Conversation with An Atheist

[Episkopos]

I've been asking myself that very question.
I suppose I was hoping for something different in terms of answers, I thought that people here might have something to say that I'd never heard before.

I also thought that I might make a few friends and bust the myth that atheists are bad people who 'just want to sin'.
I'm not here to be disruptive or 'do the devil's work'.
I must admit that I've learned things here, I was expecting more of a United front and more agreement between Christians.
It's been a real eye opener.

The Christian faith has been described as a room with an elephant in it...with the lights turned off. People venture in and grope in the dark for what they have been told is an elephant. One person grabs hold of the trunk of the elephant and says to everyone hey, an elephant is long and feels like a big hose.

Another one from the other side of the room who has gotten hold of the tail cries out ...no! ...an elephant is short and like a rope.

So these argue and eventually each create a denomination to the exclusion of the "heretics" who don't agree with them.

If a person has actually seen the elephant or even ridden on one....well, that person's testimony will be seen by ALL as being wrong...being too "inclusive".

The truth is that we each are unique. God is looking to establish a relationship with each of us based on that uniqueness. God allows certain people to only see a certain part of the elephant..or else their understanding can only go so far. God can only show them as much as they are willing to know. An open mind and heart can learn more, but those are few. Most will never budge from their initial encounter or lack thereof.

If you are trying to learn the truth from people, how will you know who is just representing a faction and who is speaking the WHOLE truth? Well, that's on you.

My advice is to look beyond people into something deeper, trying to understand why people are so divided. If this was a fiction then why would people be so divided? God is so much greater than us and it's normal that something so great would have to be divided up according to the limitations of the human mind. The truth is held in a balance that stretches the mind into having a whole other mind....the mind of Christ.
Can people learn the truth without the divisiveness and faulty conclusions?

Not unless one fears the Lord and learns humility. :)

 

[Taken]

I rest my case.

Hi Manchurian…

I fully get your observed point, yet hope you do not give up on that account.

It is puzzling to be curious about a whole group professing to have a common belief, and see the repetitive disagreement amongst them.

Everyone is an individual, and learns at a different pace. Some have gained more knowledge than others and definitely some have arrived at greater understanding than others…And thus, the conflicts.

Your journey is solely About You…and a step by step … curiosity, want, wonderment, desire, to have a one on one relationship with the creator and maker of This World and its creations.

Just taking it down a notch… when YOU have or will conclude you MIGHT want a one on one relationship with one other person…
You don’t require scientists, philosophers, neighbors, politicians, preachers, etc. stats, opinions, platitudes, buzz in your ear debating your interest.

Small steps, bit by bit for accomplishing… getting to “Know” the Lord God…rather than
Multiple Opinions “About” The Lord God.

My settled position IS I DO have a Creator…and I DO have a Maker…and I DID have a curiosity ABOUT EACH…and Over a course of my interest, time, effort…set out on my own personal journey, step by step, to discover a relationship with THEM was possible and being Formed…and bit by bit BY Him, OF Him, THROUGH Him…came into the understanding OF HIM.<—->
Ie.
Beyond the CREATION…(I did NOT Witness, but certainly Can Observe, Creation IS before our Seeing, Hearing, Smelling, Tasting, Touching…)
And The MAKING of Creation Continues…(Manifesting in Knowledge, Discoveries, Experiences, Likes, Dislikes…
Toying in our “logical Carnal Minds”…that change, change, change.
Yet…
The goal, and REAL Truth, Big Picture IS When the “Making”…Becomes Manifested in an individuals OWN Heart …—-> unwavering TRUTH.

And Point IS…again…
It IS about You, Your desire, Your journey.

God Bless you.

Glory to God,
Taken

 

[Wrangler]

I've been asking myself that very question.
I suppose I was hoping for something different in terms of answers, I thought that people here might have something to say that I'd never heard before.

Hmmm. Maybe it’s not the answers. Do you recall The Parable of the Farmer Scattering Seed in Matthew 13? Once I came to Christ, I was amazed at how profound Hebrews 4:12 is, the word is alive; passages I read many times suddenly had new meaning, connections and applications. St. Augustine wrote of this in Confessions. It blew my mind over and over again.

For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.​

I’m not qualified to answer why some have this experience and others don’t. The parable of the seed informs us that the divine answer is simply not received by some. I don’t know why some don’t have eyes to see or ears to hear. It’s a sad mystery.

My best friend has been a believer all his life and was never an enemy of Christ, like I was. Yet, he never had the Holy Spirit seal him, reach out to him, as it did to me. He never experienced Hebrews 4:12 (namely because he never read the Bible). This is frustrating for all and for us believers, we rest in the idea that it is all to God’s glory.

Perhaps one day, you will have a testimony like mine; that you yearned to hear God, stopped believing because it never happened, and later in life, when you weren’t expecting it or looking for it, it happened to you.

I also thought that I might make a few friends and bust the myth that atheists are bad people who 'just want to sin'.

I never heard that myth. In my experience, Atheists think deeply about morality and strive to live good lives. (They just don’t define good as the Bible does, which is, it is impossible to please God without faith).

I hope one day soon we consider each other friends. 3 decades ago I taught religious education for teens. Made up my own syllabus of what I wanted to teach them. It was a combination of moral issues and different schools of thought. While it was a Protestant church (UUA), I had one class led by a Christian in the church, another by my friends mom, who was a Catholic deacon, and another by my friend who was an Atheist, a devotee of Ayn Rand’s philosophy of Objectivism.

I must admit that I've learned things here, I was expecting more of a United front and more agreement between Christians.
It's been a real eye opener.

With some 40,000 denominations, one must admit there is actually tremendous diversity of thought among Christian sects. (I consider this a divine flowering of the Holy Spirit. More on that later). I’m grateful there is not a doctrinal purity test in the Bible. (The closest thing to it might be Romans 10:9.)

As I’ve grown in my faith, I’ve been deeply troubled by IDOLATRY ubiquitously ingrained in Christendom. For years, I struggled understand the 2C. Then I realized, it is putting anything manmade above God. In the non-Christian world, the 2 great IDOLS are sex and money. (We can discuss how sexuality in relationships is manmade later but everyone knows ‘sex sells.’) In Christendom, the great IDOL is doctrine. This is the negative side of 40K denominations. I have a funny joke involving doctrine and an atheist, if you’re interested.

 

[Laurina]

I have a funny joke involving doctrine and an atheist, if you’re interested.

I'd like to hear it!