Forum theists: when you have a moment, please...

[robvalue]

Yeah... there is no alternative. How is millions of theists all telling us their version of "objective morality" any use to us exactly? Which one do we use?

If they all agreed, that would be some sort of starting point. I still wouldn't care about what they agreed, but it would be consistent at least.

[Godscreated]

Fair enough, GC. You shouldn't start threads if you don't want to. But if you did decide to for some reason, you do realize that aren't required to address every post, aren't you?

Yes, but I feel like I should, at least the ones tht are directed at the OP.

[Exian]

I like the questions Blondie has been posting. Seems like I've been there before...

Won't be long now

[Godscreated]

I've not started many threads and the ones I have, haven't been for a lot of comments. The reason I do not start threads that will be conversation pieces is because most atheist here do not want to have intelligent conversation about God, Jesus, the Holy Spirit or the Bible, instead they want to insult and derail such conversations. I find most atheist do not know enough about the Bible to have those kinds of conversations, this is not intended as demeaning, it's just fact. They rely on Google or whatever to get as little info as they can to make comments. Using a verse or two for these kinds of conversations is inappropriate for these types of conversations. They also use what others say as fact whether they get it from the forum or the net, they do not know enough about scriptures to form their own opinions, believe me I've tried to get original ideas from them. Again I'm not saying any of this as demeaning, it's what I've observed over the last five years. So I would rather join in on threads where I find interest.

GC

Except those of us who were Southern Baptists before becoming atheists, and studied the Bible intensely throughout their upbringing as a fundamentalist evangelical Christian.

Or is it that we lose our ability to know the Bible, once we decide that the Jesus story isn't real and that the Old Testament is incompatible with a genuine understanding of the laws of nature?

 God created the laws they are His to circumvent. You know about the Bible, I know from our discussions, what you haven't done is be completely honest in the way you deal with it. Now before anyone gets upset I not saying you're a dishonest person, just that you haven't yet shown you're open or care about the right teachings of the Bible.

GC

[JesusHChrist]

I'd like to hear the theists' explanation as to why different theologians don't all arrive at the same conclusions about "God", and not in some loosey-goosey mysterious ways drivel.

What data do they have? What processes are used to determine "knowledge"? How do they define "knowledge"?

And so on.

[Lemonvariable72]

What about a topic on why god is good despite doing bad stuff

I find discussing theodicy with atheists very frustrating, because they are not able to supply a valid moral standard by which to judge God. Most atheists with whom I have discussed this make an argument from incredulity. They base their judgment of God on their own personal moral standards or relative to social norms of Western culture.

On the contrary. I think there is strong enough evidence to say that a epicurean morality is best. That is why the laws of the most successful countries are in line with that and not the bible

[Godscreated]

I've not started many threads and the ones I have, haven't been for a lot of comments. The reason I do not start threads that will be conversation pieces is because most atheist here do not want to have intelligent conversation about God, Jesus, the Holy Spirit or the Bible, instead they want to insult and derail such conversations. I find most atheist do not know enough about the Bible to have those kinds of conversations, this is not intended as demeaning, it's just fact. They rely on Google or whatever to get as little info as they can to make comments. Using a verse or two for these kinds of conversations is inappropriate for these types of conversations. They also use what others say as fact whether they get it from the forum or the net, they do not know enough about scriptures to form their own opinions, believe me I've tried to get original ideas from them. Again I'm not saying any of this as demeaning, it's what I've observed over the last five years. So I would rather join in on threads where I find interest.

GC

On the contrary, many of the atheists, agnostics, and others here know quite a bit about the bible. Some, such as myself, are former churchgoers and know about as much about the bible as any other person sitting in the pews on a given Wednesday or Sunday. As a matter of fact, I'd say that I didn't really start reading the bible critically until what little faith I had was gone.

 I disagree, some of you have read the Bible but you take to it with a negative attitude, biased against it. Actually I've seen little from you that would make me believe you understand the Bible. 

GC

[Minimalist]

 God created the laws they are His to circumvent.

IF only you could demonstrate that your particular vision of this 'god' had any basis in reality such a claim might have validity.

But you can't do that.

[Crossless2.0]

On the contrary, many of the atheists, agnostics, and others here know quite a bit about the bible. Some, such as myself, are former churchgoers and know about as much about the bible as any other person sitting in the pews on a given Wednesday or Sunday. As a matter of fact, I'd say that I didn't really start reading the bible critically until what little faith I had was gone.

 I disagree, some of you have read the Bible but you take to it with a negative attitude, biased against it. Actually I've seen little from you that would make me believe you understand the Bible. 

GC

And I've seen nothing from you that would make me believe that you ever even attempt to view the Bible outside its own self-referential loop. Circular reasoning and unsupported assertions are all you appear to have. People who view everything from inside the loop and people who don't will inevitably have different ideas about what "understanding the Bible" means.

[downbeatplumb]

I've not started many threads and the ones I have, haven't been for a lot of comments. The reason I do not start threads that will be conversation pieces is because most atheist here do not want to have intelligent conversation about God, Jesus, the Holy Spirit or the Bible, instead they want to insult and derail such conversations. I find most atheist do not know enough about the Bible to have those kinds of conversations, this is not intended as demeaning, it's just fact. They rely on Google or whatever to get as little info as they can to make comments. Using a verse or two for these kinds of conversations is inappropriate for these types of conversations. They also use what others say as fact whether they get it from the forum or the net, they do not know enough about scriptures to form their own opinions, believe me I've tried to get original ideas from them. Again I'm not saying any of this as demeaning, it's what I've observed over the last five years. So I would rather join in on threads where I find interest.

GC

We do want to have intelligent conversations, but we also want to hear things that we haven't seen a hundred times before. i know that you are a bit stymied because the texts are set and unchangeable but there must be new takes on these things, ones that can't be torn apart by my twelve year old son would be nice.