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Considering the abundant errors and contradiction in The Bible
Really, as far the OT goes, the sages and commentators of the Bible, some of the greatest minds in history, saw no problems. Maybe you don’t understand it as well as you think you do.
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Yepper, and that includes Yahweh/Jehovah who were based off earlier myths. And let's not forget Mithra and Horus, the gods that the Jesus myth was based off of, almost word for word.
Sorry but the story paul told was a romanized version of a story in the Talmud (books discussing Jewish law). He added the resurrection bit. I had heard it was of eastern origin.
there is only 1 creator.
the question is what is origin
the answer is I AM
created it.
something that already is does not need to be created.
religion is not science nor does science attempt to
explain the unexplainable.
religion has been scientifically proven to be functional.
e.g. korean POW war stats.
stronger tolerance to duress and torture.
This completely untrue. Scientists (cosmologists, specifically) discuss and research all the time about what happened before the big bang. The big argument is over whether there is enough mass in our universe to cause it to eventually collapse in on itself and contract into a super black hole then explode in another big bang (i.e., the eternal cyclical universes) or if it does not have enough mass and will expand forever and forever. The latter means that there can only be one big bang and begs the question of what happened before. The first answers the question of what happened before - another universe - and what happens after - another universe.
The search for dark matter is at the root of this debate. Most scientists believe there must enough matter to cause the cyclical universe because that is the only thing that really makes sense about the origins. But without the hypothetical dark matter, there isn't enough known matter in the universe to cause the eventual collapse of this universe. I believe recently, proof of dark matter was found.
If this were true, then it follows that god = dark matter.
I think you do not understand the properties of light, energy, and matter. Light does not "create time."
Most scientists agree light and time go hand in hand. They do not believe one can exist without the other. I should rephrase light creates time. Time and light did not exist before the big bang is where I was going. Therefore it did not matter what happened or existed before the big bang according to scientists. I say that is hog-wash and an easy way of not having to explain some sort of creator at some point in the equation.
Most scientists agree light and time go hand in hand. They do not believe one can exist without the other. I should rephrase light creates time. Time and light did not exist before the big bang is where I was going. Therefore it did not matter what happened or existed before the big bang according to scientists. I say that is hog-wash and an easy way of not having to explain some sort of creator at some point in the equation.
The concept of space and time being the same(4D spacetime) didn't come from the big bang, they came from the theories of relativity which predates it. Since there is no space before the big bang then neither is time. Its nothing to do with whether a god exists or not.
Not for Hindus though because they 'know' that the Christian form of god doesn't exist. You know otherwise though. One of you is wrong and quoting Bible scriptures doesn't show anything other than that you can read.
I know that God exists because He has revealed Himself to me. I quote Bible scriptures because the Bible is the living Word of God. I've experienced the power of the Holy Spirit, and the love and patience of Jesus. I can't prove God, but I don't need to. I know that I know that I know He exists, He is the only God and His Son will be proving it by fulfulling the end time prophecy of Bible. No man made statue is going to be able to do that. You must first believe by faith, without seeing.
1 Corinthians 2:9-10
"No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him----but God has revealed it to us by his Spirit."
John 20:29
"Then Jesus told him, "Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed."
2 Corinthians 5:7
"We live by faith, not by sight."
Hebrews 10:35
"So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded."
I'm not arguing to prove that God exists and He is the only God.....I KNOW He exists and is the only God. It's not my job to prove God....it's my great priviledge as a Christian to have taken that first step of faith and in return, have God prove Himself to me and bless me. Little ol' me.
The thing is that nothing would exist if there is no mind to perceive it. It is like the old Zen koan:
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"does the tree falling in the forest make a sound?"
the answer to this is, of course .. only if someone is there to hear it and uses observation, discrimination .. etc etc etc ... to discriminate, divide, analyse ..
all of which require different centres of feeling which create different effects on the observer .. even to the point of the fear which says .. "Thank God I was not under that tree when it fell"
Because nothing should come before God, some people make little gods out of just about anything, work, sports, money, you name it.
And to the OP, Exodus 3: 14 God told Moses to say I am that I am sent me. He has always been and will always be.
I guess Christians would only benefit if they could truly understand the following Zen koan, except replace the Buddha with Christ:
Quote:
Killing the Buddha If you meet the Buddha, kill him.
— Linji
If you are thinking about Buddha, this is thinking and delusion, not awakening. One must destroy preconceptions of the Buddha. Zen master Shunryu Suzuki wrote in Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind during an introduction to Zazen, "Kill the Buddha if the Buddha exists somewhere else. Kill the Buddha, because you should resume your own Buddha nature."
I know that God exists because He has revealed Himself to me. I quote Bible scriptures because the Bible is the living Word of God. I've experienced the power of the Holy Spirit, and the love and patience of Jesus. I can't prove God, but I don't need to. I know that I know that I know He exists, He is the only God and His Son will be proving it by fulfulling the end time prophecy of Bible. No man made statue is going to be able to do that. You must first believe by faith, without seeing.
1 Corinthians 2:9-10
"No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him----but God has revealed it to us by his Spirit."
John 20:29
"Then Jesus told him, "Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed."
2 Corinthians 5:7
"We live by faith, not by sight."
Hebrews 10:35
"So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded."
I'm not arguing to prove that God exists and He is the only God.....I KNOW He exists and is the only God. It's not my job to prove God....it's my great priviledge as a Christian to have taken that first step of faith and in return, have God prove Himself to me and bless me. Little ol' me.
But what about folks who follow other religions and have had personal experiences with their respective gods? I'm not trying to be antagonistic, I'm just saying that people have experiences with their own god/gods around the world regardless of religion however if you read religious scriptures they all seem to cancel each other out. For instance, Hindus believe in many gods and many believe they have had personal experiences with their gods. You, on the other other hand, are a Christian and so only believe in one god. You can't both be right so what makes Christianity right and Hinduism not?
atheists in this country are far more adamant about forcing their non-belief on everybody else than mainstream Christians ever thought of being.
I am from the UK and recently came to live in America, the Mid-West to be exact. I was a Jehovah's Witness for 40 years, but am now agnostic.... which is an integral part of my story as to why I came to the US.
So many times after relating my story, the first question has been, 'Which Church do you go to now? Would you like to come to ours?' The one or two times I have said I am an agnostic, I get incredulous stares like I have suddenly grown 2 heads. It's like people in this area cannot conceive that a person might not believe in the Christian God. I dont think the reactions would have been very pretty if I had said I was an atheist!
So it seems it depends on where you live in this country as to how socially acceptable it is to profess agnosticism or atheism. Here in Missouri/Kansas you kind of feel like you have to keep it in the closet. The opposite of how it was in good old England!
PS. There are many things I DO like about living here though.
I would just like to point out that being an atheist doesn't automatically make you a liberal. There are many atheist conservatives. Real conservatives. Not these neoconservatives of today who support spending billions of dollars in Iraq and making laws based off of their religious beliefs. That is not traditional conservatism.
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Then why is this commandment necessary if there is only 1 God?
It is like the old Zen koan: 
