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.
I suppose you mean me, but honestly how can it be based on anything other than the "good book"? There is nothing else to go on! Absolutely NOTHING. And you're right, once one removes the blinders that you have to have on to even be a believer and begin to see the errors, ridiculous contradictions and unbelievable fables that are in the bible, then reality takes over and you see the nonsense of it all.
Maybe I was a "biblian" but so are all the other so-called Christians out there.....they base at least some portion of their beliefs on what is written in the bible. If they say they don't then they are liars because how else would they know about Jesus, the ten commandments etc. etc?
I was referring to you, I hope you don't mind.
I have to disagree tho, with your premise. The Holy Spirit is what sustains my and many other non-so called Christians. With out the Spirit of God working in a person their faith is a dead and empty faith. I can understand how such a person can become an atheist/agnostic.
It's not about the church. It's not about the Father, Son and Holy Bible (pentecostal joke-but to the point). The Bible is a guide book. Christianity is about a relationship, not a Book.
I'm not trying to pick on Christians here & I don't want this to become a big fight. I really would like to know. However I never never understood why some can't defend thier faith without mentioning the bible. If your strong in your faith then why not use your own words?
If my faith depends on what the Bible says - at some point, you have to go there. Otherwise it's just your word against mine and it's all simply one's opinion.
I'm not trying to pick on Christians here & I don't want this to become a big fight. I really would like to know. However I never never understood why some can't defend thier faith without mentioning the bible. If your strong in your faith then why not use your own words?
It is quite possible to defend ones belief in a personal theistic Creator without even saying the word 'Bible' or opening it up. Modern science has provided very compelling evidences for an intelligent Being being the cause of our universe, sustaining it, and making it so fine tuned to provide for human life that it clearly boggles the mind ...at least for the UNbiased Mind .
There are essentially three points that prove a personal theistic Creator plus some other considerations too boot : 1. The Creation around us 2. The historical figure of Jesus Christ 3. The proof that the Bible is in fact supernatural in origin and text . So, the Bible need not be used as proof , although since it is a famous literary work like other popular works...why shouldnt it be used ? Perhaps its the people who automatically write it off that need to investigate its authenticity and how it is supernaturally inspired ., instead of immediately dismissing it due to a preconcieved personal bias. At any rate, One need not use the Bible to justify that there has to be a personal theistic Creator for what we have...and...in fact, it is the most absurd of all things to think that everything 'just happened' nilly willy, that we come from a magical one celled pond protozoa, and that materials like rocks/dirt/dense clouds/hydrogen gas gave us our NON-material personality traits of reason, logic, love, abstract thinking, and consciousness . (We tried this back in the early 1980's with the Pet Rock phenominon and only the absurd was able to have a relationship with ones Rock that sat on the Dresser ! But thats about how silly an atheistic worldview is when looking at it ).
If you want to know how to defend the Christian Faith as being credible, you may go to www.impactapologetics.com or www.answersingenesis.org or do a google under : Evidences for a personal theistic Creator ... assuming there is a real true desire on your part. I trust there is since so much is at stake .
If my faith depends on what the Bible says - at some point, you have to go there. Otherwise it's just your word against mine and it's all simply one's opinion.
Thats all it really is anyhow your word/opinion against those who don't believe as you do. Even quoting the bible it's still word against everyone else's. You'll see it as it as Gods word but to everyone else it's still the writings of man & nothing else. And in reality that's all it really is ...unless you can prove your God is more real then mine is. I can't prove mine is more or less then your is. Like someone else said that's why it's called faith.
If you ain't smart enough to express yourself in your own words, you regurgitate phrases you have learned by reading the same book over and over and over and over and over.
I'm not trying to pick on Christians here & I don't want this to become a big fight. I really would like to know. However I never never understood why some can't defend thier faith without mentioning the bible. If your strong in your faith then why not use your own words?
Why don't you get out of your Echo chamber and seek out information that does just that!! Good grief!! Broaden your narrow mind!! There's plenty of documentation out here that does just that!!
You think you have a toe hold on intelligence! God created science!
But the real issue is that you will look at it already thinking that it's wrong.....and reject it. No one will believe in God if their minds refuse to.....
Why don't you get out of your Echo chamber and seek out information that does just that!! Good grief!! Broaden your narrow mind!! There's plenty of documentation out here that does just that!!
I have to disagree tho, with your premise. The Holy Spirit is what sustains my and many other non-so called Christians. With out the Spirit of God working in a person their faith is a dead and empty faith. I can understand how such a person can become an atheist/agnostic.
It's not about the church. It's not about the Father, Son and Holy Bible (pentecostal joke-but to the point). The Bible is a guide book. Christianity is about a relationship, not a Book.
No I don't mind but I do mind being misrepresented. I never said I didn't have a "relationship" with a god, and my relationship with it was just as real to me as the next Christian. I truly believed there was a god and that Jesus/god was always with me. There can be NO faith without the bible, however. That blind faith is what I lost, or I should say I simply accepted the reality of the situation. And yes, after studying the bible more in depth and realizing it's errors and contradictions, that's when the blind faith started to fade.
The fact is that no matter how you slice it, your "faith" is based solely on a book. No matter how much lip service you give it, you can't prove faith or even have knowledge of a supposed god without the bible telling you about it. The book tells you HOW to have faith, it tells you that there is a god and that you should worship it and have a relationship with it. So the bible comes first, then the blind faith and imagined relationship with the sky fairy. You can't get around the fact that the entire book is written by men who were obviously very superstitious and delusional.
And don't give me the tired old "I was never really a Christian to begin with" so atheism was a short trip for me. Yes I was for 47 years, no it wasn't a short trip and you or any other Christian cannot say otherwise. Denial and the lie of religion has such a stronghold on people's minds...their entire lives, really. I was tortured by it and I'm so happy to be free from it. But it wasn't easy, and it still isn't. I don't claim to have it all figured out and I don't demand that there definitely isn't a god but because there is absolutely no evidence to support it other than some bizarre ancient book, I can't go on believing in something that is obviously make-believe.
I'm not a Christian, so I can't really explain why Christians might do this.However, I can guess. If we accept that some Christians belive The Bible is the necessarily true word of God, and The Bible defines faith to them, then we can see it plausible why Christians might define their faith with The Bible. The Bible is necessarily true, The Bible's defintion of faith is necessarily true, The Bible is intergal to their faith, since The Bible's defintion of faith is necessarily the true one, and since if any defintion of faith not from The Bible is not from it,(Duh!) then that makes any other defintion of faith not from The Bible necessarily false,Thus, to these Christians, the only way to define their faith truly is to quote The Bible.
Just so there's no confusion, I don't believe The Bible is true.
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.
