'What religion are you?' poll discussion

Fifer

adrian_clark wrote: »

You can deny Jesus' claims or you can accept him as God but you can't ignore Him.

The third is not only possible, it's to be recommended.

[Deleted User]

adrian_clark wrote: »

That's the very reason why we celebrate Christmas because our Father in heaven, who loves us beyond all measure, come into human history on a rescue mission to love us. You can deny Jesus' claims or you can accept him as God but you can't ignore Him.

I thought it was Santa's Birthday! don't say the stories are lies!

I feel really sad for those who can't understand evolution through natural selection. It is truly amazing when you comprehend the awesomeness that all life currently on earth evolved from a single origin. From the biochemical origins or ribonucleic acids up to grand complexities of speciation, it's an epic tale. Ohh, i want to go read The Blind Watchmaker again now

adrian_clark

ringo_24601 wrote: »

I thought it was Santa's Birthday! don't say the stories are lies!

I feel really sad for those who can't understand evolution through natural selection. It is truly amazing when you comprehend the awesomeness that all life currently on earth evolved from a single origin. From the biochemical origins or ribonucleic acids up to grand complexities of speciation, it's an epic tale. Ohh, i want to go read The Blind Watchmaker again now

Do you believe that something can come from nothing?

dynastygal

Good to see the Atheists are high in numbers.

[Deleted User]

adrian_clark wrote: »

Do you believe that something can come from nothing?

Energy or mass; not within normal newtonian physics. However these do not apply at the moment of the big bang... I guess I do believe it was possible at that moment

I do completely believe simple random events, over a very long timescale can lead to increases in complexity

adrian_clark

ringo_24601 wrote: »

Energy or mass; not within normal newtonian physics. However these do not apply at the moment of the big bang... I guess I do believe it was possible at that moment

I do completely believe simple random events, over a very long timescale can lead to increases in complexity

Believing that something could come from nothing would take a monumental depth of faith that bewilders me. I guess it allows insight into the minds of people who deny the physical resurrection of Jesus where he demonstrated his power of creation, the universe, sin, death and hell. Does that belief in the momentary nothingness before the big bang not open an infinite void?

[Deleted User]

I'm more a fan of the big crunch/big bang theory - which basically means all mass/energy gets recycled in a giant cycle every N billion years. Obviously, it does ask the big question of how the cycle began in the first place.. but that question is a bit like asking what created god.

No, i don't like the infinite void of nothingness idea of before the big bang.. although technically there would be no infinite void, because time would not have started before the big bang

I'm not a physicist so i can't really go too much into this to be honest

Fifer

adrian_clark wrote: »

Believing that something could come from nothing would take a monumental depth of faith that bewilders me

It's less of a 'leap of faith' than believing in a god/creator that must have either come from nothing or always have existed, as the god explanation is infinitely more complex.

Like ringo, I incline towards the big crunch/big bang explanation but I don't have enough knowledge, information or understanding to believe we yet know the whole story. But I do know there's no need for, or evidence of, supernatural creators as an explanation.

adrian_clark

Fifer wrote: »

It's less of a 'leap of faith' than believing in a god/creator that must have either come from nothing or always have existed, as the god explanation is infinitely more complex.

Like ringo, I incline towards the big crunch/big bang explanation but I don't have enough knowledge, information or understanding to believe we yet know the whole story. But I do know there's no need for, or evidence of, supernatural creators as an explanation.

You are in the same position as Richard Dawkins. He acknowledges in the God delusion that there is no explanation of what came before there was something. I equally rejected God as our creator and the religions that supported the theory seeing religion as an unhelpful human construct. However, the exclusivity of Jesus' claims and his impact on human history was intriguing. It was the consideration of the person and work of Jesus that led my into a relationship with our creator God who is beyond the created order of the universe, exists above time and has been loving his people, created in his image and likeness, throughout time. I know how frustrating this simple idea can be :mad: unless of course it's true:)

k.o.d

adrian_clark wrote: »

. You can deny Jesus' claims or you can accept him as God but you can't ignore Him.

I think it is well documented that a person called Jesus existed.
I think it is easier to believe him to be a truly noble and spiritual person who could hold an audience in his sway with his oratory powers and his fundamentally good beliefs.
I think it is easier to the believe that people who wanted to bring desparate nations together used his teachings and his example to use as a cement to start the beginnings of a cult.
Even a pope said 'It has served us well, this myth of Christ'