Is there such a thing as an atheist?

  • Christian Chat is a moderated online Christian community allowing Christians around the world to fellowship with each other in real time chat via webcam, voice, and text, with the Christian Chat app. You can also start or participate in a Bible-based discussion here in the Christian Chat Forums, where members can also share with each other their own videos, pictures, or favorite Christian music.

    If you are a Christian and need encouragement and fellowship, we're here for you! If you are not a Christian but interested in knowing more about Jesus our Lord, you're also welcome! Want to know what the Bible says, and how you can apply it to your life? Join us!

    To make new Christian friends now around the world, click here to join Christian Chat.
E

Elin

Banned
#2,841
Jan 19, 2013
11,909
141
0
#2,841
phil112 said:
59 years old. Raised on a farm and raised hogs and cows. Ran a truck patch. Never heard such a thing.

Because you may have heard it means I am lying if I say I haven't? You should think about what you're saying.
Click to expand...
I've always heard it as boar hog.
 
Jimbone

Jimbone

Senior Member
#2,842
Aug 22, 2014
2,773
852
113
44
#2,842
phil112 said:
59 years old. Raised on a farm and raised hogs and cows. Ran a truck patch. Never heard such a thing.

Because you may have heard it means I am lying if I say I haven't? You should think about what you're saying.
Click to expand...
Wow, it was just a very light hearted joke man. Boar tits don't talk. I wasn't trying to say you were lying. Truce farmer man.
 
E

Elin

Banned
#2,843
Jan 19, 2013
11,909
141
0
#2,843
Jimbone said:
Wow, it was just a very light hearted joke man. Boar tits don't talk. I wasn't trying to say you were lying. Truce farmer man.
Click to expand...
His use of the phrase shows he is not familiar with it.

It's usually used as a comparison showing how ridiculous something is, as in "as ridiculous as . . ."
 
Last edited:
Jimbone

Jimbone

Senior Member
#2,844
Aug 22, 2014
2,773
852
113
44
#2,844
Elin said:
His use of the phrase shows he is not familiar with it.

It's usually used to show how ridiculous something is, as in
Click to expand...
I guessed that, and I do feel bad that he took it like that. I guess the "LOL" flew over his head as well, but it was just a joke. No beef! (beef is slang for conflict just FYI, I'm not a vegetarian)

And Phil just so you know I also really like chainsaws. <-- just an olive branch
 
Cycel

Cycel

Banned
#2,845
Aug 25, 2013
2,260
10
0
#2,845
Elin said:
His use of the phrase shows he is not familiar with it.

It's usually used as a comparison showing how ridiculous something is, as in "as ridiculous as . . ."
Click to expand...
This is the first I've heard it as well. I am more familiar with the expression when it relates to a nun. :)
 
Jimbone

Jimbone

Senior Member
#2,846
Aug 22, 2014
2,773
852
113
44
#2,846
Cycel said:
This is the first I've heard it as well. I am more familiar with the expression when it relates to a nun. :)
Click to expand...
LOL, that's the first time I heard a nun involved, but that's funny.
 
oldhermit

oldhermit

Senior Member
#2,847
Jul 28, 2012
9,144
613
113
70
Alabama
#2,847
Elin said:
I've always heard it as boar hog.
Click to expand...
We have always used the expression "worthless as tits on a boar hog" to speak of some cowboy who just couldn't be depended on to get the job done.
 
blue_ladybug

blue_ladybug

Senior Member
#2,848
Feb 21, 2014
70,869
9,603
113
#2,848
oldhermit said:
We have always used the expression "worthless as tits on a boar hog" to speak of some cowboy who just couldn't be depended on to get the job done.
Click to expand...

there shall be no more talk of tits on a boar hog..I forbid it..lol.. So the blue lady has said, so shall it be decreed.. :eek: ​LOL!! JK JK.. Carry on with...uhhhhmmm whatever.. :)
 
Cycel

Cycel

Banned
#2,849
Aug 25, 2013
2,260
10
0
#2,849
phil112 said:
You know, Cycel, I totally understand what you're saying. I think the problem is that the god that people claim to worship allows them to do things that we can see aren't right, so we reject God instead of realizing that people that are abasing Him and His name are the problem. There has been more damage done to God in His name than any other way.
Click to expand...
In my own experience I don't believe this was the case. It's interesting that my father-in-law quite regularly complained of Christians who went to church on Sunday and stabbed you in the back on Monday. I thought he was an atheist, and after some years we had a discussion in which I called him one; but to my great surprise he was incensed. I'd misunderstood. He was not an unbeliever at all, but he was very bitter toward so-called Christians (people who talked the talk, but who didn't walk the walk). This turned him from Sunday worship but not from God.

I don't know anyone who became an atheist for the rationale you've identified, but I wouldn't be surprised that this sometimes happens. What I've learned is that there are many reasons for losing belief in God.
 
E

Elin

Banned
#2,852
Jan 19, 2013
11,909
141
0
#2,852
Cycel said:
In my own experience I don't believe this was the case. It's interesting that my father-in-law quite regularly complained of Christians who went to church on Sunday and stabbed you in the back on Monday. I thought he was an atheist, and after some years we had a discussion in which I called him one; but to my great surprise he was incensed. I'd misunderstood. He was not an unbeliever at all, but he was very bitter toward so-called Christians (people who talked the talk, but who didn't walk the walk). This turned him from Sunday worship but not from God.

I don't know anyone who became an atheist for the rationale you've identified, but I wouldn't be surprised that this sometimes happens. What I've learned is that
there are many reasons for losing belief in God.
Click to expand...
Many reasons, but only one cause (Lk 8:13).
 
Cycel

Cycel

Banned
#2,853
Aug 25, 2013
2,260
10
0
#2,853
Leannaix said:
I realized I was an atheist after doing a lot of research on the Bible, and on different religions. Eventually, when I saw some things that shook my faith and I had no answer for, I asked myself if my beliefs were justified. So I prayed, and searched, and read the bible. But in the end I found there was no evidence or justification for my beilef in a deity, so I remain unconvinced. I was a devoted Christian before this point, but relied on faith instead of reason, and faith is not a reliable pathway for finding the truth. I care about knowing as many true things as possible, while believing as few false things as I can. Faith is an insufficient way for me to achieve this.
Click to expand...
I don't have a specific memory of the moment I lost belief in God and yet I am often told by believers that I chose not to believe. They don't understand that a person can simply lose belief without being aware it's happened, which is what I think happened to me. Do you have a specific memory of the moment you lost belief? Did it come upon you gradually? Did you one day simply choose not to believe in God?
 
E

Elin

Banned
#2,854
Jan 19, 2013
11,909
141
0
#2,854
Cycel said:
I don't have a specific memory of the moment I lost belief in God and yet I am often told by believers that I chose not to believe. They don't understand that a person can simply lose belief without being aware it's happened, which is what I think happened to me. Do you have a specific memory of the moment you lost belief? Did it come upon you gradually? Did you one day simply choose not to believe in God?
Click to expand...
One cannot make themselves believe what they do not believe, if they're intellectually honest.
 
Cycel

Cycel

Banned
#2,855
Aug 25, 2013
2,260
10
0
#2,855
Elin said:
Many reasons, but only one cause (Lk 8:13).
Click to expand...
"The seed sown on rock stands for those who receive the word with joy when they hear it, but have no root; they are believers for a while, but in the time of testing they desert." (Luke 8:13)
Luke is not talking about those born into Christianity, he is referencing those individuals who came to the faith from paganism. They don't have deep roots in the belief. In times of persecution they fall away.

I had roots (though not as deep as some). Everyone I knew was a Christian. That doesn't mean I couldn't become an atheist. I would point you to two individuals with very deep roots in Christian belief: Dan Barker and Jerry DeWitt. Both are former Christian preachers. Both are now atheists. They both have books and both can be found on YouTube.
 
P

phil112

Guest
#2,856
#2,856
Cycel said:
In my own experience I don't believe this was the case. It's interesting that my father-in-law quite regularly complained of Christians who went to church on Sunday and stabbed you in the back on Monday. I thought he was an atheist, and after some years we had a discussion in which I called him one; but to my great surprise he was incensed. I'd misunderstood. He was not an unbeliever at all, but he was very bitter toward so-called Christians (people who talked the talk, but who didn't walk the walk). This turned him from Sunday worship but not from God.

I don't know anyone who became an atheist for the rationale you've identified, but I wouldn't be surprised that this sometimes happens. What I've learned is that there are many reasons for losing belief in God.
Click to expand...
I am not bitter, but otherwise I commiserate with your dad. Those people disgust me because they are where they are willingly.
 
Cycel

Cycel

Banned
#2,857
Aug 25, 2013
2,260
10
0
#2,857
Elin said:
One cannot make themselves believe what they do not believe, if they're intellectually honest.
Click to expand...
You are correct. Many believers seem to think that atheists simply decided not to believe in God, and so they should be able to reverse the decision. I have tried many times to explain it is not that simple. You seem to understand what many others do not. That is, if I properly understand you. :)
 
E

Elin

Banned
#2,858
Jan 19, 2013
11,909
141
0
#2,858
Cycel said:
"The seed sown on rock stands for those who receive the word with joy when they hear it, but have no root; they are believers for a while, but in the time of testing they desert." (Luke 8:13)
Luke is not talking about those born into Christianity, he is referencing those individuals who came to the faith from paganism. They don't have deep roots in the belief. In times of persecution they fall away.
Click to expand...
No one is born into saving faith.

It comes only in the rebirth of our spirit into eternal life (Jn 3:5).

The root is the rebirth.

The only cause of not perservering is "no root" of rebirth.
 
J

JesusIsAll

Guest
#2,859
#2,859
Faith is not believing there's a God, believing about God, believing who Jesus Christ is. Sure, these things are square one, but faith is coming to Christ, broken in our sin and wanting to change, coming out of darkness and self, responding to the light and God, responding like a child to the Lord drawing us and convicting our hearts, to a place of accepting Jesus Christ not only as our Savior, but as our Lord, our Master over our lives. Faith is having the Holy Spirit in you, Who opens your eyes and ears to the things of God. Faith is loving and trusting God, seeking the things of the Lord Jesus, not your own ways, your own thoughts. Christianity is not knowing about, but KNOWING God. I doubt anybody reverted to atheism, from this place.
 
E

Elin

Banned
#2,860
Jan 19, 2013
11,909
141
0
#2,860
JesusIsAll said:
Faith is not believing there's a God, believing about God, believing who Jesus Christ is. Sure, these things are square one, but faith is coming to Christ, broken in our sin and wanting to change, coming out of darkness and self, responding to the light and God, responding like a child to the Lord drawing us and convicting our hearts, to a place of accepting Jesus Christ not only as our Savior, but as our Lord, our Master over our lives. Faith is having the Holy Spirit in you, Who opens your eyes and ears to the things of God. Faith is loving and trusting God, seeking the things of the Lord Jesus, not your own ways, your own thoughts. Christianity is not knowing about, but KNOWING God. I doubt anybody reverted to atheism, from this place.
Click to expand...
Yep, because you just described what the root is like.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.