So now I’m supposed to think that pain and torture is a good thing, because it’s the fire of God’s love?
This isn’t even remotely close to what he said; nor is it what I said when I gave basically the same explanation.
You can’t say that you know that god exists, with or without certainty. You can say that you know to try and present the stance that you believe very strongly. But you can’t say that you know. There would be no faith required if you knew as opposed to believing that god exists.
Okay, well then what was he trying to say?
Well, at least we’re bending over backwards trying to explain something. At least we’re trying to show you that your definitions of faith, reason, and God are not the only one’s out there. You have failed to show even one inconsistency in our beliefs except by trying to force your own definitions on them; definitions which are not compatible with ours. If your definitions were correct, then you would be right and our position would be logically flawed. Since your definitions are not, it is your position that falls into that category.
He was saying the same thing I said in post #2.
Well now, the only way is through study isn’t it? Reading the bible understanding both the historical and cultural context in which it was written. And it’s not entirely up to me to make such discernment. As I’ve already stated, I look to the Catholic church when there is any question.
If I may be so bold ast to ask if are you Catholic? The above is statements you make are manifestly NOT Catholic understanding. Catholic ‘People’ don’t (or should not) just interpret the bible to mean anything they want.
jahozafet. You are clearly out of you area of knowledge in speaking of Catholic faith. You’d do better to refrain from comparing us to Islamic Extremist. I’d suggest educating yourself better about what we believe before you come on these forums picking a fight. Maybe start with the Catechism Catholic Church if you are at all interested in learning what about what your attempting to talk about. And I suspect you know VERY little about Islam as well except the polemic nonsense you’ve picked up on the internet.
Evil is nothing in and of itself. It can not create, or be created. Evil is simply the perversion of something good.
I made no judgementst about who is going to hell, including atheist. That is between they and God. What I did say is that whoever is not with God in eternity will be without his presence by their own choice. Very different than what you imply.
I never called Lewis a theologian, and I doubt he would have consider himself one either. He was an excellent apologist who wrote in a way that has helped many take the first steps towards faith. I simply referenced a FICTIONAL work of his which is a good read and helps shed some light on the mind of the Christian concerning heaven and hell. I neither said nor implied more. I wish folks would actually read the posts instead of picking one of their pre-canned quotes to respond to something which was never said.
Are you seriously going to make the ‘Jesus didn’t exist argument’? No secular scholar worth their salt even holds this view any longer. If you want to go there, that’s fine, but you are going WAY out on a limb.
squirt said:
Silly, silly.
Why would you expect the consequence of your rejection of God should be a ‘good thing’?
Why do you believe I “blindly” subscribe? I could choose to believe in another faith. I could believe in nothing at all. Of course I choose based on history - that Christ Jesus suffered for sins, all sins, mine included, so that we may be united through the Holy Spirit in faith and return to the Father in heaven. I also choose based on my experience with God. I think for you to put historical evidence (I’ll refer you to The Case for Christ); the Bible - Word of God; the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ; the gift of the Holy Spirit, the Catholic Church; the communion of Saints; millions of followers for thousands of years into “an archaic hierarchy” is a harsh, exaggerated criticism of our faith, don’t you think? If we did not think for ourselves, even now, with our faith, why would we all be here, discussing it on these forums?
Ah, but there is substantial physical evidence that has been recovered to prove the existence of people and places spoken of in the Bible…enough to provide more credence to the theory of His existence than to disprove it.
You may not read since you are done today and probably on to another topic tomarrow, but I’ll make a comment that I hope doesn’t get taken out of context and is truly meant out of charity for another human being.
So? The conclusions are always tentative and open to revision.
Actually, what you just said makes no sense at all. A falsifiable hypothesis is testable, that is all that means. I don’t think you grasp these points very well.