Viewing 40 posts - 121 through 160 (of 459 total)
  • Atheists/Agnostics/Sceptics – Religious questions you want answered
  • RustySpanner
    Full Member

    molgrips – Member
    Hmm.. to understand the good stuff, I dunno, maybe we could ask, like, a priest or something.. you know, someone who’s studied it…

    If God does not exist, why would a believer have anymore expertise or a better perspective than a non believing expert in the field?

    tjagain
    Full Member

    I thought the historians consensus nowadays was that the biblical figure of Jesus is really an amalgamation of 3 or 4 jewish prophets? and actually based mainly in what is now Lebanon not Israel

    convert
    Full Member

    I can have a shot at this one. The creation story is a parable / made simple for folk with little understanding of science. the 8 days (??) is not to be taken literally but to be the 8 stages of the creation of the earth and of evolution. so first the Sun came into being after the big bang, then the planet cooled, then primitive life forms emerged etc etc. I don’t buy it but thats the explanation given as far as I understand

    Serpents, apples, ribs and dust?

    Perhaps they publish an appendix and hand it out at Sunday school indicating which bits are intended to be taken literally and which are just there for the dribblers in the corner who need the Janet and John version of how the world works.

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    TiRed
    Full Member

    Lots of “big questions” above, mostly unanswerable, but the fundamental question for me is simply:

    What influence does your faith in God have on your actions?

    I lost interest in all the other stuff as a largely unanswerable belief structure, but if you have faith and it has no bearing on your actions, then what is the point of your faith?

    James (letter) sums it up perfectly:

    “But someone will say, “You have faith; I have deeds.” Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by my deeds.”

    And this was the big debate in the early church. James lost btw.

    onewheelgood
    Full Member

    Why? Just why do you think you need religion?

    And how come your are so tough on gays but so much more relaxed about the mixed fibres and the shellfish?

    molgrips
    Free Member

    If God does not exist, why would a believer have anymore expertise or a better perspective than a non believing expert in the field?

    God may not exist, but religion definitely does. Jesus may or may not have existed but a bunch of teachings attributed to him definitely do.

    RustySpanner
    Full Member

    Junky, this is quite an interesting read…. Guardian.

    There are no details there at all – no offence

    Non taken by me mate.
    🙂

    As I say, complete atheist.
    I find the fact I reckon that in all probability Jesus existed just makes the whole thing much more interesting.

    molgrips
    Free Member

    I don’t buy it but thats the explanation given as far as I understand

    As I understand it, it’s taken by most people as a parable, with no basis in fact.

    Cougar
    Full Member

    How does praying help you?

    I think I can field this one.

    Irrespective of whether god exists or not the act of prayer is a way of focusing your thoughts, of ‘pulling your socks up.’ You pray, you feel better. In essence it’s the placebo effect.

    Seems pretty nailed on, tbh.

    Unfortunate choice of words when talking about Jesus.

    the 8 days (??) is not to be taken literally

    isn’t this modern revisionism? These days a lot of Xtians believe that the stories are allegorical, but as far as I’m aware this wasn’t always the case. It was intended to be the literal word of god, an explanation for how the world actually came to be.

    That’s probably another question for the OP actually.

    5thElefant
    Free Member

    As the god of the gaps rational gets squeezed out I wonder if religion will embrace the singularity. Or rather, that it’s already happened. That would actually allow their beliefs to align with science (ish) rather than be at odds with it.

    Cougar
    Full Member

    I thought the historians consensus nowadays was that the biblical figure of Jesus is really an amalgamation of 3 or 4 jewish prophets?

    Not that I’m any expert, but I’ve suspected this for years. There may or may not have been an actual Jesus, but once entered into folklore this is how stories work. Tales get embellished in the telling, the feeding of the 5,000 probably started out when they had a day out and someone thought to bring a packed lunch. Someone somewhere does something cool and by the third retelling it’s attributed to that nice Jesus fella.

    RustySpanner
    Full Member

    molgrips – Member
    If God does not exist, why would a believer have anymore expertise or a better perspective than a non believing expert in the field?
    God may not exist, but religion definitely does. Jesus may or may not have existed but a bunch of teachings attributed to him definitely do.

    I know Christianity exists.
    My question is why would a non believing expert have a view less valid that that of a believer?

    molgrips
    Free Member

    My question is why would a non believing expert have a view less valid that that of a believer?

    I dunno. I think they probably would.

    I said priest because they are generally ones who have studied these things, but also I was being a bit cheeky.

    MrWoppit
    Free Member

    Don’t have any religious questions.

    Got a few statements though, obvs…

    molgrips
    Free Member

    That would actually allow their beliefs to align with science (ish) rather than be at odds with it.

    Many people, maybe most in the West, already have done that. Including the Pope it seems.

    Atheists seem to have this singular idea of what ‘religion’ is as if all religious people are of one mind. That’s really not the case.

    RustySpanner
    Full Member

    Molgrips
    I dunno. I think they probably would.

    Why?

    And you know that thing I mentioned about attributing traits to certain groups, even though those traits are universal?

    And it being spectacularly unhelpful?

    Atheists seem to have this singular idea of what ‘religion’ is as if all religious people are of one mind.

    🙂

    molgrips
    Free Member

    Bang to rights. Although I did say ‘seem’. Meaning many of the ones I have been speaking to about this, largely on here, seem frequently to display that trait.

    cheese@4p
    Full Member

    A few questions around the subject of faith in a god:
    What benefits does your faith give you?
    Do you ever have doubts about your faith in god?
    If your god made its’self visible and therefore proved its’existence once and for all would you then expect everyone to follow it?
    If the god thing was proven to exist would it not defeat the concept of faith?
    Is it just faith in something that you need?

    SaxonRider
    Full Member

    Don’t have any religious questions.

    That’s not strictly true, Woppit. A year or so ago, you asked about religious experience, and how that affected a person’s (my) notion of God.

    That’s a pretty good question IME.

    As to those of you who are asking about answers, as I said a numbers of posts ago, I will be trying to answer. I just thought that, through the years, so many questions/issues/objections/arguments have been raised regarding religion – and Christianity in particular – that it would be helpful to gather them into one place so that (a) common theme(s) can be discerned, and a realistic, coherent attempt made at responding.

    Incidentally, I know that some of you know where I am coming from in religious terms, but I don’t think I have ever explicitly stated it on here. Would it be fair to ask that people not assume? 🙂

    slimjim78
    Free Member

    At what age is a child free to decide for them-self?

    RustySpanner
    Full Member

    Would it be fair to ask that people not assume?

    Not really, no.
    You might as well ask them not to breathe.
    🙂

    It’s that human nature thing again.
    People are going to make assumptions, it’s what they do.

    Euro
    Free Member

    As a child i had many questions. Avid catholic, became an alter boy, raised by nuns in a convent school etc. No one could answer them. By the age of 11 i’d given up. For several years i was angry and would be a tit towards believers (like a few on here still seem to do) but for the last 20 years i’m happy to let people believe what they want.
    I do still ahve a few questions that i’d like an answer to. THe deep ones will never be answered to my satisfaction but i’d like to know what the hell God was playing at when in created wasps. Also, if Jesus was indeed a carpenter (fashioned his own cross) and knew he was to die for our sins – why didn’t he make his cross from balsa wood? Easier to transport and a doddle to bbreak when the Romans had gone to bed. Lastly, who put the bomp in the bomp bah bomp bah bomp?

    molgrips
    Free Member

    why didn’t he make his cross from balsa wood?

    Balsa trees are South American.. doubt they’d have had access. Sorry 🙂

    Cougar
    Full Member

    Would it be fair to ask that people not assume?

    It’d be fair to ask.

    Also, optimistic.

    (-:

    tjagain
    Full Member

    Incidentally, I know that some of you know where I am coming from in religious terms, but I don’t think I have ever explicitly stated it on here. Would it be fair to ask that people not assume?

    I have no idea personally and don’t really care. I find theological debates interesting.

    . For several years i was angry and would be a tit towards believers (like a few on here still seem to do)

    dunno if thats aimed at me or not but I will answer. I am able to separate thought from deed so while I think religionists are a sandwich short of a picnic I do not treat them any different from anyone else. Indeed being aware of my own prejudices I probably in my professional life treat them better in some ways to ensure I am not being biased.

    for example I will make certain that we know the religious beliefs of any dying person in my care so as to arrange the necessary spiritual care for them something many of my colleagues forget to do and I also am the only person on the ward as far as I know who knows the correct way to deal with the dead bodies of people of different faiths.

    Its the separation of thought and deed or the setting aside of prejudices to ensure actions are fair.

    I do the same for Tories 🙂

    Euro
    Free Member

    Balsa trees are South American.. doubt they’d have had access. Sorry

    Trade routes across the globe had been established before Jesus surely – he could have put an order in 😀 Or cork, it’s light too. Or turned water into balsa

    crankboy
    Free Member

    Seems too late to post this now but I’d hate to waste it ” Jesus is but a fable that has been agreed upon” or in Timothy’s case deliberately twisted.

    crankboy
    Free Member

    saxonrider lots of questions but no answers so far, not a taunt but an observation to justify me adding another that follows on from define god.

    how do you monotheistic-ally (assumption i know) deal with the existence of EL, Yahweh and Asherah in the OT?

    funkmasterp
    Full Member

    So, the whole walk on water thing, were Jesus and his crew the first surfers?

    Euro
    Free Member

    tjagain
    dunno if thats aimed at me or not but I will answer.

    I haven’t read the thread so no, not aimed at you or anyone in particular. If you’ve been a tit to others for their beliefs on previous threads (which is what i was referring to) then yes, it was 😀 If people want to believe in this stuff then who am i (or anyone) to try and change their minds. It’s one of those situations you have to learn for yourself, if so inclined imo.

    slackalice
    Free Member

    What does your faith mean to you?
    Are your life experiences affected by your belief, or does your belief affect your experiences?

    Whilst a bigger question, I feel it’s important that a person with faith is able to define their God/Gods/ Higher Power, so: How is do you define your ‘God’

    How do you feel about continually trying to answer questions of your faith to people who berate you for having a belief structure?
    On a similar vein, why do so many people think they’ve read the Bible, yet not grasped its intent and still adhere to the face value of the metaphors it contains?

    That’ll do for starters, thanks OP, watching with interest to see how this goes. By default, im a glass half full kinda guy, but experience tells me…

    Ro5ey
    Free Member

    SR … I know you’re a Theologian, where as, I’m just some fella who enjoys the odd service here or there.

    I was asking to join your “Team” for answering questions.

    🙂

    kcr
    Free Member

    why didn’t he make his cross from balsa wood

    I assume the Roman army would have outsourced supply to local contractors who would be required to build to an appropriate MIL-SPEC, so it’s unlikely Jesus would have been allowed to construct his own non standard cross. A balsa cross would also have prevented him from achieving his primary mission objective of dying.

    Wait a minute, I didn’t think the non believers were supposed to be answering the questions on this thread. That one wasn’t too hard, so I might try a few more.

    johndoh
    Free Member

    Balsa trees are South American.. doubt they’d have had access. Sorry

    Some swallows could have flown over with some?

    slimjim78
    Free Member

    In the complete absence of any proof, what actually makes your god more real than other religions gods?

    mattyfez
    Full Member

    If Adam and eve are real and evolution is just a theory, why you can observe the flu virus mutating in real time in vitro, thus requiring a new flu jab each year.

    Discuss, I’ll fetch the cheese board.

    mattyfez
    Full Member

    And how come the son of God, born in the middle east, is white and has a Spanish name?

    mattyfez
    Full Member

    funkmasterp – Member
    So, the whole walk on water thing, were Jesus and his crew the first surfers?

    Charlie Jesus don’t surf.

    miketually
    Free Member

    Jesus died for our sins. Why did anyone have to die for our sins?

    slimjim78
    Free Member

    Why don’t priests/rabbis/imams etc just start every sentence with ‘allegedly’ ?

    Solves all disputes.

Viewing 40 posts - 121 through 160 (of 459 total)

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