(June 28, 2013 at 1:56 pm)Maelstrom Wrote:

(June 28, 2013 at 2:11 am)fr0d0 Wrote: there is good reason for faith.

Any reason that a theist can provide is a mere excuse. There is absolutely no good reason for having faith in a higher power.

I disagree. Faith is a personal decision. The only real reasons a person believes are personal to them. I am in no position to judge that those reasons are not important to that person. They might have great reasons, that I can't understand because I am not them.

(June 27, 2013 at 6:13 pm)Godschild Wrote: If you never chose Christ, do you believe you were a Christian? Now I'm trying to understand something.

Rahul Wrote:I chose to accept Christ as my savior because I was taught by my parents and my community that it was real. That God was real, that the stories in the Bible were real. That Jesus really existed. Grown ups taught me this before I could even read.

I really believed in Heaven and Hell.

Many Christians were taught like that, our parents saw it as a responsibility that comes from scripture, which it does.

Rahul Wrote:I don't want to be a bad person. And I'm not... I hope. I really do hope. Am I a jerk sometimes, well online mostly, but occasionally though extremely rarely in person? Heck yeah.

But am I a thief, a crook, do I make people feel bad, do I want to? Do I not call my girls beautiful and take them to do silly things that hardly any other dads do normally? Like take them to catch crayfish (crawdads for other hicks like me) on sunny Saturday afternoons with some string and bacon? Do I make my wife feel beautiful and loved every chance I can? Am I one of those people that when they get an unsolicited sales phone call, that I can't just hang up, I have to politely talk to them, tell them that I'm really not interested, thank you.

Crawdads, what part of the south what part of the south are you from, I'm sure you've said but I've forgotten, sorry I can get real brain dead at times.
It's great that you live a good life, especially for others, how ever the Christian life is more than that.

Rahul Wrote:I don't want to be a bad person, I don't want to be scum.

If God existed, I wouldn't rebel against Him. Heck no. Never.

Thought the same way till I was 18-19 years old, then I went out for me and me alone.

Rahul Wrote:I was taught that God is love, that the Bible is real, and this is what good people do. You get saved, you go to church, you indoctrinate your kids to believe in the same for their soul's sake.

If I believed this, if I could really find some reason to take it seriously, yeah, I'd still be a Christian.

I was one once. For most of my life.

Many of us have traveled the same road, unfortunately our teaching stop there, why our elders want to believe that's enough I do not understand, being a Christian goes far beyond that. May be they thought the rest would just come to us, my parents and I'm sure many Christian parents did not understand how the culture of the 60's and 70's would influence kids. Up till that time young people stayed surrounded by Christians friends and did not have a culture that would challenge there beliefs.

Rahul Wrote:Then I decided not to take it on blind faith, but with the best of intentions, to just critically exam it to myself, quietly, in my own head.

For around six years I did that.

You can't really do that, I do not believe, if you are fearlessly intellectually honest with yourself, and NOT come to the conclusion that it's not real, my friend.

Well my experience did not go like that exactly, I walked away because the world seemed to offer what I needed, I did not question the existence of God, I just ignored Him.

Rahul Wrote:And half the time I have debated Christians online, I didn't do it to mess with them, but I was waiting for one of them to tell me what the heck I'm missing.

Tell me something that brings it all together for me.

But it's just empty wrote verbage I get. It kind of depresses me sometimes.

To often Christians parrot what they have heard over their years in the church without thinking about who God is for them, they really never experience God other than to go through the traditions of their particular church, so the only way they know to live their Christian life is to criticize those who do not believe as they do, yep they turn off many people.

Rahul Wrote:But at the same time, I'm really happy that I woke up. And life is still amazing without that belief in a god. Actually in a lot of ways it's better. Because you aren't waiting for the great hereafter. You savor this. This moment. This time with those you love. Because once they're gone. They're gone forever. Everything becomes more precious to you.

This is where I differ from many Christians, when I returned to God I went after what I was seeing in the strong Christians around me, I questioned people and God. I read and studied the Bible for the truth, I listened to those who were knowledgeable, those who desired to teach and not force things. No question was to ridiculous for them and most of all, I asked for the teaching of the Holy Spirit, even if it contradicted with those I was asking for discernment. Prayer became a huge part of my life.

(June 27, 2013 at 6:13 pm)Godschild Wrote: I do not believe in those gods because I was taught in school they were myths, I was given what I considered evidence they were not real.

Rahul Wrote:So if you were taught in school that the Bible and the associated god of the Bible was myth, that's what you would believe now as an adult?

Like I've stated to others, that is speculation of the past, something that did not happen, is not a part of my life and because now I know the reality of Christ i do not think in such terms, I see it as a waste of my time because I know God is real, no doubts.

(June 27, 2013 at 6:13 pm)Godschild Wrote: I can see the sky is blue when there are no clouds, I've seen orange, yellow, pink skies at sunset, but I would never choose a green sky with orange polka dots, because I have seen the sky for many years and it has never appeared green.

Rahul Wrote:Have you ever seen God?

I've never seen a green sky with orange polka dots nor have I seen Him. Why should I believe in either? Why do you believe in one but not the other one?

I believe in God because I've seen Him, no not physically. Like the wind I can not see except for the action it has on other things, I've seen God's actions in my life, in the lives of others, in answered pray, and His work in an entire church body. When I was asked to teach the youth in our church, I taught them how to search out God as much as I did about God. I knew they had to find some answers on their own and that was usually the big questions they had about living in a relationship with God, those kids have done great and God did it all through my long struggle. I feel so fortunate to have been used by God for those children, it has been one of if not the greatest part of my life.

(June 28, 2013 at 3:52 pm)Savannahw Wrote: They might have great reasons, that I can't understand because I am not them.

One does not need to personally know a theist to understand that there is absolutely no valid reason for any individual in this day and age to cling to the absurdity of faith.

(June 29, 2013 at 12:39 am)Godschild Wrote: Crawdads, what part of the south what part of the south are you from, I'm sure you've said but I've forgotten, sorry I can get real brain dead at times.

East Texas. With the accent it sounds like Crawl Deads.

I don't have that accent any longer. Mine mutates very easily by being around other people with differing accents.

GC, what is your purpose for being on these forums for so long? What are you trying to gain?

(June 27, 2013 at 6:13 pm)Godschild Wrote: I do not believe in those gods because I was taught in school they were myths, I was given what I considered evidence they were not real.

What's the evidence in favor of Yahweh as opposed to Allah?

(June 29, 2013 at 10:48 am)Rahul Wrote:

(June 29, 2013 at 12:39 am)Godschild Wrote: Crawdads, what part of the south what part of the south are you from, I'm sure you've said but I've forgotten, sorry I can get real brain dead at times.

East Texas. With the accent it sounds like Crawl Deads.

I don't have that accent any longer. Mine mutates very easily by being around other people with differing accents.

GC, what is your purpose for being on these forums for so long? What are you trying to gain?

A deeper understanding of God, challenges are presented here that I would never hear in church and through searching the answers to these challenges I learn more about God. Coming to a deeper understanding off who He is and why He took the actions He did gives me a deeper respect for Him. This is a part of growing in a greater relationship with God through Christ, I've become stronger since coming to this site.

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(June 29, 2013 at 12:02 pm)CleanShavenJesus Wrote:

(June 27, 2013 at 6:13 pm)Godschild Wrote: I do not believe in those gods because I was taught in school they were myths, I was given what I considered evidence they were not real.

What's the evidence in favor of Yahweh as opposed to Allah?

Yahweh has proven Himself to me as the loving God He says He is.

Allah has shown he is a destructive force of the human mind, without consideration for anyone except the self of man.

(June 29, 2013 at 1:44 pm)Godschild Wrote: A deeper understanding of God, challenges are presented here that I would never hear in church and through searching the answers to these challenges I learn more about God. Coming to a deeper understanding off who He is and why He took the actions He did gives me a deeper respect for Him. This is a part of growing in a greater relationship with God through Christ, I've become stronger since coming to this site.

Have you figured out why God decided that eternal never ending torment was a fitting penalty for not believing in Him?

I've always wondered WTF He was thinking when He did that.

Seems... excessive.

(June 29, 2013 at 4:27 pm)Rahul Wrote:

(June 29, 2013 at 1:44 pm)Godschild Wrote: A deeper understanding of God, challenges are presented here that I would never hear in church and through searching the answers to these challenges I learn more about God. Coming to a deeper understanding off who He is and why He took the actions He did gives me a deeper respect for Him. This is a part of growing in a greater relationship with God through Christ, I've become stronger since coming to this site.

Have you figured out why God decided that eternal never ending torment was a fitting penalty for not believing in Him?

I've always wondered WTF He was thinking when He did that.

Seems... excessive.

Hmmmm, then perhaps you should research whether or not the text actually states "eternal"... (but I already told you this, didn't I?)

(June 29, 2013 at 4:35 pm)catfish Wrote: Hmmmm, then perhaps you should research whether or not the text actually states "eternal"... (but I already told you this, didn't I?)

Did you? If so I don't remember. Care to enrich the conversation or are you just going to waste my time with generic statements?

Southern Baptists Affirm Hell Is 'Eternal Conscious Punishment'

Read more at http://www.christianpost.com/news/southe...cDF2S44.99

(June 29, 2013 at 4:40 pm)Rahul Wrote:

(June 29, 2013 at 4:35 pm)catfish Wrote: Hmmmm, then perhaps you should research whether or not the text actually states "eternal"... (but I already told you this, didn't I?)

Did you? If so I don't remember. Care to enrich the conversation or are you just going to waste my time with generic statements?

Nope, Imma gunna make the bare assertion that the original Greek word is "aeonian" and let you do the research or not. Then, after you adopt the literal fundy stance (I.E. insists it means eternal because that's what the English translation says), I'll enrich the conversation, sound good?