Quote:
| Originally Posted by lobrobster So....
Q- Do we know God exists?
A- Of course. The bible tells us so.
Q- How do we know to believe the bible?
A- Because it is the word of God.
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|
Lob,
If you will permit me an excercise in reference to your post I think I can demonstrate a thing.
Do we know that God exists?
No. "WE" collectively do not, that is part of the problem.
I personally do, unarguably. I have stared into the face of God and it has shaken me to the core. It is an experience I am reluctant to repeat (but that is another story). In fact, many people know to the core of thier being that there is a god. We just can't agree on who or what that God is.
If you take all of human history (sans modern aethiests), we can see that humanity has recognized an otherness and have explained it in terms of God or gods. Whether it be sun gods, or wind gods, gods of fire, water, planets, love etc... Man in his most intuitive and uncomplicated form has always explained the things they do not understand in terms of otherness (most specifically god(s)), which is something that shouldnt be ignored or explained away as superstitious or primative. To ignore intuition in the light of todays technological and scientific advances would be irresponsible.
As we progress as a species we have been able to understand some of these things and place explanation to them. For example water is no longer a god it is one part hydrogen and two parts oxygen. Yet that isnt the answer either, because as we break things down into even smaller parts, we come up with bigger questions that need more answers. There are trace elements even within molecules that are found throuout the cosmos.
People need to look for God, in fact I would argue that science is actually the modern method of understanding God. Francis Collins a theoretical scientist postulates that math is the perfect language between god and humanity as it is universal in form and recognizable by all despite culture, creed, ethnicity, or station in life. Think about it, math is out there, we just have to learn the language and put characters to it, we have theoretically traveled billions of light years just by using math, it blows my mind. Now that doesnt mean we can speak to God or that it can speak back to us but consider the many things we have learned through this process. It is acutally a very accurate way to communicate as the cosmos is slowly revealed to us. I am not saying I believe this completely, but it is a much better form of communication than a two thousand year old text like the bible.
That some, maybe even most, Christians will insist that the Bible contains everything you need to know about God is absolutely absurd. However, and I say this with all seriousness, respect, and admiration for the book, and its followers.
That book DOES contain all one needs to know about how the God of the universe, wants us as a creation, to treat one another. This should not be over looked or minimalized because some very silly people beleive some very silly things. Talking serpents, virgin births, resurections, healings...paaaalease!
Peace!
Linear Mode
