Hi I'm a friendly atheist :)

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GreekChristian777

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#41
#41
Happy Luke, I have a couple of places to go.

One EXCELLENT site you could go to is Evidence for God from Science

Here are more that make a strong point that the resurrection of Jesus was a fact of history-

The Resurrection of Jesus Christ, Fact or Fiction?

Resurrection of Jesus: fact or fiction? Sharp analysis of the historical facts. Christian apologetics examined

This one is titled "The Resurrection of Christ - The Best-Proved Fact in History"- The site is titled Institute for Christian Research The Resurrection Of Christ

It may not be logical to our human mind, but the infinitely powerful God of the universe is not limited by our human minds. His thoughts are not our thoughts (Isaiah 55:8). But when we come to know the God of the universe, who willingly came to live in a human body, going about it in exactly the same way every human does (being conceived in a woman, growing inside her, being born, living a human life- working and experiencing other human being all along the way) we do get this gift. It is called the Holy Spirit. We ask Him to come and live inside us and help us to become holy. Then we start to grow with the mind of Christ (1 Corinthians 2:16)

Go through these. It will take much time, but great rewards await you.

God bless you,
Pete
 
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Powemm

Guest
#43
#43
Well happy luke, you just get yourself in here and poke around .. You will get exactly what your looking for :)
Welcome to cc brother ! Kick yoir shoes off and hang out a while .. Glad to have you!
 
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HappyLuke

Guest
#45
#45
GreekChristian777 said:
Go through these. It will take much time, but great rewards await you.

God bless you,
Pete
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Niiiiiice thanks I'll get stuck into that material now! I'll also just mention that I think the exotic emotional experiences people induce with Christianity when they welcome God into their hearts isn't evidence for the truth of Christianity, as false religions can induce such experiences too. Faith-thinking generates feelings of realness, whether the God actually exists or not. My dad was in an experiment in the early 70's where they practiced rituals, visualizations, thinking patterns and prayers about a range of fictional angel and demon characters, until eventually they started to feel very real indeed. I think it's a natural psychological effect :) I heard a testimony of a Christian who lost his faith after learning a confidence technique from a therapist - you connect lots of happy memories and good feelings, perhaps fatherly feelings, to basically an imaginary friend called your 'resource'. When you need support (e.g. you're nervous before a job interview), you call on your resource and he gives you strength. This Christian said that calling upon his resource generated the exact feelings he had been calling the holy spirit his whole life, and couldn't believe those feelings were proof of God anymore.
 
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HappyLuke

Guest
#46
#46
On the same topic, this Derren Brown hypnotism-like trick was very similar, he uses subliminal techniques to have an atheist scientist connect good memories to his hand gestures, then evokes them all at once and induces her to have a sudden conversion experiences How To Convert An Atheist! - YouTube
 
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matt7777777

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#47
Mar 29, 2013
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#47
If you really want proof of god all you need to do is open your eyes god is around us in everything we see... is it really reasonable that some big explosion billions of years ago started a chain reaction that could create things as complicated as a human being or as beautiful as blooming flowers in spring.... i like science also it intrest me almst as much as religio. An i would enjoy discussing both with you anytime... i do hope something that i say will help you develop a relationship with god but im not interseted in pushing you id be satisfied with some good talk.. bout religion or science
 
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Hungry

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#48
Nov 26, 2012
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#48
HappyLuke I have a question for you. Even if you dont believe in God who do you say Jesus is and how do you account for prophesy and all of the prophesies that Christ fulfilled through His birth life death and resurrection. Surely you cant dismiss it all away as insignificance. Even non religioushistorical documents mention Him and His miracles.
 
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HappyLuke

Guest
#49
#49
matt7777777 said:
If you really want proof of god all you need to do is open your eyes god is around us in everything we see... is it really reasonable that some big explosion billions of years ago started a chain reaction that could create things as complicated as a human being or as beautiful as blooming flowers in spring?
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Well, do you understand much about how incredibly simple interstellar clouds gravitationally collapse to form stars and planets and all the incredibly complex chemical systems therein? Gravity is a really cool sort of anti-entropy force :)
 
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HappyLuke

Guest
#50
#50
Hungry said:
HappyLuke I have a question for you. Even if you dont believe in God who do you say Jesus is and how do you account for prophesy and all of the prophesies that Christ fulfilled through His birth life death and resurrection. Surely you cant dismiss it all away as insignificance. Even non-religious historical documents mention Him and His miracles.
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Thanks for the good question :) I don't take the bible as inerrant so I'm not even totally convinced the man existed, it's just likely that he did. All the things written about him are from decades later, so the stories probably aren't accurate. Also ancient textual claims of miracles (even modern, living testimonies) aren't sufficient evidence to believe a miracle happened, until we have confirmed here in the present that miracles actually happen- regardless of if the authors were religious followers or not. And since I have no reason to think the bible accurately describes what happened in reality, I'm not convinced that any prophetic predictions involving the details of Christ's life are accurate. The authors of the NT would have been familiar with the texts that now make up the OT, so it's no surprise that the NT describes scenes predicted by the OT. (That doesn't just stem from the possibility of the authors dishonestly changing the stories as they wrote them down, to match OT texts; more likely the stories were adapted to match OT texts by the forces of folklore and legend, as they were handed down by word of mouth in the intervening decades.)
 
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HappyLuke

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#51
#51
There was quite a craze at the time of people going around trying to be the predicted messiah, trying to fulfil the OT text's predictions. That could certainly explain why folklore and legend would have adapted the stories of Jesus to match the OT texts
 
JoshJoseph2

JoshJoseph2

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#52
Jun 19, 2011
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#52
Welcome to the site man, hope ya find it to be of use to you!
 
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matt7777777

Banned
#53
Mar 29, 2013
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#53
Cany say i know alot about it.. but it sounds like an intersting topic if youd like to explain some
 
2Tim3vs16

2Tim3vs16

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#54
Mar 20, 2013
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#54
Hi and Welcome, friendly atheist, I'm very scientifically aware, I love reading and studying science and the Bible. I can appreciate your quest. I try not to define others with simple language. We are all way too complex for the labels we put on ourselves and each other.
If you're here to have an honest exchange of thoughts without the expectation of conversion to "something", then I'd like to know what your quest has been like. Just know that I do use the Bible as my moral compass and reference it to align my thinking with the one who wrote it.
I'm kind of nerd for science and deeper understanding of everything.
 
2Tim3vs16

2Tim3vs16

Banned
#56
Mar 20, 2013
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#56
Interesting. the scriptures say that Christ was God's son and he was "sent". You make God/Christ, or is it (God AND Christ?) sound like one schizophrenic individual. John 3:16 "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life." Does it seem logical that Jesus would ask himself questions and talk to the heavens on various occasions? Sounds to me, there are two different people in a "relationship". If Christ was God acting as himself the Father and himself the Son in the same moment, it stands to reason that he would know all the things that his Heavenly Father knows, and yet, he does not. According to the Holy Bible "no one" has (John 1:9) "No one has ever seen God. The One and Only Son-- the One who is at the Father's side-- He has revealed Him."

To be in union with Christ is to also be in union with God, our Heavenly Father, and means to be in complete agreement and support of God's Will and be a loyal, obedient subject under Christ his appointed Reigning King over the earth. Imagine it like this, it's the same thing as being a patriot, accept we follow Christ in obeying God's laws. And we look forward to Christ establishing his rule over the earth and removing all the earthly rulers that are standing in control now.
 
2Tim3vs16

2Tim3vs16

Banned
#57
Mar 20, 2013
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#57
The Bible is said to be the recorded history of man and it starts off stating so, in Genesis. The earliest texts told of a man who would come and that he would be perfect (without sin) because his Father would not be of flesh, among many other details of his birth life and death. Those were the stories that the Jews grew up on. Then when it actually happened, some didn't believe it and some wanted Jesus to basically become a local politician. That's when he told them that his kingdom was not of this world. Point is, Jesus didn't only exist but he is the only human who's details of his birth, life and death was foretold and then actually played out the way it was foretold in the Old Testament Scriptures. Many people recorded Christs existence because they knew him personally.
Do we deny the existence of Genghis Khan, Buddah, Confusius, Aristotle, Martin Luther, Julius Caesar, Muhammad or other legendary figures that shaped mankind's history? No, we don't. So why is Jesus the only historical figure that has been denied existence? Yet, over the span of 1000's of years before he was born, people read and learned about him and that he was coming, and for 1000's of years after men wrote about the things that he taught. The Bible is compiled of lessons, historic stories, prophesies and fulfillment of prophesies, songs to the one who was at the core of all of it. And it was all written over 1000's of years by people who didn't know each other. However, like any good book writer, they can write 20 different books, but if you're familiar with their work, you can hear the unique voice of their writing. Many men contributed to the Bible. Being inspired to write the words God wanted the world to know. The Bible is too consistent over too long period of time to not have been the thoughts of one "man". Folklore fades and there's no significance to keeping them around. But the Bible is all about how man can achieve peace, good health, not die anymore. It tells us how to have happy healthy families and societies. As well as, teaching us Gods expectations of us. Jesus set the example and gave lessons, not just his life for us.
 
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Jwmac

Guest
#58
#58
Happy Luke I can assure you that at some point God will reveal himself to you and all of the science in the world won't explain it.I have always been a Christian but it took me being diagnosed with stage 4 cancer to recognize the power of prayer and God...My doctors cannot explain why I have sailed through treatment and beaten this disease. I am a thirty five year old married man with three children. The day of my first surgery my bible was left open to Jeremiah 29:11...I am walking proof of the love and the power of prayer through Christ Jesus. God Bless you
 
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HappyLuke

Guest
#59
#59
2Tim3vs16 said:
Just know that I do use the Bible as my moral compass
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Heyhey! I was wondering if by that you mean, if you didn't have the bible, you wouldn't care about other people?
 
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HappyLuke

Guest
#60
#60
2Tim3vs16 said:
Do we deny the existence of Genghis Khan, Buddah, Confusius, Aristotle, Martin Luther, Julius Caesar, Muhammad or other legendary figures that shaped mankind's history? No, we don't. So why is Jesus the only historical figure that has been denied existence?
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I don't deny his existence, I doubt it, as much as I doubt most of the other people you listed from ancient history :p And I certainly doubt the miraculous claims about Jesus just as much as miraculous claims about the other people you listed! Do you believe Genghis Khan was born of a virgin, as legend says? Do you believe Julius Caesar was a living God, as some people of the time believed? Do you believe that Muhammed flew to heaven on a winged horse?
Testimony just isn't good enough for believing extraordinary claims :)
 
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