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That is a very prevalent paradigm, Irkle. Many deconversions occur from the disappointment of absurd claims made in religion leading to rejection. I suspect it is because the main impetus to believe in God was predicated on the claims of religion and not an inner predilection.
For me, the sect I grew up in was the thread I started pulling on that lead to the whole thing unraveling. I can't say for sure if I had belonged to a religious sect that was positive I would have tugged that thread. I think I would have made the same conclusion about the stories of God but I can't know for sure. When I finally reached that conclusion is was from the same place as where you made your conclusion God exists and all that you say follows that. I had a very strong predilection that my experience was indeed proof of a creator reaching out to me. I had to admit it was more likely it was actually just the well-known psychological phenom I read about.
A conclusion on rather a weighty matter. ..... The faulty assumption here on the part of many people is that the conclusion "no God exists" is as self-evident as the conclusion "no Tooth Fairy exists."
If no god exists, it's not weighty at all. Conversely, if you live your life believing YOUR specific god does exist, then YOU would carry that notion, that is the faulty assumption here.
in Gnostic World 'belief' defined by one's spiritual sensitivity.
Technically gnostic denotes knowledge of a god, but common misuse of the word, that seems to have become a new description in it's own right, suggests it's sort of a 1/2 religious (or spiritual) person.
Theist = I BELIEVE in one or more god
Athiest = I don't believe that claim
Gnostic = I have KNOWLEDGE of one or more god
Agnostic = I don't have knowledge of any god
So EVERYONE, by the original intent of the word, is Agnostic, because there is no KNOWLEDGE of the existence of a god that lives outside of the mind of individual. What is called KNOWLEDGE is more rightly FORTIFIED BELIEF.
Technically gnostic denotes knowledge of a god, but common misuse of the word, that seems to have become a new description in it's own right, suggests it's sort of a 1/2 religious (or spiritual) person.
Theist = I BELIEVE in one or more god
Athiest = I don't believe that claim
Gnostic = I have KNOWLEDGE of one or more god
Agnostic = I don't have knowledge of any god
So EVERYONE, by the original intent of the word, is Agnostic, because there is no KNOWLEDGE of the existence of a god that lives outside of the mind of individual. What is called KNOWLEDGE is more rightly FORTIFIED BELIEF.
it is essentially the same, just ways of estimating of experience, Faith, Hope Agape - all defined by 'amount' of knowledge - experience of God.
it is essentially the same, just ways of estimating of experience, Faith, Hope Agape - all defined by 'amount' of knowledge - experience of God.
I think where people start talking past each other, is when one defines knowledge as personal, and accepts personal experience/feelings as part of what is deemed proof, and draw a definitive conclusion, while another person defines it as shared, in that it is accessible and commonly held or at least provable and witnessed outside of only individual/personal experience. Thereby removing the requirement of trusting only another person's word to validate the evidence/knowledge.
I think where people start talking past each other, is when one defines knowledge as personal, and accepts personal experience/feelings as part of what is deemed proof, and draw a definitive conclusion, while another person defines it as shared, in that it is accessible and commonly held or at least provable and witnessed outside of only individual/personal experience. Thereby removing the requirement of trusting only another person's word to validate the evidence/knowledge.
it is not that simple, i had my personal (Gnostic type) experience. I was persuaded that it was real, i know that nobody will get the same experience. two different things to read about it or hear about it from a pastor or have personal proof of it. Greek even used two different words for knowledge to differentiate them.
it is not that simple, i had my personal (Gnostic type) experience. I was persuaded that it was real, i know that nobody will get the same experience. two different things to read about it or hear about it from a pastor or have personal proof of it. Greek even used two different words for knowledge to differentiate them.
Sure I'm not arguing with you on that, in fact until I moved a few years ago I had a copy of the gnostic bible, interesting reading for sure. Amazon carries it if you're interested. But the Gnostics were a a self described group that felt they had a different version of the truth and had the true knowledge of that truth, hence....they chose the word gnostic.
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