Honest question from an atheist

Actually, feelings are worth a great deal and especially when it comes to important issues.

But in this case the question was asked; how does it feel to believe in God? The question; does your feeling God exists, prove God exists? was not being asked.

As for your; “There was a time in history when virtually everyone "felt" strongly that the earth was flat.” It wasn’t a “feeling” it was the very all knowing scientists of the past that “knew” it to be true, which were wrong.

 

I build furniture for a living. Before I build a piece I have an image in my mind of exactly what the piece will look like. A few hours later it becomes physical. Believing in God is believing that the image exists. (and came from the unknown)edit. In the Bible God's name is I will be what I will be.(I Am what I will be)edit

Edit. Also, 4000 years ago God promised Abraham that his descendants would be like the stars in the sky. That has been proven correct which is pretty amazing when you think about it.

 

Also, 4000 years ago God promised Abraham that his descendants would be like the stars in the sky. That has been proven correct which is pretty amazing when you think about it.

please elaborate

 

The promise was made when he was an old man with no kids, but I see where you are going. Over that amount of time with compounding...

 

no. this is not really what i am about. i that that nature is the absolute, and science helps us understand how it works, but of course it can be flawed (science.) whether or not humans get to the point of completely figuring nature out is irrelevant to its validity, but yes i am happy when things seem to come together in a way that makes sense in my own head. but humans and their theories are fallible and i am ok with that. What i think is that nature within our universe and outside it, functions without need of a higher being. it just does what it does within the realm of possibility. "dark matter" is our way to refer to something we don't yet understand, but whatever it is, it is.
the way that things work on earth, under conditions that i am familiar with, is not necessarily going to be applicable to the rest of what exists, especially under different conditions. But regardless, what is natural is true, what is "supernatural" is ungrounded and unlikely in my mind

 

I'm going to edit my previous post. In the Bible God's name is I am what I will be, but he is also called the Amen which means the hidden that becomes so. Christ is called the Amen in Revelations. Out of the void(God) comes intent(spirit) which becomes physical(flesh and blood). Also, the Bible begins by saying God(the void) created the heavens(intent) and the earth(physical).

edit; Amen is the hidden that is becoming so. NOW.

 

so where am I going?

 

Weren't you going to try to prove me wrong?

 

when it boils down to theology there is no proving right or wrong

while being a shade more towards the atheist side.. I am still agnostic

even from a scientific basis .. I do see a possibility to open a door to a realm where time stands still...kind of my own theory ... I feel the math is sound

so , no i don't throw the baby out with the bathwater

 

I too believe that “nature”, what exists, is the absolute and as I said, I enjoy and find fascinating mankind’s feeble attempts to know and explain what exists.

And I also agree for the most part that that “nature”, all that exists, within our universe, functions without need of a higher being but to me the mere fact that it does leads me to believe that it took a supreme intelligence to set it in motion for it to function that way.

Also what I was pointing out was your use of the word “know”, as opposed to “believe”. You use the word “know” for things that may not be true and thus it seems you only believe them, which seems to make the way you “know” not much different than the way I “believe”.



PS I’m unsure of your use of the word "supernatural", I guess in a way God could be called "supernatural", because he does stand outside of what has been created but that does not mean that when God works with what has been created that he can ignore the rules and laws that he used to create those things.

In other words although miracles may seem "supernatural" to some, they are not, God merely knows those rules and laws better than we do and thus can use them in ways that seem "supernatural" to us.

 

And a good thing for the baby it is!

 

w h a t ? i feel like that goes against everything my sunday school teacher tried to force down my throat. i thought the whole deal was that god was the omniscient all-powerful being, bound by absolutely nothing but his own will. how could he be restricted by rules that he himself supposedly created?? that doesnt even sound like Christianity to me. if he wanted to violate the laws of nature he certainly could, according to the theology i'm familiar with. like his interventions in the bible.

and if you think that nature is god's creation, then you do not think that nature is the absolute. you think that god is the absolute, and that is where we differ.

supernatural to me means supposedly outside or above nature, and that is what god is purported to be, if you think that he created nature.

 

My feelings is that Old Water Brother is a very unique individual, he is member of a very small group. A group that doesn't try and shove their beliefs down your throat.

And even though we have our differences... I am glad to have meet him here and consider him a friend and a brother... even with the old water part

 

i think you're right about that. he is wiser than that. i know i can get a little carried away.

 

Thanx!

Like Bill Hicks says; It's Just A Ride!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iMUiwTubYu0&feature=related

Everybody thinks about it and describes in their own way.

I just like to hear what others have to say about it, even if I have to drag it out of them.

Who knows, I could be wrong!

 

Surely, you didn’t believe what those idiot Sunday school teachers tried to teach you.

As for “Christianity”, the Bible talks of two groups of people calling themselves Christian in the last days. One group Jesus will call his brothers and the other group Jesus will renounce and say to them get away from me you workers of lawlessness.

As for God be able to violate the laws of nature, certainly he could but he also knows what that would do to the Universe, once he would start ignoring the laws that he created for the Universe, the Universe would came crashing down like a house of cards, so wanting the Universe to keep on existing he follows the rules.

If you notice, I said: “nature”, what exists, is the absolute and so in this case that would include God as well. Later I said; “nature”, all that exists, within our universe, functions without need of a higher being, which would not include God. Sorry if this is or was confusing to you, I didn’t mean it to be. The concepts are simple but trying to say them makes it seem complicated.

I believe I did say that if that is what you mean by “supernatural” then yes God is “supernatural” but also as I said I don’t believe that the miracles that God has performed are “supernatural”, accept for the creation of the Universe which was of course “supernatural”.

 

lolz at you knowing what god's intentions are
but still confused here - if you believe God created nature, he and his creation are not on the same level...

 

He wrote me a letter and told me what his intentions are.

That’s true but now I’m confused about why you’re confused.

 

the term nature doesnt include god then. because its something he created. so god is your absolute, not nature, which he could have shaped and modulated in any which way

 

I don't really think it feels any different then not believing in god. There was a time when I didn't, now I firmly do, still feels all the same though