The God of the gaps.

[Dajjal]

As it happens, I think there probably is a God. But to me the bible is largely bunk, and it proves nothing.

 

[Meriweather]

god, what is it, where is it, can you touch it, can you see it, what is it made of, what is it's purpose, is it consistant, what does it require?

Is it carbon based, what is its life span. How does it work, why does it kill, why does it need to be worshipped, can you measure it?

Can it be replicated, are there others and if so where?

Proof not fire side stores or fear mongering to control the masses

God is love, and is Spirit-based. God's life span is eternal, His measure infinite.

It is not God's need to be worshiped by us; it is our need, or mankind's best interest to put God and the Way of God (love) first. When people focus truly on love, they seek and aim for the ideal in all they do and in all their relationships with one another.

Love is not willing to settle for "good enough." Love seeks the best, strives for the ideal.

 

[Meriweather]

As it happens, I think there probably is a God. But to me the bible is largely bunk, and it proves nothing.

The Bible is an account of people and their relationship with God. It is also an account of God's revelation of Himself.

 

[aris2chat]

If there were to be a god like figure, why would it care what we think about god? Would it care what animals think or what the dinosaurs thought? They were around millions of year.

God is a being of love...and love, by definition, cares.

genocide, mass murder, wars, extinctions, famine, water shortages..............

pain, disease, deformation, ................

love? caring?

what if it didn't have love or caring for us lowly humans or the rest of the planet's life forms?

 

[aris2chat]

god, what is it, where is it, can you touch it, can you see it, what is it made of, what is it's purpose, is it consistant, what does it require?

Is it carbon based, what is its life span. How does it work, why does it kill, why does it need to be worshipped, can you measure it?

Can it be replicated, are there others and if so where?

Proof not fire side stores or fear mongering to control the masses

God is love, and is Spirit-based. God's life span is eternal, His measure infinite.

It is not God's need to be worshiped by us; it is our need, or mankind's best interest to put God and the Way of God (love) first. When people focus truly on love, they seek and aim for the ideal in all they do and in all their relationships with one another.

Love is not willing to settle for "good enough." Love seeks the best, strives for the ideal.

Phantom of the imagination in other words

No form, substance, mass
No proof

 

[Dajjal]

As it happens, I think there probably is a God. But to me the bible is largely bunk, and it proves nothing.

The Bible is an account of people and their relationship with God. It is also an account of God's revelation of Himself.

As far as I am concerned the old testament is largely made up Jewish myths invented to promote their tribe.
I am less critical of the teachings of Jesus because they are of a higher moral tone. But I do not really think Jesus did all those miracles or was resurrected.

My belief there is probably a God comes from communications with the spirit world, who say there is one.
I do not need the bible to find a belief system.

 

[Meriweather]

genocide, mass murder, wars, extinctions, famine, water shortages..............

pain, disease, deformation, ................

love? caring?

what if it didn't have love or caring for us lowly humans or the rest of the planet's life forms?

Do you consider the highest form of love to be a love that can only love what is already perfect? If something is perfect, would it need care or attentiveness?

 

[Meriweather]

As far as I am concerned the old testament is largely made up Jewish myths invented to promote their tribe.
I am less critical of the teachings of Jesus because they are of a higher moral tone. But I do not really think Jesus did all those miracles or was resurrected.

My belief there is probably a God comes from communications with the spirit world, who say there is one.
I do not need the bible to find a belief system.

The Old Testament is one account of Hebrew history and their relationship with God. Read correctly from the intended perspective, the Old Testament presents itself as moral as the New Testament. Many find the Old Testament easier to spin for use against people of faith. Correct understanding and approach is paramount in understanding the lessons therein.

I agree that no one needs a Bible to find a belief system. Where the Bible becomes invaluable is in connecting, contrasting, and comparing one's own beliefs and faith experiences with those of others. How do they align?

 

[BreezeWood]

As it happens, I think there probably is a God. But to me the bible is largely bunk, and it proves nothing.

The Bible is an account of people and their relationship with God. It is also an account of God's revelation of Himself.

As far as I am concerned the old testament is largely made up Jewish myths invented to promote their tribe.
I am less critical of the teachings of Jesus because they are of a higher moral tone. But I do not really think Jesus did all those miracles or was resurrected.

My belief there is probably a God comes from communications with the spirit world, who say there is one.
I do not need the bible to find a belief system.

.

I do not need the bible to find a belief system.

the similarity of the three desert religions is a rigid assimilation of written script, prior to which were simple trueisms that could conform to changing times and yet remain intact to prove their worth.


christianity by the old method was concluded by Jesus's own honest words -

Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani 'My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?'


without their written text one can only wonder where those religions would be today ....

.

 

[aris2chat]

genocide, mass murder, wars, extinctions, famine, water shortages..............

pain, disease, deformation, ................

love? caring?

what if it didn't have love or caring for us lowly humans or the rest of the planet's life forms?

Do you consider the highest form of love to be a love that can only love what is already perfect? If something is perfect, would it need care or attentiveness?

Love is not perfect, we are humans and love can be destructive and obsessive.

God should not pick and choose people, nations or races to love. Love should not make those thy love suffer or torture them for amusement or vanity.

God is ready to wipe out towns, nations or the globe because he/it made mankind imperfect?

Sorry but vain, vengeful, war lord that demand absolute worship is not god but a gruel overseer or slave master.

God is given human traits by humans to control others.

If you dont' eat your vegetable the boogey man will get you in the night

 

[Dajjal]

To believe the old testament is from God is to believe things like, Jonah was swallowed by a whale, and Noah built an ark. These are obviously not true stories, and that is one way I know the Quran is largely stolen from the bible. Because it claims these fiction stories as the words of God.

 

[Meriweather]

Phantom of the imagination in other words

Imagination is not spirit. We are made up of body, mind/soul, and spirit. Perhaps regard spirit as the will that chooses what the mind presents.

No form, substance, mass
No proof

It is very difficult to talk of--and measure--the spiritual realm by how we speak of and measure the physical realm. No one expects wet and dry to have the same attributes--or to be measured and looked at the same way. The same is true of the spiritual and physical realms.

 

[Meriweather]

Love is not perfect, we are humans and love can be destructive and obsessive.

God should not pick and choose people, nations or races to love. Love should not make those thy love suffer or torture them for amusement or vanity.

God is ready to wipe out towns, nations or the globe because he/it made mankind imperfect?

Sorry but vain, vengeful, war lord that demand absolute worship is not god but a gruel overseer or slave master.

God is given human traits by humans to control others.

If you dont' eat your vegetable the boogey man will get you in the night

Human love is not perfect, and it can be destructive and obsessive. To make it more even more complicated, human love often has mixed motivations.

Portraying God as a Being who is a warlord that wipes out towns, as a cruel overseer or slave master is what I was speaking of when I mentioned the Old Testament being easy to spin--and even easier to misinterpret. We have to be able to think as ancients thought to understand the messages/accounts they left for us.

 

[Meriweather]

To believe the old testament is from God is to believe things like, Jonah was swallowed by a whale, and Noah built an ark. These are obviously not true stories, and that is one way I know the Quran is largely stolen from the bible. Because it claims these fiction stories as the words of God.

The story of Noah: We are told that in a wide area there was only one individual who spent time listening for God and being obedient to Him. As such, Noah heard the instructions to build an ark, and acted upon (was obedient) to them.

The story of Jonah: When told to go to an enemy camp and warn the people there of God's impending displeasure, Jonah decided he did not want the assignment for two reasons. First, who cared about the stupid Ninevites or what happened to them? Second, if the people of Nineveh listened to Jonah, changed their ways, and nothing happened, people could jeer at him and claim nothing would have happened even if they hadn't changed their ways.

Jonah decided he wanted no part of this--and off he went to find a new life...but found himself right back at his own starting point. So, he threw up his hands and went to Nineveh--with his same attitude. However, the King of Nineveh took up Jonah's slack. Whereas Jonah's heart still was not in the work God asked of him, God's word reached the King--and the King acted. He repented, dressed in sackcloth and ashes himself, and commanded all in his kingdom to do the same. The evil God had intended was averted, and Jonah went away moaning about the unfairness of it all.

The morals: God can use imperfect human beings--and repentance can come from unlikely people/places.

 

[indiajo]

I've lost count of how many times I've heard this ignorant argument from atheists. They say that the only reason I believe in a Creator is because science can't answer the question of how and why we exist.

Actually, no.
They say you believe in a creator because you want to believe.
That's all.

 

[aris2chat]

Phantom of the imagination in other words

Imagination is not spirit. We are made up of body, mind/soul, and spirit. Perhaps regard spirit as the will that chooses what the mind presents.

No form, substance, mass
No proof

It is very difficult to talk of--and measure--the spiritual realm by how we speak of and measure the physical realm. No one expects wet and dry to have the same attributes--or to be measured and looked at the same way. The same is true of the spiritual and physical realms.

Spirit, ghost, thin air..............imagination

non-corporeal substance. can you define it, quantify it, touch it, take a picture of it?

Where is the proof?

 

[Lutroo]

I've lost count of how many times I've heard this ignorant argument from atheists. They say that the only reason I believe in a Creator is because science can't answer the question of how and why we exist.

Actually, no.
They say you believe in a creator because you want to believe.
That's all.

I believe because I must. It's not easy being a Christian. It would be so much easier to just say the hell with it and live a life of sin. But I can't do that because I know the penalty for sin. More importantly, Jesus made the ultimate sacrifice to save us from our sin. That act shows a love that is incomprehensible. How can you not love Him for that? Enjoy your sinful life. Eternity awaits.

 

[Meriweather]

Spirit, ghost, thin air..............imagination

non-corporeal substance. can you define it, quantify it, touch it, take a picture of it?

Where is the proof?

You name four different non-corporeal items. Does imagination exist? Does thin air exist? Does a body that houses a spirit act differently from one that does not?

1. I can hand you a book of fairy tales to point out imagination.
2. I can take you up to the top of a mountain to show you the difference between air at sea level and thin air.
3. We can go to a cemetery to see the difference between bodies with spirits and bodies without one.
4. May want to Google images of ghosts...

 

[aris2chat]

Spirit, ghost, thin air..............imagination

non-corporeal substance. can you define it, quantify it, touch it, take a picture of it?

Where is the proof?

You name four different non-corporeal items. Does imagination exist? Does thin air exist? Does a body that houses a spirit act differently from one that does not?

1. I can hand you a book of fairy tales to point out imagination.
2. I can take you up to the top of a mountain to show you the difference between air at sea level and thin air.
3. We can go to a cemetery to see the difference between bodies with spirits and bodies without one.
4. May want to Google images of ghosts...

does a body house a spirit? Prove it

does an ant have a spirit?

Thin air, mount Everest, where are the spirits to be seen there? Air can be measured, proven. Spirits cannot.

Cemeteries have plots for bodies, does not prove spirits. all life dies eventfully including bacteria. where are the spirits? How do you measure or show such things exist, out side your imagination? What of plants? Where are all these spirits?



None of this prove god.

 

[Meriweather]

None of this prove god.

Shrug. I don't try to "prove" God. Proof requires physical evidence. God is Spirit. To demand proof of God is like putting someone in a vacuum and demanding they prove air from the lack of it; of asking a blind man to prove light; of using a rock to prove animation.

Interest in God/Spirit demands one transcend physical objects and look beyond. Some see the make-up of living beings as having a body (physical matter) a mind (operates the physical matter) and spirit (makes choices and creates from what the mind offers).

We have all been told, or heard the words, "Make up your mind." What entity within you makes up your mind? Is it your finger, your toe? Or is it the essential "you", your personality/spirit? The fact that you can make up your mind suggests there is something more to you than just a body and mind.