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I remember when I first heard about the billboards. It definitely carries a haughty nature about it. It made me cringe, reminding me of high school and classmates talking about how childish religion is.
Proof would convince me. It would be ridiculous to be unconvinced in the face of proof. That's like insisting dogs do not exist while I scratch one under its chin.
But the bottom line is there is no proof of God's existence. If there were, you would be willing to state what it is. You have certainly been asked for it many times.
I remember when I first heard about the billboards. It definitely carries a haughty nature about it. It made me cringe, reminding me of high school and classmates talking about how childish religion is.
How is it any more "haughty" to say that you can be good without going to church than it is to say that you are going to burn if you don't?
And on what basis do you claim that YOUR definition or perception of God is the only one that counts?
Nobody has to "make a credible case" for the existence of their nonDeity perception of God. If they have the perception.. then it's a done deal. That you don't agree matters not to the validity of their perception.
As far as defining God relative to those participating...if one is participating...then their definition and perception is no less valid than anyone else's in the discussion. And their definition and perception can not just be dismissed simply on your say so. You need to get hip to that.
My perception is not the only one that counts, of course not. But to have any sort of constructive conversation about "god" we have to settle on some sort of common frame work.
I can explain fairly succinctly what I mean by "god". When I say I do not believe in a god, I am referring to one in the general sense of,
the perfect and all-powerful spirit or being that is worshipped especially by Christians, Jews, and Muslims as the one who created and rules the universe
the Being perfect in power, wisdom, and goodness who is worshipped as creator and ruler of the universe
the incorporeal divine Principle ruling over all as eternal Spirit : infinite Mind
I find this to be in context a reasonable scope of definition, of meaning. It is certainly the most common and generally understood definition. If you would like I can try to defend why this particular conception of god is in the context of our discussions of Pantheism.
If you are using a different definition, if your title of "god" means or implies something different, then maybe before applying the title to something we should clarify what you mean.
The problem I see with your approach, is that you appear to want to define "god" as a title which merely means, "Something I personally think is really important", and then once we have established that such a thing does exist, proceed as if we have established the existence of a supreme being.
So the first thing to do is to be very clear and precise in your terminology. What, exactly do you mean by god? And perhaps, if you are using it in a different way than it is commonly used, signifying that in some way by choosing a different word or some specific phrase to denote your specific idea would help.
Of course, if you are intentionally trying to confuse people and conflate definitions to sneak in illogical conclusion by inference and semantic association, then feel free to disregard my helpful tips for increasing clarity. That of course would demonstrate dishonesty on your part, but as far as I can tell your semantic concept of god doesn't have any opinion on, well, anything, so maybe smarmy con man argumentation is not frowned upon by your version of a deity...
-NoCapo
p.s. I thought we had been over your idea of a non-deity god? Look up deity in your "expert definer", they are equivalent, and non-deity god is an impossibility, a semantic slight of hand. It would mean a non-god god, a god that, by its definition, isn't a god. Which is of course what you are peddling at its core, which is why i become more and more convinced that you no more believe in a god than I do...
I've already told you many times that seeing the Risen Christ in public would convince me. Jesus was willing to appear to Doubting Thomas and St. Paul, why won't he appear to everyone else?
Proof would convince me. It would be ridiculous to be unconvinced in the face of proof. That's like insisting dogs do not exist while I scratch one under its chin.
But the bottom line is there is no proof of God's existence. If there were, you would be willing to state what it is. You have certainly been asked for it many times.
Me too. Proof would convince me. For example, God coming down to talk to all of us and show us literally what He can do, and being available for actual back-and-forth communication (not the old chestnuts like "God speaks to me with a baby's smile" or whatever).
Quote:
I've already told you many times that seeing the Risen Christ in public would convince me.
Me too.
Folks, have you ever wondered why God would WANT people to believe sight-unseen? I know the fallback is that we're supposed to go "on faith" and/or that "only God's grace, not proof" can make us believe. BUT why would God want us to have personalities that just believed considering so much of the globe doesn't grow up with a Western mindset? THOSE people are "just believing" in Allah, Krishna, Trickster Otter or whatever the case may be. It's GOOD to "just believe"?
I would think God would want us to question so that we were coming to the right God! LOL! Because a purely gullible personality will latch on to whatever is presented to him/her...if it's Islam, Buddhism, Satanism, atheism (not lumping those all together as similar, just finding non-Christian choices)...or whatever. So it makes zero sense that God would reward just believing without ever doing the work of questioning and of making sure before investing one's very soul in Odin, Athena...whomever. (That's on the assumption that none of those are the "actual" god/s. Maybe they are!)
So would it be correct to state that pantheists equate "God" to life force, and thus God exists in all living things?
All The Energy/Matter That Exists And Has Existed = God
Everything is Sourced by, and is the Essence of, God.
All living things are Sourced by God, are the Essence of God, and are God.
So, yes, the statement you made would be correct.
Proof would convince me. It would be ridiculous to be unconvinced in the face of proof. That's like insisting dogs do not exist while I scratch one under its chin.
But the bottom line is there is no proof of God's existence. If there were, you would be willing to state what it is. You have certainly been asked for it many times.
That assertion to which you responded always kind of cracks me up. "I have failed to convince you, therefore nothing will."
All The Energy/Matter That Exists And Has Existed = God
Everything is Sourced by, and is the Essence of, God.
All living things are Sourced by God, are the Essence of God, and are God.
So, yes, the statement you made would be correct.
Proof would convince me. It would be ridiculous to be unconvinced in the face of proof. That's like insisting dogs do not exist while I scratch one under its chin.
But the bottom line is there is no proof of God's existence. If there were, you would be willing to state what it is. You have certainly been asked for it many times.
If physical proof is the only thing that will convince you then no, I don't have it. You are asking for something in the spirit realm to manifest at will in the physical and be repeatable on demand because only then by default, you will be forced to accept it. Not going to happen. The spirit realm and physical are two different planes of existence.
Now you can see the physical side effects of the Holy Spirit as seen in this film, but obviously, that's not good enough, but it's quite good enough for thousands of people who have an open heart to find God.
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