Can't find any fault with that. It sounds quite nice. Good for you. I can understand that. The "why and how" would only make your perception of God more wonderful. So I don't know if it would be simply elementary to your faith if it causes you to be in awe of what God did and how he did it. This could be a little troublesome though. Finding the correct interpretation would not only enhance your faith but it would give you a better and necessarily correct view on God. I say that based on the book of Job as an example. Job's friends all had the wrong view of God. None of them viewed God as sovereign and in control of all things. For that wrong understanding, they were deemed to have sinned. They couldn't even atone for that sin and Job was instructed to do it for them. Interestingly enough, they weren't even corrected. Point being, your theology, which is a direct result of one's interpretation, matters. In fact concerning Adam and Eve, rather than them being the first humans, as is often interpreted, they are most importantly, the first of the Line of Christ. Anyway... If only more Christians would do the same. But alas, often group think is far more powerful and comforting than doing actual study and discovering your friends, family, pastors are wrong. Many times, dead wrong. Suppose this is what Jesus meant when he says that you must hate parents, spouses, siblings and kids for my sake. They pose as a conflict of interest when it comes to accepting the "truth" of His word. Especially deceased loved ones of who's beliefs you knew. To admit they were wrong would mean having to admit that they are in Hell. I don't think you thought this through. I have to break it down for sake of argument. 1. "Just know..." how can anyone "know" without first having faith? So the imperative has no value except for you and those like-minded. 2. "... it's real..." If it were, either you could prove it or someone else could follow some prescribed methodology to discover that that is indeed the case. You started off great with "I believe..." and should have stayed there. Even if you are confident in the reality of God, you're still in a public forum where many people may have alternate ideas of God that are just as real to them as it is to you. 3. "...available to everyone..." This is of course untrue. History itself speaks to this. Paul was prevented from going into eastern Europe and beyond to spread the gospel. So they wouldn't know for hundreds of years. The people living around the rest world for hundreds of years after Jesus's death and resurrection had no idea and never heard. The Catholic church had changed the gospel message into something other than and people for many hundreds could not read the Bible for themselves. Today, a great many billions have never heard the gospel. What's more, just to add insult to injury to the statement of availability, God himself will prevent people from believing so that they can be damned. 2nd Thess 2: 11 And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: 12 That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness. Anyone who believes in freewill should change their mind after reading this. Free will must be free to the very end of one's life. Preventing them from believing is a usurpation of their will. There are many more verses like this throughout the bible. I just wanted to show that only for some, the gospel is available to be believed. Not everyone as you may have accidentally put.
Why do you paint all atheists with the same brush? Ignorance, that's why. I don't claim that all religious people hardcore evangelists. Now who is close-minded?
Please see my post above about painting all atheists with the same brush. How can you be so hypocritical?
I don't believe I am being hypocritical. I have been open to non abusive discussion. I am not claiming that all atheists are ignorant, in fact one of my posts praised someone on here for having a rational debate that included mutual respect. I don't let what someone believes determine how I treat them, I let their actions towards me decide that. Unfortunately atheism has a lot of people giving it a poor representation on this forum.
how do you have a rational debate with someone who insists that because some woman ate an apple thousands of years ago all humanity deserves to burn in hell? there is an upside for you bible thumpers in this debate. maybe if you sprout just the right bible verse at me i will become convinced that a talking snake tricked a woman into eating an apple and cursed mankind forever and that if i say the correct words i will recieve a mansion in the sky where the streets are made of gold. you think? Religion has actually convinced people that there's an invisible man -- living in the sky -- who watches everything you do, every minute of every day. And the invisible man has a special list of ten things he does not want you to do.. And if you do any of these ten things, he has a special place, full of fire and smoke and burning and torture and anguish, where he will send you to live and suffer and burn and choke and scream and cry forever and ever 'til the end of time! ..But He loves you. written by George Carlin
So much hate, I'm sorry I guess I will never understand that. I feel the same about supposed Christians who act the same way. How can you have room for joy in your life with so much hate.
No hate from this guy. I was merely pointing out that you generalized all atheists with the same brush, then a couple of posts later complained about how christians are all painted with the same brush. I as well enjoy sensible debates.
if you consider harsh truth hate you are going to have a hard time coping in the real world. grow up accept reality for what it is without your invisible friend. ps. i dont hate you or anyone else. hate is a wasted emotion. hating someone just because they were deluded in their childhood wouldnt be logical. i am just trying to enlighten you. i feel a little bit sorry for you just as i felt bad for my niece last week who had her car repaired. what should of cost $100 ended up costing her $700 that she didnt have because she was gullible and they took advantage of her.
==================== Actually i agree with much of that; simply because almost always, religion is not related to redemption.Nor is ''the religion of peace''-peaceful, no matter how many politicians pander to get votes, by calling it a religion of peace. Washington Post likes to call it [Islam]a religion of peace also. That quote , sounds like Martin Luther in his old , old age; he called the book of James ''an epistle of straw'' also. So I dont agree with the Martin Luther quote, or my Luther quote. If reason were the enemy of the redemption/Lord; then why would the great commandment ''Love the Lord with all your mind''... be a priority??? Yes, I know the Washington Post likes to call Christians ''uneducated''. Well Christians do go to school on Sunday[sunday school] & build plenty of colleges/hospitals.LOL