Merged (edited) General thoughts about Christianity and the bible

[Gawdzilla Sama]

"T'was ever thus."

 

[bruto]

Doubting Thomas was a skeptic.
Jesus applauded those who believed having not "seen". (scripture below)

The Bible says that creation makes plain the evidence of a creator God. (so men are without excuse)
Skeptics renounce the Bible. How many other ancient texts do they discount?

Is it fair to reject God on the basis of evidence?

John 20:29 NIV
Then Jesus told him, “Because you have seen me, you have believed;
blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”

Hebrews 11:6 NIV
And without faith it is impossible to please God,
because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists
and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.

Late to the party here, and I haven't yet read all the responses, but the question, as put in the thread title, is an oxymoron. Not doing something is not doing it. Yeah.

The question is a rhetorical one, the answer presumed before it is asked. We are supposed to believe God requires faith because our faith has led us to texts and arguments that make that assertion. As soon as you premise any argument on "the Bible says," the argument is fudged. One can go on and on about whether there is or isn't a god, whether that god does or doesn't require faith, whether a petty and jealous god is worthy of the title to begin with, and so on, and that's certainly occupied many minds for many millennia, but from this particular question you do not leap, you plummet.

 

[Andy_Ross]

I said nothing about assessing risk.
Peter walked on water when Jesus bid him to come.
Reason made Peter sink in the waves.

Nice story.

 

[Andy_Ross]

View attachment 72116

@:0026 sec.

Surely this is claimed as evidence for god so it denies faith.

 

[Steve]

What's unreasonable about a scientific group researching the possibility of Noah's Ark found on Mt. Ararat?

"scientific group"

 

[Andy_Ross]

The Christian paradox described by Tertullian 1800 years ago.

Credo quia absurdum
"I believe because it is absurd".

 

[malbui]

The closest I’ve ever come to a religious experience was 20 years ago in Puerto Rico when a man named Jesus made me a sensationally good mojito on a hot Caribbean evening.

 

[theprestige]

I said nothing about assessing risk.

Yes, because you're not interested in reason. But it doesn't change the fact that any meaningful consideration of risk and reward requires rational thought, not blind faith.

Peter walked on water when Jesus bid him to come.
Reason made Peter sink in the waves.

That's your interpretation. Mine is different: Peter had been with Jesus for a while. He'd seen the man perform miracles already. He had good reason to trust Jesus in this case. And he was right to trust Jesus - he was actually able to walk on water! Then he panicked, and unreason set it. He forgot the evidence of his prior experience with Jesus. He forgot the empirical observation he had just made, that he could indeed walk on water. It was exactly his loss of reason that caused him to sink.

Trust is earned. Jesus earned Peter's trust. He was in a position to ask Peter to trust him in that instance because he had already put in the work earn that trust.

And the Bible itself emphasizes there's more to Christianity than just blind, unreasoning faith:

1 Thessalonians 5:20-21
English Standard Version
20 Do not despise prophecies, 21 but test everything; hold fast what is good.

1 John 4:1
English Standard Version
4 Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world.

Jeremiah 28:9
English Standard Version
9 As for the prophet who prophesies peace, when the word of that prophet comes to pass, then it will be known that the Lord has truly sent the prophet.”

 

[arthwollipot]

...the Noah's Ark site in eastern Turkey...

Which one? There have been about forty.

Searches for Noah's Ark - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Searches since the mid-20th century have been largely supported by evangelical, millenarian churches and sustained by ongoing popular interest, faith-based magazines, lecture tours, videos and occasional television specials.

 

[Lithrael]

Luke 12:6-7 NIV
Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? Yet not one of them is forgotten by God.
7 Indeed, the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.

That seems like an odd answer to the question "isn't it a bit weird if god is onmipresent, like, in the shower"

 

[P.J. Denyer]

I said nothing about assessing risk.
Peter walked on water when Jesus bid him to come.
Reason made Peter sink in the waves.

A cake labeled "EAT ME" made Alice giant.
A liquid in a bottle labeled "DRINK ME" made her tiny.
Randomly pulling bits out of fiction proves nothing.

 

[Lithrael]

No risk, no reward?

I literally can't even voluntarily take whatever 'risk' faith represents. I don't have the, the (makes motions) bits, for believing in a thing I have evaluated and re-evaluated and not found reasonable to believe.

 

[Dave Rogers]

Your God gave you reason.

Assumes facts not in evidence.

Dave

 

[P.J. Denyer]

Quick call the Fantastic Four, Galactus is back!!

Oh wait.. Google AI reverse image search says...

The image showing a giant, human-shaped lightning figure above a bridge is an AI-generated hoax.
While viral social media posts circulating on platforms like ⁠TikTok and ⁠Facebook claim it shows a "rare electrical cloud illumination event" or a supernatural entity witnessed by drivers, the image is entirely fabricated.

Why the Image is Fake

• AI Artifacts and Physics Errors: Lightning does not naturally form perfect, symmetrical human proportions complete with a torso, head, and extended limbs.
• The "Frozen" Crowd Illusion: The accompanying videos use static, AI-generated or heavily edited templates where the vehicles and people remain perfectly still in unnatural, dramatic poses, mimicking a movie scene rather than real-world reactions.
• Pareidolia vs. Fabrication: Some captions try to justify the phenomenon as psychological pareidolia (the human tendency to see faces or shapes in random patterns). However, the flawless anatomy and structural lighting elements confirm this is an intentional digital creation rather than a trick of a natural storm. [1]

If you are interested in severe weather phenomena, I can show you how to find real, verified storm footage or explain how atmospheric electricity actually behaves during intense storms.

To bad Rusty, ya nearly had us there...

 

[Steve]

Quick call the Fantastic Four, Galactus is back!!

Oh wait.. Google AI reverse image search says...



To bad Rusty, ya nearly had us there...

View attachment 72121

Rusty has FAITH! Facts be damned.

 

[arthwollipot]

Wait...
Do those other gods require faith?

Yes. Of course they do. Do you think there's more evidence for Ra and Vishnu than there is for the Christian God?

That's not the point.

Requiring faith defeats the purpose of evidence.

 

[Mojo]

Assumes facts not in evidence.

Dave

At least two.

 

[arthwollipot]

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

Correct. Do you understand why?

 

[SpuriusMaximus]

I mean, if "someone said so" were the standard of evidence, then we have more evidence for Odin than for Jesus. Odin was allegedly seen in person at the battle of Lena in 1208, where he personally led the cavalry charge of the outnumbered Swedes to victory. And allegedly a local smith shod Odin's 8 legged horse the night before the battle. That means he showed himself to 7000 to 10000 Swedes, not just to a bunch of apostles.

 

[Andy_Ross]

Welcome back by the way.