Does God exist? you decide...............

[Locky]

As an extra straw poll:

Has anyone genuinely asked God to prove to them whether he exists? Perhaps its a bit too much of a scary thing to do...

Yes I did and his response was immediate.

 

[The Orange Seagull]

No topics create more arguments than religion,thats for sure.........except perhaps the offside rule!

 

[Half Time Pies]

I agree that if God was like that he would be a bit of a tosser. Fortunately no one is saying he is. The general vibe from the pro God crew seems to be that we don't need to DO anything to get to know God. Accepting Jesus on the cross to pay for our wrongs is a free gift. Are you now going to tell me that none of you have ever done anything wrong? I couldn't say the same for myself.

As an extra straw poll:

Has anyone genuinely asked God to prove to them whether he exists? Perhaps its a bit too much of a scary thing to do...

I have spent the last few years of my life looking for answers and I have asked for signs because I cant bring myself to believe in something without some kind of tangible proof. What I am very sceptical about are religions that require a gigantic leap of faith as I feel that faith is a self fulfilling prophecy - I mean for people of all religions their faith is very real to them but they cant all be right can they?!

Recently I have become interested in Buddhism as it provides me with a set of Values and a way to get in touch with that "something else" without having to deal with what exists beyond that (I dont want to run before I can jump!). I know there is something there but for me I find it is unhelpful to always to try to put tags on things.

In my opinion the problem with many of the 'Pro God Crew' is that the 'vibe' that they press across is not the idea that you have to DO nothing in fact it is more often than not the opposite. If they did then every religion would be tolerant of each other, there would be no wars fuelled by a self righteous belief that certain people have all the answers and no societies where people are looked down at and persecuted because they dont follow a particular faith according to 'Gods' so called rules.

 

[We're the Stripes]

Just caught up with this thread.
As a Christian, I've got to say I'm not into religion! My understanding of Christianity is that it is based on a relationship with Jesus Christ - a historical figure killed by crucifixion who came back from the dead.
Everything else pales into insignificance alongside that - if Jesus rose from the dead, it changes everything. If he didn't, the whole of Christianity crumbles.
Maybe there's life in this thread yet ...

 

[bhaexpress]

You know we have one of these threads once every three months or so, maybe they should have their own board.

It always goes round and round in circles as people are pretty polarised on their opiniin and there's just no middle ground.

 

[We're the Stripes]

Hey - some of my best friends are atheists and agnostics
We can always agree to disagree, but talk costs nothing - there are plenty more threads to get stuck into

 

[dougdeep]

A 2000 year old book, written by several different people, that has been translated millions of times. How accurate would you expect it to be?

 

[bhaexpress]

Hey - some of my best friends are atheists and agnostics
We can always agree to disagree, but talk costs nothing - there are plenty more threads to get stuck into

Quite agree with you, it's just a tad amusing that the same lines are trotted out every time. I'm as bad as the rest.

 

[We're the Stripes]

* There are far more copies of the New Testament documents than of any other comparable ancient document
* The manuscripts go back closer in time to the originals than for any other ancient documents
* The manuscripts are consistent - there are no major or significant changes

Alan Millard, Rankin Professor of Hebrew and Ancient Semitic Languages at the University of Liverpool, says in 'Discoveries from Bible Times' (page 313):
No other ancient Greek books are known from such a wide range of copies, written so close to the times when their authors composed them.

We can be confident that what we read in the Bible today is what the original authors wrote. Professor F F Bruce says in 'Are the New Testament Documents Reliable?' that the evidence for the New Testament documents is much greater than the evidence for many writings of classical authors whose authenticity no-one questions (eg Caesar's Gallic Wars).

 

[stevenhawkinsfootballboot]

Sounds pretty good as far as historical accuracy is concerned.

 

[smudge]

My eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord,
He plays for Brighton & Hove Albion & his name is Peter Ward...................(someone else finish it please?)

 

[Gilliver's Travels]

As an extra straw poll:

Has anyone genuinely asked God to prove to them whether he exists? Perhaps its a bit too much of a scary thing to do...

Absolutely. And it's not scary, not one bit. I have driven down the motorway at 70, saying "Okay, God, if you're really there, kill me now! Crash the car, make a tyre blow out or something, anything!" And you know what? Bugger all happens. The bastard never shows up.

NB This kind of test works well in mosques too (although a bit dangerous at 70 mph). But beware: passing fundamentalists may well try to 'do Allah's work for him' - ie cheat, and slaughter you themselves. But if they do, that really doesn't count as proof. So you can go proudly to your death knowing that you won really, and are entitled to claim the moral high ground.

Ever tried it with the devil? I have. He's never there either when you want to summon him up... As elusive as a Kazim Richards hat-trick.

Hmmm... Sometimes I think that maybe we humans just made God in our own image, rather than the altogether more appealing other way around...

God? GOD? You're havin' a laugh!

 

[Juan Albion]

Absolutely. And it's not scary, not one bit. I have driven down the motorway at 70, saying "Okay, God, if you're really there, kill me now! Crash the car, make a tyre blow out or something, anything!" And you know what? Bugger all happens. The bastard never shows up.

That's because you don't know what you're doing! You can't go asking God for something if you're not prepared to put your part of the effort in. Like if you ask God to help you lose weight, it isn't going to work if you're not prepared to give up the doughnuts.

So you must pull your weight. Try yanking the steering wheel fully to the left at 70mph and see if that helps a little.

 

[Race]

i don't believe in him.just the other day i put a pound in a sally army collection tin.on the way home i stubbed my toe really hard on a sticking up pavement.REALLY HARD! i said 'JESUS CHRIST!'.did the almighty take away my pain?did he alleviate my burden?did he balls

 

[Juan Albion]

i don't believe in him.just the other day i put a pound in a sally army collection tin.on the way home i stubbed my toe really hard on a sticking up pavement.REALLY HARD! i said 'JESUS f***ing CHRIST!'.did the almighty take away my pain?did he alleviate my burden?did he balls

Maybe if you scored a few more he'd believe in you.

 

[Race]

i'd start worrying if he believed in me.that would be weird

 

[Juan Albion]

Dunno, McGhee believes in you and that's pretty weird.

 

[Race]

he's only human

 

[Juan Albion]

he's only human

 

[Race]

everyone makes mistakes.take your mum for example