Happy Atheist Forum

Hi Everyone,

I am a christian (you could call me non denominational but I go to a baptist church in Ballarat Victoria Australia) I believe I follow an intelligent and reasonable faith and spent many years studying the scientific, historical, logical and philosiphical arguments for various worldviews before I gave my life to Christ due to what I considered to be overwhelming evidence supporting the christian (based on a plain reading of the bible and not any religious denominational claims to follow christ of which there are many) worldview. In otherwords there are many that would 'profess' to be christians, but that doesn't make them one, it is not just a mental assent to a set of core beliefs but a way of life of which the bible ays there must be evidence of a changed life.  Mine has been fundamentally altered forever..  

Why am I at this forum?  I don't honestly believe I will convert any atheists here to my way of thinking, however I would like an opportunity to explain and defend what I have come to believe and why..  I am open to any questions anyone may have, I believe I am equipped and prepared to give an answer for the hope that lies within me.  I have spent many years engaging atheists in discussion and am used to most of the questions many of you would have (I also asked myself the same questions once).

My background - I am 38 years old, male, married for 12 years with two children, Isabella 11 and Sebastian 6. I work in Melbourne Australia as a Senior Business Analyst in the IT area and consider myself generally to be a very deep and analytical type of thinker... Look forward to any questions any of you may have

Whether you believe in Him or not, God Bless and all the best to the forum participants here and their families for 2010

Hi Jericho. Welcome to the forum!

"The walls of Jericho came tumbling down"

Welcome aboard

Welcome to the forum!  I hope you enjoy it here.  

Welcome to the forum.

I'm sure you will find intereting questions here.
I have one of my own. Do you give the bible a literal meaning?

And a couple of greetings towards your nifty island!  

Welcome to the board!

Quote from: "Godterminator"Welcome to the forum.

I'm sure you will find intereting questions here.
I have one of my own. Do you give the bible a literal meaning?

Hi Godterminator,

Reasonable question, my first response would be that the question is probably a bit broad, the bible is made up of 66 different books written to different audiences (even though the principles apply to us today in most cases), and for different purposes.  For example a lot of what we find written in the book of Acts was geared at the Jews in Jerusalem to whom the apostles initially preached, pointing out to them how Jesus fulfilled all their old testament prophecies and how so many past events pointed to his coming (for example the passover amongst others).  Whereas Revelation is a prophetic book written to the different types of christians that would exist in the last days, each type of christian represented by one of the seven churches to whom he wrote.  A lot of what is written in this book uses symbolic language (for example the woman who rises out of the sea with a crown of twelve stars on her head), however you will also find that interpretation of what these things symbolise is often given in other verses - for example in this case the 12 stars represent the 12 apostles of the early church..  The most correct view is that the bible should be read literally unless the context and type of language used clearly suggest a symbolic reading. So for example when I read the account of Noah's flood or the creation of the earth and everthing in it in six literal days there is nothing either in the context or type of language which would suggest a symbolic reading of these and therefore I would view them literally.  The most important thing in bible interpretation is not to take verses in isolation and then state, there you go, this is what this means, we need to cross reference to other areas that deal with the same topic and consider the meaning within the historical and cultural context it was written in as well as the overall context and theme of the chapter a particular verse is in, and the audience it is directed at. Anything less is akin to a journalist giving an interview and selectively taking snippets of the convesation out of context in order to try and paint a picture that does not really exist.  The bible gives us clues on how to interpret it, for example, it states we should preach, the whole counsel of God and that we should interpret it line upon line, here a little there a little (like putting all the pieces of a jigsaw together before we see the right picture).  Sorry if that's a bit long winded but I hope it answers your question..

Welcome Jericho.

There is a historical backgroung which is not a Humble one attached to the BIBLE. Many want to ignore it and or excuse it as something of the PAST. They and you as well fail to realize what the BIBLICAL/JUDEO GOD is all about, that is the core personality of such a GOD. The JUDEO/CHRISTIANS/ISLAM are waiting for the complete destruction of the world. Along the way one race conquers the other or better still - GOD - turns its back on them while it allows another to do as they wish until God feels it had enough. This things are found in the HISTORICAL REAL BIBLE, while the bible the you have is a second-hand--hand-me-down lines about turning yourself in to someone who is supposed to SAVE you and if you don't you are condenm to an eternal hell. You read those biblical lines and you feel that they inspire you but the trueth is that they instill fear and reenforces the same consciously and unconsciously. If it helps you to be a better person then ore power to you but it is still an escape with something that is false. When someone holds someone elses hands to be good or to do good cause it can't be it on its own, that someone is not a good person. Take that hand away and put it to the test. You will not be a GOOD PERSON till you release all of your fears and become free from the graps of Religious-Beliefs and the beliefs in GOD. One day you will realized how you had been trapped. I had said " to be a good person you don't have to a believer but once you begin to believe you cease being a good person " . You will not know the meaning of this until you experience some more of LIFE. Good luck to you and yours.

The Twelve Apostles and the Twelve Stars are representatives of the Twelves Tribes of JUDA/ISRAEL. You had twelve male speakers all of them related to one another some more closely and some more far. They all conspire and created such stories just like Mohamma six-hundred years later. He did it cause he had learned that presenting a PERSONAL-GOD was the strongest weapon that any Race of people can have. On top of that he illiminated the the word GENTILE from the Arabs which is more of an insult. A Gentile is someone who God look down upon like a dog, not a favorite or worthy of his attention. The reason for " Jesus " to rescued the GENTILES, as it is said that only through him can you get to the father. Study the HISTORY......................................................................................................................

Hello and welcome, Jericho!  

Quote from: "hvargas"There is a historical backgroung which is not a Humble one attached to the BIBLE. Many want to ignore it and or excuse it as something of the PAST. They and you as well fail to realize what the BIBLICAL/JUDEO GOD is all about, that is the core personality of such a GOD. The JUDEO/CHRISTIANS/ISLAM are waiting for the complete destruction of the world. Along the way one race conquers the other or better still - GOD - turns its back on them while it allows another to do as they wish until God feels it had enough. This things are found in the HISTORICAL REAL BIBLE, while the bible the you have is a second-hand--hand-me-down lines about turning yourself in to someone who is supposed to SAVE you and if you don't you are condenm to an eternal hell. You read those biblical lines and you feel that they inspire you but the trueth is that they instill fear and reenforces the same consciously and unconsciously. If it helps you to be a better person then ore power to you but it is still an escape with something that is false. When someone holds someone elses hands to be good or to do good cause it can't be it on its own, that someone is not a good person. Take that hand away and put it to the test. You will not be a GOOD PERSON till you release all of your fears and become free from the graps of Religious-Beliefs and the beliefs in GOD. One day you will realized how you had been trapped. I had said " to be a good person you don't have to a believer but once you begin to believe you cease being a good person " . You will not know the meaning of this until you experience some more of LIFE. Good luck to you and yours.

 

This is jericho's introductory thread. What is the point of this post and your next post, hvargas?


And by the way, jericho, welcome to the forum and thanks for the introduction!

Welcome to the forum!

The point is found in your introduction and rather than just say welcome to the forum I place my opinion to a Humble Christian that used the word CONVERT.

QuoteThe point is found in your introduction and rather than just say welcome to the forum I place my opinion to a Humble Christian that used the word CONVERT.

Quote from: "Jericho"I don't honestly believe I will convert any atheists here to my way of thinking....

Thanks for clearing that up... ?  

Quote from: "hvargas"The point is found in your introduction and rather than just say welcome to the forum I place my opinion to a Humble Christian that used the word CONVERT.

McQ didn't post the introduction and you are taking the OP's use of the word 'convert' out of context if you think it required countering.  Btw, McQ's question was a nice way of reminding you that introduction threads are mainly just for introductions/welcoming only and to please respect that.

Welcome, Jericho.  Please excuse the trolls.  We tried spraying for them, but they just keep coming back.

Quote from: "Jericho"

Quote from: "Godterminator"Welcome to the forum.

I'm sure you will find intereting questions here.
I have one of my own. Do you give the bible a literal meaning?

Hi Godterminator,

Reasonable question, my first response would be that the question is probably a bit broad, the bible is made up of 66 different books written to different audiences (even though the principles apply to us today in most cases), and for different purposes.  For example a lot of what we find written in the book of Acts was geared at the Jews in Jerusalem to whom the apostles initially preached, pointing out to them how Jesus fulfilled all their old testament prophecies and how so many past events pointed to his coming (for example the passover amongst others).  Whereas Revelation is a prophetic book written to the different types of christians that would exist in the last days, each type of christian represented by one of the seven churches to whom he wrote.  A lot of what is written in this book uses symbolic language (for example the woman who rises out of the sea with a crown of twelve stars on her head), however you will also find that interpretation of what these things symbolise is often given in other verses - for example in this case the 12 stars represent the 12 apostles of the early church..  The most correct view is that the bible should be read literally unless the context and type of language used clearly suggest a symbolic reading. So for example when I read the account of Noah's flood or the creation of the earth and everthing in it in six literal days there is nothing either in the context or type of language which would suggest a symbolic reading of these and therefore I would view them literally.  The most important thing in bible interpretation is not to take verses in isolation and then state, there you go, this is what this means, we need to cross reference to other areas that deal with the same topic and consider the meaning within the historical and cultural context it was written in as well as the overall context and theme of the chapter a particular verse is in, and the audience it is directed at. Anything less is akin to a journalist giving an interview and selectively taking snippets of the convesation out of context in order to try and paint a picture that does not really exist.  The bible gives us clues on how to interpret it, for example, it states we should preach, the whole counsel of God and that we should interpret it line upon line, here a little there a little (like putting all the pieces of a jigsaw together before we see the right picture).  Sorry if that's a bit long winded but I hope it answers your question..

Thanks for answering. But since this is not the right place to debate, would you open a thread in Religion to satart a more formal discussion on this topic?

It's the duties of any christians to seek out others non-christian and lure them (" CONVERT " )to christianity. This forum will be just right to introduce oneself and pretent no intent to convert anyone. You want to be asked questions which will be religious one and you will tried to answer them with your religious views. If I were to introduce myself to a forum that is opposite of what I'm, I will want to know why they think as they do, why they reject such beliefs in GOD. Only you know of your motives and the innocents in this forum are just that innocent. HOW TO CONVINCE AN ATHEIST TO ACCEPT GOD - BEST DONE THROUGH QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS.

Most Humble Christian, I will not post you any questions seems you may know the answer allready. I will tell you this, Islam is a religion that is second to christianity and that I regconized as another LIE. The reason why Mohammad ( I will not go into details here ), invented it was to give the Arabs a " PERSONAL GOD " just like the jews. He hated the word "GENTILES" cause it denoted being less than a dog. As you know that was 630 years after your CHRIST. You can argue what I'm saying but it will not change the true of the matter. As far as your belief is concerned, you know that anyone who does not accept your CHRIST as its saviour is condenm to an internal HELL. As you also know that NO ONE CAN COME TO THE FATHER IF NOT THROUGH CHRIST. Your bible condenms all unless they accept Christ, this is the bottom line of the matter, everything else is just DETAILS. WHOM SHALL EVER BELIEVE IN HIM SHALL HAVE EVERLASTING LIFE. Those who don't are condenm until they do. Some like to separate the Bible the Church and the Church from Religion but these are not separable no matter what anyone saids. Its like trying to separate the FATHER, SON, and HOLY SPIRIT they are one and the same according to your BIBLE. Your mission as a true CHRITIAN is to CONVERT. For those who feel that I don't respect this Humble Christian, they are very wrong. I had gone to the core of my opinion and not placing it on hold.

Yes, there are trolls on both sides of any argument.

Apparantly, people get angry at other people when they do not agree with each other, and sometimes get angry at people who are not in any way connected to the original dispute.