In real life lately, I have had a lot of good questions from non-Christians (Muslim, Jew, Hindu, etc) about being Christian and our beliefs. If anyone has questions, feel free to ask them here. I am open to respectful discussions on this matter here or in PM. I am a Christian, but I have soul searched on this topic a lot over the years..
The fact that some people who were of different religions ended up converting to Christianity doesn't address the fact that religion is still a geographic thing. For instance, roughly 90% of all people in Saudi Arabia are Muslims. If everyone gets a fair shot, how could this possibly be?
When you say bad things happen in the Bible, do you mean that humans wrote flawed perceptions of God? The genocide in the Bible that God commanded the people to do is something that is difficult to answer for, so do you think it's because people misunderstood God? If so, how could you trust anything else the Bible says about God?
deletedalmost 8 years
Granted there are geographical regions that divide religions, but this does not stop the spread of the religion. Where I live in Germany, there is a huge church of Christians who were former Muslims. They are mainly from Iran and Syria. I know one of these guys fairly well, and Jesus came to her in a dream and told her to convert. There is a huge movement of this in Muslim countries I think. I know many Muslims here and they are very dissatisfied with their religion and are very interested in Christianity. While there are geographic boundaries, God can still work on them to find access to other things
There are bad things that happened in the Bible, but these happen because we are humans. They would be more severe without religion probably.
In general I do not believe that the Bible is contradictory myself. Its very repetitive. Parts of it cant be taken literally though.
I am not a typical Christian in any sense. I rely the most on the holy spirit working in me and this is why I have kept my faith, although I falter at times.
why are you quoting someone referring to what you're talking about instead of quoting what you're talking about
deletedalmost 8 years
We do have free will, but I do believe its manipulated by him. He puts you in situations to make you make the right decisions.
deletedalmost 8 years
No. We all sin and fall short of being with God. Only if you accept his gift of death for you can you go to heaven.
deletedalmost 8 years
this is true. there is free will. I think he does like manipulate your free will decisions at times though.
deletedalmost 8 years
Dr. Manhattan: She was pregnant. And you gunned her down. Edward Blake: That's right. And you know what, you watched me. You could've turned the gun into steam, the bullets into mercury, the bottle into goddamned snowflakes but you didn't, did you? You really don't give a damn about human beings. You're driftin' out of touch, Doc. God help us all.
i like how ultraaug is like making suggestions 4 ppl religions, like u christians need to uptade this bible, make this afterlife cooler
deletedalmost 8 years
I heard joke once: Man goes to doctor. Says he's depressed. Life seems harsh, and cruel. Says he feels all alone in threatening world. Doctor says: "Treatment is simple. The great clown - Pagliacci - is in town. Go see him. That should pick you up." Man bursts into tears. "But doctor..." he says "I am Pagliacci." Good joke. Everybody laugh. Roll on snare drum. Curtains.
Not kidding, but same. I've been trying to get through the God Delusion for... Like six months now? It's just so dense and I have so many other things to do.
what's the point in life if both heaven and hell are pointless
heaven is perfect but what is the point in living in a perfect world- nothing left to do or accomplish- everything is already done, or already done for you. also there's a paradox where to be perfect if someone wanted to be with someone and someone else didn't what would happen because they both can't get what they want. if heaven was so perfect that you wouldn't care about this wouldn't it not be perfect then
hell is explainable
maybe my logic is flawed- if so help me there
wouldn't rebirth be more fulfilling? more chances to do everything, and more reason to not be an idiot- you will regret it in your next life (I believe, if this was the case, karma would be a large element in the world) (..and your next life will have purpose)
wait is this a shtpost thread
crap
maybe the responses will be even worse
deletedalmost 8 years
" William of Occam was a 13th century monk. He can't help us now, Bernard. He would have us burned at the stake."
Yea kinda, the rationale was that people who accepted that theres a god and into a universal moral and those kind of stuff were less individualist and helped each others more, those individuals survived more often then passed the genes. That trait was relevant a looooong time ago
"Other data support this conclusion. Religiosity is a feature that is biologically anchored. It is, to begin with, in part genetically determined [2]. Second, several types of evidence indicate that the brain contains systems that are the root of religious experiences and considerations [2-5]. If they are activated by electromagnetic currents, religious experiences occur, even in nonbelievers. Neuronal activity in those regions vary with the intensity and depth of religious devotion."
What he is trying to say is that certain cognitive biases contribute to those who are religious AND that those same cognitive biases provide an evolutionary advantage. At least, that's what I think he's trying to communicate.
It did make sens. Religiosity as a trait aka the likelihood and propension to believe in anything that is "supernatural" helped people survive in the beginning of humanity and thus, is still really present today even tho its obsolete. Is it clearer ?
