Who has read the "God is not great" by Christopher Hitchens

[Blessedone]

The God of the Bible is the same God that man has created in His own image. He has created an egotistical,jealous,vengeful,merciless,sadistic and insecure persona of all the most negative traits of man. This image of God given to the world by christians has manifested countless wars,ignorance and utter pain to millions of people...and in the name of who may I ask?

Blessedone -

Who do you believe Jesus is?

I don't know

[Blessedone]

If admitting to foolishness as...YES I AM A NONBELIEVER will give you peace of mind. Fine as you please but my personal truth and life decision won't change because of you and the same should apply to you. My ideas should not be enough to turn away anybody and their God. Because of a limited mind people don't get along and therefore drag their Gods with them and create harmful discorse. To reason and give others a change to reason freely regardless of being right or wrong I think would not be such a terrible act in the eyes of God.

And what god might that be? You have stated your disbelief in the God of the Bible, so I don't know what god you are refering to?

not the the god invented by man

[nebula]

The God of the Bible is the same God that man has created in His own image. He has created an egotistical,jealous,vengeful,merciless,sadistic and insecure persona of all the most negative traits of man. This image of God given to the world by christians has manifested countless wars,ignorance and utter pain to millions of people...and in the name of who may I ask?

Blessedone -

Who do you believe Jesus is?

I don't know

So . . . why did you say you were a Christian?

[apothanein kerdos]

Personally, I don't know why a Christian would waste their time reading material put out by someone attacking the Christian faith? If I am going to take the time to read a book, I want it to be something of value, as my time is limited. I don't care about reading a book about why the author thinks "God is not great." The title alone tells me the book is a heretical piece of garbage.

By the way, when it comes down to someone arguing against the existence of God, or the God of the Bible, I don't have an open mind. The existence of Jehovah God is a settled reality with me, and no amount of reasoning from a non-believer will change that.

And the judgements came....so quickly. As expected, the faith turns to hate right away.

At least you weren't blind sided by it. What faith turned to hate? I am coming against a book that seems to be attacking the faith. Certainly that is why the title indicates. The God Christopher Hitchens serves may not be great, but that is not the case with my God who is the God of the Holy Bible.

The God of the Bible is the same God that man has created in His own image. He has created an egotistical,jealous,vengeful,merciless,sadistic and insecure persona of all the most negative traits of man. This image of God given to the world by christians has manifested countless wars,ignorance and utter pain to millions of people...and in the name of who may I ask?

My question is - without the Bible, how do you validate the existence of God? The problem is, without an absolute source for describing God's character, you inevitably have to turn to atheism or pantheism. It is impossible to be a theist (Jew, Christian, Muslim, Mormon, et al) while at the same time denying an absolute foundation for God or a god.

The reason for this is that, without an absolute standard, God becomes whoever we want Him to be on a personal level. You are opposed to the Biblical version of God, but you are opposed on literally no ground. This is an existential view of God, where God does not really come into being until we experience Him in a way we believe validates Him. This view does not cause conflict so long as you embrace anyone's view of God - however, at the point you reject a view of God, you must offer an absolute standard for the definition of God. This means that you are then removed from the process, it cannot be subjective, it cannot be experiential, and you must find an absolute standard.

As an example, if I say, "The earth is the ninth planet from the sun" and you say "The earth is the third planet from the sun," you are right and I am wrong. The reason for this is that we have an absolute frame of reference from which to work. My idea, though my idea, is still invalid. If, however, we were discussing Dali's "Persistence of Memory" and I said it was good, while you said it was awful, there is no real way to discuss who is correct. I have certain ideas that dictate what I think is good in art, while you have different ideas. The taste becomes subjective within a certain field and there is no absolute frame. In other words, you may not like a piece of art while I love it, but both opinions are valid and there is no way for me to say you are wrong and mean this with certainty.

If we apply this same standard to God, then it remains the same. If you do not like the God of the Bible, and lack an absolute standard upon which you can rely (remember, personal experience is not absolute), though you may not like the God of the Bible, you cannot make this a valid opinion. You cannot say the wars caused by this God are wrong because you have no absolute reference to how it would be wrong.

Thus, even though you claim Christ, by your own philosophy - whether you realize it or not - you are essentially an unbeliever. I think the moderators made a wise choice in moving you to that category. By word you might be a Christian, but operationally you are an unbeliever.

[Guest man]

If admitting to foolishness as...YES I AM A NONBELIEVER will give you peace of mind. Fine as you please but my personal truth and life decision won't change because of you and the same should apply to you. My ideas should not be enough to turn away anybody and their God. Because of a limited mind people don't get along and therefore drag their Gods with them and create harmful discorse. To reason and give others a change to reason freely regardless of being right or wrong I think would not be such a terrible act in the eyes of God.

And what god might that be? You have stated your disbelief in the God of the Bible, so I don't know what god you are refering to?

not the the god invented by man

Hey now....I never invented anybody.

There was that imaginary friend when I was 4, but his name was Carlos.

Anyway....

[Blessedone]

As a christian I think on my own and felt that this man had a interesting point of view. Not every word is to be taken literally and by this I mean the title of the book.Christopher writes about not agreeing with the God that people love to preach about as if they invented Him.

In your first post, you claim to be a Christian, and then turn around and attack the God of the Christian faith. That makes no sense, unless you were trying to deceive people into believing you were simply an open minded Christian, and that you found this insightful book. By doing things in this manner, some people would possibly read this heretical garbage written by an atheist and perhaps believe what he said and turn away from the Christian faith? What gives me peace of mind is not that you call yourself an unbeliever to appease me, but that others know what you are really about so they aren't fooled.

I believe in my own way I have personalized my belief in God. Yes...a crime to a lot of people of different faiths, but nonetheless so. What I am about I can only know as time goes by and I am tried on different occasions. To know oneself is a life's goal because in doing so you find God.

[Matthitjah]

There was that imaginary friend when I was 4, but his name was Carlos.

You knew Carlos too? Who'd have thunk it?

Peace,

Dave

[apothanein kerdos]

As a christian I think on my own and felt that this man had a interesting point of view. Not every word is to be taken literally and by this I mean the title of the book.Christopher writes about not agreeing with the God that people love to preach about as if they invented Him.

In your first post, you claim to be a Christian, and then turn around and attack the God of the Christian faith. That makes no sense, unless you were trying to deceive people into believing you were simply an open minded Christian, and that you found this insightful book. By doing things in this manner, some people would possibly read this heretical garbage written by an atheist and perhaps believe what he said and turn away from the Christian faith? What gives me peace of mind is not that you call yourself an unbeliever to appease me, but that others know what you are really about so they aren't fooled.

I believe in my own way I have personalized my belief in God. Yes...a crime to a lot of people of different faiths, but nonetheless so. What I am about I can only know as time goes by and I am tried on different occasions. To know oneself is a life's goal because in doing so you find God.

Then you're an atheist. If you can only find God by finding yourself, then God exists within yourself and is therefore subject to your limits...that is, you are either more powerful or equal with God...thus negating the idea of God. He then becomes a "force" (pantheism) or an unexplained psychological phenomena (atheism).

[Guest man]

I believe in my own way I have personalized my belief in God. Yes...a crime to a lot of people of different faiths, but nonetheless so. What I am about I can only know as time goes by and I am tried on different occasions. To know oneself is a life's goal because in doing so you find God.

Do you believe in the God of Israel?

I'm just curious.

Don't worry...I'm not gonna jump down your throat.

Just wondering is all.

[Matthitjah]

Grace to you,

Blessedone God can not be found through self realization. He is an external and active force. He can be observed in the work of His Creation.

The lie is that you can become a god and this is Truly a lie. You are made in His image and likeness and reflect His workmanship. However you cannot become

God.

There is only One God;

De