Confidence in your beliefs.

neologist wrote:

I go back to my earlier post: One must continually test his/her faith.

Presumably a more decisive action than going ahead to a post not yet written, but outside of that........

0 Replies

Chumly wrote:

neologist wrote:
I go back to my earlier post: One must continually test his/her faith.
Presumably a more decisive action than going ahead to a post not yet written, but outside of that........

In a sense I was doing that by anticipating your post. But you wouldn't believe anything I said anyway.

0 Replies

neologist wrote:

Chumly wrote:
neologist wrote:
I go back to my earlier post: One must continually test his/her faith.
Presumably a more decisive action than going ahead to a post not yet written, but outside of that........
In a sense I was doing that by anticipating your post. But you wouldn't believe anything I said anyway.

I can help you, if you just let me.

0 Replies

The problem with continually testing said faith is that the tests become more and more narrow as the faith becomes more and more refined and surely there is a genuine danger that the tests actually become non-existent in so far as the questions being asked have been so thoughtfully molded by past questions throughout this journey that they lead the person in question around in circles. Who is to be the judge of critical analysis regarding faith? One person's well thought out faith is another's plaything.

0 Replies

Ashers wrote:

The problem with continually testing said faith is that the tests become more and more narrow as the faith becomes more and more refined and surely there is a genuine danger that the tests actually become non-existent in so far as the questions being asked have been so thoughtfully molded by past questions throughout this journey that they lead the person in question around in circles. Who is to be the judge of critical analysis regarding faith? One person's well thought out faith is another's plaything.

Precisely the reason one can't prove one's faith with empirical certainty. The best one can do is continue to provide anecdotal and circumstantial evidence. Of this I have an abundance.

0 Replies

Fair enough, I guess faith is a tricky thing. The dividing line between good and bad faith seems precarious on many occasions.

0 Replies

Quote:

Okay. So that's how it started. Has it changed? Is it different now?
Do you have any other reason for believing besides your faith?
Do you have any other reason for having faith besides your belief?
I still don't get it.

echi...when i was a kid, my faith was that of a child. there was no doubt, no cynicism etc.... As i grew and was able to question what i have been taught, my faith grew. I have never doubted that God is real or that Christ is the Messiah, but i would struggle with wondering if God really cared about me and wondering (at times) why he allowed things to happen. Two instances in my life that are pretty crappy, when i felt noone else was there, and when i even turned away from God, I could still feel him comforting me. In those instances, i was able to understand how writers of the ot would describe him as a rock. Because he was my Rock, and my Strength. So to answer the first two questions, yes my faith has changed....its grown because i've grown .
as for the next question....blind faith is what started it for me (as a child) but as i grew, i could see and feel God in my life, and my faith wasn't so blind. this kind of goes along with what i just wrote. i hope that this helps you out. echi if your interested a good book to read is Case for Christ by Lee Strobel.

0 Replies

Quote:

I appreciate the fact that you are giving input, but you have to realize that an awful lot of what you are saying is very cut-and-paste from the "born again" stories of most christians.

"I asked Jesus to come into my heart."

the reason this probably sounds so similar to other christian testimonies is because as the bible says there is only one way to become born again. By believing in Christ, asking him to forgive you of sins and asking him to save you. and while this is exactly the same in every christians testimony (or should be) the circumstance surrounding each testimony is different.

Quote:

Your Christian faith and your version of a holy book tells you to reject (and in fact to kill) anyone who makes identical claims, but attritubes such emotional highs to a different diety.

where is that?

Quote:

My primary question to you is: How do you know you picked the right god out of the thousands you have to choose from?

Because my God is the only one who died for me and rose from the grave. All the other gods are still in their graves.

Quote:

I just want you to not be afraid to ask the questions that need to be asked. And I don't want you to be afraid of the answers.

What gives you the impression that i haven't done this?
Im not afraid to ask any questions. I am where i am today, because i did ask questions and found the answers.

0 Replies

kate4christ03 wrote:

As i grew and was able to question what i have been taught, my faith grew.

It makes no sense to claim your faith would grow if you questioned it, because by definition faith is based on not questioning.

0 Replies

Chumly wrote:

kate4christ03 wrote:
As i grew and was able to question what i have been taught, my faith grew.
It makes no sense to claim your faith would grow if you questioned it, because by definition faith is based on not questioning.

Actually, chum, that is hugely incorrect.

0 Replies

Quote:

It makes no sense to claim your faith would grow if you questioned it, because by definition faith is based on not questioning.

i guess you have never read the bible. Alot of the mighty men of God questioned and wavered at times. Im not perfect and i have honestly struggled with things, but as i stated earlier i never questioned or struggled with the issue of God's existence. My faith in that area never wavered. a person can still have absolute faith in the existence of GOd and still struggle with doubts about other things. Look at king david. A majority of the psalms he wrote are because he was struggling with doubts and fears and he was questioning God on certain issues. Yet he is the only person in the whole bible that God calls " A man after my own heart"

0 Replies

kate4christ03 wrote:

Alot of the mighty men of God questioned and wavered at times.

If you want to call ignorant hillbillies "mighty men of God" be my guest, but in any case when they presumably "questioned and wavered at times" you prove my point that it makes no sense to claim faith grows if questioned, because by definition faith is based on not questioning.

0 Replies

Chumly wrote:

. . . . because by definition faith is based on not questioning.

You keep saying that. But it is so far wrong it is almost laughable.

BTW, who are you calling an ignorant hillbilly?. I'm from New Jersey just like Frank and I'm proud of it.

0 Replies

Anyone who claims to have religious faith but then questions said religious faith is a de facto hypocrite.

Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary wrote:

b (1) : firm belief in something for which there is no proof (2) : complete trust

http://www.m-w.com/dictionary/faith

I'll add (what-I-would-hope-is-the obvious caveat) that such hypocrisy is to the extent of one's said religious faith and to the extent that one questions it. New Jersey: Neo's garden state (pun).

0 Replies

But, you see, Chum, if you were to check your bible, you would find sayings like this one of Paul: "Keep testing whether YOU are in the faith, keep proving what YOU yourselves are." (2Corinthians 13:5)

0 Replies

By that logic you're arguing I should defer to biblical scripture over logical definition, but in any case the biblical quote you refer to doesn't argue against logical definitions per se (well no more or less than the innumerable illogicalisms that populate the bible).

Sorry Neo, not a very apt biblical reference, and even less so an argument against logical definitions.

Your biblical reference does not assuage my assertion that "Anyone who claims to have religious faith but then questions said religious faith is a de facto hypocrite".

0 Replies

Chumly wrote:

By that logic you're arguing I should defer to biblical scripture over logical definition, but in any case the biblical quote you refer to doesn't argue against logical definitions per se (well no more or less than the innumerable illogicalisms that populate the bible).

Sorry Neo, not a very apt biblical reference, and even less so an argument against logical definitions.

Perhaps an adjective is required to describe my faith. Nevertheless, I continue testing.

That's why I participate in this board.

0 Replies

I believe I can help with an adjective to describe your faith Smile

It's interesting you post to test your faith, but I admit I'm not sure how such dialogue can be construed as a test, given that religious faith is not based on reason / logic / science / proof nor any other rational discipline I'm aware of, thus I fail to see the commonalty that (I would think) would be implicit for this kind of testing.

It would seem that comparative religious arguments would be more gainful, no?

0 Replies

neologist wrote:

Perhaps an adjective is required to describe my faith. Nevertheless, I continue testing.

That's why I participate in this board.

'

Anyone who are more faithful than ever after a serious religious debate is in my mind more stubborn than enlightened.

0 Replies

WOW, looks like some people are gettting the thread all twisted out of proportion, sorry i been gone so long, i had to deal with a lot of family stuff(lost my job too so had to sacrifice internet>)
But the thing that is on my mind, is this,lets say i have faith that the ladder is going to support my weight and hold out until i finish doing whatever, now if that ladder breaks and i smash to the floor was i wrong to have the faith in the first place? Because everyone knows that sooner or later that ladder will not be in any condition to hold anything.
Now if im being a sceptic (i am) then im thinking that at any given time Sh!t happens, the ladder could fail,weight not being distrubuted properly or it could slip and i could just smash into the floor anyway.
What im trying to say is this the "belivers" have got it all sorted, because lets just say hypothetically that there IS a heaven or afterlife of some form, then they are all up there probably saying things along the lines of "told you so"
But then again, if there isnt a afterlife noone is gonna be right or wrong because we wont know about it.
Hope you all at least, kinda, got what im trying to say.
thanks to everyone who has spent time on this post.

0 Replies

Confidence in your beliefs.

Related Topics

Quick Links

My Account

able2know