Does God Believe in Atheists?

Originally posted by checkbaiter
He is a fool because God has made Himself known through nature, His word and through His Son whom He sent into this world. Not to mention that God has set eternity in the heart of man.

Eccl 3:11
11 He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also He has put eternity in their hearts, except that no one can find out the work that God does from beginning to end.
(NKJ)

🙂

So, is it just coincidence that there is a high percentage of people born in China who, in fact, do not recognize God? Is God's revelation through nature, his son, and so on not as potent in the far east?

OR

Is it possible that this alleged revelation of God's existence is not so much engrained in us from birth, but rather from our particular culture?

Originally posted by TheSkipper
So, is it just coincidence that there is a high percentage of people born in China who, in fact, do not recognize God? Is God's revelation through nature, his son, and so on not as potent in the far east?

OR

Is it possible that this alleged revelation of God's existence is not so much engrained in us from birth, but rather from our particular culture?

No not coincidence, but a fact. China is an old country, engrained with it's traditions, it's gods, etc. The US is a unique country. From it's birth it was formed with the intent of allowing free worship and freedom of religion. Not so in much of the rest of the world. A good read(recommendation) on American history would be "The Light and the Glory" by Peter Marshall and David Manuel.

Originally posted by Varqa
If a tree falls in the forest, does it make a sound when there is absolutely no one around to hear it? This is a trick question, because the word [b]sound is meaningless without someone to hear it.

Similarly, existence requires an observer. If you place a rock inside a box and place the box in your closet, does the rock still exist in there? It exists ...[text shortened]... observer. That observer, my friend, is God!

So, thanks to God, the atheists do exist.

😛[/b]

That's the dumbest thing I ever read. Did you take an entire tub of stupid pills before you came out tonight?

Originally posted by FreakyKBH
"For God so loved the world that He gave His uniquely born Son, that [b]whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life."
John 3:16

The operative word here is "whoever."
If an antheist can be considered as part of the group known as "whoever," then they can be saved.
If they can be saved, they must first exist.
God si ...[text shortened]... e knowable.
Ergo, God is aware there are those who characterize themselves as atheists.[/b]

But the omnipotent, omniscient tw*t chooses not to save, right? Like a kid with a PSP.

Originally posted by jaywill
Are you speaking of Psalm 53?

Did it say that only atheists were morally not good or all people?

[b]The fool has said in his heart, There is no God.

They are corrupt and commit abominable deeds;
There is none who does good. (v.1)

God looked down from heaven upon the sons of men to see
if there was anyone who had ...[text shortened]... one. (v.3)

Does the Psalmist single out only atheists as not being good or all people?[/b]

I see where Wajoma et al get their brand of atheism from....

Originally posted by checkbaiter
No not coincidence, but a fact. China is an old country, engrained with it's traditions, it's gods, etc. The US is a unique country. From it's birth it was formed with the intent of allowing free worship and freedom of religion. Not so in much of the rest of the world. A good read(recommendation) on American history would be "The Light and the Glory" by Peter Marshall and David Manuel.

Are you suggesting that the majority of people in China want to worship God, but can't because they don't have a freedom of religion gurantee?

Originally posted by TheSkipper
Are you suggesting that the majority of people in China want to worship God, but can't because they don't have a freedom of religion gurantee?

No, not at all. They have had strong influence in other religions and philosophies. They have not known, but that is changing as we speak, due to missionaries and the like. The US on the other hand, was founded on strong Biblical principles...

Originally posted by checkbaiter
No, not at all. They have had strong influence in other religions and philosophies. They have not known, but that is changing as we speak, due to missionaries and the like. The US on the other hand, was founded on strong Biblical principles...

I see, so the Chinese culture is working against what would ordinarily be a compelling inner calling to believe in God.

Do you think that God takes these factors into account when deciding who goes to paradise and who burns eternally? For instance, is the bar lowered a little bit for people born in India or China since the natural revelation of God is drowned out by the din of other religions in those countries? Or, conversely, is the bar set a little higher for those of us born in the states? Seeing as we are surrounded by christianity at every turn.

Originally posted by scottishinnz
That's the dumbest thing I ever read. Did you take an entire tub of stupid pills before you came out tonight?

It was actually a joke, but you obviously are in too bad of a mood to notice.

By the way, dumb and stupid are pretty strong words coming from someone who has a Chess rating of 800 and still believe in Communism.

Originally posted by TheSkipper
I see, so the Chinese culture is working against what would ordinarily be a compelling inner calling to believe in God.

Do you think that God takes these factors into account when deciding who goes to paradise and who burns eternally? For instance, is the bar lowered a little bit for people born in India or China since the natural revelation of God is ...[text shortened]... for those of us born in the states? Seeing as we are surrounded by christianity at every turn.

I did not say "inner calling". I do not believe anyone burns eternally. We are not surrounded by Christianity at every turn. You sound like a lawyer looking for a crease to attack. What exactly are you trying to say or drive at?

Originally posted by checkbaiter
I did not say "inner calling". I do not believe anyone burns eternally. We are not surrounded by Christianity at every turn. You sound like a lawyer looking for a crease to attack. What exactly are you trying to say or drive at?

I have just never really heard of the idea that people somehow "know" about God without having been told about him. I'm trying to get you to flesh out the idea a little more.

My wife IS a lawyer...she may be rubbing off on me! 😉

edit: Oh, and if we are not surrounded by Christianity at every turn then, at least every other.

Originally posted by jaywill
I have considered the subject of believing that there is no God in the Bible itself.

I can see much indication that God believes that atheists exists. Can any Bible student give me a reason to believe that God believes in Athiests?

Perhaps I'm missing some major point, but as far as whether god exists or no; or whether the bible is true or just a collection of carefully crafted stories meant to enslave folks: who cares!

“Every religion in the world that has destroyed people is based on love”
~ Anton Szandor Lavey ~ 😠

Originally posted by TheSkipper
So, is it just coincidence that there is a high percentage of people born in China who, in fact, do not recognize God? Is God's revelation through nature, his son, and so on not as potent in the far east?

OR

Is it possible that this alleged revelation of God's existence is not so much engrained in us from birth, but rather from our particular culture?

++++++++++++++++++++++++++
So, is it just coincidence that there is a high percentage of people born in China who, in fact, do not recognize God? Is God's revelation through nature, his son, and so on not as potent in the far east?
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Because of the militant athiestic influence of Marxism, I don't think it is that easy to assume what beliefs people are born with. Many beliefs have been suppressed by the government. Though there is some more openess today which is kept close watch over by the state.


Let's look to India for a moment.

The Brahman, the higest cast in the system of Hinduism, have a sacred Sanscrit writing which they believed is inspired by the "Self - Existent." Though their ideas are many and complexed they regard their sacred Veda (or sacred science) " issued from the mouth of the Self Existent"

I am told that "Brahma" signifies "universal spirit," the cause of all existence.

Confucius started a philosophical way of living more than a religion. There is no god. However Confucius did say something about man sinning against heaven. This indicates that Confucius had some concept of a universal goodness against which one could commit sin.

Buddha was more preoccupied with escaping from the misery of existence into Nirvana or a "blowing out" of extinction, an annhilation leading to perfect peace.

But it has been noted by some researchers that the characters portrayed in some Chinese writing depict what has been taken by some as scenes from stories in the book of Genesis. A Chinese person once drew out a number of words in Chinese and explained how such matters as paradise, flood, ark, serpent were parts of the characters which constructed certain words.

There is a militant effort to suppress theism in much of China's history because of atheistic Marxism. So for a long time sentiments of that nature would be strictly underground and not touted publically.

There are millions of theists in China today however.

By the way, the Bible came out of the Middle East not the West.


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OR

Is it possible that this alleged revelation of God's existence is not so much engrained in us from birth, but rather from our particular culture?
++++++++++++++++++++++++

Different cultures do have different emphasis on big questions of life and existence. I cannot argue with that.

Having said that I would admit that the most helpful expositions on the Bible in my life have been from Chinese preachers - Watchman Nee and Witness Lee. While in the Far East they historically have thought about universal truths from a different angle, when they did become schooled in the Bible, their insights in some cases were extremely fresh and valuable.

Originally posted by Stregone
“Every religion in the world that has destroyed people is based on love”
~ Anton Szandor Lavey ~ 😠[/b]

I am not sure every religion is said to be based in love. For example, I am not sure Islam views God as a God that is based in love. Allah actually is said to hate certain people and only loves those who do his bidding. In fact, Allah continues to desire the deaths of infidels world wide.

Conversly, the Chrisitan God is a God of love because Christ said to show love for those who hate you or who are your enemy. In fact, the early Christian tradition shows that Christians were peace loving and did not render evil for evil. They were persecuted and thrown to the lions yet they did not fight back. It was only after some years later that people began to kill in the name of Christ. However, they were not following his example now were they? 😉

Originally posted by TheSkipper
[b]So, is it just coincidence that there is a high percentage of people born in China who, in fact, do not recognize God?

I would love to know how this information was obtained. Can you imagine such questions being asked in light of historic and current persecutions of those of faith in China? It might go something like this.

Pollster: "Hello, I wonder if I could take but a moment of your time. Can you participate in a poll and tell me if you believe in God or not?

Average Chinese Joe: "Da, yea, da, I believe in God. Da, now pluck me I'm a chicken!!!"