G.o.d (((((((((athiest))))))))))

[j2k4]

Yeah-

The Z's, Q's, B's and M's didn't work on Mr. Gutenberg's press, either-I read that somewhere.

[thewizeard]

Originally posted by lynx+20 August 2003 - 02:24--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (lynx &#064; 20 August 2003 - 02:24)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'><!--QuoteBegin-imnotanaddict@19 August 2003 - 22:16
The books of the bible were written by men. But fiction? without any outside(God)
guidiance? Just does&#39;nt seem possible.

Oh, come on, Cinderella and Snow White are more credible than some of the bible stories.[/b][/quote]
A compromise is necessary here; much of what is readable in the bible was inspired by the belief in God. (That coming from a would be boedhhist, oops sorry j2k4, I mean budhhist)

In 1990 the Dalai lama was visiting Belgium, being curious I went to see him. I was amongst the 500 or more people who were gathered together in a huge tent in the picturesque town of Hooy, on the Maas.

Someone asked the Dalai Lama if the world was created by God. His answer, as far as I can remember was, "If the world had been created by Ishvara (God), who is perfect, then the world would be perfect. Clearly the world is not perfect, therefore the world could not possibly have been created by Ishvara. Titey said something similar yesterday.

A problem arose for me with this answer; I had always thought budhhists were atheists&#33; As this is definitely not within the scope of this thread, I will leave that for now.

[titey]

Hmmmm...

• "Titey Lama"

Has a nice ring to it... don&#39;cha think.

[lynx]

Originally posted by titey@20 August 2003 - 08:18
Hmmmm...

• "Titey Lama"

Has a nice ring to it... don&#39;cha think.

Don&#39;t bring bestiality into this, or the mods will be having another round of musical threads.

[Neil__]

Nigel

Is Ishvara a God in the classical definition or something other?

And the Dalai Lama stated that if Ishvara created the world then it would be perfect and the world is not.

If Buddhists are athiests as you imply (I know little of their beliefs) then this seems to me a very diplomatic way of implying that God doesn&#39;t exist without stating it directly and therefore invoking the wrath of the followers of other religions.


Neil

Another general question.

Are there many gods, one for each religion, or are different religions giving different attributes to the same God

[Neil__]

Originally posted by lynx+20 August 2003 - 01:24--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (lynx &#064; 20 August 2003 - 01:24)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'> <!--QuoteBegin-imnotanaddict@19 August 2003 - 22:16
The books of the bible were written by men. But fiction? without any outside(God)
guidiance? Just does&#39;nt seem possible.

Oh, come on, Cinderella and Snow White are more credible than some of the bible stories. [/b][/quote]
C’mon Lynx give a little slack, imnotanaddict did say that it doesn&#39;t seem possible
Not that it was impossible; you don&#39;t give any scope for personal belief and true faith.

If the Bible is true as imnotanaddict obviously believes then it cannot be explained without Gods intervention in the biblical world.

I did not hear any statement that God wrote the bible just that the bible couldn&#39;t have been written as a work of fact without a God being evident.

And remember these scriptures are the word of God as interpreted by a 2000 year old culture (For Christianity) also a lot of the teachings are by parable and works of example. Most Christians have enough sense not to take everything in the Bible literally.

Neil
.

[imnotanaddict]

titey
Posted: 19 August 2003 - 21:45
QUOTE (imnotanaddict @ 19 August 2003 - 16:16)
My point is if we were perfect:
What would be our purpose?

But isn&#39;t your god perfect?
Does he have no purpose then?[QUOTE]

If we were perfect, would there be the question of "free will"?
How could there be. We would incapable of making wrong choices.
I surely don&#39;t have the answers. I can only ask questions and use what
little deductive reasoning I have. I make no claims as to whether I&#39;m right
or wrong.

If God is the creator of all things, how could he not be perfect on what can
we base imperfect?

As far as purpose?


I did find this :
God&#39;s Plan for mankind covers ALL aspects of human history, good and evil, as well as providing for "free choice" in order to achieve His greatest creation of all. . . a family of beings that are God&#39;s very offspring, with the very nature of God Himself&#33;

John 3:16 says: "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life."

His purpose, to offer a home in heaven?

[lynx]

I wasn&#39;t knocking imnotanaddict&#39;s beliefs, I was merely pointing out that any half decent author (and that certainly doesn&#39;t include me) could come up with stories which are far more believable, without any sort of divine intervention.

So to say that the bible needs divine assistance to have been written just doesn&#39;t make sense. I vivid imagination is all that is required, and if what we read on another thread is true they weren&#39;t unaware of the properties of certain mind altering plants.

[Barbarossa]

Originally posted by Neil__@20 August 2003 - 11:52
Another general question.

Are there many gods, one for each religion, or are different religions giving different attributes to the same God

He&#39;s the same fellah in Islam, Christianity and Judaism that&#39;s for sure.

Makes you wonder why everyone&#39;s arguing doesn&#39;t it?

[Neil__]

Originally posted by barbarossa+20 August 2003 - 13:55--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (barbarossa @ 20 August 2003 - 13:55)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'> <!--QuoteBegin-Neil__@20 August 2003 - 11:52
Another general question.

Are there many gods, one for each religion, or are different religions giving different attributes to the same God

He's the same fellah in Islam, Christianity and Judaism that's for sure.

Makes you wonder why everyone's arguing doesn't it? [/b][/quote]
I never will understand that.

It's like witches arguing over whose got the blackest cat.

Neil