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Religion is giving me a headache...
Windbit
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
I'm not sure what to believe. I was raised as a Christian, but currently I can't believe that a loving God would be selfish enough to create people to suffer and that he would send all nonchristians to Hell. I've read so many books and articles on the Internet arguing for and against Christianity. It's extremely hard to keep all the claims straight.
I've seen more proof against Christianity than I have for it. I believe that macroevolution does occur. I also see several inconsistencies in the Bible, such as the contradictions concerning Judas' death. I've also found that in Matthew 16:28, Mark 9:1, and Luke 9:27, Jesus says he will return before all those who are present at his ascent into Heaven will not die before the Second Coming.
However, I've also seen claims that the vast majority of Old Testament prophecy has been fulfilled. I've read several of them that seem pretty convincing, but I don't think I could possibly figure out if all of these claims are true or not.
I really want to make sure if Christianity is true or not. I want to eliminate all doubt from my mind. If any of you have comments, or could post links to helpful material, I would appreciate it.
I've seen more proof against Christianity than I have for it. I believe that macroevolution does occur. I also see several inconsistencies in the Bible, such as the contradictions concerning Judas' death. I've also found that in Matthew 16:28, Mark 9:1, and Luke 9:27, Jesus says he will return before all those who are present at his ascent into Heaven will not die before the Second Coming.
However, I've also seen claims that the vast majority of Old Testament prophecy has been fulfilled. I've read several of them that seem pretty convincing, but I don't think I could possibly figure out if all of these claims are true or not.
I really want to make sure if Christianity is true or not. I want to eliminate all doubt from my mind. If any of you have comments, or could post links to helpful material, I would appreciate it.
Windbit on
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Whichever parts the Baptists read.
Take a look around at some of the different ideas of what Christianity is. You're sure to find something which can accommodate both your faith and your doubts. The desire to eliminate all doubt from your mind is understandable but not really healthy, IMHO. Atheists have to live with doubt too, they just live with different doubts.
Well, that's not possible. You can't Know if it is True, and the only way to eliminate doubt is to stop thinking.
Think of it this way: How scared are you of being eaten by a dragon?
That should tell you how much you feel non-empirical things.
Then go with that.
Such as... ? You'd think events of that magnitude would be grounded in more than just hearsay.
Religion is apart from science in the same way that alchemy is apart from chemistry or astrology is apart from astronomy.
Hit or miss depending on whether the thing you want to be true is true. Most people don't really care if something is true qua true though. It matters when you are building bridges and whatnot but less so when you are trying to come up with reasons to get up in the morning,.
― Marcus Aurelius
Path of Exile: themightypuck
"true for you" doesn't mean anything. Subjective does not equal Objective.
Faith in a religion cannot be based around "facts", "proof", or the scientific method. To be faithful, you have to have faith, which is one of those intangible things that meters and scales cannot quantify. It works out well in Christianity, because all you need to do is believe in Cybo-Jebus or Zombie Jebus or whatever he's supposed to be nowadays and give him (and by association, everyone else) your love, and you'll be ok.
There's only one way to "prove" which religion is right, and it involves a gun, your cranium, and a very speedy piece of lead going from one to the other. You want proof, you're not gonna get it until you get that sweet, sweet formaldehyde enema.
And if you wait until then, it's too late. Hence the whole "faith" thing.
Ultra Edit:
Don't let church dogma/fat, sweaty "Christian" women/poorly translated and misrepresented Bibles sour you on the religion of your choice. Your belief and faith comes from within, and all the bullshit everyone else spouts is just what their religion means to them and how they interpret all that excess bullshit that the churches have been heaping on for the past couple of thousand years to get money.
But... but... objective truth is divisive!
Well you can comfort yourself with the fact that there is no empirical evidence to support the notion of people suffering for all eternity in hell. You can also play Agatha Christie with the "hell" meme and deduce that the best explanation for its existence is that it allows people to control other people through fear.
― Marcus Aurelius
Path of Exile: themightypuck
What's neat is that you're being sarcastic...but there are people who actually believe that.
I'm sure you know it is quite a bit more complicated than that. You can't escape your subjectivity no matter how hard you try.
― Marcus Aurelius
Path of Exile: themightypuck
Is that statement subjective?
Turtles...all the way down.
― Marcus Aurelius
Path of Exile: themightypuck
I'm just saying, your statement refutes itself.
Look. The Bible's subject matter is, first and foremost, the nature of God and the fate of the human soul. Despite making claims about history, cosmology, and even physics, the Bible ultimately says fuck-all about those things. Well, it actually says a lot about Jewish history, but that's not the point of the text.
Now, if you really want to 'banish all doubt from your mind' about Christianity, consider what it asks you to believe. As you think about it, pay attention to whether claims like 'Jesus was raised from the dead' are taken as innately true by you. Don't attempt to justify them to yourself. The point is, do you believe without having to give reasons for it? Because that is the nature of Faith.
I'd say this is probably more worthy of H&A, but I've never gone to H&A and have no idea if they're equipped to deal with spiritual crises.
Think of it as a koan.
― Marcus Aurelius
Path of Exile: themightypuck
I'm just not sure what he's after. I predict that it will involve a horse, however, and that this horse will be high.
You'd say wrong. H/A is not a debate-forum.
I think the point is that the original poster isn't after a debate on the merits of religion, he's hoping for relief from the anxieties caused by the disconnect between what he's been raised to believe and what he has come to think through his independent thoughts processes.
From his other posts, I think he's already an atheist deep down inside. This thread seems to be bait.
I guess I'm a nonthiest. Is that a word?
Windbit, think of it this way. Would you have ever had an inkling to believe all that bullshit and bile the bible tosses around if you hadn't been raised with it? We're all atheist by default, whether some would like to admit it or not, and anything that follows is a purely social construct created out of habit nowadays. Religion really isn't anything special at all, and spirituality is just as much of a useless concept. Don't be afraid of losing both of those things, because the freedom you'll know after you have will lead you down the roads of actual philosophy, rather than trumped up swill with pretty, comforting words.
If you mean nonthiest in the sense that you don't believe in god, that's the same thing as atheism chief.
Theism = belief in god
a = without
athiesm = without a belief in god
I used to hang out on a religious debate forum, and the amount of religion threads we've had in the last week is starting to bother me.
Also, the word "macroevolution" fills me with so much anger it burns like a tiny star within my mind. Stop using it, or I'll slit your throat while you sleep.
Ferris Bueller thought -isms were bad. Sounds like you're two peas in a pod.
A nontheist practices nontheism, neither of which are words because they mean the same thing as atheism.
I agree so very, very hard. It was a word created by stupid fucking creationists because they had to reconcile the fact that they'd been denying a phenomenon which we had tangible fucking evidence for. "Macro" and "micro" are only seperated by time, creationists just couldn't deal with it.