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I don't believe humans are born without a soul. I believe that we are all born with a soul. We are three parts in one, mind, body and soul. How we nourish our soul or not does not equate into a fuller tank or a lesser tank, in my opinion. Being a Christian, however, in my opinion, it does determine where one's soul goes once this life is over.
The consceince is another matter, this can be filled or not filled with the right things, and will be determinant of the actions that we do and the things we pursue. I, however, also do not believe that we are born without one, everyone has one, the question is has it be educated with the right things, do we choose to listen to that small still voice or do we ignore it.
As for the path that people choose, this comes down to the free will that we are given. The way that I have looked at it, and have explained it to others is this way... when we are born we each have this sort of book for our lives. On the first page is the day we are born, on the last page is the day we die. All the pages in between contain God's plan and desires for our life on the left page, and a blank page on the right. We, therefore, can choose to follow the plan God has destined us to follow, or we can choose to rewrite our own journey. But the one thing that is not going to change, is the day we were born, and the day we die. All else inbetween, comes down to the personal choices we make in life.
Quote:
The Christian God is defined as a personal being who knows everything. According to Christians, personal beings have free will.
In order to have free will, you must have more than one option, each of which is avoidable. This means that before you make a choice, there must be a state of uncertainty during a period of potential: you cannot know the future. Even if you think you can predict your decision, if you claim to have free will, you must admit the potential (if not the desire) to change your mind before the decision is final.
A being who knows everything can have no "state of uncertainty." It knows its choices in advance. This means that it has no potential to avoid its choices, and therefore lacks free will. Since a being that lacks free will is not a personal being, a personal being who knows everything cannot exist.
Therefore, the Christian God does not exist.
-Dan Barker, The Freewill Argument
for the Nonexistence of God (http://ffrf.org/fttoday/1997/august97/barker.html - broken link)
While we can know God personally, God is not like us in that He is perfect, whereas, we are not.
We do often have more than one option as to which way we want to pursue in most given circumstances. In a spiritual sense, we can choose to believe in and follow God, OR we can choose to not believe in and not follow God. That is a choice we have. How we live our lives thus returns to free will. God does not force us to live for Him or believe in Him. He allows us the free will to choose what path we will follow.
Does each have an outcome, absolutely, as with any decision we make in life the results can be positive, negative, and at times maybe neither of the two and just be. Despite the fact that we don't know all the details of the future, does not mean that we do not have free will. Live in a supressed country where you are told what to wear, what and how much you can eat, where you can work, if you are allowed to, what religion you must follow or face persecution, where you can live or not live, how many children you can have or not have, etc... and there you have the absence of a person's free will as it is controlled by a higher authority.
God does not do this to us. His desires for our lives are what they are. However, He allows us to choose if we wish to follow those desires, bask in the freedom and the blessings that they can bring, or deny Him and live per our own accord. That is free will.
I can choose to deny Christ... or ... I can choose to accept Him. I have the freedom of choice, I have the free will to do either. I choose to accept Christ and live my life for God.
Interesting post
I’m not sure if it directed at me or the other posters,
I’m still a newbie at internet discussions.
(By the way, hello everyone): Waves
In any case I would like to reply
Of course I would not argue that the idea or meme does not exist as an idea. But I would argue the probability of its truth value.
If someone believes they are possessed I can see why they believe they could be healed. I don’t believe it would help say someone who is mentally ill.
And I would also consider it a form of abuse, though not a malicious one.
I do think it would matter whether it was just an idea.
I also don’t think most people who believe in demons would consider them to inhabit the same reality as memes, but I can certainly follow your logic on it.
At least I think I can it has been a while since I read up on memes and feel free to educate me if I am mistaken.
Greetings Nebulous. I feel as though I have always known you for some reason. As though we are related or something.
*Waves*
As for the possession discussion; I am having a hard time taking this subject seriously. Why are people who believe in possessions not treated the same way as people who believe that Elvis is still alive? I see no reason why these people shouldn't be openly and rightfully mocked.
There should be consequences to expressing such absurd beliefs. To all the posters defending possession, SHAME on YOU! Stop believing such nonsense!
If you still believe in possessions after reading that last paragraph then STOP IT!!
Still reading? *Sigh* I don't know how to progress further then that. How does one make an argument against such a silly thing? How about this. You guys give me some non-biblical arguments to why possession is real. And I will debate you point by point.
And just to let you know, I wouldn't use the Anneliese Michel case or one of the many "Russian Exorcism" (which has become the new fad in Russia) as evidence unless you want to get crushed.
One of my very favorite movies of all time was The Exorcist. People have often stated that this was based on a real event but investigators have found nothing to substantiate those claims and there seems to be alot of confusion about the actual facts and people who were supposedly involved in it. Of course in the movie it's not just a demon, it's actually satan himself (I guess he's a male, all of the other supernatural beings are supposedly male). Anyway, does anyone believe that this phenomenon is possible and if so what exactly is going on? Would a person's personality and identify be taken over by some sort of entity who takes over their body for lack of a better explanation? Also, does anyone else find it peculiar that you never hear anything about atheists who've become possessed? It's always people who are religious and believe in the realm of the spirit world who seem to fall victim to these possessions. I suspect that it would make someone feel quite important if they were in the midst of a clash between God and satan and I can understand how a little bit of playacting with alot of cursing, physical violence and trauma followed by a theatrical recovery, blessings to the angels, and those dutiful human beings who performed those sacred rites would appeal to someone who really just wanted attention and acceptance. Any thoughts?
Yes - only during Halloween - but they go away once you give them candy.
Can a person be possessed by demons, I think it's demons of their own creations. If you look at the natural forces around you, you see no evil. The bases of evil only exist within mankind and it is continued by mans moral judgment which man imposses on humanity. We create that which is right and wrong or good and evil. Demons reside within the thoughts and actions of the person themselves and not an external force acting upon them. These are not shadowy creatures lurking in the darkness to attack your soul. They are of your own creation, you accept the illusion then you react to it
and your actions are very real.
Well that sounds good in theory. Yet I have had such an experience, and I can tell you, it had nothing to do with my thoughts or actions. This was something beyond myself. It was evil, and it was also seen by others around me. And sometimes they are shadowy creatures, and sometimes they have the ability to both speak and move objects around the room.
I was hoping that people would bring out this point as a few people have done. This is not intended to ridicule anyone's beliefs, it's intended to get people to think about the subject and possibly reevaluate their conclusions.
I was wondering if you looked up the documented case from UCLA "The Entity" and possibly reevaluated your conclusions?
Well that sounds good in theory. Yet I have had such an experience, and I can tell you, it had nothing to do with my thoughts or actions. This was something beyond myself. It was evil, and it was also seen by others around me. And sometimes they are shadowy creatures, and sometimes they have the ability to both speak and move objects around the room.
Are they physical? If they are able to communicate, why so seldom?
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True but that's the demon's fault and not mine; I can't help being human (read: weak).