A believer hits the nail on the head

Flaherty

Critical Thinker
F
Joined
Aug 29, 2001
Messages
293
From the Dec 2 Tallahassee Democrat letters-to-the-editor:

Bible must not be read skeptically

Re: "True believers don't understand skeptics" (Letters, Nov. 26).

The letter writer's statement that true believers don't understand skeptics is not entirely true.

I was once a skeptic. Today, I'm a true believer. I once looked at the Bible as full of contradictions and fairy tales, written by humans to further a human agenda. The problem with my rendition of the Bible was that I was reading it and interpreting it through the eyes of a skeptic.

To understand the Bible, one must first accept Christ as savior and be indwelled with the Holy Spirit, which gives us the ability to understand the Bible. Skeptics state they've never seen evidence of biblical claims and beliefs outside of the Bible. I haven't either, but my faith in the inerrant word of God validates them nonetheless.

May I offer a suggestion for skeptics: Seek out a dialogue with true believers. It is my hope that once you do, you'll begin to understand the Christian faith. Accept Christ for who he is and begin to grow in Christian knowledge and faith.

CHARLES E. SOUTHER
souther51@hotmail.com

http://www.tallahassee.com/mld/democrat/news/editorial/letters/7389248.htm
Click to expand...

It's pretty sad these types of people are allowed to vote and drive cars.
 
I haven't either, but my faith in the inerrant word of God validates them nonetheless.
Click to expand...
Plenty of people have just as much (if not more faith) in their own gods, why you dismiss so many other's gods is beyond me...

Worship the sun, pray to Joe Pesci...
 
He is using the same rationalisation as the people at the Creation Science organisations. Our friend Kent Hovind does too.

Isn't there a place somewhere you can put all these people so that they can preach to themselves and not be allowed get back out into the general populace?
 
Flaherty said:
From the Dec 2 Tallahassee Democrat letters-to-the-editor:



It's pretty sad these types of people are allowed to vote and drive cars.
Click to expand...

That guy wasn't a skeptic, he just read the confessions of St. Augustine and assumed the role of the author. The last time I had a conversation with true believers I realized they were all brain damaged or something and decided to become an evil atheist in order to avoid that fate. Actually, I didn't decide to become an atheist so much as they started calling me one, and I decided it wasn't worth the effort to tell them otherwise. Now I realize that true believers are not brain damaged, just close minded about their beliefs. They cling to their beliefs like barnacles to the bottom of a ship.
 
May I offer a suggestion for skeptics: Seek out a dialogue with true believers. It is my hope that once you do, you'll begin to understand the Christian faith.
Click to expand...
I think he's got that much of it right. Brain damage is pretty easy to spot.
 
May I offer a suggestion for skeptics: Seek out a dialogue with true believers. It is my hope that once you do, you'll begin to understand the Christian faith. Accept Christ for who he is and begin to grow in Christian knowledge and faith.
Click to expand...

Rather presumptious of him to presuppose that skeptics don't seek out 'true believers'. (how do you know a true believer, do they carry membership cards?) I've never been afraid to discuss religion with all types of believers. I've been friends with a borderline fundy baptist. (We had the most lovely arguments. :D )
 
To understand the Bible, one must first accept Christ as savior and be indwelled with the Holy Spirit, which gives us the ability to understand the Bible.
Click to expand...

indwelled???!

:confused:
 
Re: Re: A believer hits the nail on the head

c4ts said:

Now I realize that true believers are not brain damaged, just close minded about their beliefs. They cling to their beliefs like barnacles to the bottom of a ship.
Click to expand...
Sounds like fundamentalism to me, whether of the religious or atheist variety as it seems to me that atheists may be as closed-minded as anybody else
 
Re: Re: A believer hits the nail on the head

c4ts said:
They cling to their beliefs like barnacles to the bottom of a ship.
Click to expand...
I can hardly blame anyone for this. My family defines itself partly by being Catholic. I tried to convince myself that I believed for the longest time. It's hard to let go.
 
To understand the Bible, one must first accept Christ as savior and be indwelled with the Holy Spirit, which gives us the ability to understand the Bible.
Click to expand...
Chicken & Egg problem. Which comes first? Read the bible to understand Christ, or accept Christ to understand the bible?
 
hgc said:
Chicken & Egg problem. Which comes first? Read the bible to understand Christ, or accept Christ to understand the bible?
Click to expand...

That's not the only problem. If you don't understand the Bible exactly as I do, then you obviously haven't really accepted Christ, and are being deceived by Satan...

I can't wait to be filled with the Holy Spirit and have all those contradictions, cruelties and absurdities disappear.. Will it ruin " Seinfeld " for me also?
 
Hmm,
Well that is very honest at least, they are admitting that you have to accept JC before the Bible will make sense, the problem I had was that i did accept JC, and I found that all of the OT and most of the NT were in disagreement with the teachings of JC.

At least it is an attempt to admit that the bible will not make sense to some of us, that is the beautey of somethings, honesty is free-ing.
 
Diogenes said:


This discussion has me thinking.. What would be a reasonable substitute for ' indwelled ' as in .. " Indwelled with the Holy Spirit. "?

Infected?
Click to expand...

If you're quoting the King James version, it's "indwelledeth."
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Back
Top Bottom