Who Does Not Believe in God Here?

Originally posted by Big Mac
Details, Details, Details.

Isaac was the sacrifice. Abraham was the "chap."

Ha...you're right.

Originally posted by TheSkipper
Way to not answer my question.

Why would an all powerful God need to test our faith when he can instantly know both our minds and our hearts?

Are you sure you have given this enough thought?

The "chap's" name, BTW, was Isaac.

I have no argument with this. Cheers.

Originally posted by Jay Joos
His sons were not brought back....

He knows but he tests us anyway because we have free will...

I have thought about it and i reply with my heart which is from God....

Thank you....Isaac..... are you a Atheist?.... are you one of those Atheists that study the bible to try and catch Theists out.... if you are.....😳

I have considerable argument with this.

If there is a god, and it is indeed the God of the Bible, then this God has no need to test His creatures, be it man or Satan himself (yes, created by God, therefore, a creature).
Free will would not factor into it. The God of the Bible has complete awareness of all things: past, present, and future. He is, based on the Bible, 3-O (Omni- present, scient, potent, and i would add a 4th O- benevolent). There God knew how Job and Abraham would respond. So the question again comes to why would He do it?
And, why would the Bible refer to it as a test in the case of Abraham?

Non-aligned, non-supernaturalist non-dualist/monist.

That is, if by “supernatural” one means either (a) “outside” or “beyond” the natural order (whatever that means), or (b) contravening natural processes (whether we understand, or are capable of understanding, those processes or not).

I haven’t given up the “G-word” as useless yet, depending on what you mean by “G-o-d.” But if you mean some sort of supernatural being existing separately from the all-of-all of everything else,* then I am a non-theist.

* i.e.—

Just another brick in the wall,
even if the biggest brick of all
who fashioned every other,
and causes them to stand or fall.

(apologies to Pink Floyd)

Originally posted by Penguin
I disbelieve in 1 more god than most of the theists on this forum:

I disbelieve in the Roman gods
I disbelieve in the Greek gods
I disbelieve in the Pagan gods
I disbelieve in the Norse gods
I disbelieve in the Hindu gods
I disbelieve in the Muslim gods
I disbelieve in the Christian gods
I disbelieve in the Sikh gods
I disbelieve in the Bahai gods ...[text shortened]... u believe in your god is not because he exists but because of where you grew up.

--- Penguin

Considering there is no god, why do you call it a 'He'?
How do you assign sex to a non-existant being?

Originally posted by sonhouse
Considering there is no god, why do you call it a 'He'?
How do you assign sex to a non-existant being?

Would it make much sense to call Winnie The Pooh 'she' or 'it'? What about Father Christmas?

--- Penguin.

Originally posted by Penguin
Would it make much sense to call Winnie The Pooh 'she' or 'it'? What about Father Christmas?

--- Penguin.

And most people refer to the tooth fairy as female, but there is nothing inherently female about tooth faries, unlike Father Christmas.

I was a Lutheran, but changed to an atheist. I believe my change is fairly typical of what others go through. I was the sort of person who just kinda went with the flow, not caring much about what I was believing in. After I was confirmed, I started to drift. At first for a couple of years I was in a stasis, stuck between believing and not. I didn't have the courage, or the strength to say "I don't believe". I just put it aside, hoping God would lead me to the right path, or give me a sign. So you could say I still believed at that moment, but I had doubts growing in my mind.

I think it was toward my last high school years where my faith finally collasped. It wasn't sudden, but a gradual process. I know I read this somewhere on this forum, but it was like being in a mist, and then all of a sudden you notice you are soaked. I wasn't suprised, but... it was a big step for me. I could "talk" to God and say he didn't exist without fear.

To be blunt, stuff just didn't add up. Why were there so many religions? There are many people who are born far away from christianity, who would have no clue what it's about. Why would they suffer? Angels and Demons, Heaven and Hell, God and the devil. This sounds like Greek Mythology. This just doesn't seem right in this modern world. I didn't believe that a just God would require the bible in order for you to be saved. I didn't believe that you needed to know of some past event 2000 years ago just to be accepted. This all just seemed superficial. Honestly, if there is a just and loving God, I would be able to find him on my own. If this isn't true, then he banishes all thoses unlucky enoughy to be out of reach from the Bible, from Jesus. A God based on luck just seemed silly.

This is when I found Red Hot Pawn and the spirituality forum. At that time I still held the belief that there is a good chance that God does exist, just that he wasn't part of some religion. After going through a lot of what was said on these forums, I found that the position that made most sense was atheism.

I'm still searching for the answers. I'm really interested in Eastern religion/philosophy. I hope I will gain more insight, and perhaps I will change my position once again. I do know that I've made considerable progress from where I started, so I'm very happy about that aspect of my journey.

Originally posted by rwingett
But you still think he's going to burn in Hell.

Not at all!!!

Originally posted by TheSkipper
Hmmm...I can't honestly say that I, in turn, respect your view (at least, as it has been portrayed in these forums), but I respect you...how's that?

Out of curiosity (and if you don't mind my asking), what is your age (an approximation will do if you prefer, like "middle-aged" etc.), and how long have you been a Christian?

Well...you dont have to respect my view....i understand.... i could probably explain it a whole lot better in person so shall we leave it at that....

My age? why? i dont mind you asking but why would you want to know?

I have been a christian for a long time......😀

Originally posted by Big Mac
Details, Details, Details.

Isaac was the sacrifice. Abraham was the "chap."

Thank you McDonalds......

Originally posted by Big Mac
If there is a god, and it is indeed the God of the Bible, then this God has no need to test His creatures, be it man or Satan himself (yes, created by God, therefore, a creature).
Free will would not factor into it. The God of the Bible has complete awareness of all things: past, present, and future. He is, based on the Bible, 3-O (Omni- present, sci ...[text shortened]... to why would He do it?
And, why would the Bible refer to it as a test in the case of Abraham?

Because it was a test....

I was raised as a Christian - not fundamentalist or literalist, just your basic garden variety christian.
I rejected it initially because of all the usual Weak Atheist arguments - no evidence and so forth.
Now, I consider myself a Strong Atheist - I reject God as a concept as a part of my own belief system. In simple terms, I refuse to accept that I live in a world where supernatural events or beings can exist. I hate the notion that such a world might be and that I might be a part of it - and so I wholly deny the notion.
I believe that there is no God.

Originally posted by Jay Joos
God is all loving....he would not lie.....

He lied when he told you that.....