I have a question for everybody.

As a Christian that believes in Evolution and also doesn't believe in the entire bible literally, a thought dawned on me that I don't have a full answer for right now.For those of us who believe in God, or whatever Divine Presence but don't believe in the complete inerrancy of our Scripture (Bible, Torah, etc.) just what the heck are we supposed to believe?Think about it: We're sure of a Creator and God, we've been religion hunting/agnostic and have come to the firm conclusion that X religion is the right one. But we don't take all of its scripture literally.
So... what do we belive in about it?And for those who believe in God, but none of the organized religions on this earth, what do you believe about Him/Her/Them?Not really a post for arguement, but I'd really like to have some discussion on this one because I'm clueless.[This message has been edited by Born2Preach, 04-10-2004]

---

Wanna feel God? Step onto the wrestling mat and you'd be crazy to deny the uplifting spirit.

Btp, if you learned to be more skeptical about the teaching of folks claiming to know so much about how the universe was and looked billions of years ago, you'd learn to be less skeptical about what some reliable folks taught in ancient manuscripts concerning a few thousand years ago who claimed to be eye witnesses. I suggest you view the entire video, "The Exodus Revealed" in this regard.

I don't believe I or anyone else knows anything about Him/Her/Them/It, but I believe there is a greater, transcendent power out there somewhere. I also believe there is a reason there is something rather than nothing, but that we are not necessarily central to that purpose, and may quite possibly be peripheral or irrelevant.--Percy

I know Skepticality very well; I tell her she's way too trusting in what people say.I am very skeptical about the idea that we know what our atmosphere was like when the earth was created, and many others. However, I am also a little skeptical about some of the events in the Bible. I believe firmly in a Creator that sent himself as a man to die a human death for our sins, but that's not only from historical evidence but also what I feel inside.God is something you feel, not something you're taught, Helen Keller is a prime example. However Omnipotent God is humans are quite fallible, so I am very skeptical of what a human would claim to know about God or Divine events that happened before his time.If we don't question authority, bad things will happen. I'll see if I can get that video, but in return you read '1984' by George Orwell and 'Brave New World' by Aldous Huxley to get an understanding of the importance of being skeptical of everything you're told.

---

Wanna feel God? Step onto the wrestling mat and you'd be crazy to deny the uplifting spirit.

Interesting outlook, I'd honestly never thought of being irrelevant to whatever Power is out there watching.Thanks for the input but somehow I've got a feeling that if some Creator created everything, then everything would have at least a small purpose. For example, the life at the bottom of the ocean may not have much to do with organisms on land, but their purpose could be to just flourish under the surface and create something wonderous to be observed, not only by the Creator but by the Creator's creations as well. I know that sounds like something a naturalist hippie would say, but there really is something beautiful about life itself, so why shouldn't it be everywhere?

---

Wanna feel God? Step onto the wrestling mat and you'd be crazy to deny the uplifting spirit.

I see by this how you're getting your Biblical waters muddied by changing what is specifically stated in the texts. None of them say that God, the father sent himself or even that Jesus the son sent himself. Not that I want to debate that new topic here, but leave the texts alone to mean what they say and it all works out much better and more sensibly.[This message has been edited by buzsaw, 04-10-2004]

as a deist I believe that the only way to know is to study the universe and to attempt to understand how it operates from the subatomic level to the cosmic level.

---

we are limited in our ability to understand
by our ability to understand RebelAAmerican.Zen[Deist
{{{Buddha walks off laughing with joy}}}

How do you know that? If I were a from a different universe I might think this one is the ugliest thing I'd ever seen.

How is it atheist evos can deduce the existence of unseen objects via the behavior of something seen, but fail to make the same deductions concerning God ?Could it be that they are missing something ?Or maybe even "suppressing the truth" (Romans 1) ?

Hi Abby, Studying the universe on a subatomic level is like trying to study the different configurations of snowflakes on a macro level. IMO

---

"One is punished most for ones virtues" Fredrick Neitzche

ahahahahahaaaabut you should try getting a star into an electron scanning microscope ...

---

we are limited in our ability to understand
by our ability to understand RebelAAmerican.Zen[Deist
{{{Buddha walks off laughing with joy}}}

You are riding on a motorcycle on a stretch of curvy / hilly single lane highway at night. As you round a hilltop you see cars in front of you swerving to the left and swerving to the right of the shoulder.. prudently you slow your speed and move into the shoulder as well...As you get to the crest of the hill you see a enormous rock in your lane of travel. You have avoided the collision with this "unseen object" by the behavior of something seen. ie traffic in front of you. Would you ignore the EVIDENCE of something in the road??? I think not.

---

"One is punished most for ones virtues" Fredrick Neitzche

Hi Born2preach, It is my belief that IF there is a God, then he would acknowlege the propensity for mankind to seek the answers of our existance. I believe that the accounts in the Bible are guidence and history. NOT to be taken literally. The garden of Eden account I believe was to make the point that we have choice. The flood account was to show mans vuneralbility to Gods wrath if one does not maintain morality. Each account with a message. Does it really matter if it is not literally factual? Does the mythology of other cultures maintain the premise of enerrancy? If mankind was created by a omnipotent being then he created us with the inquisitive nature to understand our universe and explain our existance. Failure to do this is a failure to God on our part in my opinion.

---

"One is punished most for ones virtues" Fredrick Neitzche

quote:

---

How is it atheist evos can deduce the existence of unseen objects via the behavior of something seen, but fail to make the same deductions concerning God ?
Could it be that they are missing something ?

​

Or maybe even "suppressing the truth" (Romans 1) ?

---

We actually have a name for things like this, like dark matter and dark energies. Noone is claiming to "know" these things... except for people like you.

Why. Have you been to another universe lately. Did you take any pictures by the way?