So again you show that the truth in the Bible has not and is not accessible for most of the human population. Why is your understanding correct and others who contradict your understanding incorrect? Even if I understand the bible how do I know it is from a God?
You say he can but then you say there are circumstances where he cannot in the next sentence. Which is it?
Why not? If He can't then He is not all that powerful. So God can only convince me He exists if I lower my epistemological standards, sounds like faith to me.
Where did I say "He can't"? No, I didn't say that. If it wasn't clear then I'll try again. What I was intending to imply previously is that: HE WON'T! Not that He can't. But, there are some Christian philosophers who think God has difficulties in breaching our epistemic limits without also overriding our freewill. I'm not sure I agree with that view, but it's a possibility.
Is this ALL that God/Jesus/Holy Spirit has said on these matters? I see that you're picking one or two points, but that one or two points isn't the WHOLE bible, altogether. And I don't think your version of 'seeking' is the kind of seeking Jesus had in mind. How do I know this? Well, you could start with the Parable of the Sower and then take into account what Jesus is reported to have told 'Doubting Thomas.'
Too much like Descartes; cogito ad absurdum for me, where there's only one single legit unit of knowledge. Plus, its still an open question whether the math in some of our models is merely descriptive or is in some way an actual feature of reality - and so more than "just a model". Plus your standard of knowledge ignores knowledge of how to do stuff, which has definitely proven durable.
No I never said religion was too liberal. It was an observation, not a judgement. I prefer that religions evolve.....But now you seem to be arguing simultaneously that there are too many answers and people are just making things up as they go along (i.e., that theology is too liberal), and that theology doesn't change enough and is too conservative!
If he can and won't then I will say I have better ethics/morals than God. Especially when he won't give us a reason why he won't. If I could stop people from dying from COVID then I would, I bet you would too.
Then what does the Bible say about seeking god if I got it wrong?
In the mean time children are being raped and COVID is killing people around the world etc. while God watches and does nothing.
Why do you believe this? This is just an assertion/preaching unless you can back it up with evidence.
And this is a huge problem with Christianity. Because you believe this you are OK with God letting terrible tings happen to people in this life. Children being raped is nothing compared to what they will experience in the afterlife so it is OK that God does not stop it. I don't believe in a afterlife so that makes my life here important to me. I don't want to waste it so I take it seriously. Many Christians like Mother Theresa think suffering is good. That is what religion can do to you, make you believe and defend bad things. Like that quote says, "Religion is an insult to human dignity. Without it you would have good people doing good things and evil people doing evil things. But for good people to do evil things, that takes religion." Steven Weinberg.
... well, an answer to this is reflected in Jesus' commentary surrounding the Parable of the Sower, and it is briefly touched upon in the Letter from James. So, you and I need to ask ourselves: in what way do these spiritual principles affect the epistemic expectations that I bring to the table as I wrestle with the whole concept of Jesus Christ, God and Existence?
Can God not stop Satan from doing these things?
Why won't god clear this up. It is very important.
What did I say that is untrue? God can stop child rape but chooses not to. Is this not true?
The explanation is that there are good and bad people out there doing good and bad things. We solve it by reason and evidence. But when most of the population believes things without good that allows them to do bad things (religion) makes it harder for us humanists.
No, I have heard Christians say this.
No need to be sorry. Show me sufficient evidence that there is an afterlife and I will have to believe it. Do you have any?
No, I am not disgruntled against the Christian faith. I don't believe there is sufficient evidence to believe it is true. This is an attempt to not answer my questions about the morality of God. Would you stop child rape and people dying from COVID if you could?
What does the Bible say about seeking God then?
Sure, I'd do my best to if I had the power to. But, I'm not sure why you don't recognize that sometimes these things, these seemingly nihilistic social and natural calamities, can be a result of God's Judgment upon a society, or even upon the world. This is one reason I've said that at least SOME forms of evil have to open to being 'counted' as forms of EVIDENCE FOR the Bible.
... it says that you need to do so with positive expectations and a humble and contrite spirit. And then, you can pray for wisdom, and in some way or other, God will impart it to you. And wisdom very often enables one to have insight into a few of the mysteries of life that haunt us.
This is my point. Why doesn't God clear this up? It is God's fault that there is confusion. If a class of algebra students all had different interpretations of what the teacher said about sets for example, wouldn't the teacher be at fault for not being clear?
I don't know, there may not be an answer for everything. But we need to have real conversations so we can determine what is best going forward. We don't have that in the US because of our political "leaders" are a bunch of children and some religious people are dogmatic on moral issues. For example, the issue of gay marriage was opposed by many Americans not based on any reasoned argument but based on the Bible. This hinders actual progress for our society. There are not enough humanists to be able to make much change. I am not saying there are answers for everything but we can do better with reason and evidence based decisions.
So you think that God will punish the world with this calamity? Wow, that is a jerk of a God. And no, evil is not good evidence that the bible is true, it is good evidence that god is immoral.
What are your references for this belief?
Uh, no. We've touched upon some of this conversational tangent in that Human Rights thread I've had going. You're overshooting your conclusions via a lack of rational study. You need to do some more homework, time permitting.
... I gave you some above. Did you not read them to refresh your memory? I'm assuming that since you've said you're conversant with the contents of the whole Bible that I don't need to further explain this stuff to you, Clizby. Either you're really and fully conversant with the Bible, or you're not. Which is it?
