Post number 1

[Whateverist]

So if I made the pronouncement that I was the "alpha and the omega" and wrote it down in a book like the bible, then I too could be outside of time and eternal?

It depends on when you wrote the book.

How long did it take before the bible was old enough to verify the eternal god of the bible to your satisfaction?


Kidding aside, I don't think theists are stupid and neither do I think it takes a genius to be an atheist. You seem like a bright enough fellow and you've been a good sport about answering my facetious questions. So if you're here to try to save me then I may as well try to return the favor.

For me that doesn't involve converting you to atheism. The more important thing is that you become an agnostic theist. If you can meet me that far you'll be alright in my book. I'm thoroughly agnostic about my atheism. No proof whatsoever, but also no belief. I find theists that can say the same exceedingly rare. Occasionally you'll find one that can say they realize there is no proof but their belief is so strong that they accept it on faith alone, even if not every word of the bible is true.

More often Christians get into circular reasoning about the bible as though it represented a contract with God. You know the type? They'll acknowledge a leap of faith but once taken they then stand firmly on the bible as though it were the Rock of Gibraltar. Some give the impression that their faith is more in the bible than it is in God. You can probably tell I think less of these guys. I mean, it's their choice of course, and it's theirs to make but it just seems less noble to me somehow.

So where do you stand on the question of gnosticism? Did your leap of faith land you in a place of dead certainty? Or do you continue to rely on faith to contend with the uncertainty which intellectual modesty requires .. unless perhaps you've had a close encounter of God himself.