And now to piss eveyone off

Very well, I respect your stance… Not for the bible degree though, merely on the fact of how far you have delved into the subject…

we cannot be tempted to virtue, only to vice God would rather woo us to virtue through glimpses of our role in eternity
God has given us a means to reunite and regardless of the month Jesus is still that means
God could reveal himself and have us worship out of fear but then it is not true faith
the pharisees had vast biblical knowledge as well, they didn’t get it either

You know, I think that a LOT fo you are messed up about what SHE actually wants her followers to do  :mrgreen:

i think God transcends gender, as well as our comprehension

@critmonster:

i think God transcends gender, as well as our comprehension

No man may know the mind of God.

Which pretty much is true also about men knowing the mind of a woman.

So God MUST be a woman :-D

:lol: touche  :-D

I think the best defense for God is “no one knows.”  I can’t argue with that…but it doesn’t necessarily make it true.  Yet, if we can’t understand God, then how do we know anything of him?  Of his desire, his past actions, etc.?

I then think about the idea that God has given us free will, and we have strayed the path.  This stance really makes God to seem like a trickster - that our existence is merely a game to him.  Who is good enough.  Who has more faith.  This is absurd to me.

What I think is truly valid, and deserves my thoughts & time, is the life of Jesus.  Regardless of whether this was a real man, or simply an idea, to try and live your life in that sense means more than anything else about Christianity.  The thing is, it’s nothing new - many religions and non-religions have stated the same.

@Jermofoot:

I then think about the idea that God has given us free will, and we have strayed the path.  This stance really makes God to seem like a trickster - that our existence is merely a game to him.  Who is good enough.  Who has more faith.  This is absurd to me.

Yet that view of Christianity as backed up in black-letter bliblical text… The Book of Job.

@ncscswitch:

@Jermofoot:

I then think about the idea that God has given us free will, and we have strayed the path.  This stance really makes God to seem like a trickster - that our existence is merely a game to him.  Who is good enough.  Who has more faith.  This is absurd to me.

Yet that view of Christianity as backed up in black-letter bliblical text… The Book of Job.

So, can we go on a first name basis with God, and just call him Loki?  :-)

Or Coyote if you are a native of this continent…

The unknowable and the non-existent are indistinguishable.

Posted by: froodster 
Insert Quote
The unknowable and the non-existent are indistinguishable.

does that statement really make sense to you?

It does to me…

If you care to describe the differences, with a compare and contrast between them, I am willing to read it…

scientifically or philosophically?

haven’t we proven that the speed of light can be changed and does that make einstien’s theorum invalid?

currently the universal constant is unknowable but does that mean it is non-existant?

this is an over simplification i agree but don’t we as humans tend to over complicate things enough already

Perhaps not indistinguishable. My point is that nothing meaningful can really be known about either, if it is unknowable.

Put another way: Is there a God? I don’t know. Is there an angry unicorn on the dark side of the moon? I don’t know that either. This illustrates both that neither “fact” can be tested, and also that neither fact has much impact on anything else - both are irrelevant possibilities.

If something can’t be tested, that means it does not interact in any consistent, meaningful way with the rest of reality.

The universal constant is something that is hinted at by experimental observations. No observations point toward God’s existence other than wishy-washy ones like “nature is beautiful/complex”. MAYBE it points toward an intelligent creator, though I don’t think so, but it certainly does not support elaborate ideas like the Trinity, Heaven, Hell, angels, souls etc.

Except that there was a book that i once heard about supposedly inspired by God which suggests that there may be a heaven and a hell.  It also makes mention of angels and all of Jesus, the Holy Spirit, and the creator God. 
Also there are many millions of people - yet to be accurately described as psychotic (at least according to the DSM-IV) who would claim to interact positively with God.  They are more than happy (i have found) to communicate this with you.

you can chose not to believe in God if you want, he still believes in you :wink:

some people find comfort in believing they were derived from pond scum and bacteria (where did the bacteria come from?, oh yeah from rocks), that’s their perrogative.  i choose to believe differently

some people face the hurdles and obstacles of this life with the thought that when this body perishes they feed the worms and that is it, i choose to believe differently

@cystic:

Except that there was a book that i once heard about supposedly inspired by God which suggests that there may be a heaven and a hell.  It also makes mention of angels and all of Jesus, the Holy Spirit, and the creator God. 
Also there are many millions of people - yet to be accurately described as psychotic (at least according to the DSM-IV) who would claim to interact positively with God.  They are more than happy (i have found) to communicate this with you.

Yeah, but there are other ancient texts about other Gods etc too. And the people who wrote them had no more first-hand evidence than I do.