I hear about miraculous healings all the time, from all over the world. As far as powerful signs go, Jesus said there wouldn't be any more until the end was near. I mentioned this in my last post.
God is a spirit, and God dwells in Heaven, not on Earth. That is rather elementry knowledge for someone who claims to have read the bible. Of course God has visited the Earth, most notably His Son, however it doesn't mean He lives here. Also, demons are spirits.
Faith doesn't suppress reason. You have faith in your deistic God yet you don't see that as unreasonable. Faith can be reasonable, and well reasoned. Much of our knowledge is predicated on some kind of faith, be it on an authority, on a process, or in reason itself.
Now, you're saying that God abandoned us to think for ourselves, and try to figure out the Universe. So, hes just a voyeer it seems. Is he just watching us like we're in a fishbowl? Don't you think that is kind of grotesque?
Why doesn't he feel any moral responsibility for what happens on Earth?
God is a spirit, and God dwells in Heaven, not on Earth. That is rather elementry knowledge for someone who claims to have read the bible. Of course God has visited the Earth, most notably His Son, however it doesn't mean He lives here. Also, demons are spirits.
Faith doesn't suppress reason. You have faith in your deistic God yet you don't see that as unreasonable. Faith can be reasonable, and well reasoned. Much of our knowledge is predicated on some kind of faith, be it on an authority, on a process, or in reason itself.
Now, you're saying that God abandoned us to think for ourselves, and try to figure out the Universe. So, hes just a voyeer it seems. Is he just watching us like we're in a fishbowl? Don't you think that is kind of grotesque?
Why doesn't he feel any moral responsibility for what happens on Earth?
(September 19, 2011 at 11:47 pm)DeistPaladin Wrote:(September 19, 2011 at 12:39 am)lucent Wrote: Shy? You've got over 2 billion people in this world who profess a faith in Jesus Christ. I wouldn't say He is keeping Himself a secret. As far as open demonstrations of power, Jesus said that the last sign that would be given to the world until the very end would be His resurrection from the dead. There are many signs, though. What you have today is many people coming to the faith by dreams, visions and miracles, in countries all over the world. God isn't hiding..He told us what it would take to know Him..it is literally true that you can't know God unless you know His Son.
OK, perhaps I wasn't clear. The Bible speaks of not just beliefs, dreams and visions but overt forms of communication. I'm not sure what "miracles" you think happen today.
Let me give a few examples:
Yahweh gives a speech to the whole nation of Judea:
Judges 1:1-2 Now after the death of Joshua it came to pass, that the children of Israel asked the LORD, saying, Who shall go up for us against the Canaanites first, to fight against them?
And the LORD said, Judah shall go up: behold, I have delivered the land into his hand.
After the baptism of Jesus, Yahweh speaks via booming voice from the sky:
Mark 1:11 And there came a voice from heaven, saying, Thou art my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.
After Jesus died on the cross, the dead supposedly rose and did a Michael Jackson "Thriller" performance:
Matthew 27:52-53 And the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints which slept arose,
And came out of the graves after his resurrection, and went into the holy city, and appeared unto many.
Overt demonstrations of Yahweh's power continued after Jesus supposedly rose from the dead:
Acts 2:1-4 When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together when suddenly a sound came from the sky like a violent wind, and tongues of fire appeared that separated and came to rest on each of them. They were all filled with the Holy Ghost and began to speak in different languages.
According to Jesus, the faithful should have not just the ability to speak in tongues but the power to heal the sick, cast out demons and gain immunity to poison.
Mark 16:17-18 And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues;
They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.
Sometimes fanatical followers of Jesus will tragically die while "testing their faith" with snakes. Children die because their parents forsake medical help trying to use faith to heal their sickness.
It seems none of this magic exists today. I've not heard of angels visiting people, Yahweh speaking "face to face" with his followers, any booming voices from the sky, etc. The contrast between the magical world of the Bible and the real world that is supernaturally tranquil couldn't possibly be more stark.
So I repeat, why is your god suddenly so shy? Do you believe what the Bible tells us about Yahweh's activity in ancient times? If so, why has he gone into hiding today?
Quote:As far as trying to put God in a bottle..God exists outside the Universe, in an eternal realm. There is no way to get from here to there unless God takes you there. "Ghosts", and all of those different spirit manifestations are demons. Satan doesn't want the world to know he exists because it is much easier for him to work that way. He is actively evading detection. So, in either case, the supernatural realm is inaccessible by normal means.
Where do you get your information? The Bible doesn't, as far as I can tell, tell us any of these things.
First of all, Yahweh according to the Bible exists not as an abstract spiritual being outside the universe but as a physical anthropomorphic being who walks, talks, and has body parts. He speaks "face to face" with Moses (Exodus 33:11), wrestles with Jacob (Gen 32:28), drops by Abraham's place for lunch (Gen 18:1-50) and shows of his big hot loins to Ezekiel (Ez 1:27) (Seriously! Apparently Yahweh is a man.)
As for ghosts, apparently they can be summoned from the underworld by mediums if the Bible is any indication (1Samuel 28:8-18). No mention anywhere that I can find in scripture that says demons walk the earth in the guise of ghosts.
Quote:Now you say you believe in God, so why would we have to guess about it? What is the reason God won't instruct you?
Maybe because God gave us critical thinking and curiosity for a reason, that we're supposed to figure out this universe instead of suppressing the Gift of Reason by this process you call "faith"?
