by punkofnice 78 Replies latest watchtower beliefs
Why - if we were purely physical creatures - would we have evolved a need for something/someone that doesn't even exist?
If we were created then evolution is a design. Evolution is a long process spanning over billions of years. If evolution is a design then that long process is designed. What would be the reasons for the designed long and painful process? All we have to do is examine the development of any single human being (including ourselves) and we have the answer.
-Sab
Knowsnothing - Knowssomething!
J Hofer - Yes, the 20 year or more contract!
OTWO - This is the conversation I had with the Muslim bloke.....I want to see the writing in the sky!
The Quiet One - My Mom thinks I no longer have a hope for the future but I simply don't know what the future holds and refuse to cling to delusions. I feel there is something 'higher' but maybe the concept of a god that cares. A bit like ants aren't too 'aware' of what humans are by the looks of it. I am an ant not 'aware' of what the 'something bigger' is.
TEC - Thanks for your thoughts, I take them seriously. I'll be attending my Baptist Church this week anyway even though it feels like I'm wasting my time praising an imaginary friend I do actually get a 'spiritual' feeling there.
Sab - Interesting thoughts on the burning bush. Perhaps the kingdom DOES lie within?!?
Jesus said..."God is love"
If that is the case, then everytime we share love we share God. everytime we feel love, we feel God.
This is something real. The kingdom of God IS within, I believe that. And this is how he shows himself to us.
I like the Gnostic-like idea of the "God/Kingdom/Love within". It makes sense on an intuitive level.
As far as explaining a external deist God through reason, fuggedabout. If one could, religious people wouldn't need 'faith'.
In the west we're so stuck in this atheist/theist mindset, this binary thinking seems to inform all of these debates.
There's other options, like strains of eastern thought: God/Gods might exist, but it doesn't really matter anyway. Deal with the root problem (disconnection from nature, suffering, etc.)
I don't believe that there is any real evidence for the existence or non-existence of a god.
That's about where I am right now too. On one hand, why would God allow things like disease or natural disasters plague mankind? Yes I know we're responsible for much of our own suffering, but there's plenty of things that happen that are beyond our control. Why would God have ever created such disgusting creatures like gynormous snakes that crush you to death before eating you? Like really...WTF is that all about?
On the other hand, I have a difficult time believing that everything in our universe, including the complexity of human anatomy, is nothing more than a series of random chances. To me, it takes more blind faith thinking it was all a bunch of lucky chances, than believing that something or someone rolled the dice and let the pieces fall where they may.....
That's about where I am right now too. On one hand, why would God allow things like disease or natural disasters plague mankind? Yes I know we're responsible for much of our own suffering, but there's plenty of things that happen that are beyond our control. Why would God have ever created such disgusting creatures like gynormous snakes that crush you to death before eating you? Like really...WTF is that all about?
There are a few different ways to look at that and for some "evolutionary theists" the answer is simply that the species evolves and adapts and does what it does to survive, "independant" of God.
Others can say that when Man, who was to be the caretaker of this world, turned his back on God that the world "rebelled" and all of creation is suffering because of it.
There is no ONE answer that will or SHOULD satisfy everyone's question but what we need to understand is that, IF there is a God and God is THE creator of the universe, then what happens in the universe is what happens according to way the universe is.
Why would God have ever created such disgusting creatures like gynormous snakes that crush you to death before eating you? Like really...WTF is that all about?
I don't believe that God should get the credit, or blame, for animal abilities created and refined through natural selection. God, to me, should be credited with the larger picture and humans/animals credited with the smaller. Blaming God for big bonecrushing snakes is like blaming the Wright Brothers for 9/11 in my book.
-Sab
Still Thinking - Is that like where we get the word 'enthuse' from? En Theos - To put God within!
Mindseye - There's plenty of thought to choose from. Including my own I guess!
Mary - I'm right there wiv ya!
PSacremento - We sure got to choose out options carefully.
Sab - (Don't hold your breath), I can't help feel we're a bit like ants on an anthill. I'm just awaiting a giant kid with a magnifying glass.
Sab - (Don't hold your breath), I can't help feel we're a bit like ants on an anthill. I'm just awaiting a giant kid with a magnifying glass.
If it were that easy it would have already happened. At least that's what I tell myself.
-Sab
Sab - Armageddon is just the blokes from intergalactic rent-o-kill!
