Posted on 03/26/2013 6:56:09 AM PDT by NYer
WRT #178...’We can’t live our lives that way on other levels, like “if I drop this egg, will it land on the floor or the ceiling?” It’s one or the other.’...
Do you really equate gravity and physical laws with the existence or non-existence of a moral absolute?
This is a serious problem if one has a desire to know God exists, objectively.
For anyone who has any desire to know for a fact God exists, that is, to know He exists with as much certainty that one knows the sky is blue, or that the sun rises in the east, or that table salt is composed of sodium and chlorine, one must first want to know "what is truth".
Without such a desire, then everything becomes relative, even, the color of the sky, the direction of the sunrise, and the chemical composition of table salt. It's all relative, without an understanding of truth.
It doesn’t really matter if I know God exists, does it? Does it actually change anything? Some atheists claim to know God doesn’t exist...what color do you think they see the sky as, or where the sun comes up?
It matters to me whether or not God exists. The question for you is, “Do YOU want to know if God exists?”
You say you already believe in God, but then say you don’t have a clear idea of “what is truth”, so I ask you, “How do you know God exists with any certainty if you don’t even know what truth is?”
I believe God exists and I have no need to be correct or to actually know it. My faith is enough for me.
What a fascinating reply, thank you.
I will share this with you only as a point of comparison, not to “prove” anything. Just that I think you may find this interesting (or not, I don’t know): for me, my faith is not without truth, objective truth, in fact, my faith is based on objective truth. IOW, my faith is a method of knowledge, not divorced from reality but quite the opposite: my faith is found IN reality.
Apparently, the exact opposite of yours. Which is why I found your reply so fascinating.
I guess we’re just different people. I’m glad you find my faith to be fascinating.
To no surprise as this is surely the safest position one can have who has difficulty knowing or explaining why they believe what they do.
Additionally, it's the “trendy” position of our day....as “tolerance” has not only changed it's definition but “political correctness” has replaced it to the point that people don't dare to say what they believe in case they should cause offense to others.
So as a result...it's fast becoming that political correctness is ‘paralyzing debate’ so that truth concepts cannot be talked about at all....let alone challenge falsehood.
It's really more than sad Nanny, I'm convinced it's deadly for the very reason you spoke of. .....but as you know, we can never underestimate our roles in clearing the obstacles in anothers journey to the One true Creator God....He uses us to remove those obstacles along their path....a light shone here, a seed sown there,as is written, maybe all that is needed to move the seeker or skeptic one step further.
Thank you for your posts.
Hello again Stuart...I’ve been catching up on the thread and reading the dialogue among those engaged here.
I do have another question though...Do you ever feel guilty?
Because they’re not at all similar
Of course
well if you feel guilty, and as you said you don’t think God has concern about our sin, then why would you feel guilty at all, and what do you do about that guilt?
I am trying to understand how you can believe God is not concerned about our sin, while at the same time you can feel guilty.... because.... if our sin is not a concern, then why would an individual have any sense of guilt whatsoever?
“I am trying to understand how you can believe God is not concerned about our sin, while at the same time you can feel guilty.... because.... if our sin is not a concern, then why would an individual have any sense of guilt whatsoever?”
So I take it that any feelings of guilt that you have are entirely based on your fear of what God thinks?
Because they may have broken a law.
As I believe it, a sin is an offense/transgression against God. I do not believe we can offend Him, so I don’t believe sin exists...there is nothing for God to be concerned about.
One can feel guilty about something that has nothing to do with God.
I’m preparing a list in case your next question is something like...’so what makes you feel guilty?’...I probably won’t get it done tonite though, sorry.
Are you a ‘Diest’ Stuart?
I don’t know what a deist is. I’m not really concerned with labels, they seem elitist to me.
But guilt is not a bad thing...for it's through guilt people have the opportunity to change for the better, and many do just that.......... It could be said it's a gatekeeper or boundary line helps show us where we shouldn't go in life, what we shouldn't do.....And it helps us make amends when we cause or create pain and related hardships to others.
I am thankful we feel guilt toward others because we generally know and understand our actions can deplete another’s God-given value and dignity.... guilt also reminds us to avoid sin, the result of which is death in various forms.
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