Conversation with An Atheist
- Thread starter Wrangler
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RLT63
Well-Known Member
So every other God apart from your God doesn't exist.... I agree apart from I don't think your God exists either.
You are atheistic towards 99.999999% of Gods.
You assert that living things can't come from none living things, so where did God come from?
RLT63
Well-Known Member
RLT63
Well-Known Member
From someone wiser than me
Faith, for me, isn’t “believing something without evidence” or shutting off my brain. It’s more like trust. The classic line from the Bible puts it this way: “Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” That doesn’t mean I ignore what’s seen. It means I treat certain things I can’t fully see or prove the same way you probably treat some things you also can’t fully see or prove—like the reliability of a close friend, the reality of love, or the idea that the universe is intelligible and worth studying.I start from the same place you do: the world is real, reason works, evidence matters. I look at the historical claims about Jesus—His life, the empty tomb, the early explosive growth of a movement that claimed He rose from the dead—and I find them more persuasive than the alternatives. I look at the fine-tuning of the universe, the existence of consciousness and moral awareness, and the way the Christian story makes sense of both the beauty and the brokenness I see in myself and the world. None of that is a mathematical proof. It’s a cumulative case that points me toward a personal God who entered history.Then comes the personal part. Faith isn’t just intellectual assent; it’s entrusting myself to that God. It’s saying, “I will live as if this is true—following Jesus’ teachings, praying, receiving forgiveness, and letting that reshape how I treat people—because the evidence is strong enough that I am willing to stake my life on it.” In that sense it’s similar to the trust you place in a surgeon before an operation, or in a spouse on your wedding day. You don’t have exhaustive certainty; you have enough reason to commit.I don’t claim this removes every doubt. Doubt is part of the human condition for believers too. What faith does is give me a coherent framework in which to live, hope, and love while those doubts remain. It tells me the universe isn’t ultimately indifferent, that justice and mercy matter, and that death isn’t the final word.I’m not asking you to pretend you see what I see. I’m just trying to show you that, from where I stand, faith isn’t a leap into the dark. It’s a step toward a Person I have come to trust—based on history, reason, experience, and the way the story holds together. If that ever becomes interesting to you, I’m happy to talk more. If not, I still respect the seriousness with which you search for truth.
Faith, for me, isn’t “believing something without evidence” or shutting off my brain. It’s more like trust. The classic line from the Bible puts it this way: “Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” That doesn’t mean I ignore what’s seen. It means I treat certain things I can’t fully see or prove the same way you probably treat some things you also can’t fully see or prove—like the reliability of a close friend, the reality of love, or the idea that the universe is intelligible and worth studying.I start from the same place you do: the world is real, reason works, evidence matters. I look at the historical claims about Jesus—His life, the empty tomb, the early explosive growth of a movement that claimed He rose from the dead—and I find them more persuasive than the alternatives. I look at the fine-tuning of the universe, the existence of consciousness and moral awareness, and the way the Christian story makes sense of both the beauty and the brokenness I see in myself and the world. None of that is a mathematical proof. It’s a cumulative case that points me toward a personal God who entered history.Then comes the personal part. Faith isn’t just intellectual assent; it’s entrusting myself to that God. It’s saying, “I will live as if this is true—following Jesus’ teachings, praying, receiving forgiveness, and letting that reshape how I treat people—because the evidence is strong enough that I am willing to stake my life on it.” In that sense it’s similar to the trust you place in a surgeon before an operation, or in a spouse on your wedding day. You don’t have exhaustive certainty; you have enough reason to commit.I don’t claim this removes every doubt. Doubt is part of the human condition for believers too. What faith does is give me a coherent framework in which to live, hope, and love while those doubts remain. It tells me the universe isn’t ultimately indifferent, that justice and mercy matter, and that death isn’t the final word.I’m not asking you to pretend you see what I see. I’m just trying to show you that, from where I stand, faith isn’t a leap into the dark. It’s a step toward a Person I have come to trust—based on history, reason, experience, and the way the story holds together. If that ever becomes interesting to you, I’m happy to talk more. If not, I still respect the seriousness with which you search for truth.
So if God has always been, what was God doing before he decided to create everything?
RLT63
Well-Known Member
RLT63
Well-Known Member
I don't know, it doesn't really matter. I'm sure we'll get all the answers we need one day though
- Feb 14, 2021
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What happened to all those posts where you confessed something with intelligence created the universe?
There it is, the contradiction, couched in semantics, hiding behind certainty, or the lack there of, and false humility.
I don’t think circles have 4 sides but I’m not certain. TRANSLATION: You refuse to take a stand. When told the goats go to the left and the sheep to the right, you’re not certain what path to take.
Scripture tells us the wheat will be separated from the tares. Do you think the harvesters know for certain who is who and which is which? You’re either with them or not.
This binary reality weighed on me over the years, seeing the culture claim men of God are what’s wrong. Do you feel it too?