Zone1 Why is it so tough to believe in God?

[GMCGeneral]

Is it because:

• Lack of belief we are lovable
• Lack of belief we are cared for
• Lack of belief God is an active agent in our lives
• Lack of belief we have a reason for being

What blocks people from believing in God? Why is it so hard to believe?

I can spell it out in one word:
Pride!
As sinful, vile human beings we think we can make it without G-d.

 

[JoeB131]

Look at modern research, research done in the last few years, not the research done decades ago that identified a corner of of the mended shroud as occurring in the 14th century. (That corner of the shroud had been repaired after a fire.)

Wow, that's convenient.

So they used 13th-century material to repair damage from the 16th century? Really?

Here's something else. They analyzed the stains and found they aren't of human blood but a pigment called Ochre.

Imagine that.

 

[Hellbilly]

I can spell it out in one word:
Pride!
As sinful, vile human beings we think we can make it without G-d.

We can.

 

[Meriweather]

Example?

Schools, hospitals, care for the poor. (Yes, I know those can also be provided by others, but they did expand with Christianity. Or is it your belief, no Christian ever does anything to help society or any other person--it's all done by non-Christians?)

 

[Meriweather]

Why is it that God and Jesus are so different?

They're not. Where did you get the idea that they were? It's like the Old Testament never mentions God's goodness, justice, love, or mercy. Or, that the New Testament ever mentions Jesus' turning over tables and using a whip.

 

[Meriweather]

Wow, that's convenient.

So they used 13th-century material to repair damage from the 16th century? Really?

Here's something else. They analyzed the stains and found they aren't of human blood but a pigment called Ochre.

Imagine that.

I don't have to imagine it. I have gone over the recent research. Can you fast forward forty or fifty years to modern science and its discoveries?

 

[Hellbilly]

They're not. Where did you get the idea that they were? It's like the Old Testament never mentions God's goodness, justice, love, or mercy. Or, that the New Testament ever mentions Jesus' turning over tables and using a whip.

God is all about worship me or suffer his wrath in eternal damnation.
Jesus was about love.
I’d call that as different as you can get.
I notice you didn’t address the Doctrine of Discovery.
Do think Christians have the right to kill those people who are not Christians?

 

[JoeB131]

I don't have to imagine it. I have gone over the recent research. Can you fast forward forty or fifty years to modern science and its discoveries?

Why, this was settled 50 years ago.

The Shroud is a fraud. But Clement VII knew that from the beginning.

 

[alang1216]

When, exactly, did Christians "create" this after Jesus? Is it your believe that John, after Jesus' death, simply made up Jesus saying in John 5:46, that Moses wrote about him? And you believe Deuteronomy, where Moses and God speak of this prophet, was written by Christians, after Jesus, as well?

Like much of the NT, the writers took Hebrew scripture and interpreted it as referring to Jesus. An interpretation never shared by Jews.

 

[Meriweather]

An interpretation never shared by Jews.

Except...in the verses I referenced, it was interpreted by a Jew....

 

[Meriweather]

Why, this was settled 50 years ago.

In other words, you are not daring enough to study modern day research/discoveries.

 

[Meriweather]

God is all about worship me or suffer his wrath in eternal damnation.
Jesus was about love.
I’d call that as different as you can get.
I notice you didn’t address the Doctrine of Discovery.
Do think Christians have the right to kill those people who are not Christians?

No, that isn't at all what God is about, and according to Jesus, he is one with God. Go back to the Hebrew. The Hebrew speaks of obeying/putting God first. Jesus speaks of this same concept, of putting God before oneself. Why? Because life is better when God and his ways are the priority. God's way is love of self, love of others as much as self.

Why is people are always searching out the wrong that was done. Think about this. Because even children commit some horrible wrongs, shall we do away with children? Because some Christians (and any other group or organization on this earth) have committed horrible wrongs, should we do away with all groups, organizations, and governments? No. We go back to what is right about childhood, about a group, government, organization and make it better, make it what it was meant to be.

 

[The Sage of Main Street]

The incredible complexity of living creatures cannot be an accidental mixing of chemicals.

Intelligence Can Direct Randomness

 

[The Sage of Main Street]

You mean YOU don't understand how the complexity of living creatures could come from natural forces alone.

Intelligence Is the Only Supernatural Force

The rulers make us so passive that we can't believe we can overcome natural forces by ourselves to some extent. Belief in a God makes us passively dependent on His Grace.

 

[The Sage of Main Street]

You don't understand math or science.

Their Fictionious Factors

Neither do the scientists who make newly discovered phenomena fit the mathematics they have.

 

[The Sage of Main Street]

Post it. Show how these truly astronomical odds are overcome. I love science. Show how the environment on earth was stable long enough for proteins to randomly assemble trillions of DNA molecules. And while you're at it, show which came first, cells that needed DNA or DNA that needed cells to be useful?

It's not sufficient to just say, "It took a long time" when you're talking about a very unstable earth with constantly changing seasons, climate, and composition.

Theism and All Tyrannies Fear Intelligence

Randomness never spreads out evenly. It always creates pockets of matter that can sift out what is needed for them to evolve.

Whatever confusion you have cannot be solved with a childless, mindless, and slavish answer. It is significant that Theism creates an enemy whose name means "Bringer of Light."

 

[alang1216]

Except...in the verses I referenced, it was interpreted by a Jew....

Really? Which Jew?

 

[The Sage of Main Street]

They missed all the prophecies and everything that talked about the character of the Messiah.

Blind Ambition Blinds Others

Jesus and his sales force missed all that. The apostles had to pretend he visited them after he was dead in order to cure the absolute disappointment of his other followers.

 

[The Sage of Main Street]

The evil that is done by men in the absence of God.

Religious Irresponsibility

The believers were supposed to fight that. Instead, they colluded with it and imitated it.

 

[Meriweather]

Really? Which Jew?

Seriously?!? The Jew (Jesus, to be clear) who said Moses spoke of him.