalms and a lot of the NT? Because people want the positive stuff to be true and they want the ugly stuff to not exist.

You have to remember that we humans are not purely rational creatures. We're much too emotional for that. The most convincing and persuasive arguments are actually just appeal to emotion fallacies. No one is immune to it. Belief is a feeling, we can't escape that. I think my viewpoints are closer to accuracy than bias because I enjoy feeling smug about being correct and being able to demonstrate it. See? Even when I'm trying to be purely logical, it's still based in emotion.

That is true. Another issue in religious truths is the uncertainty. I can believe whatever I wish to believe within reason. That isn't quite as true with other things like chemistry.

 

[cloudyday2]

What did you think the basis from which my OP is developed?
It's based on Jeremiah 24:7, and John 14:23, and the first letter of John.

I thought you said that you started believing in Christianity after God answered your prayer to confirm that Christianity was true.

The Bible is like a textbook. Is history true because the events happened or because a textbook says they happened? Ideally the textbook does not prove historical events are true - a person should be skeptical and dig deeper. In time a person might trust a textbook, but not at first.

Are the truths in the Pauline epistles true because Paul wrote them or did Paul write them BECAUSE they are true?

The Bible records truths - it doesn't prove truths.

Muslims believe that people can be convert to Islam simply by hearing the Quran read in Arabic - even if they don't understand Arabic. I suppose there might be passages in the Bible that awaken the potential Christian within the skeptic simply by hearing them. I don't know. In that case I suppose the Bible quotes might serve a purpose.

 

[InterestedAtheist]

Hi Par.
I actually have a basis for why I use the bible to emphasize, and support my points.

The bible is the basis for why we follow Jesus.

As Peter tells us in his letters.

God has given us everything we need for life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who has called us by his own glory and virtue. 2 Peter 1:3.

God tells us in Hosea 4:6 that his people perish because of the lack of knowledge.

So, I can argue with people about what they don't want to know, or I can simply present the truth, and let them decide whether they want to actually know God for themselves.

Especially since God actually provided the truth for us.

Isa 55:8-11 WEB 8 “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, and your ways are not my ways,” says Yahweh. 9 “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts. 10 For as the rain comes down and the snow from the sky, and doesn’t return there, but waters the earth, and makes it grow and bud, and gives seed to the sower and bread to the eater; 11 so is my word that goes out of my mouth: it will not return to me void, but it will accomplish that which I please, and it will prosper in the thing I sent it to do.

I.e., God has imparted his word to have his life-giving power.
His purpose is to give life to all who believe him.
Moreover, as part of his life-giving Word, there's an innate attribute, which results in our deaths if we refuse to believe him.

I.e., it achieves His purposes.

Jesus said

Joh 3:16-21 WEB 16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only born Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have eternal life. 17 For God didn’t send his Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world should be saved through him. 18 He who believes in him is not judged. He who doesn’t believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only born Son of God. 19 This is the judgment, that the light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the light; for their works were evil. 20 For everyone who does evil hates the light, and doesn’t come to the light, lest his works would be exposed. 21 But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his works may be revealed, that they have been done in God.”



of course. It's the standard excuse given by people who prefer their sin over the truth.

Joh 3:16-21 WEB 16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only born Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have eternal life. 17 For God didn’t send his Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world should be saved through him. 18 He who believes in him is not judged. He who doesn’t believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only born Son of God. 19 This is the judgment, that the light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the light; for their works were evil. 20 For everyone who does evil hates the light, and doesn’t come to the light, lest his works would be exposed. 21 But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his works may be revealed, that they have been done in God.”

It's a curious thing.
I find excuses speak more to a bad justification for condemning yourself to an eternity separated from God and living in abject misery forever.



Of course.
You apparently missed the part where it says that the preaching of the gospel is foolishness to those who are perishing.
It says elsewhere that there comes a point in an individual's life where they lose their faculty to reason clearly.

1 Corinthians 1:18-29, Romans 1:18-24, Hosea 9:7.



Yes, that's what it says in 1 Corinthians 2.
Jesus said that his words are Spirit and they are life.

So, what you feel is gibberish, silly, or superstitious nonsense....

God has explicitly said brings eternal life to those who believe him.


Then you will have exactly what you want.



Do I look forward to the return of Jesus?
Absolutely!
That is part of God's Grace, through which we are saved, by believing God.

Tit 2:11-14 WEB 11 For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men, 12 instructing us to the intent that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we would live soberly, righteously, and godly in this present age; 13 looking for the blessed hope and appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, 14 who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify for himself a people for his own possession, zealous for good works.

So, what you appear to misunderstand is that God gave his only son to save us from the consequences of our sin.

As he described in Romans 5.

Rom 5:6-12 WEB 6 For while we were yet weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. 7 For one will hardly die for a righteous man. Yet perhaps for a good person someone would even dare to die. 8 But God commends his own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. 9 Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we will be saved from God’s wrath through him. 10 For if while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we will be saved by his life. 11 Not only so, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation. 12 Therefore as sin entered into the world through one man, and death through sin; so death passed to all men, because all sinned.

Then, in Ezekiel 18, God pleads with us,

Why will you die?
I take no pleasure in the death of those who die.

Quoting the Bible to atheists is not a good debating tactic. We don't believe in it. So why should it matter to us what the Bible says?

it's fine to quote the Bible if you're in a debate with another Christian. It's fine to quote the Bible if you're debating with an atheist about the meaning of a passage in the Bible. But if you're quoting the Bible to an atheist to prove that God exists, you're wasting your time. Once again, you are called on here to present logical arguments. "What I am saying is true because the Bible says so" is not acceptable.

you asked me by what authority I could tell you what to say. Simple. The Statement of Purpose of this forum. Other Christians seem to have no trouble following it.

You say you simply want to speak the truth. Exactly. You're not here (in a debating forum, as you say you are aware) to debate. You're here to preach. Would you mind.not doing it, please?