What is atheism?

[Reallyoldguy]

I recently asked my pastor why the church insisted Jesus was crucified on Friday and arose on Sunday; when in Matthew 12:40 Jesus states he will be three nights and three days in the grave. He replied that it was hard to understand and I needed to be familiar with the Jewish calendar.

I pointed out that the Jewish day began in the evening. We know Jesus was crucified on the Jewish Passover day. The next day had to be a high Sabbath of the first day of Unleavened bread. I suggested that IF Passover happened to be Thursday with the high Sabbath of Unleavened Bread occurring on Friday that would explain why the women waited until the (2) sabbaths were over before going to Jesus tomb on the first day of the week to discover he had risen . It would also add up to three Jewish nights and days with Christ rising early on the morning of the third day.

My pastor merely looked at me and said, "So! You believe Jesus was crucified on Thursday?" He turned and walked out of the room. So what do some of the rest of you think? I can tell there are plenty of people posting that obviously know a lot about scripture.

Edited June 9, 2009 by Reallyoldguy

[rstrats]

Reallyoldguy,

re:

Edited June 9, 2009 by rstrats

[Reallyoldguy]

Reallyoldguy,

re:

[MorningGlory]

That is the essence of atheism, the suppression of the Truth in unrighteousness. On the one hand they Know and on the other hand they deny what they Know. The longer one denies what they Know, the darker ones heart becomes.

Not true. We know there is no God/god. Its not suppression. Its not denial. Its the truth. And our hearts aren't dark, thanks.

You may not believe in Him....but He believes in you. All the denial in the universe won't change the future.

[MorningGlory]

Matrix - Your truth. Not mine. Live and let live I say.

No, Gods Truth and that is all there is.

You seem to be insinuating I am somehow violating ones right to live because I speak the Truth to them and if so that is highly irrational.

No, you're not violating their right to live, but you are showing a bit of disrespect to their lack of belief. I will go to children's bar mitzvahs, I will put on whatever clothing is necessary when entering Jewish and Islam places of worship, and I will sit quietly in a church for any Christian/Catholic celebration. What I ask in return is to be left to my own devices.

We are expected to spread the Word and to pray for those in peril.

[MorningGlory]

I'm not talking about on this forum I'm talking about in life in general. I'm here because I saw specific discussions about science and atheism and decided to join to be a part of the discussions. Notice how I'm only staying in those discussions. To you, it may not be disrespect but we don't believe what you do and for you to try to persuade just gets redundant. Like a broken record.

I'm actually going to agree with you here, Matrix. I don't believe we should do anything but pray for nonbelievers and let God decide from there. That being said, Christians are not being disrespectful when they attempt to persuade; we are genuinely concerned that you will die separated from God. He has charged us with spreading the Word but I do think we can do that most effectively through prayer.

[MorningGlory]

Matrix you are not making sense.

Did I go to you? No. Why would you come here? What are you trying to persuade others of? I know the answer to those questions, do you?

I am on a Christian forum and I have made comments regarding certain topics. Gods Word tells me what atheism is and Gods Truth is the Truth.

I know this and it is part of who I am and I will not censor myself.

Now that fact obviously bothers you as is evident by your passive aggressive remarks toward me, so I suggest you go where your fellow atheists congregate.

But, if he goes to where only other atheists congregate, he will have no exposure to the Word. We shouldn't push nonbelievers away because they sometimes frustrate us, Beccar.

[MorningGlory]

'MorningGlory' date='Aug 1 2009, 01:10 PM' post='1408563

'beccar777' post='1408547' date='Aug 1 2009, 11:20 AM']Matrix you are not making sense.

Did I go to you? No. Why would you come here? What are you trying to persuade others of? I know the answer to those questions, do you?

I am on a Christian forum and I have made comments regarding certain topics. Gods Word tells me what atheism is and Gods Truth is the Truth.

I know this and it is part of who I am and I will not censor myself.

Now that fact obviously bothers you as is evident by your passive aggressive remarks toward me, so I suggest you go where your fellow atheists congregate.

But, if he goes to where only other atheists congregate, he will have no exposure to the Word. We shouldn't push nonbelievers away because they sometimes frustrate us, Beccar.

MorninGlory,

I hear what you are saying and I understand.

However, Matrix said I was being disrespectful to him because he does not believe. He further insinuated he knows how I live my "life in general" and that I shove my faith in atheists faces.

Those insinuations are false.

He seems to want the freedom to say what he wants yet he insinuates I don't have the same freedom and that I should censor myself so as not to offend him.

I won't do it because I have not disrespected him in anyway. I have simply been honest with him.

You have to understand the difference, Beccar. You have the certainty of the Word and the comfort of knowing that God is there for you. Nonbelievers have nothing and often feel frustration and bewilderment when told they are wrong. They don't understand why they're wrong and take it as a personal assault, even though it's not meant that way.. You shouldn't have to tip toe around anyone (I certainly don't!) but we don't want to push nonbelievers away either. That's not what He would have us do.

[WolfBitn]

So I am "a dead spirit inside a dying body." Can you explain what you mean? I don't feel dead.

Of course you do, you just dont know it... without God you dont know what spiritual life even feels like so you have nothing by which to compare... if you dont have life, what are you left with? Theres your answer

That is the essence of atheism, the suppression of the Truth in unrighteousness.

Essence: the intrinsic nature or character of something; that which makes it what it is;... that which something must have for it not to be something else (Shorter Oxford English Dictionary, vol 1, 2007). The core belief, the essence of atheism, is that God does not exist. The essence of atheism is not that it suppresses the truth.

It is BECAUSE the centerpiece is "there is no God" that you are compelled to ignore and suppress the truth

I know of nearly a good half dozen threads where you 3 prove this

On the one hand they Know and on the other hand they deny what they Know.

Would you mind clarifying?

Yes go to the transitional thread, the absolute truth thread, the Atheism and morality thread, and 2-3 more i can recommend... youll see all the waiting quesitons and have a great illustration of what shes saying

The longer one denies what they Know, the darker ones heart becomes.

What do you mean my heart is dark and becoming darker? Just to help you out, I have been an atheist about forty years.

your point?

[WolfBitn]

Matrix - Your truth. Not mine. Live and let live I say.

No, Gods Truth and that is all there is.

The point Matrix is making is that this is your personal belief. Fine, you think it is God's truth, the only truth, but it's still a personal belief that you hold. It is a religious point of view. If you are going to insist that it is true you need to provide an argument, especially if you want to make judgements, based on your religious beliefs, on how atheists must feel. There is nothing more annoying than having someone tell me how I must feel. Only I know how I feel.

Another problem, for myself at least, is the language barrier. Christians have something of an exclusive vocabulary that the rest of us don't use. You may take certain expressions for granted, but many of us were not raised with that vocabulary and may not understand what you mean; or we may think we know, but don't. I don't know, for example, what the expressions "dark heart" means. Does it mean sad, depressed, angry, depraved? What does it mean?

The problem is Hitchey, is that you dont even believe in absolute truth... even though youre proven wrong by the fact the quesiton can even be asked... you lose by default because if there WERE NO Absolute Truth, this in itself WOULD be an absolute truth, so absolute truth must exist

and i frankly feel youre just being coy with asking what 'dark heart' means, seeing you know its a christian principle, and a principle in MOST modern religions that i know of ;)so lets raise this level of conversation at least to the level of respect