Is that any reason to believe in something? I don't think so.

"Might as well be a Christian...just in case!" That's no reason to believe in something.

I agree. One can't believe in something just as a backup safeguard, or "just in case". You have to be 100% in your beliefs. Which leads to another question: Is it possible to have 100% belief in any religion? Are there subconscious doubts?

I agree. One can't believe in something just as a backup safeguard, or "just in case". You have to be 100% in your beliefs. Which leads to another question: Is it possible to have 100% belief in any religion? Are there subconscious doubts?

 

Sure there are doubts. In Christianity, not even faith can overcome injected thoughts by the enemy, whether that enemy is Satan, Family, Career or etc.

Even the greatest of all men had doubt to their beliefs. But the difference is that they did not let the doubt linger. If God truly forgives you of your sin and you doubted it does it make you any less forgiven or no longer saved? Of course not. Our Faith is the avenue that leads to salvation but is not the keeping power of our salvation. I have been a Christian for 13 years and I would not trust the best fifteen minutes of my life to get me into heaven. Doubting always begins with a question. I do believe that I am saved, forgiven and will go to heaven. I am 100% sure of that but even with that Satan occasionally will still try to make you doubt. I spent some time with a man a couple of years ago at a nursing home, he was 93 years of age, starting serving the Lord at the age of 19. Thats 74 years. One day near the end of his life he told his greatest struggle was with Satan's temptations. I'm thinking what temptations? The Temptation to doubt. Needless to say, God gave him dying grace, and almost every Christian that I have been around that were facing death, God granted thenm this dying grace (100%) belief in Him. But to answer the question another way is this...we all doubt from time to time, it is part of the maturation process. We may not doubt our salvation exepreince but we certainly doubt other things that goes along with our faith. A great example of this is found in the Gospels. John the Baptist, who Jesus said was the greatest ever born of flesh, he even doubted Jesus (Not 100%) in his belief, he did this while in prison, he sent his disciples to see Jesus and ask Him if He was really the Messiah, the surprising thing is that Jesus did not even go and visit John in that Prison, never talked to Him again. I would say that he doubted quite a bit during the last hours of his life before his beheading. But he is in glory with God, his doubt didnt change the fact that he had salvation.

It would be great to be able to boast that we have faith 100% of the time but we dont, in Chrisitanity its grace that carries us during these times of doubt.

In closing, there are different levels of faith...small faith, great faith and perfect faith. Each level of faith that we reach, our doubt decreases

 

Probably didnt answer your question but I sure feel better.

... Probably didnt answer your question but I sure feel better.

 

I don't doubt it.

 

 

Frances

I don't doubt it.

 

 

Frances

 

 

Man, I miss you! God in his infinite wisdom seen thru eons way back yonder thought it would be better for our local community and society, if you and I were not paired up together...ha ha ha

Man, I miss you! God in his infinite wisdom seen thru eons way back yonder thought it would be better for our local community and society, if you and I were not paired up together...ha ha ha

 

Truly, that is infinite wisdom ...

 

 

 

Frances

God created Satan, Satan made a choice. Man (evil) can also make a choice. God doesn't believe in Atheist.

Just for kicks, I’ve considered that with the minor addition of an "s" to "atheist" I could agree with the logic of Larry's premise.

 

“God doesn’t believe in atheists.”

 

Most atheistic philosophers and groups define atheism as the simple absence of belief in a deity or deities… in essence it is a denial of the supernatural.

 

If—as atheists assert—God does not exist, they would be correct, but they will never have the satisfaction of having the last laugh, because as humans shuffle off the mortal coil into an oblivion absent the presence of God, their consciousness will simply evaporate into nothingness. Game over.

 

If however, God does exist, and it turns out that there is an existence beyond this life on earth, every single person who professes to be an atheist would realize that their beliefs have been erroneous. It would therefore, be illogical to persist in denying the existence of God, when presented with clear proof of His existence. Strong or weak, there will be no “rational” atheists in the hereafter.

 

The statement, “God doesn’t believe in Atheists” presumes the existence of God. If God exists, He knows full well that while some may deny Him in their mortal existence, everyone becomes a believer in the end… therefore atheists do not ultimately exist… hence the validity of the statement.

 

If on the other hand, God is just a figment of human imagination, this is just a silly exercise, as is everything else we will ever do in this brief flash of life.

 

It’s one heck of a coin toss… I suppose I tend to agree in principle with Pascal. :thumb:

In my mind, an atheist is just someone who doesn't want to be held accountable for their actions.

I once saw a replay of a Phil Donohue show where Madyln Murray O'Hare was on. Early 70s. She is missing with her son and maybe dead. I was younger when I saw the show and remembered it upset me. It was my first time hearing someone actually "say that there was no God". I wondered why didn't she read the Bible.

 

Thats the foundation of a believer's faith. Simple scripture. But I understand how a person who is an atheist believes the Bible isn't true. Even people who don't practice a religion will not want to hear scripture. They believe in God, but have no knowledge of his Love and the teachings of Christ. These people are not bad folks they just have made a choice.

In my mind, an atheist is just someone who doesn't want to be held accountable for their actions.

Just the kind of words I would attribute to an "accountant." :lol:

I wonder how many atheists argue that we must do something about global warming because we can't risk the consequences......

I wonder how many atheists argue that we must do something about global warming because we can't risk the consequences......

 

What does a person's belief system have to do with their view of global warming?

 

 

Frances

What does a person's belief system have to do with their view of global warming?

 

 

Frances

 

Perhaps I should have been more clear. I was trying to point out that there may be atheists who argue that even though there might not be definitive proof that global warming is caused by man that we should take action today because the consequences of being wrong are so great. However, they (apparantly) reject similar logic that argues that even though there might not be definitive proof that God exists they should believe in God because the consequences of being wrong are so great.

 

(You could also turn the argument around for those who reject global warming but accept the existence of God by that same line of reasoning although there are other arguments for and against both global warming and the existence of God.)

In my mind, an atheist is just someone who doesn't want to be held accountable for their actions.

 

I know you said "in my mind", but I find that kind of a silly statement. There are a lot of atheists that want to believe in a God but cannot, and not because they don't want to be held accountable for their actions.

I know you said "in my mind", but I find that kind of a silly statement. There are a lot of atheists that want to believe in a God but cannot, and not because they don't want to be held accountable for their actions.

 

I'm just curious, but what keeps a person that wants to believe in a God from believing in a God. That statement just doesn't make sense to me.

There are more in-depth explanations than the one I'm about to give...but to put it simply- logic.