Open Minded Agnostic Atheist

[sealybobo]

Maybe instead of looking at turds they should be looking at the fabric of existence to see the signs of a creator.

all that amazing stuff you see in nature are not signs of a creator. our ignorant ancestors thought so but the more we learned the more we realized this world wasn't made for us.

I know you think there must be but there doesn't have to be a god.

So you guys had to make up a book that said god visited you because before that lie you didn't have enough to start an organized religion. You had to lie and say he visited. Then spent centuries cramming that like down our throats until we were brainwashed as a society same way in the middle east.

Then you say you've seen god? Yea, like he visits assholes like you. LOL

 

[ding]

Maybe instead of looking at turds they should be looking at the fabric of existence to see the signs of a creator.

all that amazing stuff you see in nature are not signs of a creator. our ignorant ancestors thought so but the more we learned the more we realized this world wasn't made for us.

I know you think there must be but there doesn't have to be a god.

So you guys had to make up a book that said god visited you because before that lie you didn't have enough to start an organized religion. You had to lie and say he visited. Then spent centuries cramming that like down our throats until we were brainwashed as a society same way in the middle east.

Then you say you've seen god? Yea, like he visits assholes like you. LOL

How do you know?

 

[Grumblenuts]

Then you say you've seen god? Yea, like he visits assholes like you. LOL

All part of the grand Design, don't cha know?



Don't cha like those who objectify their sex like me?..

 

[Meriweather]

So you guys had to make up a book that said god visited you because before that lie you didn't have enough to start an organized religion. You had to lie and say he visited. Then spent centuries cramming that like down our throats until we were brainwashed as a society same way in the middle east.

Then you say you've seen god? Yea, like he visits

In my opinion, the biggest mistake religion makes is that God does not visit anyone not in the Bible, that such visits were reserved for times past. It is quite understandable because humans being as we are quite capable of making up such visits, and that can be used to the detriment of many. Telling us God doesn't interact with modern man crushes that problem--but perhaps to the detriment of just as many?

As I have said over and over again, the Bible makes little for many who have had no experience of God. Seek God, then study the Bible properly.

 

[Grumblenuts]

First thump Bible.. then THUMP Bible!

 

[sealybobo]

Maybe instead of looking at turds they should be looking at the fabric of existence to see the signs of a creator.

all that amazing stuff you see in nature are not signs of a creator. our ignorant ancestors thought so but the more we learned the more we realized this world wasn't made for us.

I know you think there must be but there doesn't have to be a god.

So you guys had to make up a book that said god visited you because before that lie you didn't have enough to start an organized religion. You had to lie and say he visited. Then spent centuries cramming that like down our throats until we were brainwashed as a society same way in the middle east.

Then you say you've seen god? Yea, like he visits assholes like you. LOL

How do you know?

Because it's ridiculous. It's like my friends when we were growing up said they saw ghosts. Sure they did.

But I know they weren't lying. You aren't lying either. You're delusional.

 

[sealybobo]

So you guys had to make up a book that said god visited you because before that lie you didn't have enough to start an organized religion. You had to lie and say he visited. Then spent centuries cramming that like down our throats until we were brainwashed as a society same way in the middle east.

Then you say you've seen god? Yea, like he visits

In my opinion, the biggest mistake religion makes is that God does not visit anyone not in the Bible, that such visits were reserved for times past. It is quite understandable because humans being as we are quite capable of making up such visits, and that can be used to the detriment of many. Telling us God doesn't interact with modern man crushes that problem--but perhaps to the detriment of just as many?

As I have said over and over again, the Bible makes little for many who have had no experience of God. Seek God, then study the Bible properly.

Ding never met God?

If one accepts the prevailing scientific understanding of the development of the universe, yet also believes in one of the major religions, then presumably a god sat idle for 13.7 billion years – waiting as the stars, galaxies and planets formed. Then it watched with complete and utter indifference as modern Homo Sapians evolved, struggled and died for a further 150,000 years. Finally, a few thousand years ago, this god suddenly decided to reveal itself to several people in the most primitive, illiterate and remote portions of humanity in a completely unverifiable way – and then simply disappeared.

 

[Meriweather]

If one accepts the prevailing scientific understanding of the development of the universe, yet also believes in one of the major religions, then presumably a god sat idle for 13.7 billion years – waiting as the stars, galaxies and planets formed. Then it watched with complete and utter indifference as modern Homo Sapians evolved, struggled and died for a further 150,000 years. Finally, a few thousand years ago, this god suddenly decided to reveal itself to several people in the most primitive, illiterate and remote portions of humanity in a completely unverifiable way – and then simply disappeared.

What about the spiritual world (God is spirit). What was going on there?

 

[RoccoR]

RE: Open-Minded Agnostic Atheist
⁜→ sealybobo, Meriweather, et al,

BLUF: ◈ What are the characteristics of your Supreme Being that distinguishes it from every other supernatural entity?

◈ In what domain does the Supreme Being reside?​

◈ Was space and time always the same over the estimated 13.8B years?​

◈ Is there a Divine Plan? (How do you know the mind of the Supreme Being?)​

If one accepts the prevailing scientific understanding of the development of the universe, yet also believes in one of the major religions, then presumably a god sat idle for 13.7 billion years – waiting as the stars, galaxies and planets formed. Then it watched with complete and utter indifference as modern Homo Sapians evolved, struggled and died for a further 150,000 years. Finally, a few thousand years ago, this god suddenly decided to reveal itself to several people in the most primitive, illiterate and remote portions of humanity in a completely unverifiable way – and then simply disappeared.

What about the spiritual world (God is spirit). What was going on there?

(COMMENT)

The greatest of all the Interrogatives is: When was the last time you had communication with the Super Being?

When someone (your child for instance) tells you that they have just communicated with the Supreme Being, a voice from the great beyond, what is your reaction? 200 mg of Thorazine works.

What is a Spirit? How do I tell that I've come in contact with a spirit?

When St Jerome (16 hundred years ago) put together the Bible (39 Books from there and 27 Books from some place else) how do we know anything about that?

How do we talk intelligently about something the Supreme Being?

Most Respectfully,
R

 

[LittleNipper]

So you guys had to make up a book that said god visited you because before that lie you didn't have enough to start an organized religion. You had to lie and say he visited. Then spent centuries cramming that like down our throats until we were brainwashed as a society same way in the middle east.

Then you say you've seen god? Yea, like he visits

In my opinion, the biggest mistake religion makes is that God does not visit anyone not in the Bible, that such visits were reserved for times past. It is quite understandable because humans being as we are quite capable of making up such visits, and that can be used to the detriment of many. Telling us God doesn't interact with modern man crushes that problem--but perhaps to the detriment of just as many?

As I have said over and over again, the Bible makes little for many who have had no experience of God. Seek God, then study the Bible properly.

Ding never met God?

If one accepts the prevailing scientific understanding of the development of the universe, yet also believes in one of the major religions, then presumably a god sat idle for 13.7 billion years – waiting as the stars, galaxies and planets formed. Then it watched with complete and utter indifference as modern Homo Sapians evolved, struggled and died for a further 150,000 years. Finally, a few thousand years ago, this god suddenly decided to reveal itself to several people in the most primitive, illiterate and remote portions of humanity in a completely unverifiable way – and then simply disappeared.

Evolutionists have NEVER been able to fabricate any new species separate from its former species. Yes, we have breeding and inbreeding within any given existing breed; however, the cat remains a kind of cat. The dog remains a kind of dog. The cow remains a kind of cow. And the corona virus remains a virus. You cannot possibly tell me honestly that you have never experienced any doubt whatsoever in your platform of reasoning. That my friend is the Holy Spirit --- the still small voice trying to reason with you before it's too late.

 

[ding]

Maybe instead of looking at turds they should be looking at the fabric of existence to see the signs of a creator.

all that amazing stuff you see in nature are not signs of a creator. our ignorant ancestors thought so but the more we learned the more we realized this world wasn't made for us.

I know you think there must be but there doesn't have to be a god.

So you guys had to make up a book that said god visited you because before that lie you didn't have enough to start an organized religion. You had to lie and say he visited. Then spent centuries cramming that like down our throats until we were brainwashed as a society same way in the middle east.

Then you say you've seen god? Yea, like he visits assholes like you. LOL

How do you know?

Because it's ridiculous. It's like my friends when we were growing up said they saw ghosts. Sure they did.

But I know they weren't lying. You aren't lying either. You're delusional.

What is ridiculous? That consciousness without form created existence from nothing? Why is that ridiculous? How do you know consciousness without form didn't create existence?

I thought you said you were open minded, right?

 

[ding]

When was the last time you had communication with the Super Being?

If we start with the premise that spirit created the material world and created laws of nature which not only predestined beings that know and create to arise but also to mold or evolve their level of consciousness, then it is not a giant leap to believe that besides the constant feedback we receive from the universe that either correct or reinforce our behaviors that we would also receive revelations from the spirit which connects but is not a part of the material world.

The data overwhelmingly shows that man is a spiritual being. It is for good reason that David Foster Wallace said that we all worship something and the only choice in the matter is what we choose to worship. We are literally hardwired for it. Throughout history every society has overwhelmingly held the belief that man is more than just matter and that there is a higher power than man. When we look at the data today we see that more and more people are rejecting organized religion but have not abandoned their belief that they are more than just matter or that there is a force which connects or binds us all. From the atheist's vantage point these beliefs exist because of evolutionary forces. But the reality is that even that argument confirms that spirituality offers a functional advantage over materialism. According to natural selection there are two main components; functional advantage and transfer of functional advantage to the next generation. So even natural selection confirms that spirituality is a behavior which leads to success. Otherwise, according to natural selection, it would have been abandoned long ago. As mankind has gained more and more knowledge of his natural surroundings his desire for spirituality has not diminished. In fact, the more materialistic we became the less satisfied we became.

So it is for good reason that we should keep an open mind about the possibility of the creator of space and time communicating with his creatures outside of the laws of nature which act as compensating and reinforcing laws of behavior. It would be illogical to believe that the intelligence behind creation of space and time would not provide some level of instruction or guidance. The question is what would that actually look like. And for that answer we must look at our own experiences as a guide to the answer.

From my own personal experiences I have had revelations that when they popped into my head I instantly recognized that they were true. Mind you I am not describing religious revelations, but ordinary everyday kind of things about my ordinary everyday issues that I am confronted with. Usually they happen in the morning when I am in that halfway state of being asleep and being awake. There is only one time when we are not conscious of self and that is when we are asleep. So it makes perfect sense to me that that is the time I am most receptive to the spirit which binds us but is not a part of the material world. This is how I believe revelations work. And this is how I believe ancient man received his revelations. Not a burning bush, or an angel appearing, but ordinary men being in a state of mind receptive to the spirit that binds us but is not a part of the material world. In this light, I can imagine ancient man having an image of how creation of space and time unfolded. Not having the scientific knowledge that we have today, he captured the allegorical account of creation in his own way. So while others may nit pick the exact details or sequence because it does not satisfy their modern view of the world, they miss out on the bigger picture which is that ancient man pretty much nailed what we know today. Specifically, that the universe did have a beginning and that man is a product of the universe.

And lastly, let's not forget or diminish the importance of ancient man believing so highly in these accounts that he passed them down orally from generation to generation for thousands of years. I can't think of anything which is comparable. It seems to me that it would be a travesty to dismiss these accounts as fairy tales.

 

[LittleNipper]

RE: Open-Minded Agnostic Atheist
⁜→ sealybobo, Meriweather, et al,

BLUF: ◈ What are the characteristics of your Supreme Being that distinguishes it from every other supernatural entity?

◈ In what domain does the Supreme Being reside?​

◈ Was space and time always the same over the estimated 13.8B years?​

◈ Is there a Divine Plan? (How do you know the mind of the Supreme Being?)​

If one accepts the prevailing scientific understanding of the development of the universe, yet also believes in one of the major religions, then presumably a god sat idle for 13.7 billion years – waiting as the stars, galaxies and planets formed. Then it watched with complete and utter indifference as modern Homo Sapians evolved, struggled and died for a further 150,000 years. Finally, a few thousand years ago, this god suddenly decided to reveal itself to several people in the most primitive, illiterate and remote portions of humanity in a completely unverifiable way – and then simply disappeared.

What about the spiritual world (God is spirit). What was going on there?

(COMMENT)

The greatest of all the Interrogatives is: When was the last time you had communication with the Super Being?

When someone (your child for instance) tells you that they have just communicated with the Supreme Being, a voice from the great beyond, what is your reaction? 200 mg of Thorazine works.

What is a Spirit? How do I tell that I've come in contact with a spirit?

When St Jerome (16 hundred years ago) put together the Bible (39 Books from there and 27 Books from some place else) how do we know anything about that?

How do we talk intelligently about something the Supreme Being?

Most Respectfully,
R

Where then does God live?

The answer is found in the Bible: “Abide in Me and I in you” (John 15:4). This verse tells us that the dwelling place that God desires is in man and with man (John 14:23). If God does not gain man, then He will be without a home. Therefore, He longs to gain a group of people so that they can be built together to be His dwelling place.

In order to gain man as His home, God Himself first became a man. The God-man Jesus was the dwelling place of God on earth (John 1:1, 14). He was God living in man; He was man expressing God (Colossians 2:9). Through death He accomplished redemption on the cross and in resurrection He became the Spirit to be received by man (1 Corinthians 15:45b). As the Spirit, God can now enter into man and live in man. Romans 8:11 says, “And if the Spirit of the One who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who indwells you.”

 

[ding]

So you guys had to make up a book that said god visited you because before that lie you didn't have enough to start an organized religion. You had to lie and say he visited. Then spent centuries cramming that like down our throats until we were brainwashed as a society same way in the middle east.

Then you say you've seen god? Yea, like he visits

In my opinion, the biggest mistake religion makes is that God does not visit anyone not in the Bible, that such visits were reserved for times past. It is quite understandable because humans being as we are quite capable of making up such visits, and that can be used to the detriment of many. Telling us God doesn't interact with modern man crushes that problem--but perhaps to the detriment of just as many?

As I have said over and over again, the Bible makes little for many who have had no experience of God. Seek God, then study the Bible properly.

Ding never met God?

If one accepts the prevailing scientific understanding of the development of the universe, yet also believes in one of the major religions, then presumably a god sat idle for 13.7 billion years – waiting as the stars, galaxies and planets formed. Then it watched with complete and utter indifference as modern Homo Sapians evolved, struggled and died for a further 150,000 years. Finally, a few thousand years ago, this god suddenly decided to reveal itself to several people in the most primitive, illiterate and remote portions of humanity in a completely unverifiable way – and then simply disappeared.

So you were expecting him to do magic for you? Create everything all at once?

I think the problem is that it's your perception of what God is supposed to be that's messed up. It's like you think he exists for you or something. Like he's your servant or show pony. Doesn't that seem backwards to you?

But I am super happy that you are showing your true colors, SB. You aren't open minded. You aren't discussing God so that you might discover God. You're doing this because you're an asshole. Deep down inside, you are rotten. But that's not God's fault. That's your fault.

 

[BreezeWood]

When was the last time you had communication with the Super Being?

If we start with the premise that spirit created the material world and created laws of nature which not only predestined beings that know and create to arise but also to mold or evolve their level of consciousness, then it is not a giant leap to believe that besides the constant feedback we receive from the universe that either correct or reinforce our behaviors that we would also receive revelations from the spirit which connects but is not a part of the material world.

The data overwhelmingly shows that man is a spiritual being. It is for good reason that David Foster Wallace said that we all worship something and the only choice in the matter is what we choose to worship. We are literally hardwired for it. Throughout history every society has overwhelmingly held the belief that man is more than just matter and that there is a higher power than man. When we look at the data today we see that more and more people are rejecting organized religion but have not abandoned their belief that they are more than just matter or that there is a force which connects or binds us all. From the atheist's vantage point these beliefs exist because of evolutionary forces. But the reality is that even that argument confirms that spirituality offers a functional advantage over materialism. According to natural selection there are two main components; functional advantage and transfer of functional advantage to the next generation. So even natural selection confirms that spirituality is a behavior which leads to success. Otherwise, according to natural selection, it would have been abandoned long ago. As mankind has gained more and more knowledge of his natural surroundings his desire for spirituality has not diminished. In fact, the more materialistic we became the less satisfied we became.

So it is for good reason that we should keep an open mind about the possibility of the creator of space and time communicating with his creatures outside of the laws of nature which act as compensating and reinforcing laws of behavior. It would be illogical to believe that the intelligence behind creation of space and time would not provide some level of instruction or guidance. The question is what would that actually look like. And for that answer we must look at our own experiences as a guide to the answer.

From my own personal experiences I have had revelations that when they popped into my head I instantly recognized that they were true. Mind you I am not describing religious revelations, but ordinary everyday kind of things about my ordinary everyday issues that I am confronted with. Usually they happen in the morning when I am in that halfway state of being asleep and being awake. There is only one time when we are not conscious of self and that is when we are asleep. So it makes perfect sense to me that that is the time I am most receptive to the spirit which binds us but is not a part of the material world. This is how I believe revelations work. And this is how I believe ancient man received his revelations. Not a burning bush, or an angel appearing, but ordinary men being in a state of mind receptive to the spirit that binds us but is not a part of the material world. In this light, I can imagine ancient man having an image of how creation of space and time unfolded. Not having the scientific knowledge that we have today, he captured the allegorical account of creation in his own way. So while others may nit pick the exact details or sequence because it does not satisfy their modern view of the world, they miss out on the bigger picture which is that ancient man pretty much nailed what we know today. Specifically, that the universe did have a beginning and that man is a product of the universe.

And lastly, let's not forget or diminish the importance of ancient man believing so highly in these accounts that he passed them down orally from generation to generation for thousands of years. I can't think of anything which is comparable. It seems to me that it would be a travesty to dismiss these accounts as fairy tales.

There is only one time when we are not conscious of self and that is when we are asleep.

.
speak for yourself, bing many marvel at the times of childhood living in bliss - playing an evening game with no awareness till the ring of the bell. and have their moments as adults to bad so short and few.

your book is dead, passing down through generations was an ongoing occurrence the spoken religion to reach eventual objectives till the end, removed and made still by all three desert scripts of forgeries and fallacies.

 

[ding]

When was the last time you had communication with the Super Being?

If we start with the premise that spirit created the material world and created laws of nature which not only predestined beings that know and create to arise but also to mold or evolve their level of consciousness, then it is not a giant leap to believe that besides the constant feedback we receive from the universe that either correct or reinforce our behaviors that we would also receive revelations from the spirit which connects but is not a part of the material world.

The data overwhelmingly shows that man is a spiritual being. It is for good reason that David Foster Wallace said that we all worship something and the only choice in the matter is what we choose to worship. We are literally hardwired for it. Throughout history every society has overwhelmingly held the belief that man is more than just matter and that there is a higher power than man. When we look at the data today we see that more and more people are rejecting organized religion but have not abandoned their belief that they are more than just matter or that there is a force which connects or binds us all. From the atheist's vantage point these beliefs exist because of evolutionary forces. But the reality is that even that argument confirms that spirituality offers a functional advantage over materialism. According to natural selection there are two main components; functional advantage and transfer of functional advantage to the next generation. So even natural selection confirms that spirituality is a behavior which leads to success. Otherwise, according to natural selection, it would have been abandoned long ago. As mankind has gained more and more knowledge of his natural surroundings his desire for spirituality has not diminished. In fact, the more materialistic we became the less satisfied we became.

So it is for good reason that we should keep an open mind about the possibility of the creator of space and time communicating with his creatures outside of the laws of nature which act as compensating and reinforcing laws of behavior. It would be illogical to believe that the intelligence behind creation of space and time would not provide some level of instruction or guidance. The question is what would that actually look like. And for that answer we must look at our own experiences as a guide to the answer.

From my own personal experiences I have had revelations that when they popped into my head I instantly recognized that they were true. Mind you I am not describing religious revelations, but ordinary everyday kind of things about my ordinary everyday issues that I am confronted with. Usually they happen in the morning when I am in that halfway state of being asleep and being awake. There is only one time when we are not conscious of self and that is when we are asleep. So it makes perfect sense to me that that is the time I am most receptive to the spirit which binds us but is not a part of the material world. This is how I believe revelations work. And this is how I believe ancient man received his revelations. Not a burning bush, or an angel appearing, but ordinary men being in a state of mind receptive to the spirit that binds us but is not a part of the material world. In this light, I can imagine ancient man having an image of how creation of space and time unfolded. Not having the scientific knowledge that we have today, he captured the allegorical account of creation in his own way. So while others may nit pick the exact details or sequence because it does not satisfy their modern view of the world, they miss out on the bigger picture which is that ancient man pretty much nailed what we know today. Specifically, that the universe did have a beginning and that man is a product of the universe.

And lastly, let's not forget or diminish the importance of ancient man believing so highly in these accounts that he passed them down orally from generation to generation for thousands of years. I can't think of anything which is comparable. It seems to me that it would be a travesty to dismiss these accounts as fairy tales.

There is only one time when we are not conscious of self and that is when we are asleep.

.
speak for yourself, bing many marvel at the times of childhood living in bliss - playing an evening game with no awareness till the ring of the bell. and have their moments as adults to bad so short and few.

your book is dead, passing down through generations was an ongoing occurrence the spoken religion to reach eventual objectives till the end, removed and made still by all three desert scripts of forgeries and fallacies.

I always speak for myself. The comment you are making is very reminiscent of hobelim

Actually both comments. So what led you into becoming a subversive?

 

[BreezeWood]

RE: Open-Minded Agnostic Atheist
⁜→ sealybobo, Meriweather, et al,

BLUF: ◈ What are the characteristics of your Supreme Being that distinguishes it from every other supernatural entity?

◈ In what domain does the Supreme Being reside?​

◈ Was space and time always the same over the estimated 13.8B years?​

◈ Is there a Divine Plan? (How do you know the mind of the Supreme Being?)​

If one accepts the prevailing scientific understanding of the development of the universe, yet also believes in one of the major religions, then presumably a god sat idle for 13.7 billion years – waiting as the stars, galaxies and planets formed. Then it watched with complete and utter indifference as modern Homo Sapians evolved, struggled and died for a further 150,000 years. Finally, a few thousand years ago, this god suddenly decided to reveal itself to several people in the most primitive, illiterate and remote portions of humanity in a completely unverifiable way – and then simply disappeared.

What about the spiritual world (God is spirit). What was going on there?

(COMMENT)

The greatest of all the Interrogatives is: When was the last time you had communication with the Super Being?

When someone (your child for instance) tells you that they have just communicated with the Supreme Being, a voice from the great beyond, what is your reaction? 200 mg of Thorazine works.

What is a Spirit? How do I tell that I've come in contact with a spirit?

When St Jerome (16 hundred years ago) put together the Bible (39 Books from there and 27 Books from some place else) how do we know anything about that?

How do we talk intelligently about something the Supreme Being?

Most Respectfully,
R

Where then does God live?

The answer is found in the Bible: “Abide in Me and I in you” (John 15:4). This verse tells us that the dwelling place that God desires is in man and with man (John 14:23). If God does not gain man, then He will be without a home. Therefore, He longs to gain a group of people so that they can be built together to be His dwelling place.

In order to gain man as His home, God Himself first became a man. The God-man Jesus was the dwelling place of God on earth (John 1:1, 14). He was God living in man; He was man expressing God (Colossians 2:9). Through death He accomplished redemption on the cross and in resurrection He became the Spirit to be received by man (1 Corinthians 15:45b). As the Spirit, God can now enter into man and live in man. Romans 8:11 says, “And if the Spirit of the One who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who indwells you.”

.

Where then does God live?

.
sorry nipper, its your spirit to do with as you please - till the physiology disappears. no sinners for the Everlasting.

 

[Grumblenuts]

Evolutionists have NEVER been able to fabricate any new species separate from its former species.

That would not be evolutionary.

In biology, evolution is the change in the characteristics of a species over several generations and relies on the process of natural selection.

Yes, we have breeding and inbreeding within any given existing breed; however, the cat remains a kind of cat. The dog remains a kind of dog. The cow remains a kind of cow. And the corona virus remains a virus. You cannot possibly tell me honestly that you have never experienced any doubt whatsoever in your platform of reasoning. That my friend is the Holy Spirit --- the still small voice trying to reason with you before it's too late.

mule
NOUN

1 The offspring of a donkey and a horse (strictly, a male donkey and a female horse), typically sterile and used as a beast of burden.
‘The Israelites used various beasts of burden - mules, horses, camels and oxen.’

 

[Grumblenuts]

The greatest of all the Interrogatives is: When was the last time you had communication with the Super Being?

Don't recall ever seriously believing I had contact with some "Super Being" let alone "the Super Being" let alone any "Supreme Being."

What is a Spirit? How do I tell that I've come in contact with a spirit?

It's a placeholder. Coming into contact with a placeholder would contradict its purpose. Being able tell that you've done something impossible is just begging the question. Like "Supreme Beings", "Spirit" is supernatural. Placeholders for things we can't yet satisfactorily explain through use of scientific method. Things that make us fear in various ways, including appearing ignorant, feeling vulnerable, not one of the cool kids, etc.

 

[sealybobo]

If one accepts the prevailing scientific understanding of the development of the universe, yet also believes in one of the major religions, then presumably a god sat idle for 13.7 billion years – waiting as the stars, galaxies and planets formed. Then it watched with complete and utter indifference as modern Homo Sapians evolved, struggled and died for a further 150,000 years. Finally, a few thousand years ago, this god suddenly decided to reveal itself to several people in the most primitive, illiterate and remote portions of humanity in a completely unverifiable way – and then simply disappeared.

What about the spiritual world (God is spirit). What was going on there?

The part I don't buy is that a few thousand years ago, this god suddenly decided to reveal itself to several people in the most primitive, illiterate and remote portions of humanity in a completely unverifiable way – and then simply disappeared.