(January 12, 2023 at 10:18 am)Angrboda Wrote: I love how Christians invariably think they know exactly what their god meant.  It's just more confirmation that their beliefs are nothing more than wish fulfillment.

We can study.  We can inquire of Him.  It's not some mystery or God some unreachable deity.  Working within what He states, we can KNOW Him more and more each day.

A good way to live as if you own nothing is to give all of your possessions to the poor. Just sayin'.

(January 12, 2023 at 11:02 am)Mister Agenda Wrote:

(January 11, 2023 at 1:31 pm)tjdisc Wrote: Truth.  Jesus' teachings are truth.  They hit me hard - very impactful.  I am a sort of seeker of truth - so in a way eventually I found Him (or perhaps more accurately He found me).

Are you willing to consider the possibility that how hard something hits you doesn't determine its truth? Or that teachings being true don't make everything said about the person who is supposed to have taught them being true?

Yes and yes.

(January 12, 2023 at 11:04 am)Mister Agenda Wrote: A good way to live as if you own nothing is to give all of your possessions to the poor. Just sayin'.

Agreed.

(January 12, 2023 at 11:02 am)Mister Agenda Wrote:

(January 11, 2023 at 1:31 pm)tjdisc Wrote: Truth.  Jesus' teachings are truth.  They hit me hard - very impactful.  I am a sort of seeker of truth - so in a way eventually I found Him (or perhaps more accurately He found me).

Are you willing to consider the possibility that how hard something hits you doesn't determine its truth? Or that teachings being true don't make everything said about the person who is supposed to have taught them being true?

I'm reminded of Mystic Knight's belief that the degree of confidence one had in something being true was a good indicator that it is true. It's reminiscent of one of the cognitive distortions that I've learned about in my CBT work, being the idea that how one feels reflects how things are. So if I'm anxious about my score on a math test, I might incorrectly conclude that I therefore probably did poorly. It's difficult to break the link between feelings and thinking for most people, but some may have more difficulty with it than others. This is not to say that I, myself, am good at it -- I wouldn't be doing CBT work if I were -- but it is a common cognitive bias that finds easy prey in people with few critical thinking skills.

(January 12, 2023 at 11:04 am)tjdisc Wrote:

(January 12, 2023 at 10:18 am)Angrboda Wrote: I love how Christians invariably think they know exactly what their god meant.  It's just more confirmation that their beliefs are nothing more than wish fulfillment.

We can study.  We can inquire of Him.  It's not some mystery or God some unreachable deity.  Working within what He states, we can KNOW Him more and more each day.

And, at the end of the day, you can still be wrong. Speaking of certainty about something you can't know to a certitude just marks you as either an idiot or someone deluded.

(January 12, 2023 at 11:04 am)tjdisc Wrote:

(January 12, 2023 at 10:18 am)Angrboda Wrote: I love how Christians invariably think they know exactly what their god meant.  It's just more confirmation that their beliefs are nothing more than wish fulfillment.

We can study.  We can inquire of Him.  It's not some mystery or God some unreachable deity.  Working within what He states, we can KNOW Him more and more each day.

Oh, and while we're at it, traditional theology generally holds that such understanding is unreachable, thus the negative way. So not only are your assertions questionable, they're not even consistent with mainstream religious thought.

(January 12, 2023 at 12:09 pm)Angrboda Wrote:

(January 12, 2023 at 11:04 am)tjdisc Wrote: We can study.  We can inquire of Him.  It's not some mystery or God some unreachable deity.  Working within what He states, we can KNOW Him more and more each day.

Oh, and while we're at it, traditional theology generally holds that such understanding is unreachable, thus the negative way.  So not only are your assertions questionable, they're not even consistent with mainstream religious thought.

"Traditional theology" - yeah well that's a strawman that does not confine me

(November 17, 2022 at 6:11 am)HankMoody316 Wrote:

(November 17, 2022 at 5:30 am)BrianSoddingBoru4 Wrote: Mormons ARE Christians. You may or may not like certain things about other franchises of Christianity, but your claim that you left Christianity to become a Mormon is nonsensical. 

Boru

I'm more than 100% confused right now. Do the overwhelming majority of atheists actually consider all Mormons to be Christians? 🤔

The atheists I know tend to take people at their word on how they self-identify. Do you think the overwhelming majority of Mormons are lying about being Christians?

Mormons self-identify as Christian,[9] but some non-Mormons consider Mormons non-Christian[10] because some of their beliefs differ from those of Nicene Christianity. Mormons believe that Christ's church was restored through Joseph Smith and is guided by living prophets and apostles. Mormons believe in the Bible and other books of scripture, such as the Book of Mormon. They have a unique view of cosmology and believe that all people are literal spirit children of God. Mormons believe that returning to God requires following the example of Jesus Christ and accepting his atonement through repentance and ordinances such as baptism.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mormons

(January 12, 2023 at 11:04 am)Mister Agenda Wrote: A good way to live as if you own nothing is to give all of your possessions to the poor. Just sayin'.

Let's be realistic. If Christians were to follow Jesus' teachings they would not go to work, they would not have insurance, savings accounts, or planning for retirement. Instead, they would be devoted to waiting for the coming of God’s kingdom which would be more important to them than their own physical needs, family, and personal future on this earth.