Thank you for your kind invitations to join the community of your Church. I understand that a requirement for membership is Faith or Belief in God, his son and the Holy Ghost, but there’s the rub. I am a realist which means that I cannot believe without proof. (Yes, I know that Japan exists even though I’ve…
Thank you for your kind invitations to join the community of your Church. I understand that a requirement for membership is Faith or Belief in God, his son and the Holy Ghost, but there’s the rub. I am a realist which means that I cannot believe without proof. (Yes, I know that Japan exists even though I’ve never been there to prove it). You would probably say that the Holy Bible is proof of God’s existence because it is the Word of God.
I would reply that the Bible is a very fine book full of history and wisdom but it is written by men. It is, in fact, a compilation of writings, gospels and epistles edited by someone or a committee of people who excluded the apocrypha. There are many who believe that at least the first 5 books, the Pentateuch or Torah, were written by God, dictated to Moses on Mount Sinai. But Biblical scholars since the 19th century have identified several different styles of writing, and two different versions of the creation and the flood are included, showing that Genesis is an edited book where different writings have been woven together, perhaps by Ezra.
You probably feel sorry for me that I do not have religion in my life to give me comfort and joy, and reassurance of an afterlife. But I have no illusions about heaven or hell, (let alone the physical enjoyment of 72 virgins). I do not scorn the feeling you experience, of spiritual fulfilment when you worship and pray. I am happy for you. I too can experience spiritual uplift when I attend a performance of Cosi Fan Tutte or spend a few hours in the National Gallery in London or the Prado in Madrid.
What you are missing is the sense of redemption and forgiveness. We are fallen beings, and without assurance of a loving God and forgiveness of sin, why would we not all devolve into amoral evil beings? Doesn’t that tend to happen in societies devoid of a sense of God and his redemption?
Actually you're probably just another western philosophical illiterate as professors Ed Feser and Peter Kreeft show. You're a victim of modern mindless materialism not a concern for reason.
This only confirms my opinion of the hypocrisy of religion. Another of your comments says “We are literally moved by love, for love.” I see no love in your response, only anger and bitterness.
Dear followers of Jesus Christ,
Thank you for your kind invitations to join the community of your Church. I understand that a requirement for membership is Faith or Belief in God, his son and the Holy Ghost, but there’s the rub. I am a realist which means that I cannot believe without proof. (Yes, I know that Japan exists even though I’ve never been there to prove it). You would probably say that the Holy Bible is proof of God’s existence because it is the Word of God.
I would reply that the Bible is a very fine book full of history and wisdom but it is written by men. It is, in fact, a compilation of writings, gospels and epistles edited by someone or a committee of people who excluded the apocrypha. There are many who believe that at least the first 5 books, the Pentateuch or Torah, were written by God, dictated to Moses on Mount Sinai. But Biblical scholars since the 19th century have identified several different styles of writing, and two different versions of the creation and the flood are included, showing that Genesis is an edited book where different writings have been woven together, perhaps by Ezra.
You probably feel sorry for me that I do not have religion in my life to give me comfort and joy, and reassurance of an afterlife. But I have no illusions about heaven or hell, (let alone the physical enjoyment of 72 virgins). I do not scorn the feeling you experience, of spiritual fulfilment when you worship and pray. I am happy for you. I too can experience spiritual uplift when I attend a performance of Cosi Fan Tutte or spend a few hours in the National Gallery in London or the Prado in Madrid.
What you are missing is the sense of redemption and forgiveness. We are fallen beings, and without assurance of a loving God and forgiveness of sin, why would we not all devolve into amoral evil beings? Doesn’t that tend to happen in societies devoid of a sense of God and his redemption?
Actually you're probably just another western philosophical illiterate as professors Ed Feser and Peter Kreeft show. You're a victim of modern mindless materialism not a concern for reason.
This only confirms my opinion of the hypocrisy of religion. Another of your comments says “We are literally moved by love, for love.” I see no love in your response, only anger and bitterness.