Why Are Christians Afraid To Doubt?

On the contrary, I've done that hundreds of times. Please stop making assumptions. You're really bad at it. Didn't say I was. It's your responsibility to go out and find somebody who is. If you don't, you'll be numbered with the goats no matter what you preach.

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You know nothing of what it means to me or how the Spirit relates to me.You're just lashing out in the dark.

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You're thinking backwards. There's no evidence that God is able to preserve His message. The way of honest inquiry is to look for positive evidence, not lack of negative evidence. So do suicide bombers. We need to examine the beliefs themselves, not just the fanaticism of the believers. Happens all the time: Pranks Gone Wrong.But you're missing the point: we have to look honestly at the motivation of "martyrs for the cause" - any cause - not just make assumptions. Yes, finding the truth can take time - and even effort. So now you want a short cut?I didn't say the disciples were deceived. I said it's a possibility that we shouldn't dismiss a priori (as you have done). The mere fact that you believe in these fictitious "hype mongers" indicates that your opinion is not to be trusted. But you haven't "called" anybody - you haven't even named anybody. All you've provided is innuendo with nothing whatever to back it up. Lazy thinking. Certainty without evidence to back it up. Homo sapiens. That's the point of the thread, isn't it? You really haven't verified your beliefs at all. You can "truly trust" in the Tooth Fairy or Mother Goose or Bigfoot if you want. But "we" can't trust your conclusions because of the distance you jumped to get to them. If you were willing to doubt your conclusions and examine them with the possibility that you are wrong, "we" would be more inclined to trust your verification process. Not at all. I would like you to peek around the shield once in a while to see what you are shielding yourself from. Hiding behind a shield is not necessarily the best form of defense. Doubt that God exists opposes none of those things. It doesn't matter if "all" are circular. It matters that all are subject to scrutiny, to doubt.

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Do we need to dance around that maypole again? There is no evidence that that message comes from God. Different people get the same message from different gods. Atheists get the same message. About the truth? "The truth" is the truth that works. If it works, stand up for it. If it doesn't work, throw it out.Have the courage to ask yourself: Does this "truth" work? Then the question is: What do we know now? Young-earth creationism used to be "what we know now". It was only by doubting it's eternal truth that we discovered that it isn't true. But those same simple, effective teachings come from most religions. We need to question the true source of what works. Does it come from outside or inside?You know very well that Christianity produces a lot of garbage as well as the simple, effective teachings. We need to question everything so we can distinguish the food from the garbage.

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Irrelevant. Truth is not a popularity contest. We have a whole forum on Bible Accuracy and Inerrancy, you're welcome to present it there. That's just the first step. You have to continuously re-evaluate your conclusions. No. None that I'm aware of. You're welcome to show us (in the proper forum) instead of just making empty asseertions. Once again, if you want to show evidence that such an animal exists, you can do so elsewhere. For the purpose of this thread, you might as well be saying you believe in dragons or fairies.You are demonstrating lack of critical thinking, not discussing whether it is good or bad. That's the problem: making empty accusations is the lazy way out. Thinking about the issue would take effort and looking for evidence to back up your opinions would take effort. You're confirming what I've been saying. That's exactly what I'm saying: the shield (faith) is a backup device, a last resort, for emergencies only. I agree. What I'm saying is that verification is not a one-time thing, just like spring-cleaning is not a one-time thing. You have to do it every spring. And you have to do daily cleaning in between major cleanings.Edited by Ringo, : Changed "Thinking about the effort" to "Thinking about the issue would take effort".

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What about changing scenery? Changing weather? Changing clothes?Are you anchored to faith or to doctrine?

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According to the OP, this thread is supposed to be about Christians, not necessarily restricted to them.It appears to me that most of the Christians in this thread are afraid to think about their faith and bristle at the thought of anybody else thinking. I'm disappointed in you.

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I'm telling you that logic trumps belief. Even Paul told the Hebrews that faith is the evidence of things not seen. What is seen simply does trump belief. Because lashing out at logic (and crashfrog) only emphasizes the weakness of your faith. Is logic such a threat to your beliefs? I asked you a while ago, are you anchored to your faith or to your doctrines? Is your foundation really faith at all or is it fear of reality?

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The problem is that you wish you could prove your supernatural claims by natural symptoms. The supernatural - if it exists - inherently has no natural symptoms. It can not be "proven". That's the nature of belief. Your beliefs belong to you alone, even if there are others who seem to have similar beliefs. They can not be transmitted. Only your thoughts about your beliefs can be transmitted - which is why it is important to think about them. Unfortunately, that isn't how it works. The "crazy" person is the least qualified to judge his own craziness - another reason why it is important to have your beliefs anchored in reality and logic.

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Why not? No. Jesus' death and resurection don't effect the Gospel at all. Why not? Why not?This is not the thread to answer those questions. We have a whole forum devoted to examining whether or not the Bible is historically accurate.But it would be nice if you would at least think about them. All you've done is parrot dogma. You haven't examined your faith at all.

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I didn't say that. I said logic and reality trump faith. I agree with Paul on that.Do you think a religion is somehow "better" if it's illogical. Is that why you're reluctant to examine yours? Afraid you might find something that makes sense?

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Why do you assume there is only one way to "understand" Corinthians? Why does there have to be a denomination? Can't individual Christians think for themselves? Most of the professing Christians that I've encountered on this board don't understand what the gospel is. (What's "commonly accepted" isn't always right.) Well, I'm at least one exception that proves you wrong. The historical existence of Jesus - never mind whether or not He rose from the dead - is irrelevant to the gospel. If you examine your faith, you might come to understand that. When did I say I didn't understand your posts? I'm saying that you're wrong, not incomprehensible. You're thinking too small. Everything should be doubted, not just faith - because nothing is certain. Shall I quote Paul again?

quote:

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Heb 11:1 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.

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Faith is about what is not seen. When you've reached all your goals, it's time to set your sights higher. I don't want you to abandon your faith. I've already said that.I want you to strengthen it.

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You should doubt that.Logic is good where logic works. If logic doesn't work, faith is fine as a backup. Tell that to the IDists.

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Is "being religious" the goal? I thought that was Jesus' pet peeve about the Pharisees. Maybe you shouldn't have had "faith" in rationality in the first place. Even rationality is shaky if you put it on an irrational foundation.Maybe you should "trust" rationality instead - because it works. Nice typo. So it's a pride thing? Respect your opinions or you won't play?Edited by Ringo, : Changed single quote to double quote - shift key failing... becoming arachnophilia....

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No, I didn't originate any of the ideas that I've mentioned. The fact that they're new to you suggests that you need to pry open the blinkers a little bit. You're like the boy who kisses a girl for the first time and says, "If that's all there is to it, I'm not impressed."You remain a fine example of the mental stagnation caused by fear of doubt.

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