“What is truth; Are moral values absolute or relative? Are at least some moral values absolute? If so, where do these absolute moral values come from? Is the possibility of evil necessary, in order for human beings to be allowed free will? “
Jesus, Himself, is truth. He is the standard by which all things are measured.
John 14:6 “ Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. “
Moral values are absolute. Truth is also absolute.
As I said in my previous post, unbelievers try to make it an abstract concept. It is a personal concept.
Heinlein summed it best for me:
“The most ridiculous concept ever perpetrated by H.Sapiens is that the Lord God of Creation, Shaper and Ruler of the Universes, wants the sacharrine adoration of his creations, that he can be persuaded by their prayers, and becomes petulant if he does not recieve this flattery. Yet this ridiculous notion, without one real shred of evidence to bolster it, has gone on to found one of the oldest, largest and least productive industries in history.”
Dont be offended. You asked for opinions. If you’re lucky you get about 80 years on this rock. Be kind, fall in love, raise a family. Or not. Most of all, decide for yourself.
In the end, all is dust.
The reason humanities (as compared to science) has hardly progressed at all in the milleniums that man has existed is because the terms it deals with are either not defined or vaguely defined.
Define for me what God is and I’ll tell you if:
1. he exists
2. he doesn’t exist
3. I’ll take a wild guess
4. I have no clue
And that is true of all the other terms you bring up.
Note that in asking your questions, not only have you not defined your terms, you have also omitted choice 3 and 4 in the list of possible answers.
For most of the questions you pose the best answer is 3 or 4, given our current state of knowledge
Asking about beliefs doesn’t get to the ultimate factual answers, only to someone’s opinion.
And by that I don’t mean to minimize beliefs, because they constitute our world view, through which we filter all our sensual input and thoughts, and which guide us in making the thousands of decisions we make each day. So beliefs are extremely important.
And so which beliefs are the best to hold? The ones that correlate best with reality as provided by our senses and rational mind and the ones that lead to a happier life in the long run.
Just as an example of how a belief that doesn’t reflect reality can cause untold human misery, consider the belief that everyone is equal or that everyone should be treated equally or be given equal opportunity. This is the belief of socialists and progressives. If you wonder what progressives are “progressing” toward, it is equality. Think of all the death and misery that such a belief has caused humanity. (The USSR, China, Cuba, Eastern Europe, NK). And now it’s encroaching in the US as well, as the reference to equality in the declaration of independence is exploited to push for “forced equality”.
The REALITY is that people are not equal, and you can force such an outcome only with tyranny and misery. The better solution is to accept and even embrace the reality that people are NOT equal and make the most of the differences by allowing them to flourish through freedom and individual compassion.
To help me make the point, I’ll leave you with this short story from Kurt Vonnegut:
http://www.tnellen.com/cybereng/harrison.html
For example, If A then NOT B. "If your God is all powerful, could he create a stone so large that not even HE could move it? If he can't create such a stone, he must not be all powerful."
There are all kinds of variations on this--perhaps the professor wants to show how superior he is with logical arguments, but they are moot from a theological standpoint. As Christians, we have faith, which cannot be expressed in logical terms.
some paragraphs would be nicer than one run-on paragraph
God is the Ultimate Reality, the All in All, expressing as, through, in, and around all that exists.
Do you believe in God? If so, why? Why are you here on earth, and where are you going, for eternity?
Yes. While there is a nonzero probability that all the factors necessary for life as we know it to exist on this planet, the chance of that happening was so minimal that it might as well be zero -- so some driving force made it this way. Call it The Thing Itself. Whatever The Thing Itself is, that's God.
Each of us is here on Earth for a unique purpose and when we have completed that mission, we move on to the next phase of life.
If you believe in God, what is the most convincing evidence, for you personally? Is there any possibility that you may be wrong about the existence of God? If so, what are the consequences of being wrong, and believing in a God who doesn’t exist?
Possibility? Yes, extremely minimal. I discussed the best evidence above.
No consequence to being mistaken about that, as I see it.
If you do not believe in God, why not? If you do not believe in God, is there any possibility that you might be wrong—no matter how small the possibility? If you are wrong, what are the consequences of being wrong?
I don't see much in the way of consequences for those who don't believe in God either.
Philosophy was one of two classes I liked in college - the other being english lit. it may not have been an official part of the curriculum, like studying the different schools of thought - but we discussed things like this after the boring stuff was done. ‘God is dead’ was popular back then - and we would drag the professor to lunch after class to continue the arguments.
dont have time for all your questions, but I know God exists. It became real for me the first time I looked into the eyes of my first child. That was the day I left the Catholic church because I KNEW babies were automatically granted the right to see the face of God, while the rest of us burned off those sins in purgatory.
I might not be able to describe God, but I know Him when I see Him.
Aristotles fine Ontological Proofs answer these Questions.
When all that should suffice for anyone with half a brain is Voltaire's observation,
"If God did not exist, Man would be constrained (compelled?) to invent him."
"Our profession of faith begins with God, for God is the First and the Last, the beginning and the end of everything. The Credo begins with God the Father, for the Father is the first divine person of the Most Holy Trinity; our Creed begins with the creation of heaven and earth, for creation is the beginning and the foundation of all God's works."
---the Catechism of the Catholic Church, no. 198
Catholic belief is succinctly expressed in the profession of faith or credo called the Nicene Creed:
I believe in one God,
the Father almighty,
maker of heaven and earth,
of all things visible and invisible.
I believe in one Lord Jesus Christ,
the Only Begotten Son of God,
born of the Father before all ages.
God from God, Light from Light,
true God from true God,
begotten, not made, consubstantial with the Father;
through him all things were made.
For us men and for our salvation
he came down from heaven,
(bowing head) and by the Holy Spirit was incarnate of the Virgin Mary,
and became man.
For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate,
he suffered death and was buried,
and rose again on the third day
in accordance with the Scriptures.
He ascended into heaven
and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
He will come again in glory
to judge the living and the dead
and his kingdom will have no end.
I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life,
who proceeds from the Father and the Son,
who with the Father and the Son is adored and glorified,
who has spoken through the prophets.
I believe in one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church.
I confess one Baptism for the forgiveness of sins
and I look forward to the resurrection of the dead
and the life of the world to come. Amen.
It can't be summed up in this type of forum but it's a complex subject, explained and answered in the pages of the bible...you may want to start here: