The Paranormal

[Warrior777]

Their father is NOT God but the devil:

John 8:43-45

43 Why do you not understand My speech? Because you are not able to listen to My word. 44 You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it.45 But because I tell the truth, you do not believe Me.

 

[Anonimous]

Just on a side note:
Where did you get the idea that atheists or anyone else not following Jesus (having Him as their Lord and Savior) are "the children of God"? That is not biblical:

John 1:12-13
But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.

Rom 9:8
That is, those who are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God; but the children of the promise are counted as the seed.

This is a good point... God is NOT everyone's Father...Creator? Yes...but He is only a Father to believers...

 

[JesusLives]

Hi JL,

If you posses faith then you are already a believer and you are not asking the big question. This is why atheists are forever asking for evidence. As I tried to explain to Tinkerbell, I can't just choose to believe the earth is flat. I need confirmation. Without prior belief one needs evidence to make decisions about what to believe.

I pray and wish with all my heart that you could believe the evidence that Jesus has died for you and your sins and accept the gift of salvation and it does take faith to believe that. God loves you Cycel whether you choose to believe Him or not. I still pray for you and I will never give up. Hope your day is great.

 

[Anonimous]

This is a good point... God is NOT everyone's Father...Creator? Yes...but He is only a Father to believers...

As a side note there are many who might feel that's exclusivistic... and it is. Not snoblishly or arrogantly... but, that is what we are told in the Bible. This is why we are to preach the Gospel... to help bring people into a relationship with God... I know, only the Holy Spirit can do that... but, we're supposed to be His hands and feet... and mouth at times.

 

[damombomb]

Hi JL,

If you posses faith then you are already a believer and you are not asking the big question. This is why atheists are forever asking for evidence. As I tried to explain to Tinkerbell, I can't just choose to believe the earth is flat. I need confirmation. Without prior belief one needs evidence to make decisions about what to believe.

You need an encounter with the Holy Spirit/Jesus Christ, Elohim, that is what you are lacking Cycel, all you have to do is ask, seek, knock , then you will get confirmation. Tangible confirmation. Then no one could tell you he is not real.

 

[Cycel]

You need an encounter with the Holy Spirit/Jesus Christ, Elohim, that is what you are lacking Cycel, all you have to do is ask, seek, knock , then you will get confirmation. Tangible confirmation. Then no one could tell you he is not real.

Here's the thing – I have already done all of that. I've explained this in detail elsewhere. I too believed that all I had to do was knock. I did far more. I banged and shouted at that door, but it was never opened; not a crack. I wanted to believe but God remained silent. It was sometime after this experience that I became a confirmed atheist.

Many Christians have tried to provide me a reason for God's silence, but the fact remains that God – if he exists – does not always answer that door. That silence has led many to atheism.

 

[Cycel]

Their father is NOT God but the devil...

I cannot imagine that you love the devil's children equally to God's. What do you truly think of atheists?

 

[JesusLives]

Here's the thing – I have already done all of that. I've explained this in detail elsewhere. I too believed that all I had to do was knock. I did far more. I banged and shouted at that door, but it was never opened; not a crack. I wanted to believe but God remained silent. It was sometime after this experience that I became a confirmed atheist.

Many Christians have tried to provide me a reason for God's silence, but the fact remains that God – if he exists – does not always answer that door. That silence has led many to atheism.

Thing is Cycel God is still with you even during the silence. You just need to exercise the faith to believe He is there with you as He is not imaginary just invisible. If you saw God face to face you would not live through it as sin and perfection can't exist in the same place. Until we are given immortal bodies we won't be able to see God the Father face to face it is just not possible.

 

[Cycel]

M. Luther should have had better reason, sense and understanding than to say things like that. .

In our day and age yes, but not in his.

 

[Cycel]

Please excuse me but I think that atheist errs by apparently counting nothing as a blessing bestowed and finding neither cause for which to give thanks nor a god to whom to give thanks.

We might have a particularly good summer with a proper balance of sun and rain resulting in a bountiful harvest. Christians will thank God for that, but what evidence exists that God had anything to do with it? In another part of the world the same good fortune might be absent. The following news item is a demonstration of this very issue: "

“This summer’s wheat crop is all over the map, with some Southwestern Ontario farmers seeing their highest yields ever and some gleaning one of their poorest crops ever.”

Wheat whacked by weather, fungus | Sarnia Observer

Had this been 200 years ago some farmers would be thanking God for their wonderful harvest while others, not so distant, would be trying to understand how they'd displeased the Almighty. In the present age we understand that weather patterns fluctuate all over the world. In one area a bride will have pleasant sunny weather for her wedding and in another there will be torrential downpour for someone else. It has nothing to do with God favouring brides in one area and not another, it has to do with the luck of the draw and the day of the wedding, but you will never convince those who are devout that the good weather wasn't evidence their prayers were answered. Will you?

It seems to me believers are too quick on the draw to see divine providence every time something goes well.

 

[crossnote]

You have very seriously watered down what it means to be religious. I guess for my brother-in-law motorcycles are his religion. Perhaps genealogy is my religion, eh? Really though, what you're saying is that absence of belief in what you believe should be construed as religion. That type of logic seems flawed.

Come on Cycel, I know you're sharper than that.
Our view of death (not our view of motorcycles) is what comprises the core of man's religion .
Every man in that case has a religion...even if it is watered down to say, "When our time is up, it's up, fini!"

 

[Warrior777]

I cannot imagine that you love the devil's children equally to God's. What do you truly think of atheists?

-------------------------

What does it matter to anybody what I think of them (Atheists), or of anybody else for that matter. You should be concerned what God thinks about you. If you believe in Him or not is your choice, but one day you will give an account to Him and then there is going to be a judgment of your decision.

Actually I don't make a distinction between Atheists or any other unbeliever, if you must know, but as Jesus does, He loved them enough to die for them and all of us before we accepted Christ. Then it's everybody's decision from there on. And I love them enough to tell them the truth about it. If people (Christians) would not care about you, they would not bother with you nor take their time and effort to tell you the truth.
BTW God is not silent toward you, e.g. He has been talking all over this thread to you, when you cannot hear for yourself He sends His people to you in His behalf, you just need to open your heart and listen, but that is a decision you need to make, nobody can convince you with just what they say...

 

[Cycel]

Come on Cycel, I know you're sharper than that.
Our view of death (not our view of motorcycles) is what comprises the core of man's religion .
Every man in that case has a religion...even if it is watered down to say, "When our time is up, it's up, fini!"

"When our time is up, it's up, fini!" That's a religion?

How does simply not believing something constitute a religion? What about those atheists who think ghosts might exist? Are they a different religion from those atheists who think there are no ghosts? I believe you are really undermining what it means to be religious. I suspect this opinion is not share by academics who study religion.

 

[Cycel]

Thank you for answering my question.

What does it matter to anybody what I think of them (Atheists), or of anybody else for that matter.

Christians perceive Satan as evil incarnate, I think. You stated that atheists are the children, not of God, but of Satan. So I naturally wondered if you thought atheists were also evil?

You should be concerned what God thinks about you. If you believe in Him or not is your choice, but one day you will give an account to Him and then there is going to be a judgment of your decision.

No more than I worry about the gods of the Hindu pantheon.

BTW God is not silent toward you, e.g. He has been talking all over this thread to you, when you cannot hear for yourself He sends His people to you in His behalf...

I think you know, or should know, that if you visited an Islamic site you would not perceive the warnings of Muslim members as messages from Allah. I hear the conviction of belief in your written words, but I don’t view those words as inspired. What would a Muslim need to do to persuade you? It is not an idle question.

... you just need to open your heart and listen, but that is a decision you need to make, nobody can

Again with the notion that it is only a matter of making a decision. I made several forays back into belief over the years prior to my seventeenth birthday. On the last such occasion I desperately tried to find God. I came up empty handed. So I did exactly what you suggested, but the effort failed. Myself, Dan Barker, and many others are proof that desire to believe does not necessarily bring about belief in God.

 

[AgeofKnowledge]

I study religion. Atheism IS a metaphysical worldview that posits metaphysical assertions of belief (which carry subsequent consequences when acted upon) concerned with explaining the fundamental nature of being and the world that encompasses it.
Atheism is NOT neutral.

Many atheists proselyte in the world for new adherents to their metaphysical worldview just as many religious proselyte in the world for new adherents for their metaphysical worldview.

All metaphysical worldviews result in consequences when their core assertions are implemented in the world.

Atheists stating that atheism is "not a religion" is thus logically self-defeating when used as a cop out to try and excuse themselves from assuming the requisite responsibility related to the metaphysical worldview they adhere to and its consequences when implemented in the world as we saw in the 20th century.

Research state atheistic democide for more information.

How does simply not believing something constitute a religion?

 

[damombomb]

Here's the thing – I have already done all of that. I've explained this in detail elsewhere. I too believed that all I had to do was knock. I did far more. I banged and shouted at that door, but it was never opened; not a crack. I wanted to believe but God remained silent. It was sometime after this experience that I became a confirmed atheist.

Many Christians have tried to provide me a reason for God's silence, but the fact remains that God – if he exists – does not always answer that door. That silence has led many to atheism.

Have you ever felt him drawing you,conviction, anything? You did not harden your heart i hope because of circumstances or
just hardships of life? He is the only one who can open our hearts and minds.

 

[AgeofKnowledge]

Atheists are spiritually lost, spiritually bankrupt, and spiritually deceived people. Because of this, they can be exceedingly dangerous to non-atheists when they gain political power. The 20th century is a case study in what happens when atheists gain control of government and implement state atheism. About 200 million people died as a result of state atheism last century while close to a billion religious individuals were persecuted and oppressed under state atheism by atheists.

Historically, atheists impose their brand of tyranny and deny religious people their human rights and religious liberty when they gain political power. Personally, I have never met an atheist that was tolerant of my theism. However, I have met many who were most intolerant including those in public education that used their position to "punish" me for nothing more than refusing to compromise the Christian worldview... a view that posits objective well-defined ethical principles toward a wholesome normative morality.

I cannot imagine that you love the devil's children equally to God's. What do you truly think of atheists?

 

[GodIsSalvation]

Oh don't fear Satan for he is only a dragon and his children those caught in his breath of lies.

Fear God because He judges and protects and destroys and can save anyone.
Atheists are just lost in the hedgemaze of theories.
Draw forth the Sword of Truth and cut a path straight for the Lord.

Why be atheist? You know Jesus lived and Jesus is the Christ, the Messiah. Jesus is Son of God. Therefore God is very real even from a less "paranormal" point of view. Jesus is the beginning of truth and grace and love. Why be an atheist when you can be a follower of the Christ? If you be an atheist why are you even here? Is it not because you too seek Christ? Therefore put off atheism, follow the Christ.

 

[Cycel]

Thing is Cycel God is still with you even during the silence.

God's silence caused Mother Teresa, at the end of her life, to question whether she had been deluding herself about his existence. I think if we did a survey we would find that the majority of devout adults were raised by devout parents. When you are raised with that certainty of belief I think it becomes much more difficult to begin questioning. What I can’t see I can’t know exists.

You just need to exercise the faith to believe He is there with you as He is not imaginary just invisible.

All invisible things that I am familiar with, that exist, are still detectable by physical means. That's how we know they exist. Prior belief is a requisite for faith. I don't know how a person can acquire faith in God's existence without first holding the belief that God exists. I don't know how to go there without the physical evidence.

 

[Kerry]

God's silence caused Mother Teresa, at the end of her life, to question whether she had been deluding herself about his existence. I think if we did a survey we would find that the majority of devout adults were raised by devout parents. When you are raised with that certainty of belief I think it becomes much more difficult to begin questioning. What I can’t see I can’t know exists.

All invisible things that I am familiar with, that exist, are still detectable by physical means. That's how we know they exist. Prior belief is a requisite for faith. I don't know how a person can acquire faith in God's existence without first holding the belief that God exists. I don't know how to go there without the physical evidence.

and how far past Milky way can you see, excuse me but how far beyond the the electrons and protons can you see. Yet you accept their existence. Is it this side of your mouth or the other side?