26 Feb 13
Originally posted by Grampy BobbyIf god is omnipotent and all knowing he must have known he was creating evil and exactly what we are going to do. Where is free will in this and why are we responsible for our bad design?
[b]"I realized that there were questions about a Bible-based belief system that I could not get satisfying answers to from anybody in the church."
May I ask for a summary of those questions?
-[/b]
26 Feb 13
1 edit
Originally posted by Grampy BobbyI think the soul idea is just a man made construct, wishful thinking on a grand scale.
The essence of what it is to be a human being; that distinction which differentiates us from all other species. Hunger, thirst, copulation, safety, self preservation we share with the pyramidal food chain creatures in the jungle. Only human beings are defined as having an immortal soul. The life of all other species is "in their blood", which means fini essation forever. Gives one pause, doesn't it? (thanks for the chat... time for a nap)
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Religious folk mainly think humans only have souls, animals not.
They also think of themselves as WAY higher on the chain of life than animals with no backing for that other than we have hands and can make fire.
Dolphins might be as intelligent as humans but the lack of hands and living in water pretty much closes off any possibility for them making fire but they might even have a spiritual side but until we can communicate with them in a more meaningful way than fetch that ball, we won't know for sure.
It is clear to me, if we actually have souls then the entire religious concept may be valid. The thing for me is a highly doubt such an attribute exists in humans or any other life form on THIS planet. (If we have souls we would have supernatural attributes by definition).
I have never decoverted anyone but myself where I was also raised in a religious environment, but I was very lucky in that I was baptized Lutheran but my Pentacostal grandmother swore I would be damned and go to hell forever if I wasn't baptized in the pentacostal way (total dunking Vs the sprinkling thing of Catholics and Lutherans and other christian faiths). That event caused me to wake up to the fact the entire christian thing was man made and that one event showed me the light and I am eternally grateful to my grandmother for setting me on the right path.
Originally posted by sonhouseHey, (sh), have you ever imagined or seen or read about any domestic or zoo habitat or jungle creatures which thought or spoke or wrote or typed words and sentence and paragraphs and pamphlets and books and blogs and tweets about scientific and philosophical considerations or spirituality issues and speculations about life beyond the grave? Though humorous, the reply is neither facetitous nor frivolous. (gb)
I think the soul idea is just a man made construct, wishful thinking on a grand scale.
Religious folk mainly think humans only have souls, animals not.
They also think of themselves as WAY higher on the chain of life than animals with no backing for that other than we have hands and can make fire.
Dolphins might be as intelligent as humans howed me the light and I am eternally grateful to my grandmother for setting me on the right path.
26 Feb 13
3 edits
-Removed-To narrow it down to just one reason for current purposes, here is one:
>>==>>::::>>Because your Holy Trinity is just as silent to you as Allah is to Muslims and Zeus was to Romans<<::::<<==<<
You will hear some Christians quote scripture to show why God accepts females being head pastors of churches. You will hear other Christians quote scripture to show why God does NOT accept females being head pastors of churches.
Now you can ask God to speak the correct answer to this issue into your head, but you will find that He remains silent. Why would any decent deity not want you to understand His written instructions?
(If you say that in fact He did speak the answer to you, then you violate the passage of scripture that says God is no respecter of persons. In my teens I asked Him to give me the answer, since I was hearing both sides of this issue from people in my own congregation when a woman was up for election as our pastor, and He did not speak to me. If He speaks an answer to you and not to me, He IS a respecter of persons, and the Bible is in error.)
26 Feb 13
Originally posted by Paul Dirac IIHow did you vote?
To narrow it down to just one reason for current purposes, here is one:
>>==>>::::>>Because your Holy Trinity is just as silent to you as Allah is to Muslims and Zeus was to Romans<<::::<<==<<
You will hear some Christians quote scripture to show why God accepts females being head pastors of churches. You will hear other Christians quote scriptur ...[text shortened]... speaks an answer to you and not to me, He IS a respecter of persons, and the Bible is in error.)