LOL outlawwilly. So true.
StopTheTears, you ask us to stop and consider God. I'm asking you to stop and consider.... medication. Once you're stabilised then consider God again by reading the bible, not WTS propaganda.
Stop and consider God
by StopTheTears 16 Replies latest jw friends
-
-
rocketman
the illuminator 81 wrote: "The earth is such a fantastic place! It's so clear that there must be a God who designed this inviting, welcoming planet. I mean, who doesn't want to live on a thin wafer of rock on a giant hot ball of lava, where earthquakes and volcanic eruptions can happen at anytime. Yes the loving Jehovah provided us with a gigantic mass of water to drown in, should we ever feel the need. Most of the earth is covered in water, where we can't live at all, but at least we can swim in it! And who doesn't love swimming? And even if we don't want to drown, the multitude of cyclones, hurricanes and tsunami's can visit this exciting experience on us when we least expect it. We're so lucky with the large amounts of hostile territory where man can barely survive. I mean who doesn't want to camp out in the Sahara, or have a nice picknick on the north pole, or build a lovely little cabin somewhere in the himalayas?"
This is something that causes me to doubt the existence of a benevolent Creator too. The earth is not a very hospitable place to live. Look at the situation in the US South during April, or in Japan a couple months back. To me, the earth seems more likely to be a place where life arose and had to gut it out for survival, flourishing because of its ability to adapt, not because the planet was just sitting pretty and waiting to host it.
-
jaguarbass
I am an agnostic. I dont know if there is a God or not.
I like to think there is a God and when I think there is a God, I think he is a spirit.
Man knows very little about the spirit realm.
What I come up with is God is conciousness and we are all parts of God, Spirits in material bodies
having material experiences and God is taking it all in.
I think much of what the atheist believe seems true to the atheist
and much of what the creationist believe seem true is true to the creationist.
I know we are all going to die in 100 years there will be all new people.
When we die we will find out whats behind the final door.
It appears to me that God rarely interferes here on earth.
Everythings time here is short compared to eternity.
I think when sincere atheist die, that will be the end of them, because that is what they want
and strongly believe.
I think when sincere, honest, good hearted, loving Christians die they will go someplace very wonderful
beyond their wildest imagination, because that is what they want and strongly believe.
I think when hypocritical evil Christians die they go to a biblical like hell.
I think people that believe in reincarnation come back to earth and are rewarded or punished by their karma.
If you believe it you will see it.
-
ProdigalSon
Re: The universe is a fixed size.....
The Bible is completely geocentric, which means that it teaches that the earth is the center of the universe. There are more than 100 scriptures that say it is the sun, moon or stars that are moving around the earth, and there are three scriptures that say the earth cannot be moved from its place. There are NO scriptures that even remotely hint at the true structure of our solar system. This was the reason for the Copernican Revolution.... It is truly folly to use the Bible to establish cosmology, take a look at an atom and there is all the proof you need.
-
Lore
Could the universe surrounding us have just "happened?"
Umm, could an omnipotent all-wise creature who is able to create a universe have just "happened"?
Could it be that all of the planets are aligned in perfect balance just by chance?
What do you mean by this? Perfect for what?
Could it be that the sun is a perfect distance from the earth by chance?
Yeah it could. When you consider that there is actually a bit of leeway on where you can put a planet around a sun for it to support life. And you have 100s of billions of galaxies, each with 100s of billions of stars, each with multiple planets. Odds are pretty good that some planets will be in a habitable zone around their star. So I'm gonna say: yeah it could happen by chance.
Even if we try to imagine there is no God, the universe around us is a constant testimony of God's presence, power and goodness.
Whether it's a testimony to gods presence or power is up for debate. But goodness? I'm not sure what universe you're living in but I'm gonna say 'no' to that one.
How big is the universe?
Really big.
Can the universe have an end?
Depends on what you mean by an end. Do you mean like if I were to hop in a spaceship and fly out really far would I eventually reach a spot where I couldn't go any farther? Like an invisible wall in a video game? No, that doesn't really match any of the evidence.
Some people say that the universe is expanding. The Bible teaches that the universe is a fixed size.
Well, if the bible taught that, it would be wrong. Since the universe is, in fact, expanding. I don't think the scripture you quoted would indicate that the universe is not expanding.
The bible also says that god knows how many hairs are on your head. Does that mean you're hair isn't still growing?
Lore
-
Pika_Chu
What an incredible thought to even imagine that there could be a supernatural being so powerful as to create a universe. Wow!
Indeed. Couldn't have said it better. YOu condemn yourself with your own words.
For one thing, you assume the entire universe is fine-tuned for life. The solar system is but a speck of the universe. In fact, much of the universe is not (we can't even say THAT with much certainty) suitable for life. Much of the universe is hostile, unkind to life, like you said, 1 out of 9 planets (Pluto's no longer considered one, but I'm not going to split hairs). Now, what does that tell you? Such waste would imply poor design. If I design something that only works under very strict criteria, can you truly say I have designed it well? And what do you mean fine-tuning? Fine-tuning implies it wasnt' made right in the first place. Why would God have to make corrections? Furthermore, you assume atheists believe the universe came about by nothing. Whatever do you mean? I don't believe that.
If the sun was too far away, we'd all freeze to death (no, we would have evolved to live through that, just like we evolved to live in Earth's conditions).
If the sun was too close, we'd all burn to death. (see above).
Keep the sun right where it is, and people still freeze to death and burn to death in spite of it. Oh yeah, and I suppose the sun was so well designed that God made sure everyone who gets too much exposure dies of skin cancer. Adam and Eve were naked and didn't where sunscreen. And the vapor canopy only makes matters worse! And they lived hundreds of years under these conditions! Oh that's right, diseases didn't exist in a perfect world. I suppose they didn't evolve either. I guess they just popped out of nowhere.
-
The Scotsman
Stop the Tears
You make some reasonable points.