Believe in God and follow HIM , Atheists!

[RPRPsych]

The sad thing is atheists cant believe because God has given them a harden heart. So it is essentially up to God if they recieve a new heart to believe.

That’s Calvinist talk.

 

[Aloysium]

What happens if God doesn’t give you the grace to believe? Then it’s cool to be an atheist? . . . OK to go to a Mosque to do that?

I would agree with you here. It is God’s calling that spurs one to find Him and through His grace that we believe.

In seeking Him, who is Truth, given one’s background, personality and learned concepts about the world, one may very well take a circuitous route.

In pursuing what is Real, one might find atheism to purge them of superstitious and unsound views. Atheists posting on these forums typically present their understandings of a god that is totally foreign and similarly unbelievable to me.
Likewise, a lack of devotion and commitment in one’s life and community, might lead one to the mosque.
I am as certain as one can be that there exist Hindu and Buddhist saints, who found God in the silence of their meditation.
The point would be to follow His calling where it takes one right to the end, where one is face-to-face with God.

Christ is the Way, if one is not against Him, he will ultimately find Him.
It is my belief that the Catholic Church was founded by God and that it is the most rational, quickest and surest way to come to Him.

 

[roselily]

Your welcome How about we both go watch some youtube videos of The Westboro Baptist Church? Because as everyone knows, they are not actually turning people away from Christianity by how they get peoples attention! (Hint:Hint)

I understand that one must hold fast to God love not hate; I knew that only love can change people.

Matthew 22
“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.” 38This is the greatest and first commandment. 39And a second is like it: “You shall love your neighbour as yourself.” 40On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.’

 

[roselily]

yeah take St. Augustine as an example.

Yes,

 

[roselily]

What happens if God doesn’t give you the grace to believe? Then it’s cool to be an atheist?

OK to go to a Mosque to do that?

O VeritasLuxMea, God give us free wills to choose; everything is according to circumstance–you can say you choose to believe in God by reasoning also. For atheist, they have free will to choose also, For besides God there is no life, only God can give eternal life and happiness.

 

[roselily]

Everyone’s different, of course. I’d figure the biggest factor would be one’s environment, as in how religious is the area they live/lived in and how religious their upbringing was. In other words, the most resistance one gets in determining they’re atheists and/or agnostics the more likely they have seiously thought about their decisions.

Mike?

Do not think I am here to convert others, and remember this, --you have free will to choose, by reasoning you will find God also; I just want say some reasoning I observed; hence I have strong faith, and I knew that human kind can not come from random.

 

[wcknight]

There are many who used to be part of some religion, and something turn them away, either they could not abide by the principles or hey saw no evidence of God in their lives. Either way its really sad and they need our prayers and encouragement.

 

[roselily]

That’s Calvinist talk.

I do not know Calvinist, but the pictures of your video games remind me of nice Minecraft.

 

[roselily]

I would agree with you here. It is God’s calling that spurs one to find Him and through His grace that we believe.

In seeking Him, who is Truth, given one’s background, personality and learned concepts about the world, one may very well take a circuitous route.

In pursuing what is Real, one might find atheism to purge them of superstitious and unsound views. Atheists posting on these forums typically present their understandings of a god that is totally foreign and similarly unbelievable to me.
Likewise, a lack of devotion and commitment in one’s life and community, might lead one to the mosque.
I am as certain as one can be that there exist Hindu and Buddhist saints, who found God in the silence of their meditation.
The point would be to follow His calling where it takes one right to the end, where one is face-to-face with God.

Christ is the Way, if one is not against Him, he will ultimately find Him.
It is my belief that the Catholic Church was founded by God and that it is the most rational, quickest and surest way to come to Him.

Thanks!

 

[roselily]

There are many who used to be part of some religion, and something turn them away, either they could not abide by the principles or hey saw no evidence of God in their lives. Either way its really sad and they need our prayers and encouragement.

Yes,

 

[Oreoracle]

Oh yeah! That is going to win converts for sure!!!

It certainly isn’t converting me, but I also don’t feel compelled to argue against it. Roselily comes across as being so…blithe, I guess. It’s a bit unnerving, really.

I’m quite curious just how much agnostics/atheists actually seriously think about their decision regarding religion.

People can really tell at times when not much serious thought has been taken.

I would affirm what others have said: Some people have put a lot of thought into the matter, but others less so. I would say a good indicator of a thoughtful atheist is one who seems to be passionate when arguing their case. A person who seems uncomfortable or taken aback when asked for their opinion likely hasn’t given it a lot of thought. Either that, or they are mortified at the possibility of offending people.

 

[roselily]

I’m quite curious just how much agnostics/atheists actually seriously think about their decision regarding religion.

People can really tell at times when not much serious thought has been taken.

I know that God give us free will to choose. I know that God is our creator and all good things come from HIM!

Ephesians 3
20 Now to him who by the power at work within us is able to accomplish abundantly far more than all we can ask or imagine,

 

[Peter_Plato]

You decided to become a Christian at some point in your life, didn’t you? In order to do that, you had to use your own reasoning. Even if the conclusion you reached was that your own reasoning is unreliable, you still had to trust the reasoning that led you to that conclusion. Why did you trust your own reasoning when deciding to become Christian?

Interesting this.

On reflection, though, it is holding a baby, watching a child play, stroking my cat, watching snow fall, gazing up at the sky, intentionally stepping out of myself in an act of love, sitting in silence, hearing an honest laugh, interacting with or being genuinely interested in other persons in my life that brings me closer to God.

I find reasoning doesn’t so much get me closer to God as functions to defray doubt or skepticism that comes up into my mind when I begin to try to rationalize to myself or to others why I know that God is.

Reasoning is more like map-making than it is actually exploring the ground.

Reasoning doesn’t “get you there” so much as explicates or reiterates how you arrived.

In other ways, reasoning is more a defensive or “shoring” mechanism than an effective one.

I am finding it more and more a challenge to “get into” the mindset or thought patterns of atheism to work out how these might be resolved leaving no stone unturned.

 

[roselily]

It certainly isn’t converting me, but I also don’t feel compelled to argue against it. Roselily comes across as being so…blithe, I guess. It’s a bit unnerving, really.

O Oreoracle, Christ Himself died on the cross to save human and give human second chance to live in a paradise.

forums.catholic-questions.org/showthread.php?t=563099

I read,

**Philippians 4

9And my God will fully satisfy every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus. 20To our God and Father be glory for ever and ever. Amen.

1Corinthians 2

9But, as it is written,
‘What no eye has seen, nor ear heard,
nor the human heart conceived,
what God has prepared for those who love him’—** .

 

[hope19]

It is a great topic roselily.

Only God is the life source.

Only God can makes you happy.

Only God is the love source.

 

[roselily]

Interesting this.

On reflection, though, it is holding a baby, watching a child play, stroking my cat, watching snow fall, gazing up at the sky, intentionally stepping out of myself in an act of love, sitting in silence, hearing an honest laugh, interacting with or being genuinely interested in other persons in my life that brings me closer to God.

I find reasoning doesn’t so much get me closer to God as functions to defray doubt or skepticism that comes up into my mind when I begin to try to rationalize to myself or to others why I know that God is.

Reasoning is more like map-making than it is actually exploring the ground.

Reasoning doesn’t “get you there” so much as explicates or reiterates how you arrived.

In other ways, reasoning is more a defensive or “shoring” mechanism than an effective one.

I am finding it more and more a challenge to “get into” the mindset or thought patterns of atheism to work out how these might be resolved leaving no stone unturned.

Thanks!

 

[roselily]

It is a great topic roselily.

Only God is the life source.

Only God can makes you happy.

Only God is the love source.

True! :angel1::angel1:

 

[hope19]

Humans have been arrogant in the beginning of the world so they reject God from the earth.

I see that continues today for a lot of people.

It is a fact.

We all have to obey to God if we want happiness.

 

[Ion]

You are misunderstanding.
Atheism is not a religion or a belief system. And many atheists have better morals than many God-believers.
Most follow sold moral rules for the good of humanity…and would never follow the commands of a God who orders people to kill or stone their own children or murder other tribes or buy fellow humans as slaves or offer their daughters to be brutalized…commands found in many religious scriptures.
Many of these scriptures are very immoral and Atheists try to have better morals than those found in some holy books.

.

We are not a bag for ideas, so to put the best “morals” or so in it. Why don’t they do it with all the atheists? Show me a true believer in Christ who is an alcoholic or addicted to drugs or all sort of weird things…

 

[RPRPsych]

I do not know Calvinist, but the pictures of your video games remind me of nice Minecraft.

I was actually replying to another poster, but - great comeback! I personally speak Catholic, but I did study a bit of Calvinist out of academic interest. (And I can’t take credit for the pictures, they’re built into the software I’m using…)

And this thread topic is interesting: what is the best approach to take with an atheist? What sort of arguments should one use (or avoid)? Having met a few atheists in my day, I seriously wonder!