God Options

[tofumonzter]

He gives you free will
so you can do whatever you please

Except sins.

[likeachild]

Except sins.

no. including sins
if you want to sin
He wont stop you
He wont make you do anything

is a forced obedience really obedience?

God is like a gentleman, He stands at the door and knocks
it's your choice to answer Him
if you slam the door in his face and flip Him off
He will still love you
He will always be there, waiting for you


The gift has already been given, it is up to YOU to accept it

[*islandgirl4eva*]

I do believe there is SOMETHING to worship, but I don't necessarily believe God is the only one. Wher I come from there is a history of ancestral worship. However, I am Catholic, so I better watch what I say...

[tofumonzter]

no. including sins
if you want to sin
He wont stop you
He wont make you do anything

is a forced obedience really obedience?

God is like a gentleman, He stands at the door and knocks
it's your choice to answer Him
if you slam the door in his face and flip Him off
He will still love you
He will always be there, waiting for you


The gift has already been given, it is up to YOU to accept it

^ That was what i meant.

But one thing,
when you accept Him,
you will not want to sins anymore,
and God or Jesus did not say you can sins more or less.
Jesus forgive your sins, save you.
Why do you still want to sins before God?

[likeachild]

Proving the Existence of God

When asked how he could be so certain that God exists, one great theologian responded with a 2 word answer, "The Jew." The continued survival of the Jewish people in spite of numerous and concerted efforts to exterminate them unequivocally demonstrates God's existence, His presence in the world and His involvement in the affairs of man.

First let's understand that the Jewish people were chosen by God to accomplish four things:

To be a witness for Him (Isaiah 43:10)
To show forth His blessings (Isaiah 49:3)
To be a repository for His Word (Isaiah 42:9), and

Because He instilled in them a desire to be so meticulous in preserving His word, we have in the Old Testament a document that when compared to secular accounts of world history provides irrefutable evidence of God's existence.


Is That You, God?

Let me put it this way. If someone came to you and claimed to be God, what would be the most convincing proof he could offer to convince you that he really was? Many people I've asked have responded that if he could tell them things no one could know they would be impressed enough to at least give him the benefit of the doubt. When I say "What if he told you things that haven't happened yet? And then when the events he predicted came to pass just as he described them with 100% accuracy, would that persuade you?" Invariably the answer I get is "Yes."

Well that's exactly what God has done. Listen to His claim from Isaiah 42:8-9. "I am the Lord, that is my name! I will not give my glory to another or my praise to idols. See, the former things have taken place (what I told you would happen has happened) and new things I declare; before they spring into being I announce them to you.

Of all the so-called Holy Writings, only the Bible authenticates itself like this. In fact God challenges anyone else claiming to be like Him to prove himself this way. "This is what the Lord says, Israel's King and Redeemer, the Lord Almighty. I am the first and I am the last; apart from me there is no God. Who then is like me? Let him proclaim it. Let him declare and lay out before me what has happened since I established my ancient people and what is yet to come – yes. Let him foretell what will come" (Isaiah 44:6-7). If you want to be God, there's a two-question qualification exam. First recount in detail everything that has happened in the past, and then predict everything that will happen in the future. By the way, the only acceptable score is 100%. (Deut 18:21-22)


Knowing The End From The Beginning

We call this means by which God authenticates Himself predictive prophecy. By most accounts the Bible is 30-40% predictive prophecy by volume. A lot of it has been fulfilled and is there waiting to be compared to history as evidence of God's existence. Much more is being fulfilled right before our eyes through the Nation of Israel as irrefutable proof. But just for the purpose of illustration let me site 3 passages.

According to historical records, when Cyrus the Persian conquered Babylon in 535 BC, Daniel the prophet asked him to release the Jews who had been captive there for 70 years. "Why should I?" asked Cyrus. In response Daniel read him a passage from Isaiah written nearly 250 years earlier. In the passage Cyrus was mentioned by name, and the method by which he had just conquered Babylon was described in detail (Isaiah 45:1-7). This fulfilled prophecy persuaded Cyrus and he freed the Jews.

When Alexander the Great read Daniel's vision of the Ram and the Goat (Daniel 8:1-8), he became convinced that the vision spoke of the way Greece had conquered Persia under his leadership, and from that time forward afforded the Jews special treatment. Upon entering Jerusalem, Alexander bowed before the High Priest and spared the city. He appointed Jewish administrators over much of his kingdom, and it was in the city of Alexandria that a grandson of Alexander's had the Old Testament translated into Greek so the world could read it. By the way Daniel had his vision over 200 years before Alexander was born.

The first 35 verses of Daniel 11 document in advance the history of the Middle East from the death of Alexander to the arrival of the Romans in such great detail that unbelievers have spent hundreds of years trying to prove that it was written after the fact. As a result Daniel is the most historically documented book in the entire Old Testament


Controlling The Masses

World leaders have long known that the way to repress the people is to keep them ignorant. This principle was developed by Satan himself and is being used most effectively on our generation. In the early days of the church, he persuaded Gentile leaders to separate the church from its Jewish roots, ignore the Old Testament and jettison 4000 years of Jewish commentary on life in a covenant relationship with God. (As a result the Gentile world has spent much of the last 2000 years re-discovering principles of sanitation, health, and inter-personal relationships that Moses first wrote about in the wilderness.) During the Dark Ages the Bible was available only to monks in monasteries and the church itself became an instrument of incredible repression and persecution. In our century the Bible has been so thoroughly discredited by the introduction of the Documentary Hypothesis and Modern Rationalism into our seminaries that much of the Church no longer regards either Testament as relevant to our times. And of course the elimination of even the mention of God's name from our schools means that many in our current generation have never even seen a Bible and probably wouldn't know where to find one, much less how to read it.

Even this was prophesied in Scripture: "The days are coming," declares the Sovereign Lord, "when I will send a famine through the land – not a famine of food or a thirst for water, but a famine of hearing the words of the Lord." (Amos 8:11). Never in the history of the world has spiritual ignorance been so prevalent. It's remarkable when you think of it, because our current state of ignorance has been created only recently. Many of our great universities, like Harvard, Princeton and Yale were founded as seminaries that subscribed to a literal interpretation of God's word. Our public school system began in churches, and the earliest primers, used to teach children to read, were adapted from the Gospel of John. Our nation's departure from its Christian heritage has taken place in the span of just 2 generations.

But the evidence of predictive prophecy still remains. We haven't burned our books yet, so all you have to do to convince yourself that God exists is to pick up a few of them. Get a Study Bible, a competent volume on world history, and a reference book or two such as the Complete Works of Flavius Josephus to tie them together. Then begin reading. You'll soon discover that by whatever standard you decide to use, rules of evidence as used by an attorney, statistical probability as used by a mathematician, or forensic logic as used by a debater, the evidence of God's existence will become as obvious as the nose on your face. You can take His word for that: "You will seek Me and find Me when you seek Me with all your heart." (Jeremiah 29:13).

[*islandgirl4eva*]

Proving the Existence of God

When asked how he could be so certain that God exists, one great theologian responded with a 2 word answer, "The Jew." The continued survival of the Jewish people in spite of numerous and concerted efforts to exterminate them unequivocally demonstrates God's existence, His presence in the world and His involvement in the affairs of man.

First let's understand that the Jewish people were chosen by God to accomplish four things:

To be a witness for Him (Isaiah 43:10)
To show forth His blessings (Isaiah 49:3)
To be a repository for His Word (Isaiah 42:9), and

Because He instilled in them a desire to be so meticulous in preserving His word, we have in the Old Testament a document that when compared to secular accounts of world history provides irrefutable evidence of God's existence.


Is That You, God?

Let me put it this way. If someone came to you and claimed to be God, what would be the most convincing proof he could offer to convince you that he really was? Many people I've asked have responded that if he could tell them things no one could know they would be impressed enough to at least give him the benefit of the doubt. When I say "What if he told you things that haven't happened yet? And then when the events he predicted came to pass just as he described them with 100% accuracy, would that persuade you?" Invariably the answer I get is "Yes."

Well that's exactly what God has done. Listen to His claim from Isaiah 42:8-9. "I am the Lord, that is my name! I will not give my glory to another or my praise to idols. See, the former things have taken place (what I told you would happen has happened) and new things I declare; before they spring into being I announce them to you.

Of all the so-called Holy Writings, only the Bible authenticates itself like this. In fact God challenges anyone else claiming to be like Him to prove himself this way. "This is what the Lord says, Israel's King and Redeemer, the Lord Almighty. I am the first and I am the last; apart from me there is no God. Who then is like me? Let him proclaim it. Let him declare and lay out before me what has happened since I established my ancient people and what is yet to come – yes. Let him foretell what will come" (Isaiah 44:6-7). If you want to be God, there's a two-question qualification exam. First recount in detail everything that has happened in the past, and then predict everything that will happen in the future. By the way, the only acceptable score is 100%. (Deut 18:21-22)


Knowing The End From The Beginning

We call this means by which God authenticates Himself predictive prophecy. By most accounts the Bible is 30-40% predictive prophecy by volume. A lot of it has been fulfilled and is there waiting to be compared to history as evidence of God's existence. Much more is being fulfilled right before our eyes through the Nation of Israel as irrefutable proof. But just for the purpose of illustration let me site 3 passages.

According to historical records, when Cyrus the Persian conquered Babylon in 535 BC, Daniel the prophet asked him to release the Jews who had been captive there for 70 years. "Why should I?" asked Cyrus. In response Daniel read him a passage from Isaiah written nearly 250 years earlier. In the passage Cyrus was mentioned by name, and the method by which he had just conquered Babylon was described in detail (Isaiah 45:1-7). This fulfilled prophecy persuaded Cyrus and he freed the Jews.

When Alexander the Great read Daniel's vision of the Ram and the Goat (Daniel 8:1-8), he became convinced that the vision spoke of the way Greece had conquered Persia under his leadership, and from that time forward afforded the Jews special treatment. Upon entering Jerusalem, Alexander bowed before the High Priest and spared the city. He appointed Jewish administrators over much of his kingdom, and it was in the city of Alexandria that a grandson of Alexander's had the Old Testament translated into Greek so the world could read it. By the way Daniel had his vision over 200 years before Alexander was born.

The first 35 verses of Daniel 11 document in advance the history of the Middle East from the death of Alexander to the arrival of the Romans in such great detail that unbelievers have spent hundreds of years trying to prove that it was written after the fact. As a result Daniel is the most historically documented book in the entire Old Testament


Controlling The Masses

World leaders have long known that the way to repress the people is to keep them ignorant. This principle was developed by Satan himself and is being used most effectively on our generation. In the early days of the church, he persuaded Gentile leaders to separate the church from its Jewish roots, ignore the Old Testament and jettison 4000 years of Jewish commentary on life in a covenant relationship with God. (As a result the Gentile world has spent much of the last 2000 years re-discovering principles of sanitation, health, and inter-personal relationships that Moses first wrote about in the wilderness.) During the Dark Ages the Bible was available only to monks in monasteries and the church itself became an instrument of incredible repression and persecution. In our century the Bible has been so thoroughly discredited by the introduction of the Documentary Hypothesis and Modern Rationalism into our seminaries that much of the Church no longer regards either Testament as relevant to our times. And of course the elimination of even the mention of God's name from our schools means that many in our current generation have never even seen a Bible and probably wouldn't know where to find one, much less how to read it.

Even this was prophesied in Scripture: "The days are coming," declares the Sovereign Lord, "when I will send a famine through the land – not a famine of food or a thirst for water, but a famine of hearing the words of the Lord." (Amos 8:11). Never in the history of the world has spiritual ignorance been so prevalent. It's remarkable when you think of it, because our current state of ignorance has been created only recently. Many of our great universities, like Harvard, Princeton and Yale were founded as seminaries that subscribed to a literal interpretation of God's word. Our public school system began in churches, and the earliest primers, used to teach children to read, were adapted from the Gospel of John. Our nation's departure from its Christian heritage has taken place in the span of just 2 generations.

But the evidence of predictive prophecy still remains. We haven't burned our books yet, so all you have to do to convince yourself that God exists is to pick up a few of them. Get a Study Bible, a competent volume on world history, and a reference book or two such as the Complete Works of Flavius Josephus to tie them together. Then begin reading. You'll soon discover that by whatever standard you decide to use, rules of evidence as used by an attorney, statistical probability as used by a mathematician, or forensic logic as used by a debater, the evidence of God's existence will become as obvious as the nose on your face. You can take His word for that: "You will seek Me and find Me when you seek Me with all your heart." (Jeremiah 29:13).

Wow! That's really long. Sorry, I couldn't read it all, but I respect your opinion.

[waccoon]

no. including sins
if you want to sin
He wont stop you
He wont make you do anything

is a forced obedience really obedience?

God is like a gentleman, He stands at the door and knocks
it's your choice to answer Him
if you slam the door in his face and flip Him off
He will still love you
He will always be there, waiting for you


The gift has already been given, it is up to YOU to accept it

let me get this straight. he gives us free will, and is perfect. isn't being perfect knowing what you'll do next? every hour, minute, second. so if he knows what we're going to do, then that means we have no free will. at all. so why should i have to pay for my sins, when he knows im going to commit the sin?

[*AngelicEyz00*]

let me get this straight. he gives us free will, and is perfect. isn't being perfect knowing what you'll do next? every hour, minute, second. so if he knows what we're going to do, then that means we have no free will. at all. so why should i have to pay for my sins, when he knows im going to commit the sin?

Nick you confuse me, lol

please dont use G-d's name in vain. and all of you who spell it out you should be ashamed!! what if this page was to be destroyed?? would you want His name to be destroyed too??

QUOTE (v@por @ May 12 2004, 5:34 PM)
no. including sins
if you want to sin
He wont stop you
He wont make you do anything

is a forced obedience really obedience?

God is like a gentleman, He stands at the door and knocks
it's your choice to answer Him
if you slam the door in his face and flip Him off
He will still love you
He will always be there, waiting for you


The gift has already been given, it is up to YOU to accept it 


^ That was what i meant.

But one thing,
when you accept Him,
you will not want to sins anymore,
and God or Jesus did not say you can sins more or less.
Jesus forgive your sins, save you.
Why do you still want to sins before God? 

i dont belive in jesus. i belive that beliving in jesus and mary is idol worship.
and what they said about "the gift" not everyone here is christian. please watch what you say.

[likeachild]

please dont use G-d's name in vain. and all of you who spell it out you should be ashamed!! what if this page was to be destroyed?? would you want His name to be destroyed too??


i dont belive in jesus. i belive that beliving in jesus and mary is idol worship.
and what they said about "the gift" not everyone here is christian. please watch what you say.

don't take offense to it
i'm just telling you
it's your choice to believe it or not

[*krnxswat*]

The ones who believe in the existence of God, especially Christians, have written many long books, short articles, and everything else in between trying to prove God's existence to the doubters. They have used examples from nature; they have constructed logical arguments using scientific facts and theories and philosophical considerations. The nonbelievers have also written many books and articles trying to show that God does not exist. The believers remain believers; the doubters remain doubters. Usually, nothing much is gained for either side by these arguments.

[Spirited Away]

the Bible was written by hundreds of men over thousands of years...and yet it still proves itself true it ... fits together perfectly

explain that.

I'll gladly explain why it doesn't fit for me.

Those who have written these verses have long believed in the same faith. They grew up already believing or were already looking for something/someone for salvation. God was the perfect choice because they were taught that He is loving and kind. These hundreds of thousands of men who wrote it doesn't convince me of God's existence because they're only saying that they've experience this 'revelation' of knowing God exist >>>

I can't believe something that only someone else have said, therefore, I don't believe in the Bible.

What I do believe in is that there a possibility that God does exist because no one can disprove that concept.

[likeachild]

I'll gladly explain why it doesn't fit for me.

Those who have written these verses have long believed in the same faith. They grew up already believing or were already looking for something/someone for salvation. God was the perfect choice because they were taught that He is loving and kind. These hundreds of thousands of men who wrote it doesn't convince me of God's existence because they're only saying that they've experience this 'revelation' of knowing God exist >>>

I can't believe something that only someone else have said, therefore, I don't believe in the Bible.

What I do believe in is that there a possibility that God does exist because no one can disprove that concept.

what i'm saying is that it proves itself

like for example in a book in the old testament
it talks jesus being sent to earth
now that was written like 1000 BC

then, 1000 years later
in the new testament
people write about jesus and his teachings and how they've seen miracles

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Faith in God as Creator is reasonable because creation requires a creator. If one sees a lovely, well built house, he does not say, "I wonder how that house came into existence." He knows that the existence of the house means that someone built it. This is also true of our world. The fact that it exists requires that there must be one who built it. "For every house is built by someone, but he that built all things is God" (Hebrews 3:4).

Faith in God as the Creator of all things is reasonable because life can only come from life! Everyone understands that that which is dead can not produce that which is alive. In Europe during the Middle Ages, people were very ignorant. They believed in "spontaneous generation," that is, that non-living things could give birth to living things. Louis Pasteur, a great French scientist in the 19th century, proved that spontaneous generation is false. Only life can produce life!

Let us make application to the world and the people in it. How did it come to be? There are only two possibilities. Either the world and all living things in it came from dead, non-living, non-thinking matter, or it came from mind, intelligence, life, therefore God. What do you think? Does a nest create a bird to sit in it, or does the bird, a living being, create the nest? Does a car make a man to drive it, or does the man who is living and intelligent create the car? It is totally unreasonable to believe that the earth which is filled with living plants, animals and persons was brought into being by dead matter. However, it is very reasonable to believe that a supreme, intelligent being, God, brought into existence the universe and the wonderful varieties of life which live in it.

It is also reasonable to believe in God as Creator because of the plan and purpose in the universe. The universe operates according to law. Scientists are busy discovering these laws which they use for man's benefit. The order and design of the laws point to a mastermind who originated them. It is not possible that our orderly universe happened by chance. For example, the earth is 93,000,000 miles from the sun. If the earth were closer, it would burn up. If it were farther away, the earth would freeze. Did this just happen by chance? Or, did a living Mind, God, design this?

Did the complex universe which operates in such orderly fashion, according to definite laws, just happen by chance? Or, is it the result of an intelligent God who created it? It would be more reasonable to assume that the telephone directory of Sydney, Australia, a city of 4,000,000 people, just happened by chance than to assume that the orderly universe came into existence by chance!

It is reasonable to believe that "in the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth" (Genesis 1:1). Only a powerful, highly intelligent God could have created the wonderful, complex world in which we live. Truly, "The fool hath said in his heart, there is no God" (Psalms 14:1).

[waccoon]

what i'm saying is that it proves itself

like for example in a book in the old testament
it talks jesus being sent to earth
now that was written like 1000 BC

then, 1000 years later
in the new testament
people write about jesus and his teachings and how they've seen miracles

it's not like they havent heard the old testament before. they're continuting the story.

[Luster Soldier]

An atheist professor of philosophy speaks to his class on the problem science has with God, The Almighty.

He asks one of his new Muslim students to stand and.....

Professor: You are a Muslim, aren't you, son?
Student :  Yes, sir.
Prof: So you believe in God?
Student : Absolutely, sir.
Prof: Is God good?
Student: Sure.
Prof: Is God all-powerful?
Student : Yes.
Prof: My brother died of cancer even though he prayed to God to heal him. Most of us would attempt to help others who are ill. But God didn't. How is this God good then? Hmm?

(Student is silent.)

Prof: You can't answer, can you? Let's start again, young fella. Is God good?
Student :Yes.
Prof: Is Satan good?
Student : No.
Prof: Where does Satan come from?
Student : From...God...
Prof: That's right. Tell me son, is there evil in this world?
Student : Yes.
Prof: Evil is everywhere, isn't it? And God did make everything. Correct?
Student : Yes.
Prof: So who created evil?

(Student does not answer.)

Prof: Is there sickness? Immorality? Hatred? Ugliness? All these terrible things exist in the world, don't they?
Student :Yes, sir.
Prof: So, who created them?

(Student has no answer.)

Prof: Science says you have 5 senses you use to identify and observe the world around you. Tell me, son...Have you ever seen God?
Student : No, sir.
Prof: Tell us if you have ever heard your God?
Student : No , sir.
Prof: Have you ever felt your God, tasted your God, smelt your God? Have you ever had any sensory perception of God for that matter?
Student : No, sir. I'm afraid I haven't.
Prof: Yet you still believe in Him?
Student : Yes.
Prof: According to empirical, testable, demonstrable protocol, science says your GOD doesn't exist. What do you say to that, son?
Student : Nothing. I only have my faith.
Prof: Yes. Faith. And that is the problem science has.
Student : Professor, is there such a thing as heat?
Prof: Yes.
Student : And is there such a thing as cold?
Prof: Yes.
Student : No sir. There isn't.

(The lecture theatre becomes very quiet with this turn of events.)

Student : Sir, you can have lots of heat, even more heat, superheat, mega heat, white heat, a little heat or no heat. But we don't have anything called cold. We can hit 458 degrees below zero which is no heat, but we can't go any further after that. There is no such thing as cold. Cold is only a word we use to describe the absence of heat. We cannot measure cold.Heat is energy. Cold is not the opposite of heat, sir, just the absence of it.

(There is pin-drop silence in the lecture theatre.)

Student : What about darkness, Professor? Is there such a thing as darkness?
Prof: Yes. What is night if there isn't darkness?
Student : You're wrong again, sir. Darkness is the absence of something.
You can have low light, normal light, bright light, flashing light....But if you have no light constantly, you have nothing and it's called darkness, isn't it? In reality, darkness isn't. If it were you would be able to make darkness darker, wouldn't you?
Prof: So what is the point you are making, young man?
Student : Sir, my point is your philosophical premise is flawed.
Prof: Flawed? Can you explain how?
Student : Sir, you are working on the premise of duality.You argue there is life and then there is death, a good God and a bad God.You are viewing the concept of God as something finite, something we can measure. Sir, science can't even explain a thought. It uses electricity and magnetism, but has never seen, much less fully understood either one.. To view death as the opposite of life is to be ignorant of the fact that death cannot exist as a substantive thing. Death is not the opposite of life: just the absence of it. Now tell me, Professor. Do you teach your students that they evolved from a monkey?
Prof: If you are referring to the natural evolutionary process, yes, of course, I do.
Student : Have you ever observed evolution with your own eyes, sir?

(The Professor shakes his head with a smile, beginning to realize where the argument is going.)

Student : Since no one has ever observed the process of evolution at work and cannot even prove that this process is an on-going endeavour, are you not  teaching your opinion, sir? Are you not a scientist but a preacher?

(The class is in uproar.)

Student : Is there anyone in the class who has ever seen the Professor's brain?

(The class breaks out into laughter.)

Student : Is there anyone here who has ever heard the Professor's brain, felt it, touched or smelt it?.....No one appears to have done so.
So, according to the established rules of empirical, stable, demonstrable
protocol, science says that you have no brain, sir.
With all due respect, sir, how do we then trust your lectures, sir?

(The room is silent. The professor stares at the student, his face
unfathomable.)

Prof: I guess you'll have to take them on faith, son.
Student : That is it sir.. The link between man and god is FAITH.
That is all that keeps things moving alive.

Something I read from my friend's xanga.

All you need is faith. If you believe in Jesus, he's there for you. If he exists or not doesn't matter as long as you have faith.

[onenonly101]

Alot of Christian did not grow up believing. Many people came to see the works of God, that's why they believe now. I brought up believeing in evolution becaus eof what someone else said as how can you say you can't believe the bible and God when it has been proven. The bible was written by man, but God spoke through the men to have his Word for everyone to have a reference to. I have more but Ihave to do a project

[likeachild]

let me get this straight. he gives us free will, and is perfect. isn't being perfect knowing what you'll do next? every hour, minute, second. so if he knows what we're going to do, then that means we have no free will. at all. so why should i have to pay for my sins, when he knows im going to commit the sin?

i will get back to you

An atheist professor of philosophy speaks to his class on the problem science has with God, The Almighty.

He asks one of his new Muslim students to stand and.....

Professor: You are a Muslim, aren't you, son?
Student :  Yes, sir.
Prof: So you believe in God?
Student : Absolutely, sir.
Prof: Is God good?
Student: Sure.
Prof: Is God all-powerful?
Student : Yes.
Prof: My brother died of cancer even though he prayed to God to heal him. Most of us would attempt to help others who are ill. But God didn't. How is this God good then? Hmm?

(Student is silent.)

Prof: You can't answer, can you? Let's start again, young fella. Is God good?
Student :Yes.
Prof: Is Satan good?
Student : No.
Prof: Where does Satan come from?
Student : From...God...
Prof: That's right. Tell me son, is there evil in this world?
Student : Yes.
Prof: Evil is everywhere, isn't it? And God did make everything. Correct?
Student : Yes.
Prof: So who created evil?

(Student does not answer.)

Prof: Is there sickness? Immorality? Hatred? Ugliness? All these terrible things exist in the world, don't they?
Student :Yes, sir.
Prof: So, who created them?

(Student has no answer.)

Prof: Science says you have 5 senses you use to identify and observe the world around you. Tell me, son...Have you ever seen God?
Student : No, sir.
Prof: Tell us if you have ever heard your God?
Student : No , sir.
Prof: Have you ever felt your God, tasted your God, smelt your God? Have you ever had any sensory perception of God for that matter?
Student : No, sir. I'm afraid I haven't.
Prof: Yet you still believe in Him?
Student : Yes.
Prof: According to empirical, testable, demonstrable protocol, science says your GOD doesn't exist. What do you say to that, son?
Student : Nothing. I only have my faith.
Prof: Yes. Faith. And that is the problem science has.
Student : Professor, is there such a thing as heat?
Prof: Yes.
Student : And is there such a thing as cold?
Prof: Yes.
Student : No sir. There isn't.

(The lecture theatre becomes very quiet with this turn of events.)

Student : Sir, you can have lots of heat, even more heat, superheat, mega heat, white heat, a little heat or no heat. But we don't have anything called cold. We can hit 458 degrees below zero which is no heat, but we can't go any further after that. There is no such thing as cold. Cold is only a word we use to describe the absence of heat. We cannot measure cold.Heat is energy. Cold is not the opposite of heat, sir, just the absence of it.

(There is pin-drop silence in the lecture theatre.)

Student : What about darkness, Professor? Is there such a thing as darkness?
Prof: Yes. What is night if there isn't darkness?
Student : You're wrong again, sir. Darkness is the absence of something.
You can have low light, normal light, bright light, flashing light....But if you have no light constantly, you have nothing and it's called darkness, isn't it? In reality, darkness isn't. If it were you would be able to make darkness darker, wouldn't you?
Prof: So what is the point you are making, young man?
Student : Sir, my point is your philosophical premise is flawed.
Prof: Flawed? Can you explain how?
Student : Sir, you are working on the premise of duality.You argue there is life and then there is death, a good God and a bad God.You are viewing the concept of God as something finite, something we can measure. Sir, science can't even explain a thought. It uses electricity and magnetism, but has never seen, much less fully understood either one.. To view death as the opposite of life is to be ignorant of the fact that death cannot exist as a substantive thing. Death is not the opposite of life: just the absence of it. Now tell me, Professor. Do you teach your students that they evolved from a monkey?
Prof: If you are referring to the natural evolutionary process, yes, of course, I do.
Student : Have you ever observed evolution with your own eyes, sir?

(The Professor shakes his head with a smile, beginning to realize where the argument is going.)

Student : Since no one has ever observed the process of evolution at work and cannot even prove that this process is an on-going endeavour, are you not  teaching your opinion, sir? Are you not a scientist but a preacher?

(The class is in uproar.)

Student : Is there anyone in the class who has ever seen the Professor's brain?

(The class breaks out into laughter.)

Student : Is there anyone here who has ever heard the Professor's brain, felt it, touched or smelt it?.....No one appears to have done so.
So, according to the established rules of empirical, stable, demonstrable
protocol, science says that you have no brain, sir.
With all due respect, sir, how do we then trust your lectures, sir?

(The room is silent. The professor stares at the student, his face
unfathomable.)

Prof: I guess you'll have to take them on faith, son.
Student : That is it sir.. The link between man and god is FAITH.
That is all that keeps things moving alive.

Why is there evil and suffering in the world?

1. The question implies that if a good God exists, then evil shouldn't because God being all powerful should stop it.
2. We need to ask and answer two questions. First, what is evil? It is that which is against God. It is anything morally bad or wrong. It is injurious, depraved, wicked. Some acceptable examples might be murder, rape, stealing, lying, and cheating. Second, if we want God to stop evil do we want Him to stop all evil or just some of it? In other words, if just some of it then why? If He were to stop only part of the evil, then we would still be asking the question, "Why is there evil in the world?".
Let's suppose that someone was about to commit murder. God would have to stop him, maybe whisper in his ear, or if that didn't work do something a little more drastic like have something fall on him, or stop his heart, or make his hands suddenly fall off. Anyway, God would have to do something.
What if somebody wanted to steal? God would have to stop him too, right? Undoubtedly, God's imagination would permit a more practical method than I have suggested, but the end results would be the same.
What about lying? If someone were to tell a lie, then to be consistent wouldn't you want God right there to stop that person from lying? After all, He couldn't let any evil occur could He?
Let's take it a step further. Suppose someone thought something evil. Then, of course, God would have to step in and prevent him from thinking anything bad at all, right? The end result would be that God could not allow anyone to think freely. Since everyone thinks and no one thinks only pure thoughts, God would be pretty busy and we wouldn't be able to think. Anyway, at what point do we stop, at the murder level, stealing level, lying level, or thinking level? As your questions implies, if you want God to stop evil, you would have to be consistent and want Him to do it everywhere all the time, not just pick and choose. It wouldn't work.
Evil is in this world partly because we give it its place but ultimately because God, in His sovereignty, permits it and keeps it under His control.
Then you might say, "Couldn't He just make us perfect and that way we wouldn't sin?" He already did that. He made a perfect angel, Satan, but he sinned. He made a perfect man, Adam, and he sinned. He made a perfect woman, Eve, and she sinned. God knows what He is doing. He made us the way we are for a purpose. We don't fully understand that purpose, but He does.
3. God is sovereign; He has the right to do as He wishes. He has the right to permit evil for accomplishing His ultimate will. How can He do that? Simple, look at the cross. It was by evil means that men lied and crucified Jesus. Yet God in His infinite wisdom used this evil for good. It was on the cross that Jesus bore our sins in His body (1 Peter. 2:24) and it is because of the cross that we can have forgiveness of sins.
4. Consider the biblical example of Joseph in the Old Testament. He was sold into slavery by his brothers. Though they meant it for evil, God meant it for good (Gen. 50:20). God is so great that nothing happens without His permission, and in that permission His ultimate plan unfolds. In His plan He is able to use for good what man intends for evil. God is in control.

[*CrackedRearView*]

Those who have written these verses have long believed in the same faith. They grew up already believing or were already looking for something/someone for salvation. God was the perfect choice because they were taught that He is loving and kind. These hundreds of thousands of men who wrote it doesn't convince me of God's existence because they're only saying that they've experience this 'revelation' of knowing God exist >>>

Excuse me unispiredfae?! Have you even read the Bible?

For one, the men who wrote the Gospel of Jesus (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John) were born around and even before Jesus. So, tell me how they "grew up already believing" that Jesus was the son of God?

They didn't.

They all four, along with thousands of other people witnessed Jesus and the two criminals crucified on Calvary Hill and wrote their own accounts, seperate from each other, about what they saw. Amazingly, four men (and these are only the one's whose testimonies were saved) not even communicating with each other at the time all witnessed the exact same thing; that the marginally larger than thousand pound boulder which covered the entrance to Jesus' tomb was moved, and his body was gone.

Since you're so intent on logically proving something -- logically prove to me how one man, two thousand and four years ago, moved a stone of that size.

The pulley wasn't invented. Nor cranes. You can't fit 1,000 men on either side of the boulder to move it.

Just because it may be beyond your 2004 logic-thumping mentality and your insatiable desire to explain things like the philosophes and Voltaire in the 1700's. They got nowhere, and neither are you.

You ever comprehend that some things that are beyond your understanding, like the rising of Jesus from his tomb to Heaven, may not be a load of nonsense just because your so-called "advanced knowledge" and 2,004 year headstart have their skepticisms?

It's called open mindedness. You might try it sometimes, Voltaire.

[Spirited Away]

Alot of Christian did not grow up believing.

Most do not need to. As with propaganda in politics, I've seen enough commercials and/or advertisement about this church and that church to be curious about it. If I were a child, and I see these ads, I'd be swayed to go and find out more about it. And once I'm in a Church, I am promised that there is He, who loves me unconditionally. And as a child, I would think, what a good deal this is. I can't go wrong with my Heavenly father who would ensure a place for me in Paradise and all I have to do is believe in him...

If I were that child, I'd change/convert my faith in an instant.

Many people came to see the works of God, that's why they believe now.

But some haven't seen God's miracles but they claim they do to please their parents/neighbors/friends. Religion is almost like a drug and there's peer pressure. Trust me on this as I've experienced discrimination of this kind for not being a Catholic.

The bible was written by man, but God spoke through the men to have his Word for everyone to have a reference to. I have more but Ihave to do a project

I have said that unless I've experienced it for myself, I wouldn't believe it. I don't have much faith in Man and their talks of religion, because we are flawed and are prone to greed and sometimes, we too much of the truth.

[Spirited Away]

Excuse me unispiredfae?! Have you even read the Bible?

For one, the men who wrote the Gospel of Jesus (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John) were born around and even before Jesus. So, tell me how they "grew up already believing" that Jesus was the son of God?

They didn't.

Shows what you know.

Many parents take their children to Church since they were babies, do they not? That is an act brainwashing in itself. As a child grows, these thoughts of God will be instilled in him/her because he/she has grown up knowing only this God.

If I'm wrong, then how do you explain children who goes to war in the name of Allah? They were taught to do so, and they were taught that since they were very little.

Since you're so intent on logically proving something -- logically prove to me how one man, two thousand and four years ago, moved a stone of that size.

I suppose I can't, but then again, I never said I didn't believe in God. . You should get to know me more before you attack me on these things.

The pulley wasn't invented. Nor cranes. You can't fit 1,000 men on either side of the boulder to move it.

I'm not sure how that's relevant to God.

Just because it may be beyond your 2004 logic-thumping mentality and your insatiable desire to explain things like the philosophes and Voltaire in the 1700's. They got nowhere, and neither are you.

I'm afraid, your anger on my disbelief is getting you no where either. To contrast that, explanationss about God's existence gets no where either because there are proofs to disprove those claims and vice versa.

You ever comprehend that some things that are beyond your understanding, like the rising of Jesus from his tomb to Heaven, may not be a load of nonsense just because your so-called "advanced knowledge" and 2,004 year headstart have their skepticisms?

I don't understand it. But then again, I don't believe in Jesus, so I don't care to understand it. AND SINCE WHEN HAVE I SAID ANYTHING about "ADVANCED KNOWLEDGE"?

It seems like you're the one who's trying to pressure everyone into accepting your beliefs and that's what narrow-mindedness is.

So judge yourself, before you judge others. I'm sure the Bible explains something along those lines somewhere.

[*CEP*]

God, for me, is man's answer to questions he doesn't understand.
I mean, sure it's healthy that something can make you feel good, but living your according to teachings from an EDITED book is pretty damned stupid.

- Chinkieeyedpnoi

[strice]

God? if anything sounds more like BIG BROTHER, for those whohave read 1984.

[so0o_contagious]

well.. yeah, g-d didnt actually walk on water, or caused locusts to take over, its just an example of how strong and powerful his beliefs were. over the years, the story kinda gets modified by exaderation (dammit.. sp) like.. lets say.. you en this person is dating. en say this was in 6th grade, an you tell someone.. they tell other people. en the story becomes: omg! they hugged and kissed and madeout en stuff.. argh.. i lost my point. lol.

[tkproduce]

There's a perfectly legitimate scientific theory that our universe is constantly splitting into other ones. In one universe, you had bacon and eggs this morning, while in another universe, you just had cereal. In another universe, you might not exist at all because your parents decided not to have any children. In fact, this splitting of universes occurs every time a single electron "makes" a choice. This concept of parallel universes is one of the few ways scientists have managed to explain the electron diffraction phenomena where electrons seem to have a mind of its own.

So if the universe is constantly splitting into other ones, then whatever choice you make in this universe, you'll be making a different one in another universe. You just hope that you've made the right choice in the universe you are in. For us humans, who are "built" to think in 3D, it's quite hard to grasp this concept. And since we're built in 3D, it'll probably be impossible for us to interact with the other universes. So what can? God? I don't know. But I'd like to believe that there's something connecting all these "parallel universes" together and that some super-human being can freely interact with all of them.

Someone disprove me parallel universes, before you even TRY to disprove God.

Jews do not casually write any Name of God. This practice does not come from the commandment not to take the Lord's Name in vain, as many suppose. In Jewish thought, that commandment refers solely to oath-taking, and is a prohibition against swearing by God's Name falsely or frivolously (the word normally translated as "in vain" literally means "for falsehood").

Judaism does not prohibit writing the Name of God per se; it prohibits only erasing or defacing a Name of God. However, observant Jews avoid writing any Name of God casually because of the risk that the written Name might later be defaced, obliterated or destroyed accidentally or by one who does not know better.

don't take offense to it
i'm just telling you
it's your choice to believe it or not

well i dont belive in jesus christ. actually thats not true. from the day he was born to the day that he died jesus was jew.