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When I said reality I meant its a reality over a billion people are followers of Christ.
I do not play the "but / what if" game for obvious reasons.
So you're believing in something mainly because lots of people believe it? And yet you say that 100s of millions of peoplecan be wrong, even when they sincerely believe.
So you're believing in something mainly because lots of people believe it? And yet you say that 100s of millions of peoplecan be wrong, even when they sincerely believe.
Putting words in my mouth. Never said that was "why" I believed. I was merely pointing out a fact ie number of followers.
I believe simply because something can not come from nothing. Thus there is some supernatural thing at play. Christianity appeals to me the most of all the supernatural explanations.
Putting words in my mouth. Never said that was "why" I believed. I was merely pointing out a fact ie number of followers.
I believe simply because something can not come from nothing. Thus there is some supernatural thing at play. Christianity appeals to me the most of all the supernatural explanations.
Hope that clarifies things for you.
1. How do you know this?
2. This is the argument from ignorance. Because I don't know the answer, I will assert "the supernatural".
1. How do you know this?
2. This is the argument from ignorance. Because I don't know the answer, I will assert "the supernatural".
Its physically impossible.
Every tangible thing known to man came from something or was a result of something.
In any event, we are both using faith. You are putting faith in something that is not proven or has ever been replicated (something from nothing). While I am putting faith in God.
We havent even touched on the consequences of our beliefs being wrong yet.
Putting words in my mouth. Never said that was "why" I believed. I was merely pointing out a fact ie number of followers.
I believe simply because something can not come from nothing. Thus there is some supernatural thing at play. Christianity appeals to me the most of all the supernatural explanations.
Hope that clarifies things for you.
If there is a "supernatural thing," why couldn't it be Allah, Ahura Mazda, Thor, or an Eternal Grilled Cheese Sandwich?
You won't even consider that you may be worshipping the wrong God.
"That can't be true Lisa...if it were, I'd be terrified!"
-- Homer Simpson
Hearing about him is simply hearing about him and understanding who he is and his message.
And what is the message of Jesus other than Matt 19?
Quote:
Originally Posted by medellinheel
Conversion rate is small regardless of anything. For God said the road is narrow and only a few will make it.
So if the message is the one in Matt 19, that is something people would already have written in their hearts, as Paul puts it. People who follow that and never heard of Jesus are OK with God. But if the message is something other than that and it requires something else on top of Matt 19, is that not making it harder to be OK with God? In that case, with conversion rates so low, informing people of Jesus would then be counter-productive in spreading salvation.
Quote:
Originally Posted by medellinheel
How does one live a sinful lifestyle without choosing it? We do have free will right?
If I get drunk every weekend or am in an adulterous relationship I am willingly deliberately choosing to sin.
As I told you, you need to understand the difference between a simple random sin "from time to time" and living a sinful lifestyle. Two very different things.
You are the one who keeps bringing up a sinful life style, which implies no sincere repentance and no sincere effort to change. If one does sincerely repent and does sincerely work on doing better, but later backslides, further sincere repentance and effort can lead to further forgiveness. But there are those on this site who say that once one is born again one will not only never sin again but actually be unable to sin. That is the point I am aiming to debunk. (Please understand I am not saying you say this.) I already quoted Paul that anyone who claims to be without sin is a liar.
Every tangible thing known to man came from something or was a result of something.
In any event, we are both using faith. You are putting faith in something that is not proven or has ever been replicated (something from nothing). While I am putting faith in God.
We havent even touched on the consequences of our beliefs being wrong yet.
How do you know that, because you haven't observed it? The underlined text is crucial.
I'm not saying it can, but I'm also not saying it can't. I have no faith one way or another. At least you admit your beliefs are based on faith because many will not. They'll try to suggest that they have evidence for what they believe. I just hope that you don't make your other decisions based on faith, like what doctor to send your children to or what house/car to buy. You might get burned finacially, or even worse, physically harmed in some way.
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