Ugh, you're so close-minded

[ollkiller]

Here's the ould two cents. What i find close minded is the people who know how it all started. It was the big bang of course you fool, it was god how did you not know. It could have been either, it could have been both together. It could also be something totally different that we have no way of understanding yet. At this point in time i don't think we're able to prove a god or not. It's a faith thing and i have no problem with that.

I have one or two ideas on how it all began but i don't presume to know. If it was god i would shake his (or her) hand and say well done. If it was through the big bang i would marvel at the beauty of the the history of the universe through science. Either way i'm just glad it happened because it gives us time to enjoy the simple things in life, family,friends and memories. All things that are enjoyed by us regardless of being a believer or not. All people will disagree on issues and ways of life but that shouldn't make us be close minded. Different points of view can be a good thing.

Edited May 3, 2009 by ollkiller

[Dog House Bill]

When the search is over, and one finds that single belief which gives them the comfort and peace that they have been searching for all their life. Then one rejects all the former things they had tried to find peace, but those things failed. Is that closing ones mind? Or is it simply being honest with oneself.

As a Christian, my search is over. All those worldly pursuits had left me empty and very much alone. Jesus came along and filled that emptiness and took away the loneliness. So yes, I have closed my mind to that which is false and unsupported. Not out of ignorance, but because of knowledge gained first hand. All humans desire to be at peace and fulfilled, Jesus is the only person who can truly fulfill a person deep down inside their being, thus, bringing a peace that is beyond any understanding or explanation.

Therefore, those who want everyone else to be "open minded", in my opinion, are still searching and are "closing" their minds to the reality of what Jesus can do for you. They are not at peace nor are they fulfilled with what they are currently following. As such, they want everyone to "go with the flow" in the vain hope that "fulfillment and peace through numbers will drive away the loneliness."

Jesus is still waiting for you to end the search. He is only a prayer away.

[Murse32]

When the search is over, and one finds that single belief which gives them the comfort and peace that they have been searching for all their life. Then one rejects all the former things they had tried to find peace, but those things failed. Is that closing ones mind? Or is it simply being honest with oneself.

As a Christian, my search is over. All those worldly pursuits had left me empty and very much alone. Jesus came along and filled that emptiness and took away the loneliness. So yes, I have closed my mind to that which is false and unsupported. Not out of ignorance, but because of knowledge gained first hand. All humans desire to be at peace and fulfilled, Jesus is the only person who can truly fulfill a person deep down inside their being, thus, bringing a peace that is beyond any understanding or explanation.

Therefore, those who want everyone else to be "open minded", in my opinion, are still searching and are "closing" their minds to the reality of what Jesus can do for you. They are not at peace nor are they fulfilled with what they are currently following. As such, they want everyone to "go with the flow" in the vain hope that "fulfillment and peace through numbers will drive away the loneliness."

Jesus is still waiting for you to end the search. He is only a prayer away.

Beautifully written Bill!! I couldn't have said it better myself...and I didn't!! LOL

[MorningGlory]

When the search is over, and one finds that single belief which gives them the comfort and peace that they have been searching for all their life. Then one rejects all the former things they had tried to find peace, but those things failed. Is that closing ones mind? Or is it simply being honest with oneself.

As a Christian, my search is over. All those worldly pursuits had left me empty and very much alone. Jesus came along and filled that emptiness and took away the loneliness. So yes, I have closed my mind to that which is false and unsupported. Not out of ignorance, but because of knowledge gained first hand. All humans desire to be at peace and fulfilled, Jesus is the only person who can truly fulfill a person deep down inside their being, thus, bringing a peace that is beyond any understanding or explanation.

Therefore, those who want everyone else to be "open minded", in my opinion, are still searching and are "closing" their minds to the reality of what Jesus can do for you. They are not at peace nor are they fulfilled with what they are currently following. As such, they want everyone to "go with the flow" in the vain hope that "fulfillment and peace through numbers will drive away the loneliness."

Jesus is still waiting for you to end the search. He is only a prayer away.

Beautifully written Bill!! I couldn't have said it better myself...and I didn't!! LOL

[Murse32]

... Is that closing ones mind? Or is it simply being honest with oneself.

As a Christian, my search is over.

If your search is over then it must be that you have found all the answers. I don't think, personally, that any human has all the answers.

All those worldly pursuits had left me empty and very much alone. Jesus came along and filled that emptiness and took away the loneliness.

I have no doubts that you do feel better. You may very well have felt that you were adrift and without purpose. It is good to have purpose. I would only argue that your way is not the only way, though it is one way, and for some it works.

So yes, I have closed my mind to that which is false and unsupported.

You do have scripture. The New Testament, as we know it, was complete by the 4th century. Would you argue that those in the 4th century had knowledge as complete as your own? What if your only knowledge of the world had been extrapolated from scripture?

I am not sure that in the 4th century they had an accurate understanding of eclipses. They certainly didn't know the cause of earthquake or lightning, tides or disease. Imagine if the search for knowledge had ended before it even began?

Not out of ignorance, but because of knowledge gained first hand.

I would argue that Christians of the 4th century had many ways of looking at the world. The writings they left behind are proof of that. Some of those ways don't exist anymore. There was probably no one at that time that saw the world as you see it now, and yet you are using the same scripture they possessed. Do you possess first hand knowledge that they lacked? They possessed the same scripture. How could it be that their views were so different from yours?

Am I missing something? What is the nature of your first hand knowledge? How does your knowledge differ from that of Lutherans, Anglicans, Methodists, Seventh Day Adventists, Amish, Catholics, and so on? Are you claiming knowledge that these other Christians lack? Maybe you aren't. Set me straight. I'm confused by your claim to first hand knowledge.

You speak of knowledge that has no bearing. Yes, I will agree with you we now know how lighting starts, earthquakes are caused, and how tides change...Ok. What does that do, or anything of the sorts, to show us God and His ways? Yes, knowledge is increasing, the bible even declared it would in the last days. Look how much our technology has grown in just the past 50 years...It's doubling itself every few years.

You have made one error though, that is supposing that in the 4th century people were ignorant. If you are correct, and people truly were ignorant, explain this to me:

Job 36:27 - For he maketh small the drops of water: they pour down rain according to the vapour thereof.

If you are not familiar with the book of Job...it was written thousands of years before the New Testament. It is believed to be the oldest book in the Old testament. How did someone thousands of years ago, know that rain was caused by evaporation? Surely they can't see evaporation. They may witness lakes and streams drying up, but how did they know that this water was recycling itself? Unless it was God who spoke things to men.

The knowledge we have according to the other "christians" you have spoke of, is our bible. Our bibles are all the same, the unfortunets are that many ADD to the scriptures. This is where we begin to see the fallibility of MEN. The 66 books we have in our possession are believed to have been God inspired writings. When men begin to add to scriptures or change scriptures, we than see many contradictions within their books. True christians only have 66. We study to correlate these books. Though many have attempted to read to pull out contradictions, there are none!!! and I stand by that. I've look for them myself.

Some of the other sects, have brought with them old habits per sa. When the Catholics began, there was a merge between the christians and the pagans. Many beliefs they adopted directly contradicted scripture. When Luther departed from the catholic church, he did a wonderful thing by bringing protestantism to us...unfortunetly, he brought many of the dogmas with him that were for so long, embedded into his head. When we read now, we do our best to maintain our beliefs with solo scriptura...and not the dogmas that have followed for centuries.

You have completely missed the point that Dog House Bill was trying to relay. Why do so many non-believers do this? If I was to tell you "my head is pounding"...would you ask me what it was pounding or where? Or would you have knowledge to know that I'm speaking of a headache? Bill was very clear in his message. Basically, if you lost your keys and than found them, would you continue searching in hopes to find OTHER keys? Or would you just know you found the keys you were searching for and are now able to proceed with what you needed to do? This is the message. People are empty. We fill ourselves with sex, drugs, money, friends, things, jobs, and titles. Sex, is empty without someone you love. Drugs will kill you eventually and leave you feeling even emptier. Money comes and goes. Friends, same. Things break and need replacing. Jobs are lost. Titles, are for those around us to praise us. When you find Jesus, you fill the void that can never break, kill, need replacing, or be lost. Bill was correct, you keep searching because you haven't found what you are looking for. We have.

[Smalcald]

... Is that closing ones mind? Or is it simply being honest with oneself.

As a Christian, my search is over.

If your search is over then it must be that you have found all the answers. I don't think, personally, that any human has all the answers.

All those worldly pursuits had left me empty and very much alone. Jesus came along and filled that emptiness and took away the loneliness.

I have no doubts that you do feel better. You may very well have felt that you were adrift and without purpose. It is good to have purpose. I would only argue that your way is not the only way, though it is one way, and for some it works.

So yes, I have closed my mind to that which is false and unsupported.

You do have scripture. The New Testament, as we know it, was complete by the 4th century. Would you argue that those in the 4th century had knowledge as complete as your own? What if your only knowledge of the world had been extrapolated from scripture?

I am not sure that in the 4th century they had an accurate understanding of eclipses. They certainly didn't know the cause of earthquake or lightning, tides or disease. Imagine if the search for knowledge had ended before it even began?

Not out of ignorance, but because of knowledge gained first hand.

I would argue that Christians of the 4th century had many ways of looking at the world. The writings they left behind are proof of that. Some of those ways don't exist anymore. There was probably no one at that time that saw the world as you see it now, and yet you are using the same scripture they possessed. Do you possess first hand knowledge that they lacked? They possessed the same scripture. How could it be that their views were so different from yours?

Am I missing something? What is the nature of your first hand knowledge? How does your knowledge differ from that of Lutherans, Anglicans, Methodists, Seventh Day Adventists, Amish, Catholics, and so on? Are you claiming knowledge that these other Christians lack? Maybe you aren't. Set me straight. I'm confused by your claim to first hand knowledge.

Hi Hitchey,

I think part of the problem is that no Christian who has faith has really when it is all said and done come to that faith through "information". For example;for whatever reason God used the people in the fourth Century to determine what books of early Christian writings would be our bible and which would not. Of course in hindsight God's divine providence obviosly worked, it is the most read document in the history of the world. Now it takes faith to trust them to do that, but that faith is from the product that God helped them to produce.

I don't know it must be maddening to argue with this sort of circular logic and I feel for you, but logic is not going to get us there, faith is from divine revelation.

[Guest Chieokure]

If you want to know more (I am a broken record here) read the wiki, and check out its links at the bottom of the page. If you really don't want to, I'll just copypaste the whole thing.

Wiki is really not a reliable source for anything. Any user can add or subtract information.

You just contradicted yourself.

[Guest shiloh357]

If you want to know more (I am a broken record here) read the wiki, and check out its links at the bottom of the page. If you really don't want to, I'll just copypaste the whole thing.

Wiki is really not a reliable source for anything. Any user can add or subtract information.

You just contradicted yourself.

How did I contradict myself? Exhau said he would copy and paste something from wiki. I simply stated that since the information on wiki can be altered by any reader, it is not reliable. How is my response to Exhau self-contradictory?

[Lesta]

If you want to know more (I am a broken record here) read the wiki, and check out its links at the bottom of the page. If you really don't want to, I'll just copypaste the whole thing.

Wiki is really not a reliable source for anything. Any user can add or subtract information.

You just contradicted yourself.

How did I contradict myself? Exhau said he would copy and paste something from wiki. I simply stated that since the information on wiki can be altered by any reader, it is not reliable. How is my response to Exhau self-contradictory?

Chieokure probably thought both quotes were from you since there was no name next to the previous quote.

[Guest Chieokure]

It is because any user can edit wiki that it is reliable. The result is a constantly updating and refining encyclopedia of information. Anyone dismissing wikipedia as a source of information on the internet honestly needs to rethink if they belong online or not.