What does it mean to be Agnostic? (genesis, myth, Revelation)
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ive always took it to mean that you were man enough to realize that you have no idea whether or not a god exists, and if one does, you sure as heck dont know which god it is.
Agnosticism is the position of believing that knowledge of the existence or non-existence of God is impossible. It is often put forth as a middle ground between theism and atheism.
To me along with the above in bold, I have a "belief" that there is something a little more than just dead. Maybe not at a conscience level but perhaps just out of conscienceness. Maybe a dream state of a life. I guess technically its all dead but in a greater rhelm than "dead". No memory, no conscience, no awareness but non the less energy. I also have a belief that our lives NOW, can affect the energy that remains after death.
Ah but hell (pun), you can call me a crack pot all day long and you may be right because all of that is just a personal "belief".
(I guess I could form a group (religious faith) and seek out cases in NDE that support my belief then claim I need donations from the followers to help the rest of the world see our beliefs are the true beliefs and all others are...... You get the idea!)
you can not ride the fence in life God gives you one chance only to believe or not to believe.Once you die God says I will be waiting with open arms if you believe or say to,you depart from me i never Knew you. You do not know when your life on earth is over no matter what age you are , it may be tomarrow.
If your riding the fence of uncertity it is the same as not believing to God.
Think upon this even in science.the very idea that everthing was created in a bang without God is is so axtronomical that it is really an impossibility.. Not only man and women to come into existance almost exact same time.is wow!! then with bodies that are genetically complex. Nothing can just evolve into existance that needs male and female to reproduce. Than factor in all the millions of species of animals and birds and such that would have to happen exact same time Wow!!!
Then when you look out into the heavens and the stars that allign themslves to create designs and basically drawing in the sky Wow !!!!! All of that there can be no deny abbility unless your a fool. and yes even God says you would be a fool. Don't be a fool! Wake up from your slomber and Ecxept there is a God and see a Pastor on Gods plan of salvation for you! God loves You and so do I! Kevin Arbogast from Forsyth GA.
you can not ride the fence in life God gives you one chance only to believe or not to believe.Once you die God says I will be waiting with open arms if you believe or say to,you depart from me i never Knew you. You do not know when your life on earth is over no matter what age you are , it may be tomarrow.
If your riding the fence of uncertity it is the same as not believing to God.
Think upon this even in science.the very idea that everthing was created in a bang without God is is so axtronomical that it is really an impossibility.. Not only man and women to come into existance almost exact same time.is wow!! then with bodies that are genetically complex. Nothing can just evolve into existance that needs male and female to reproduce. Than factor in all the millions of species of animals and birds and such that would have to happen exact same time Wow!!!
Then when you look out into the heavens and the stars that allign themslves to create designs and basically drawing in the sky Wow !!!!! All of that there can be no deny abbility unless your a fool. and yes even God says you would be a fool. Don't be a fool! Wake up from your slomber and Ecxept there is a God and see a Pastor on Gods plan of salvation for you! God loves You and so do I! Kevin Arbogast from Forsyth GA.
God will send to torturous eternal hell ALL who do not climb It's ladder and call it a "fence" because of their hatred and ignorance. Blasphemers who gossip, will all be tortured for eternity for their resounding great ego! a thousand swords through the tongue of those who lie and pretend! Worship the idols, and worship them well, but the ink and paper will be of no refuge or excuse to you when God leaves you behind to be tortured for your wrong stubborn believes. the ink can tell you many things, but it cannot think about what it says for itself. The Lord God gave you a mind first, before Satan gave you the idols.
Seeking truth takes courage, courage because you may find out that what you have believed all along is not truth. Agnosticism still sounds like a belief system according to your explanation, no matter how you spin it. While I respect your choice to believe whatever you want I beg to differ that you cannot know the truth about God through empirical or logical means one way or the other. I challenge any Agnostic or Atheist believer reading this to take courage and seek truth. Take a leap of faith and begin asking humbly, "God if you exist show me the truth". There is no one on this earth that can prove to me that the God of the Bible does not exist and that Jesus is not who he says he is. Faith in the possibility that there could be a God led me to experience first hand many things over the 40 some years of my life that proved to me that not only does God exist but he also seeks to be in a loving and thriving relationship with each one of us. I believe this so strongly that nothing can convince me otherwise. Faith opens the door to experience tangible evidences of the unconditional love of God our creator and lover of our souls. Don't let absolute thinking rob you of an opportunity to walk through a door that can bring abundant life filled with this amazing kind of love. Living a life devoid of the hope that there is something more to this existence, something eternal that can be known and bring true life is a sad thought. So take courage. May you take a step of faith through a door of uncertainty so that it will be possible for you to believe enough to begin asking, seeking and knocking. Matthew 7:7 Ask and it will be given you, seek and you will find, knock and it will be open to you! Whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved! Romans 10:13 May God give you eyes to see, ears to hear and a heart that comes to understand so that you can change direction and find hope and receive healing.
I consider myself an atheist. I'm able to believe in a God if I ever see any real evidence that such a being exist. Believing that, I don't see much of a point in agnosticism.
Well, since this original post (was it really 2009?), I've decided I prefer the words not religious instead. Too many tedious arguments over semantics and misunderstandings come with the two A words. I know what I believe and don't believe and that's all that matters.
Seeking truth takes courage, courage because you may find out that what you have believed all along is not truth. Agnosticism still sounds like a belief system according to your explanation, no matter how you spin it. While I respect your choice to believe whatever you want I beg to differ that you cannot know the truth about God through empirical or logical means one way or the other. I challenge any Agnostic or Atheist believer reading this to take courage and seek truth. Take a leap of faith and begin asking humbly, "God if you exist show me the truth". There is no one on this earth that can prove to me that the God of the Bible does not exist and that Jesus is not who he says he is. Faith in the possibility that there could be a God led me to experience first hand many things over the 40 some years of my life that proved to me that not only does God exist but he also seeks to be in a loving and thriving relationship with each one of us. I believe this so strongly that nothing can convince me otherwise. Faith opens the door to experience tangible evidences of the unconditional love of God our creator and lover of our souls. Don't let absolute thinking rob you of an opportunity to walk through a door that can bring abundant life filled with this amazing kind of love. Living a life devoid of the hope that there is something more to this existence, something eternal that can be known and bring true life is a sad thought. So take courage. May you take a step of faith through a door of uncertainty so that it will be possible for you to believe enough to begin asking, seeking and knocking. Matthew 7:7 Ask and it will be given you, seek and you will find, knock and it will be open to you! Whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved! Romans 10:13 May God give you eyes to see, ears to hear and a heart that comes to understand so that you can change direction and find hope and receive healing.
In order to accept the truth, one must be willing to give up everything.
Agnosticism is the Core and Heart of Perfect Understanding.
We need more than love, we need love and understanding.
A challenge is a challenge, think of all the faces of God you have denied.
"Allah, if you exist, show me the truth"
"Krisha, if you exist..."
"Mambo, if you exist..."
"Zeus, if you exist..."
"Aten, if you exist..." ... Begin asking humbly. Do not do as the hypocrites do, when they stand in the street and preach onto others.
But, of course, there is none who would humble themselves to see their own phobias.
Faith is the thing that holds one steadfast in the unreleting coils of their own miseries and fears. Faith lets you sink into the mud willingly. Doubt, on the other hand, is exactly the same as faith. when you doubt the ground on which you stand, nothing changes except your believes...
Living a life ever hungry and greedy for more, is the reason that one cannot live a true life, but instead trick themselves into living a false one.
Courage is about facing one's fears. Most people fear not what they imagine on the other side of the door, but what is on their own side of it -- that they might die, ungrateful... They fear not opening Pascal's doors, and so loose themselves to reality through their own imaginations.
Have you come asking, seeking, and knocking into this forum?
About the hypnotic verses within the Christian idol scripture: I wouldn't believe Matthew or Paul if they came and told me such opinions in person.
Needless to say, I have asked and it has been given me, I have sought and I have found, I have knocked and it has been opened to me! I have called and I have been saved! I have had eyes to see, and ears to hear, and my heart has come to understand. I have been given the power to change direction and have found hope and received healing. All of this without Religion... only Scholarship and secular relationships.
It's not just about getting what you want, sometimes it's about wanting what you have.
Well, since this original post (was it really 2009?), I've decided I prefer the words not religious instead. Too many tedious arguments over semantics and misunderstandings come with the two A words. I know what I believe and don't believe and that's all that matters.
I suspect a greater percentage of those who identify as atheist or agnostic are of the same anti-religion mindset having abandoned one religion or another. It is a testament to the existence of God, IMO . . . that the ignorant superstitious beliefs that have been retained within the religions haven't driven more away sooner.
I rather suspect myself that there is no "testament to the existence of god" here at all but in fact quite the opposite.
This is highlighted by the fast that people rarely have to identify themselves as "agnostic" when you simply make some nonsense up and espouse it. If I come up with a new crazy idea today and start espousing it, people do not tend to go "Oh well since I can not prove his idea wrong I have to be an agnostic about it".
No they simply recognize the idea is baseless and nonsense and dismiss it, often while marginalising the person espousing it.
The trick at play by theists with words like "atheist" and "agnostic" is to try and use those labels to artificially raise the credibility of their nonsense. To raise their baseless nonsense out of the sea of other baseless nonsense. By labeling people who do not accept the idea there is a god in such a way as to define them in opposition to the idea they create an air of false equivalence that benefits the idea there is a god.
If an idea is baseless and unsubstantiated, simply dismiss it and resist it's use and application. Simple as that. Labels like "atheist" and "agnostic" add nothing at all, save to artificially buoy the credibility of the baseless idea itself.
In order to accept the truth, one must be willing to give up everything.
Agnosticism is the Core and Heart of Perfect Understanding.
We need more than love, we need love and understanding.
A challenge is a challenge, think of all the faces of God you have denied.
"Allah, if you exist, show me the truth"
"Krisha, if you exist..."
"Mambo, if you exist..."
"Zeus, if you exist..."
"Aten, if you exist..." ... Begin asking humbly. Do not do as the hypocrites do, when they stand in the street and preach onto others.
But, of course, there is none who would humble themselves to see their own phobias.
Faith is the thing that holds one steadfast in the unreleting coils of their own miseries and fears. Faith lets you sink into the mud willingly. Doubt, on the other hand, is exactly the same as faith. when you doubt the ground on which you stand, nothing changes except your believes...
Living a life ever hungry and greedy for more, is the reason that one cannot live a true life, but instead trick themselves into living a false one.
Courage is about facing one's fears. Most people fear not what they imagine on the other side of the door, but what is on their own side of it -- that they might die, ungrateful... They fear not opening Pascal's doors, and so loose themselves to reality through their own imaginations.
Have you come asking, seeking, and knocking into this forum?
About the hypnotic verses within the Christian idol scripture: I wouldn't believe Matthew or Paul if they came and told me such opinions in person.
Needless to say, I have asked and it has been given me, I have sought and I have found, I have knocked and it has been opened to me! I have called and I have been saved! I have had eyes to see, and ears to hear, and my heart has come to understand. I have been given the power to change direction and have found hope and received healing. All of this without Religion... only Scholarship and secular relationships.
It's not just about getting what you want, sometimes it's about wanting what you have.
Awesome post and awesome bolded section
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