http://www.greaterthings.com/Ridenhour/Protestant_Evangelism/TwoSticks/index.html

Sorry, got a bit silly. I’ll come back to the point. Everyone has to deal with the pain of living. Faith may seem to make it easier to deal with, but faith or no, I think we go through the same processes. The faithful person and the godless person both grieve, and as the years pass, both heal the wounds from loss, yet both bear the scars. It may seem inconceivable to the faithful, but I don’t think it makes a difference. I don’t think the language I just used — healing wounds, bearing scars — is a metaphor. I think it is quite literally how our bodies and minds react to a tragic loss. Faith doesn’t mend a broken leg any faster, and I don’t think it mends a broken heart any faster.

I do think there are worldviews that can help cushion the blow, but I don’t think Christianity is leading the pack here. I think secular Buddhism comes more to the point: suffering is unavoidable, all you can do is accept it.

As a believer myself, I think the Word is pretty clear about people that want to live their lives without God. They will get exactly what they want – eternal separation from God. This is called the second death or spiritual death after this life is done. The torment of Hell does not come from Satan. It comes from being separated from God.

To us it seems like there is simply no other way. Once you form a relationship with God it is hard to see things the other way. We don’t know how anyone could make it without Him because we can’t imagine life without His love.

The thing about love is that God had to give us free will. He gave us the choice of choosing Him or not because there is no love when there is no choice. He obviously wants all people to choose Him because he loves everyone, but to force this on people wouldn’t be love at all.

Francoise’s naturalistic position is not uncommon. She has already expressed her view that God is a vicious, angry God using the bible as evidence of this. It’s kind of weird for someone to say the bible is a myth and then use it as evidence against itself. So which is it? Evidence or Myth? You can’t have both.

You also admitted to not wanting to die. Where does this desire to keep living come from? If death is such a natural process, why do care if we live or die? The truth proclaimed by the bible is that death is not natural. Death was not God’s intention when he created man. Adam walked and talked with God and death didn’t enter the picture until the fall of man. We have a desire to live forever because that is what we were meant to do. At least, that’s the Christian perspective.

To say Jesus never existed is to simply plead ignorance. The historical accuracy of the bible pertaining to Jesus is almost a non issue now. He definitely was (and still is for believers) alive and well. There are more secular and nonsecular historical writings to back up his existence than most any historical figure. Yes, Jesus is also a historical figure, not just a religious one. Which is why more people have taken the naturalistic view when denouncing God. It’s simply easier to say there is no natural proof.

People with her views will use every kind of weird argument you can think of. Don’t bother argueing with them even though I have given it a shot (I’m sure to no avail). Accept their position simply as their position. Don’t ever think you can change people or their positions about God, especially when their heart is not open to it. These people will argue with you tooth and nail to defend their view. How ironic that they don’t believe in faith in God yet have the utmost faith in their own point of view. They have “faith” just like any believer.

Our mission as believers is not to defend (which makes me a hypocrit) or change people. God changes people and we can only point people toward Him. As soon as you start to defend, the battle is lost. We can’t make the choice for other people.

God is king and he doesn’t need our vote to stay on the throne.

Have you studied the context of why those events were happening and why the Israelites were commanded to carry out those acts? To take it out of context and condemn it– that’s not a logical or rational argument.

How anyone can follow the vicious Jehovah/Jahweh – who commands mass murder, rape and pillage, is beyond my understanding. This is the deity who had to be carried around in his own little box during the exodus – this is the creator of the universe????????????

FYI Charles Darwin is not my prophet.

As said, it may have been one or many deities behind the big bang/whatever. We will probably never know. Have to go to classes now. Bye!

I haven’t started any name calling, so why have you?
I haven’t called your prophet Charles Darwin any names, but yet you call the God I follow a jackass?

Even if there might have been a big bang, who created the material for the bang out of nothingness, even that had to be created by someone or something, how can you explain that?

I would be delighted if it were conclusively demonstrated that there is
a) a supreme being and b) that it cares a flying hoot about any of us. In the absence of such proof, I will maintain that I do not know if there is a god, or many of them. The complexity of the universe may well have been the work of one being, but which one? The Jehovah of the Bible is a destructive, mean-spirited, capricious jackass, not worthy of consideration. Allah, maybe? 1 billion Muslims believe this to be so. The Hindus tell another tale. I disbelieve in every one of them.

The original post was in response to Kevin’s query about how we infidels get along without gods- I think I answered it well enough.

Have you ever looked into the story of Sir Francis Crick? He was the man who discovered DNA. He himself declared it was statistically impossible for DNA to have come about without an intelligent designer (GOD), that it was so complex it had to be created intentionally. He declared that it could have never come about by cosmic chance or blind luck. How can you look at the world around you in all of its beauty, splendor and complexity and still believe there is no God?

As for “resurrections”- a dime a dozen in the ancient religions. Even Mahomed himself was said to raise the dead!!!! If understood figuratively, resurrection makes sense, but not literally.