Merged (edited) General thoughts about Christianity and the bible

[Olmstead]

Every benefit of faith can be easily dismissed as purely imaginary.
Since you claim that God doesn't exist, there must be a rational explanation. Right?

Rational explanation for what? Is there something tangible you get out of the relationship? If not, then there's barely anything to explain away, since there's just a person who imagines things.

 

[Carrot Flower King]

Free will is incompatible with the Christian God.

Except for when we get to the special pleading for god's atrocious behaviour, which is sub-contracted to us lot for not Making The Right Choices...

Pretty convenient scam yer man, god, is running there.

 

[Helen]

You haven't listened to her? Oh you are in for a treat.

Thank you, thank you, thank you! Started with the Greek female poets, and I have now cancelled everything else this week; there will be binging....

 

[The Great Zaganza]

People will not start using π=3 for everything in their lives because the Bible literally says so.
There is no impasse

 

[zooterkin]

Plenty of human testimony, but you don't accept that as evidence.

How is the human testimony for your god different from the human testimony for the myriad other deities?

 

[Steve]

Thank you, thank you, thank you! Started with the Greek female poets, and I have now cancelled everything else this week; there will be binging....

We will miss you here . Have fun.

 

[Gawdzilla Sama]

...which we preserve in the adage, "Do not suffer fools gladly." All the meanings allude to something that must be tolerated, allowed, or endured. But it's still an archaic usage for which you have identified better modern words.

Forsooth!

 

[Helen]

We will miss you here . Have fun.

Oh, I will not be ableto stay away for fear of having to machete my way through all the Rusty Tyler threads that would have sprung up in my absence!

 

[Gawdzilla Sama]

We could Damoclese him...

 

[Helen]

Or let Hercules have a thirteenth go.

 

[catsmate]

That saw cuts both ways

This is, as usual for you, meaningless.

Evolution is a theory.

There is lots of evidence for evolution. There is none for the multiplicity of gods invented by humanity.

 

[catsmate]

Life or death court cases are decided by eye witness testimony.

Sometimes erroneously.

 

[Mojo]

That saw cuts both ways.

Evolution is a theory.

No, evolution is a fact.

The theory of evolution by natural selection is a theory.

 

[Lithrael]

If a god doesn't literally need faith, why should a god be so concerned with it?

God desires a personal relationship with us. This requires faith on our part.

Why? How? I have a lot of personal relationships and none of them require my faith.

I'd also note that the "Benefits" of faith are being touted without any evidence of what they are, if they exist, if they're unique (...)

Yeah, this. So far we've got the assertion 'it enables a personal relationship with God' and 'it feels good/fulfilling/comforting etc' which is not unique.

Oh, and 'it enables faith healing' which is only a good point if you are convinced by faith healing, which I am not, for reasons we all elaborated on a lot in one of the other Rusty threads.

 

[I Am The Scum]

God desires a personal relationship with us. This requires faith on our part.

While this notion is common in Christianity, it is explicitly incompatible with the religion. You have to believe that God himself, in the form of Jesus, walked around, talked with people, introduced himself, performed miracles before their very eyes, etc. If you believe that a faith-based relationship is the kind he desires, then you have to accept that he had the wrong type of relationship with his own disciples.

 

[I Am The Scum]

That saw cuts both ways.

This is literally false, for what it's worth.

 

[Thermal]

While this notion is common in Christianity, it is explicitly incompatible with the religion. You have to believe that God himself, in the form of Jesus, walked around, talked with people, introduced himself, performed miracles before their very eyes, etc. If you believe that a faith-based relationship is the kind he desires, then you have to accept that he had the wrong type of relationship with his own disciples.

"Check it out check it out check it out... See how I did all these miracles in front of you? That's because you needed to believe that I'm the Real Deal, and your silly asses still doubted me and betrayed me. Everyone else to the End of Days just needs hearsay to bet their lives on though. Yes, I think you are stupid. Gonna found my church on you nitwits."

 

[JayUtah]

Why? How? I have a lot of personal relationships and none of them require my faith.

I can't see how this purported personal relationship with God is any different from having an imaginary friend. You get to decide what that friend looks like, how that friend acts, what that friend says, etc. The essence of the interaction in both cases happens entirely inside the human's head.

 

[Steve]

That saw cuts both ways.

Evolution is a theory.

Evolution is a fact. There is a very robust scientific theory that explains exactly how it occurs. All science, including the science that provides you with so many things you use on a daily basis, is based on well supported theories that explain how things actually work. You plainly have no understanding of what a theory actually is. Hint: it is not a guess.

 

[Carrot Flower King]

Evolution is a fact. There is a very robust scientific theory that explains exactly how it occurs. All science, including the science that provides you with so many things you use on a daily basis, is based on well supported theories that explain how things actually work. You plainly have no understanding of what a theory actually is. Hint: it is not a guess.

Well, I do believe we already established that our interlocutor has bugger all knowledge of any of the sciences which lie behind evolution and the evidence for it and natural selection.

I dread to think how our interlocutor thinks the computer/phone/magic talking box they use manages to communicate their, errrr, thoughts out to the rest of us...