How can an atheist have a relationship with God?

[vinsight4u]

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[Athée]

first, it becomes important to define what is meant by a relationship with God, who in effect, God must be to be considered God.
Idolatry is a relationship with lesser gods, such as gold or money or magic. I think that we can all agree that these are all lesser gods than" that which nothing greater can exist in imagination and in reality", so this is not a path to believing in something worthy of being one's ultimate purpose and goal in life. Idolatry is in effect 'settling', redirecting one's life for something less than where one's passion lies, accepting that that which would be truly satisfying and fulfilling does not exist anyway.

What then is worthy of believing in, of putting one's faith in? That is a question as pertinent to an atheist as to a theist, for unless someone wants to write off life as ultimately absurd and pointless, we are all required to find what would be the point to our own personal life that makes its living worthwhile, and truly fulfilling.
And that point will serve as the starting point of what 'God' must mean to any of us, be with atheist or Christian or anything else.

My apologies but I am not following here.
What is God to you and how can I have a relationship with it?

 

[Athée]

Can't think of any times, clear back even to when I
was fifteen. That is the age gave my life to Jesus Christ.
Went to church even when little, but repented of my sins
and became a born-again believer as a teenager. Loved God
before that and at 14 had stood against evolution lies at school.

Interesting. So you have never prayed for something in the expectation that you were praying after God's own hart and then had the prayer not be answered?

Also I want so badly to take the bait on the evolution comment but obviously that is not the point of this thread

 

[Athée]

S: Well, I'm flattered you want to know so much about me.

A:


S: 1. The verses I'm thinking of don't have anything to do with any protective mechanisms; perhaps we're thinking of different ones. Doesn't matter, really, other than I'm sincerely concerned for you, or for any believer who says they have fallen away from God.

A: I know, I am telling you that I see them that way. They allow a believer to write off anyone who leaves the fold as someone who was never a true Christian to begin with. This protects them from having to deal with the possibility that someone who was a true believer can loose their faith.

S: 2. How He is with me? I sense His presence since being saved in a closer and more tangible way, like physical breath, than I did before when I simply believed in God as "the life force." After truly giving my heart to Christ, and sincerely praying the Salvation Prayer, I - in that moment - felt a rush of physical warmth in my heart (chest region, to be literal) and a sense of "opening" or something being "unlocked" within me. Since that moment I have never felt estranged from God. I have felt frustrated, angry, upset with God and I'm sure He with me. But I have never felt truly alone since then. I feel His presence with me always. You know how you can feel your own pulse, or breath? It's like that, but deeper. In my bones, in my cells, how deeply I feel and know Him. It's a gift I asked for and although I am the most unworthy recipient I can think of, He honored my request. My most frequent prayer is "thank you," and I pray fairly constantly.

A: So we can measure the real world effect of physical breath, of our pulse are you claiming that you could measure God and demonstrate him in similar ways?

S: 3. The manifestations in my physical life are too numerous and detailed to explain here. Besides, they wouldn't really mean anything to anyone else except me. My walk with God is my personal walk/relationship with God. When I do something wrong He lets me know. When I cry out He hears and answers me. Or, if He's silent I know it's the time to shut up and be patient. God is patient and God is kind. God is love and God is truth. That's about all I need to know. I trust Him implicitly. I trust Him, as revealed in His Word, more than I trust anything else in my life, including myself. He guides me through life. He literally saved my life. I could be dead. My story is a very long one; suffice to say I came from a sometimes brutal and poverty-stricken background (in more ways than one) and today I live a fulfilling, rich, peaceful, prosperous, happy, healthy life. I know I never deserved anything good more than anyone else, but I asked in faith and He answered. Not that I don't still have problems common to all people, of course I do. But my life is remarkably changed since knowing God on a personal level.

A: Is there a way you could differentiate these things from what we call a conscience, which I understand to be a product of culture, circumstances and to some degree (although I am not as confident about this) our individual biologies.


S: 4. The "not reasonably explained by natural means," I'm not sure what you're asking, exactly. Why I believe things that have happened to me that I can't explain by natural means? Because a few things that have happened to me have no natural explanation. Simple as that.

A: I would be interested in hearing your very best example of this

S: 5. I love many tangible, flesh and blood people as well. My husband, my children, my family, my friends, etc. However, my love of Jesus is also tangible and just as real to me. He's more than an idea or avatar. But, yes, I love the idea of God as well. Of course I do. I see a deep pattern of intelligence in nature and creation. I've studied a lot of science and quantum physics enough to have witnessed the glory of God on a scientific level. Nature is proof of God. There is an obvious intelligent mind behind the design of absolutely everything. I recently heard the saying, "No God, know chaos. Know God, no chaos," which sums it up nicely to me.

A: When you say studied do you mean formally? That would be really cool because I have never talked with someone who actually studies quantum mechanics!

T: There are many things I don't know and never will until He reveals them. That's ok, I don't need to know everything. I'm fine with not knowing. I know the Bible contains many contradictions. I've asked Him about that, lol. It's a paradox, faith is a paradox. I'm fascinated by God, never-endingly fascinated. Funny thing is, few people who know me in person (besides my immediate family) would ever guess any of this about me. As I said, I'm far from a "religious" person. I'm quiet, I listen to people a lot instead.

A: I have always found this kind of answer poetic but not terribly helpful. If the bible contradicts itself in significant ways, what use is it as the foundation of your belief. If faith can be used to assert justification for any possible claim, what use is it as a pathway to discovering if a claim is true or not?

S: You are a very interesting person, Athee. Thank you for conversing with me, I appreciate it.

A: likewise


S: Believing in God, actually, knowing is a better word to me because I have zero doubt now, is a benefit to me and my life. I would not be here if not for God. And this has been the case for decades now for me

A: What is it that makes you so confident in your belief?

 

[SolomonVII]

My apologies but I am not following here.
What is God to you and how can I have a relationship with it?

God to me, as he has presented him into the Bible, is without a name. When asked, he simply replies "I am".
That is an open-ended question then, as people try to understood who God is for themselves.
It is almost irrelevant to you who I conceive the God who defines himself as "I am" is. That is a question that everyone must answer to themselves.
The ontological argument of who God is, purely philosophical is that God is 'that who is who none greater can be conceived both in imagination and in reality'. Who God is is bigger than our imagination even, and ultimately striving to become one with such a being is bigger than a dream, because that which is real is always greater than that which exists only in the imagination.
That is a good starting point for anyone who desires to orient their lives to be more than they might even imagine it to be. And God is always more than who we can even imagine him to be, more than who we strive to be and who we strive to become. God is our ultimate goal, our ultimate destiny, which we arrive at like to Golgotha, one set at a time.

In reality, simply the act of living requires some kind of goal, even if it is the act of breathing, and surviving to another day. Just because someone rejects some or all aspects of God and/or man/God Jesus as their Way does not forfeit them the necessity of directing their lives toward some goal.
The question is what is the goal for you personally, what you direct your life to, that which is such that none greater can be conceived? To direct your live to anything less than that is to engage in idolatry.

To ask Christians, I suppose, for some of us that kind of Divine Being would be revealed in the miracles of Christ; he who came to heal the sick, and feed the hunger and quench the needs of those who thirst, and to set the prisoners free. To orient oneself to such a being, and to aim for what is possible and not just miraculous would be to build hospitals, and reform justice systems, and design economic systems that provide for the masses as more profitable than systems just for the elites.
In the Judeo-Christian belief system, who God is remains an open-ended question that everyone ultimately must answer for themselves. To not answer is not an option. Some would even surmise that we are all condemned to answer the question.
But ultimately, it is an intensely personal question that everyone answers for themselves.

 

[Oncedeceived]

If I found out for certain that the Christian god existed as depicted in the bible I would not be comforted....

While I understand how you being an unbeliever would not be comforted but I was thinking about your mind changing in regard to God; you claim that it was a two year process whereas you came to the conclusion that you were wrong about being a Christian after reading atheist/Christian dialog. What in that process actually brought about this revelation?

 

[vinsight4u]

/nvm

 

[Athée]

Not sure what you were thinking as to creation, but I refused to put down on papers what the teacher wanted. We later compromised by her letting me write down her answer and then jot next to it that it is a lie. Also, put Bible verses and comments at the top of the pages or such.

Still not taking the bait... Although it looks very tasty
What about some of the other questions I asked?

 

[vinsight4u]

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[vinsight4u]

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[vinsight4u]

/nvm

 

[Athée]

The times heard God leading me even when not praying were
never wrong...but I'm only speaking as to me for my own person.
Prayed sometimes for others...even on a prayerline briefly at TBN,
even though know the rapture is after the great tribulation. They knew
my stand and that is what they knew I would tell people that called into
the studio.

Wow, so anytime you feel led to pray for someone, it will be successful 100% of the time?

 

[Athée]

God warned me of danger several times as to an earthquake...patio door was soon to be shattered...a deer jumped in front of me...a car about to go off
of the street and on up the sidewalk....a car ran a red light. That's what recall at
the moment.

How would you distinguish these instances of God warning you from intuition? How exactly did God pass along the warning? Have you ever been seriously injured or in an accident?

 

[vinsight4u]

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[vinsight4u]

/nvm

 

[vinsight4u]

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[vinsight4u]

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[Athée]

I hesitated to answer your question before, because of answering calls at TBN...Trinity Broadcasting Network, plus at church or such people pray in a groups...those type of situations. What I was trying to do was refer to my own personal times when God let me know something. Once that had stayed up all night shortly after I was saved, then did it other times too over the years. Had looked out my bedroom window once when began to wonder
how many people were asleep in my area. Decided my part of the world might seem kind of quiet, so stayed up to be with God and praise Him sometimes. This did not mean that I slept the next day, as still had school...and things to do. Would have pizza times and such with my God.

So there are times when you pray just hoping it will work, but there are also times you pray knowing for certain that it will work. Is that right?

 

[Athée]

Was walking home from a store when heard...my name and stop.
What God? Why? It doesn't look like rain. Quickly stopped walking and
within moments saw a car jump the curb and head towards me as
it started breaking things. Started running away from it. Also, did thank
God for these warnings...for His protection. Still have the pictures on my phone of the debris the car broke all over the sidewalk.

So these are all interesting stories. It certainly make things easier for me if I was having similar ones.
There were a few questions.
1) How do you determine that these voices you hear are from God?
2) Have you ever been injured or in an accident?

 

[vinsight4u]

/nvm