Posted by
cal, 19:36, 29th June 2000:
Religion - what a great thing. It gives people something to believe in. But that's all. It's not an answer to everyone's problems and it's not the solution to save the world. In the past, when more people cared about religion, was the world a better place?
I think everyone should have the right to partake in any religion they see fit, it doesn't mean I have to agree with it. Religion is an interesting word in itself - I think that it has come to mean purely "something" to believe in. No religion is based on proof and that's what bothers me. Someone (famous?) once said "As science axpands to answer questions, religion shrinks". This is totally true. Take the Christian religion for example: Genesis is supposed to be true. That is until mankind discovered that the stars are infact massive balls of gas in space, not just some lights in the sky. That throws off the whole 7 days thing - would it really have taken 6 days to create the earth but only a few minutes to create all the billions of stars in the universe? I doubt it.
Something that I often say to evangelists is "What would I gain from beliving?". It's a good point. I wont be more finacially secure. I wont be any happier - I'd much rather not rely upon anyone who I could never meet. I wont have higher social status. I wont live longer. If the bible is true, then I wont go to hell (because god loves everyone, remember...). So what's the point? My life is just fine without wasting time worshipping some fictional character - that's what TV is for.
Sorry about the total lack of links today, but I didn't want to dumb-down the effect of the entry.
Posted by
spaz, 19:36, 29th June 2000:
Then I guess Satan will be happy to meet you then cal.
hola cal... nice site. I invite you to discuss this more in my board @
www.stand318.com/ubbcgi/Ultimate.cgi
Posted by
trinity, 19:36, 29th June 2000:
i still feel silly when i tell people that i believe in God. as if i were a child that believed in Santa claus and the adults around me would knowingly wink at each other. The Truth is this: if you do not accept or reject what the Bible says as Truth, then there is no foundation on which to build faith.The Bible was written through divine inspiration in the languages of the men that wrote it with their own hands. If you cannot accept that a man can have divine inspiration, then you cannot accept what he has written. Those with a conscience (which it is written in the Bible that Conscience is the laws of God written on our hearts before we were conceived)Do you believe you have a conscience? an intrinsic knowledge of right and wrong?that's where you need to start, as I did. the rest of the faith comes naturally enough.I truly hope that you will read the word or attend a Church that teaches the Bible's Truths. I'm not talking about Catholcism, which has corrupted the Truth. Look at Christian faiths, the Lutheran faith is one that does not pretend to have all the answers to man's questions. Only God has the answers. You exist to please him and to live the life he gave you in a way that pleases Him, and to witness His grace to those who do not believe.take care, cal.
Posted by
trinity, 19:36, 29th June 2000:
ooops. should have read "Those who have a conscience, which I believe we all do, know in their hearts that the Bible has Truth. You can argue that it's confusing to understand, bt God cannot be understood by the mind of man. We are less than He. We are human beings that He created. THose that wrote by divine inspiration wrote in the language of their time. The reason that Pastors and Ministers are in their place to "preach" is because they have studied the original languages (they should have anyway, there are those that are pretenders as we all have seen on tv) and they have been able to interpret the words into their True meaning. There are many versions of the Bible. I have done my research and found that the NIV (New International Version) was translated into "lay" English, that is, without the thee's and thou's and thy's because that is not how we communicate today. The Scripture and Doctrin remain intact adn while there is always something that will come up as being "open" to interpretation, you will find that these things are almost always (in my opinion) semantic in nature and not Doctrinal.I am saved because Jesus Christ lived and died an innocent, to take away the burden that we faced. You have already been saved, but you must confess with your mouth that you are a sinner, Trust that you are worthy of Christ's sacrifice, and be regretful for your sin. You will sin again, because you are imperfect. You would not be human if you were perfect. All we need to do is believe, confess and repent our sin.repentance is admitting to yourself and in public that you are a sinner, that you do nthing to deserve forgiveness, but by the Grace of God are saved.come here and read.....www.wels.net