Question For Athiests

[Orexis]

Hey, how come my post was doubled?

[billie]

Oh, but remember why people believed the world was flat: The Bible spoke about Jesus seeing the four (five?) corners of the world; which could only happen if the Earth was flat.

You might believe the Big Bang is absurd, but considering its young age since the theory was coined, you have to respect the logic behind it.

After all, religion has had a headstart of millennia before science.

The Bible also speaks about the Earth as a sphere in Proverbs. A "supernatural being", as you put it, would be quite capable of seeing the whole world all at once, even taking into consideration its round shape. Four corners could quite easily be speaking to the four directions.

I don't respect the logic behind the Big Bang because there is no logic behind it. Something can't come from nothing. Life doesn't come from no life. It's someone's best guess as to how the universe could have come into existance without God, and there's no evidence to back it up.

God created Science when He gave us the desire to study and understand the world around us.

[billie]

But there's also danger in assuming that the "unseeable" is there. especially when the "unseeable" is entirely impossible to prove with science.

Galileo, for example, knew the Earth was round from its shadow cast on the moon.

(Oh, and minor nitpick:In Micrographia [published 1665], Hooke coined the word cell.. This was 341 years ago, so 41 years later, I think we can assume microscopic organisms were known of)

Well, Jargon, how about sharing with us why you believe?

BTW, thanks for the correction.

[Orexis]

Haha, I always tell my friends that exact thing when they come up with the four corners of the world argument. (I can both defend and question Christianity)

In respect of the Big Bang, I saw a thread on that around here. Maybe I should post a little over there too; explaining the Big Bang/Big Crunch theory.

Edited November 24, 2006 by Orexis

[billie]

Haha, I always tell my friends that exact thing when they come up with the four corners of the world argument. (I can both defend and attack Christianity)

In respect of the Big Bang, I saw a thread on that around here. Maybe I should post a little over there too; explaining the Big Bang/Big Crunch theory.

Please do. I'd be very interested to learn more about it.

[ethical.atheist]

Some Christians believe in the Rapture, the taking away of the Church into Heaven, before, during or after the Tribulation.

My question to athiests is what would you think if you woke up one morning and all the Christians in the world were gone? Would you consider the possibility that a Rapture had taken place, or would you think it was something else?

This is a hard question to answer, but I'll try my best.

I guess... since I am a skeptic, I'll be happy to question the existence of my left arm. That means that I'd consider the possibility of God removing the christians very carefully. I've always said that if God stood in front of me and said, "You silly man. Of course I exist." And I wasn't drinking/very ill/on LCD/hit in the head/in a padded room... I'd probably believe. ...but belief is no firm thing with me. Overwhelming evidence to the contrary can win me over.

I probably wouldn't realize that it was in fact the Christians who were taken away. If I got a memo, I guess that would help.

Dear Heathen,

We are all gone for Tribulation. We brought the Muslims and the Jews since we all believe in the same God. Be back half-past never.

-The Christians

I'd probably be caught saying out load, "Hmmm... Now what are the chances of that? ...I guess it could have been aliens, but that isn't very likely. ...time to do some foot-work to see what the heck is going on."

[secondeve]

I don't respect the logic behind the Big Bang because there is no logic behind it. Something can't come from nothing. Life doesn't come from no life. It's someone's best guess as to how the universe could have come into existance without God, and there's no evidence to back it up.

God created Science when He gave us the desire to study and understand the world around us.

Billie, I know this might sound like a silly question, but why does it seem more logical that God could come from nothing or always have existed, than that the universe could come from nothing or always have existed? As far as I can tell, these are both theories which would be, scientifically speaking, beyond our normal concept of phsyics to a certain extent, and both require belief in the idea that either one thing could be eternal or that something could come from nothing. So why is God more logical than the Big Bang?

[RustyAngeL]

Speaking on behalf of an atheist that I just asked (my father) if he woke up tomorrow morning and I was gone along with all the other christians in the world (and I hadn't asked this question) he'd just be very confused. If someone had explained to him the rapture had taken place, he'd need some more evidence showing that it was the rapture and not just a massive alien abduction (which in his mind is more plausible... )

Thanks Bob how true.

I was explaining to some friends what had happened to me when I was converted, I realised they thought I was mad. I changed tack and said I

[Matthitjah]

Grace to you,

If your god is so ruthless and uncaring that I should be punished for ETERNITY for using the logic and reason given me by it then I would not wish to worship this entity even if it did exist. I would then only worship it out of fear and we all know that that is not a true state of worship.

Actually God has desired that you Worship Him out of Love not fear.

Your fear is due to the fact that you know you have Rebelled against Him and your deepest desire has been to Worship Him. This is what is causing you the fear.

God has not unjustly condemned you to hell. He has left you a way out of your very own Rebellion. You just chose to refuse His way and prefer your own. Which falls way short of the Righteous demands of a Holy God.

Actually God has Loved you right out of hell. You just reject His Love.

Joh

[ethical.atheist]

Your fear is due to the fact that you know you have Rebelled against Him and your deepest desire has been to Worship Him. This is what is causing you the fear.

I think the fear GodlessHeathen was talking about was that of hell. ...like eternal punishment for believing and acting in a way that applied to logic and reasoning. If God wanted me to disregard logic, I would find it difficult to love him. I'd probably also be quite upset with this deity.

I think Galileo summed up this point of view pretty well.

I do not feel obliged to believe that the same God who has endowed us with sense, reason, and intellect has intended us to forgo their use.