Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
There are a lot of anti-christians books, etc. But most christians (that I seem to know) do not read those. They can shake and challenge their faith. I think they should.
Most christians say they know the truth. But christianity is by faith. No one knows. We feel certain of things based on our convictions. but no one knows. Ultimately, it is a decision made by faith and we hope that it is going to be the right one. I think this is biblically based. Would appreciate any comment on both these issues. thank you.
To Mod: the raison d'etre of the question precludes it from being answered in the christianity section...please feel free to delete it there!
There are a lot of anti-christians books, etc. But most christians (that I seem to know) do not read those. They can shake and challenge their faith. I think they should.
Most christians say they know the truth. But christianity is by faith. No one knows. We feel certain of things based on our convictions. but no one knows. Ultimately, it is a decision made by faith and we hope that it is going to be the right one. I think this is biblically based. Would appreciate any comment on both these issues. thank you.
To Mod: the raison d'etre of the question precludes it from being answered in the christianity section...please feel free to delete it there!
If by "anti-Christian" in terms of hate writings or web sites against them, I would say it is for the same reasons I do not visit anti-Islamic sites or read anti-Islamic literature. They have nothing worth offering.
Now if you are speaking of books/sites/presentations about other faiths, I do not know why they don't. Honest debate and discussion without malice can be educational and help remove misconceptions.
There are a lot of anti-christians books, etc. But most christians (that I seem to know) do not read those. They can shake and challenge their faith. I think they should.
Most christians say they know the truth. But christianity is by faith. No one knows. We feel certain of things based on our convictions. but no one knows. Ultimately, it is a decision made by faith and we hope that it is going to be the right one. I think this is biblically based. Would appreciate any comment on both these issues. thank you.
To Mod: the raison d'etre of the question precludes it from being answered in the christianity section...please feel free to delete it there!
Nobody knows how we got here (earth), so everything else is irrelevant. Make your own matrix.
Going by faith alone is fideism and not all Christians believe in that. My faith, Catholicism, in particular is against fideism.
I've considered reading some of these books, but I just don't think they'd say much I haven't heard before and there are plenty of books I want to read that I've not read yet. Still I've been reading atheist writers since I was at least 15 and it's quite possible the majority of the books I've enjoyed are by non-religious people. There are some specific things on the Bible I've heard here that are somewhat new to me, but even if the Bible were wrong that doesn't really negate God or the supernatural itself. And to be honest much of what atheists do is take the most literal vision of the, generally Protestant, Bible a Christian can have and "demolish" that. That's not very relevant to me.
As for reading on other religions, or of works by people from an atheist perspective, obviously I do that and have pretty much always done that. I think I read things by Buddhists when I was twelve or so. I have a collection of Hadiths next to my bed. I also have several Chinese works like the Tao Te Ching, the Analects, the Art of War, Mencius, and the Book of Songs. As well as some science popularizations of a moderately atheist bent. I admit I couldn't get into the Upanishads or Chuang Tzu though.
Going by faith alone is fideism and not all Christians believe in that. My faith, Catholicism, in particular is against fideism.
I've considered reading some of these books, but I just don't think they'd say much I haven't heard before. I've been reading atheist writers since I was at least 15 and it's quite possible the majority of the books I've enjoyed are by non-religious people. There are some specific things on the Bible I've heard here that are somewhat new to me, but even if the Bible were wrong that doesn't really negate God or the supernatural itself. And to be honest much of what atheists do is take the most literal vision of the, generally Protestant, Bible a Christian can have and "demolish" that. That's not very relevant to me.
I agree Thomas and I will go a step futher and say that it would negate it all (for most sensible folk).
I think that it would take a remarkably courageous and well - informed Theist to immerse themselves on a lot of anti - Theist polemic literature. I have to say that I don't feel inclined to spend time reading the Christin apologetics to see whether they might come up with something to persuade me.
That's why these forum are so useful since we get the questions and arguments chucked at us and sometimes they can knock us sideways.
I'm so tempted to start new threads asking why Muslims, Buddhists, Jews, Wiccans, and members of all other religions tend not to read books that are anti their faith. I won't.
I'm so tempted to start new threads asking why Muslims, Buddhists, Jews, Wiccans, and members of all other religions tend not to read books that are anti their faith. I won't.
You should read outside of your faith. The anti-faiths to your faith will sometimes act as cliff's notes. Sometimes people outside of your faith may know certain aspects of your faith better than you which presents learning opportunities... win win.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
