Does God Exist II

[MarkD]

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Hmm, in reading the original thread, I have to say, that obi_donkenobi fellow brought up a lot of valid points. I've always been a semi-strong Christian, but, speaking honestly, I didn't see anything he said that wasn't reasonable or logical. I'll have to study his comments and questions to see if there are any good counter arguments for them. A lot of my Christian friends have also begun to question their faith. I think a lot of it has to do with the Internet. We are now exposed to more than one point of view and this has the effect of making the claims of Christianity seem more cultish, where you have to be surrounded by like-minded people in order to hold your beliefs, some of which are admittedly sorta goofy.

Oh, and when Admin Dude locked the thread (and did he ban obi_donkenobi from the site?), that did seem to be kind of suppressive, even though the guy seemed to be following the site rules. Didn't seem fair.

[admin]

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Hmm, in reading the original thread, I have to say, that obi_donkenobi fellow brought up a lot of valid points. I've always been a semi-strong Christian, but, speaking honestly, I didn't see anything he said that wasn't reasonable or logical. I'll have to study his comments and questions to see if there are any good counter arguments for them. A lot of my Christian friends have also begun to question their faith. I think a lot of it has to do with the Internet. We are now exposed to more than one point of view and this has the effect of making the claims of Christianity seem more cultish, where you have to be surrounded by like-minded people in order to hold your beliefs, some of which are admittedly sorta goofy.

Oh, and when Admin Dude locked the thread (and did he ban obi_donkenobi from the site?), that did seem to be kind of suppressive, even though the guy seemed to be following the site rules. Didn't seem fair.

Hello Mark,

From the Rules: Please refrain from name calling and provide biblical scripture to back up your point if asked.

You have refused to accept the Biblical definition of a Christian and apparently made up your own or tried to define it by using one verse out of context and the Scripture. It could be that you don't understand that the Bible was not written in English but in three languages Hebrew, Greek, and Aramaic. Words like repent, slave, hate and love have different meanings than they have at face value in our English language.

 When you can define what a Christian is to me please give me a private message and we can go on with seeing what kind of questions you have about the Bible. Otherwise you might find that you can accomplish your stated goal at another site.
 

Admin To Mark:

First of all Mark what's the name of this board? Second, you find anywhere in the Bible that says Christianity claims to be logical? But you can find in science where the existence of all matter is impossible. I'm sorry to hear, or it seems, that you are wavering in your faith. Could it be that you never had that faith and only went along to impress others?

And I agree the religion of the Internet is a wonderful thing for nonbelievers. But I always wonder why nonbelievers want to pull others into their secular world of pain and hopelessness.  If the Bible is not for you Mark, maybe you would feel better on the board that is not dedicated to the discussion and study of the holy Scriptures.

Admin Dude

[biblebuf]

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“but we preach Christ crucified, to Jews a stumbling block and to Gentiles foolishness,”
1 Corinthians‬ 1:23‬ NASB‬‬


“For the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.”
1 Corinthians‬ 1:18‬ NASB‬‬


“But a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised.”
1 Corinthians‬ 2:14‬ NASB‬‬

[MarkD]

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Hello Mark,

From the Rules: Please refrain from name calling and provide biblical scripture to back up your point if asked.

Admin To Mark:

First of all Mark what's the name of this board? Second, you find anywhere in the Bible that says Christianity claims to be logical? But you can find in science where the existence of all matter is impossible. I'm sorry to hear, or it seems, that you are wavering in your faith. Could it be that you never had that faith and only went along to impress others?

And I agree the religion of the Internet is a wonderful thing for nonbelievers. But I always wonder why nonbelievers want to pull others into their secular world of pain and hopelessness.  If the Bible is not for you Mark, maybe you would feel better on the board that is not dedicated to the discussion and study of the holy Scriptures.

Admin Dude

Thanks Admin Dude. Oh, sorry - when did I name call? I came to this subject group (Apologetics) to find resources and references that would help confirm my beliefs. I especially wanted to do this after reading Peter 3:15, "But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect..."

My reason for belief and faith up to this point was because most everyone I knew while growing up believed the same thing. But I'm beginning to get the idea that just because my parents told me it was true doesn't necessarily mean it is. Now I need more proof, and the more I read the Bible, the more I see problems with it.

Yes, it might be true that I was never a truly committed Christian. When I was growing up, we went to church every Sunday, but at my church, it felt more like daycare than an actual school. Almost none of my friends read the Bible and when we got older, they seemed happy to just attend the sermons and sing the songs. Now, I want to get serious about it so I can answer the call of Peter 3:15, but I'm finding it difficult. Hope you all can help me out with this.

[JB Horn]

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I came to this subject group (Apologetics) to find resources and references that would help confirm my beliefs.

Maybe I can help you out Obi, tell me what are your beliefs? If you post them on this forum you may find that there are people that agree with you and people that do not. If someone does not agree with you that it is proper for him or her to attack your beliefs using Scripture. If you here to continue your scientific debate, you've already lost that.

 So Obi tell me exactly what you believe and why are you having a hard time defending those beliefs?  Can you not defend what you believe using Scripture?


FYI I will only use the NAS translation.

JB

[Moss]

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I don’t get it, you don’t know why you believe what you believe or you don’t believe what you want to believe?

[Fat]

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I don’t get it, you don’t know why you believe what you believe or you don’t believe what you want to believe?

He doesn’t believe what he use to believe. Now he wants to believe what he doesn’t believe.

The short answer is “I don’t know “.

[MarkD]

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Maybe I can help you out Obi, tell me what are your beliefs? If you post them on this forum you may find that there are people that agree with you and people that do not. If someone does not agree with you that it is proper for him or her to attack your beliefs using Scripture. If you here to continue your scientific debate, you've already lost that.

 So Obi tell me exactly what you believe and why are you having a hard time defending those beliefs?  Can you not defend what you believe using Scripture?


FYI I will only use the NAS translation.

JB

Actually, I'm MarkD, I was only referring to obi-donkenobis posts from the original Does God Exist forum. Well, I'm not sure what I believe now. Obi-don said something that made sense me: that you cant use the Bible to confirm the Bible. You'd have to first believe the Bible is true but how can you do that without making sure that it is true, first? Like I said, I first believed the stories in the Bible because all my family and friends told me it was true, but when I asked them how they know that, they just said you have to have faith. When I was a kid these same people told me Santa Clause was real, and I believed them. Of course they were just playing a game to amuse me but I was pretty shocked when I found out it was just a gag. My friend said to look in my parent's closet and when I did I found my presents. So my question now is: is God real? I've searched the web and wasn't able to find anything very convincing. What evidence do you have that God is real?

[Zant Law]

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Actually, I'm MarkD, I was only referring to obi-donkenobis posts from the original Does God Exist forum. Well, I'm not sure what I believe now. Obi-don said something that made sense me: that you cant use the Bible to confirm the Bible. You'd have to first believe the Bible is true but how can you do that without making sure that it is true, first? Like I said, I first believed the stories in the Bible because all my family and friends told me it was true, but when I asked them how they know that, they just said you have to have faith. When I was a kid these same people told me Santa Clause was real, and I believed them. Of course they were just playing a game to amuse me but I was pretty shocked when I found out it was just a gag. My friend said to look in my parent's closet and when I did I found my presents. So my question now is: is God real? I've searched the web and wasn't able to find anything very convincing. What evidence do you have that God is real?

Let me butt in, try this for a start: http://www.clarifyingchristianity.com/b_proof.shtml

C.S. Lewis had a story like yours, he did some research trying to disprove the bible, maybe that would work for you.


ZLaw