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I really don't think he sends "signs". That's too Bible-esc. What I encounter is deep communications and signals from within. They aren't glaring or profound, but soft and almost whispering, though in no way audible.
One certainly has to be in the right state of mind and spirit to pick up on these signals. One has to cast of specific expectations, and leave an "empty plate or mirror". Then wait, without a timeline and without pushing and pulling. It's a release for matters to happen as the the higher power / God chooses, not us.
But this is all unique and personal. There's no way for one person to say how it might operate with someone else. So, instead of trying to get answers from others, find the answers yourself from within.
This is an excellent response, and very similar to what my experience has been. I think we all "experience" God or not in our own way. I don't hear or see God, but "feel" the presence of God. I have been blessed to live in rural areas where quiet and beautiful places exist, the kind of places that I think God would favor. Someone told me once that they were not sure if God existed, and I explained how I "knew", say you are out walking in nature, and you feel a peaceful presence, that is how I know God exists. I hear/feel God through my heart and soul.
I don't think we find God, I think God finds us, when we least expect it.
I'm starting this thread to ask people what experiences they have had that they would consider a manifestation of God. Curious, because I've had some experiences I could describe as manifestations of God. Especially when I was younger and a believer, I would associate certain experiences and/or feelings as a result of God's presence. Then later in life, as I became an atheist, I no longer experienced anything I could conclude was such a manifestation or sign from God. Not for a good many decades now. Not even when I was more "inviting" of such a thing. I'll let this thread be yet another request to see if maybe I get a sign. We'll see. I'll let you know. While meanwhile, what signs have you received? Past or present? Thanks!
Many Christian's come and go thinking this was such a pro Atheist forum that they couldn't deal with it.
You have one of the most responsible roles in this forum, I dont think you have a choice, I think you chose and God gave you what you wanted and now you cause so many others to study that it makes me envious.
This is an excellent response, and very similar to what my experience has been. I think we all "experience" God or not in our own way. I don't hear or see God, but "feel" the presence of God. I have been blessed to live in rural areas where quiet and beautiful places exist, the kind of places that I think God would favor. Someone told me once that they were not sure if God existed, and I explained how I "knew", say you are out walking in nature, and you feel a peaceful presence, that is how I know God exists. I hear/feel God through my heart and soul.
I don't think we find God, I think God finds us, when we least expect it.
Since God abides with us I do not see it as God "finding" us, but our recognizing His presence through the persistent and dominant "fog" of our preoccupation with this worldly existence and its vicissitudes. The "experience" is usually something that dissipates that "fog" of preoccupation and enables us to detect His presence, IMO.
You chose an apt name, BaptistFundie, but your posts are as unhelpful as any atheist's.
The Bible and the Resurrection are definitive for Christian believers and no one else. There is no way to pretend they are the kinds of signs LearnMe is talking about or should be sufficient for him. The Bible is not self-authenticating as "God's word," and the Resurrection accounts are muddled, hotly debated and scarcely compelling to a non-believer. I accept the Bible because I'm a Christian; it isn't why I'm a Christian. All you're really saying is that someone like LearnMe is somehow at fault for not seeing the Bible the same way you do, which just begs the question LearnMe is asking. When the Bible says there will be no further signs, it's not unreasonable to ask "Well, why not - and why should I care what the Bible says anyway?"
What can you say to a Hindu or Muslim who cites the Rigveda or Koran as having the same authority you claim for the Bible and who insists LearnMe should be satisfied with one of these scriptures? There's nothing you can say except that you believe the Bible and not the Rigveda or Koran. This really isn't responsive to what LearnMe is saying - it just the fundamentalist mantra, regardless of whether the fundamentalist is a Baptist, Hindu or Muslim.
The reality is, God doesn't give unequivocal signs. He gives hints and clues, sufficient for those with ears to hear and eyes to see. LearnMe is not going to get any response beyond "This is what seemed to me like a sign from God." LearnMe and others will filter this supposed "sign" through what they already believe and go their merry way: Yes, I agree it was an angel! No, you're delusional! Maybe something odd happened, but it wasn't an angel! You're making up the whole thing! Whatever!
That's why I say LearnMe isn't sincere. There's nothing anyone is going to say that he isn't going to filter through his Ten Truths of Scientism and declare inadequate. He knew this going in. The thread is just mental masturbation.
For the reasons I have set forth above, God doesn't give unequivocal signs because to do so would be coercive - it would override human free will and eviscerate God's entire plan of creation as Christians understand it. (Or perhaps God doesn't give unequivocal signs because there is no God at all, or there is a God very different from what Christians understand Him to be - which is why each individual must decide for himself or herself.)
Since I encountered God and His mind is identical to that of Jesus, I KNOW that the interpretations of Jesus and God in the mainstream Christian religions is corrupted by human interventions. I believe the kind of religious indoctrination in the dogma received in mainstream religions (and especially in fundamentalist ones) is a significant stumbling block to knowing and experiencing God. The dogma is filled with spiritually immature, primitive, barbaric, irrational, and absurd reasoning that fosters outrageous expectations that undermine the entire concept of God, IMO.
I'm starting this thread to ask people what experiences they have had that they would consider a manifestation of God. Curious, because I've had some experiences I could describe as manifestations of God. Especially when I was younger and a believer, I would associate certain experiences and/or feelings as a result of God's presence. Then later in life, as I became an atheist, I no longer experienced anything I could conclude was such a manifestation or sign from God. Not for a good many decades now. Not even when I was more "inviting" of such a thing. I'll let this thread be yet another request to see if maybe I get a sign. We'll see. I'll let you know. While meanwhile, what signs have you received? Past or present? Thanks!
Only through your own humility will you recognize God.
John 20:28-29 "Thomas said to him, “My Lord and my God!†Then Jesus told him, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.â€"
I'm reminded of the story of Lazarus, the beggar. As he was told by Father Abraham, if people don't believe without the Scriptures, then they wouldn't believe if someone rose from the dead. Fact is, Jesus DID rise from the dead. And people refuse to believe.
It's not that people are "refusing", which implies that someone is deliberately choosing not to do something. It's that they simply do not believe it. An angry man on a message board rebuking others for not being able to believe what he does isn't going to change that.
But this is all off-topic. The OP asked for personal experiences of happenings that seemed to them to be signs from God
I'm starting this thread to ask people what experiences they have had that they would consider a manifestation of God. Curious, because I've had some experiences I could describe as manifestations of God. Especially when I was younger and a believer, I would associate certain experiences and/or feelings as a result of God's presence. Then later in life, as I became an atheist, I no longer experienced anything I could conclude was such a manifestation or sign from God. Not for a good many decades now. Not even when I was more "inviting" of such a thing. I'll let this thread be yet another request to see if maybe I get a sign. We'll see. I'll let you know. While meanwhile, what signs have you received? Past or present? Thanks!
You chose an apt name, BaptistFundie, but your posts are as unhelpful as any atheist's.
Unhelpful? I solved your 40 year old quest in 5 minutes using simple logic. 40 years of arrogant strutting in a swamp of ignorance, and when I throw you a rope, you ignore it. You can not blame atheists for your inability to recognize help when we offer it.
Quote:
Originally Posted by O'Darby
The reality is, God doesn't give unequivocal signs. He gives hints and clues, sufficient for those with ears to hear and eyes to see.
That is why there are many different religions, because these hints and clues apply to all religions. Unfortunately for you, they usually apply to atheism as well.
Quote:
Originally Posted by O'Darby
That's why I say LearnMe isn't sincere. There's nothing anyone is going to say that he isn't going to filter through his Ten Truths of Scientism and declare inadequate. He knew this going in. The thread is just mental masturbation.
You MAY have a point about LM being sincere, but one must remember that is over reliance on science (what you dismiss as Scientism (with a capital 'S' )) is still a better method than those you use.
Quote:
Originally Posted by O'Darby
For the reasons I have set forth above, God doesn't give unequivocal signs because to do so would be coercive - it would override human free will and eviscerate God's entire plan of creation as Christians understand it. (Or perhaps God doesn't give unequivocal signs because there is no God at all, or there is a God very different from what Christians understand Him to be - which is why each individual must decide for himself or herself.)
Occasionally a flower blooms in your swamp of ignorance, as above. We should treasure these rare occasions.
Quote:
Originally Posted by O'Darby
Your accounts remind me of one involving my current wife (my first died of breast cancer).
There were 21 posts deleted as either off topic. or orphaned (because they replied to those off topic posts). Read the Opening Post. This thread is about sharing personal experiences.
It's not that people are "refusing", which implies that someone is deliberately choosing not to do something. It's that they simply do not believe it. An angry man on a message board rebuking others for not being able to believe what he does isn't going to change that.
But this is all off-topic. The OP asked for personal experiences of happenings that seemed to them to be signs from God
Easy now. No angry man is rebuking anyone. Please stop reading into my words.
I'm simply asking the question. Why do people think that God should show them a sign when he's clearly said that even if he did they wouldn't believe?
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Since God abides with us I do not see it as God "finding" us, but our recognizing His presence through the persistent and dominant "fog" of our preoccupation with this worldly existence and its vicissitudes. The "experience" is usually something that dissipates that "fog" of preoccupation and enables us to detect His presence, IMO.
)) is still a better method than those you use.
