Faith closes the mind. It is pure idol worship.

[ChristineES]

What is your rational for your belief?

Remember that rational has a logic trail and is based on reason.

Those are not usually what theists us to believe. Theists usually use faith and that is why non-believers think you irrational or delusional.

You and I have likely often seen a chat between a theist and non-theists ending with a theist saying, I just believe because of faith, then faced with a question of their belief.

Regards
DL

Do you really think I care if you're a theist? Do you see me trying to make you into a theist? I'm not. Do you think I am trying to prove God you? I could have sworn the discussion was whether worshiping God was idolatry or not. Since I am a theist, I've already said I don't see it like that. That is the only discussion I was having. You have put more into my words than I actually said. See ya around.

 

[stevevw]

If you look to what the bible says then maybe you will get the correct answer.
Hebrews 11:1
Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.

As you can see this is not indicating a blindness. It just seems that way according to the thinking of this world. But there is a confidence and an assurance that comes with a faith in God through Jesus. Something is giving you an assurance like its something you have seen right before your eyes. It is giving you a confidence like you can stand and rely on it. So these are very tangible qualities that will affect a persons life and it isn't something where they are stumbling around based on some blind assertion or false imagining. It is there within them as strong as any person who claims to have seen the evidence right before their eyes.

In fact faith is the key ingredient that the bible and God says we must have to enter the kingdom of heaven. It makes sense as well because not everyone can be capable of being smart according to how this world works. Thats why Jesus says we need to become like little children in our trust and faith. All the great men of the bible had faith and that is what caused them to do great things. It caused them to go into battle against the odds, to build a boat for a flood that was coming when everyone else said Noah was mad. It was faith that Moses's parted the red sea and 30 It was by faith that the people of Israel marched around Jericho for seven days, and the walls came crashing down.

Hebrews 11 will tell you about the faith all the great men had and what it achieved. If they didn't have it then nothing great would have been achieved. It is be faith that God made a covenant with Abraham that a great nation would come from him.
31 By faith the harlot Rahab perished not with them that believed not, when she had received the spies with peace.32 And what shall I more say? for the time would fail me to tell of Gideon, and of Barak, and of Samson, and of Jephthae; of David also, and Samuel, and of the prophets:33 Who through faith subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions.34 Quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, waxed valiant in fight, turned to flight the armies of the aliens.

So faith is the single biggest part of salvation and how we can be strong with God. As Jesus said.
Matthew 21:21
Jesus replied, "I tell you the truth, if you have faith and do not doubt, not only can you do what was done to the fig tree, but also you can say to this mountain, 'Go, throw yourself into the sea,' and it will be done.

 

[Greatest I am]

As you can see this is not indicating a blindness. It just seems that way according to the thinking of this world.


LOL.

Regards
DL

 

[Dayman]

I'd say it is less blind faith for most people and more of grasping at straws for an explanation, which is inherently human. While religion may be a way of effectively controlling a populace and has been the cause of many evils, it has helped society and individuals in many ways. That said, I don't think we need religion to be a united people anymore.

 

[Greatest I am]

I'd say it is less blind faith for most people and more of grasping at straws for an explanation, which is inherently human. While religion may be a way of effectively controlling a populace and has been the cause of many evils, it has helped society and individuals in many ways. That said, I don't think we need religion to be a united people anymore.

I agree.

And if we look at the misogynous mainstream religions, they are more evil than good in today's level of man's evolution.

Only barbaric hearts would ever vote for religious law over secular law.

Regards
DL

 

[free spirit]

Faith is the key to life: it opens the mind because
We know that religious faith is a conviction of something we believe in, without having tangible proof of its existence. This is also how new inventions are made: in the later case the inventor understands and believe that if he does a certain thing the device will work, and if it does, his faith is rewarded, and the new proven knowledge is shared to the advantage of all. If this is true, then we have discovered that the principle of understanding the matter is the inventor’s assurance of faith.


We should also realise that the assurance of faith for the religious person comes the same way. As we read in Romans 1:20: “For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that all of us are without excuse.” Thus, believing in God, through understanding the awesome of creation, is the start of something inherently good within us. To contemplate the awesome nature of creation should humble anyone, even unbelievers.

 

[Greatest I am]

Faith is the key to life: it opens the mind because
We know that religious faith is a conviction of something we believe in, without having tangible proof of its existence. This is also how new inventions are made: in the later case the inventor understands and believe that if he does a certain thing the device will work, and if it does, his faith is rewarded, and the new proven knowledge is shared to the advantage of all. If this is true, then we have discovered that the principle of understanding the matter is the inventor’s assurance of faith.


We should also realise that the assurance of faith for the religious person comes the same way. As we read in Romans 1:20: “For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that all of us are without excuse.” Thus, believing in God, through understanding the awesome of creation, is the start of something inherently good within us. To contemplate the awesome nature of creation should humble anyone, even unbelievers.

Faith without facts is for fools and proof of that is the Dark Age and Inquisition that faithful Christians gifted the world with.

Continue to be a fool if you like. Or learn from history.

Regards
DL

 

[free spirit]

Faith without facts is for fools and proof of that is the Dark Age and Inquisition that faithful Christians gifted the world with.

Continue to be a fool if you like. Or learn from history.

Regards
DL

Blind faith is for fools, but faith driven by understanding is the key of life in all that we do. Inventions, planning, marriage, travelling. True Christianity is not a religion: it is a way of life. All that is required is to "love your neighbour like yourself" If we do that, Christ's character will grow in us; and if you say it doesn't but do that, you will still be a good person. Faith, Hope, Love; if one lacks one of these, that one is living a miserable life.

 

[free spirit]

Faith closes the mind. It is pure idol worship.

Faith is a way to quit using, "God given" power of Reason and Logic, and cause the faithful to embrace doctrines that moral people reject.

The God of the O.T. says, “Come now, and let us reason together,” [Isaiah 1:18]

How can literalists reason with God when they must ignore reason and logic and discard them when turning into literalist?

Those who are literalists can only reply somewhat in the fashion that Martin Luther did.
“Faith must trample under foot all reason, sense, and understanding.”
“Reason is a whore, the greatest enemy that faith has.”

This attitude effectively kills all worthy communication that non-theists can have with theist. Faith closes the mind as it is pure idol worship.

Literalism is an evil practice that hides the true messages of myths.

We cannot show our faith based friends that they are wrong through their faith colored glasses.

Regards
DL

I am a man of faith with understanding, so let us reason together. You be the judge as you read the following. From my book "The Way God Told It"
In Matthew 27:52-53 we trustfully read: “And the tombs were opened; and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised; and coming out of the tombs after His resurrection they entered the holy city and appeared to many.”
I believe that the above two verses report something which never took place and therefore those lies are used to divert our attention from the Lord, because it is impossible for it to have occurred before or after the resurrection of the Lord, for we read in 2Timothy 2:18 about: “Men who have gone astray from the truth saying that the resurrection has already taken place, and thus they upset the faith of some.”
In Acts 2:29, Peter says, “Brethren, I may confidently say to you regarding the patriarch David that he both died and was buried, and his tomb is with us to this day.” So Peter effectively says some time after the day of Pentecost that the body of David is still in his tomb (Confirmed by Acts 2:30-36) It is reasonable for us to assume that if the body of King David did not qualify for that alleged resurrection we can be certain that it never took place.
In addition to that, the numbers of anomalies that those two verses contain are also an indication that our Lord never dictated them because:
1) The resurrection of the body will take place on the last day (Read John 11:24, 1Corinthians 15:52, and all of chapter 20 of Revelation.)
2) It should be obvious to anyone that even if those verses in Matthew were true, they are written in the wrong place and therefore are not in harmony with what was actually taking place. Jesus had just died and the alleged resurrection supposedly took place after His resurrection, so why write it there?
3) If the alleged resurrection was after the Lord’s resurrection, why is it conveniently connected with the strange natural things that were happening in relation with the Son of God’s death? (Earthquake etc.)
4) Also if those verses were true, the resurrection of our Lord with His heavenly body would become one of many and no longer one of a kind.
5) Any Christian writer would have known that Jerusalem was no longer the “Holy City” because the presence of God was no longer in the temple (read Matthew 23:38) and the city’s destruction had been foretold (read Mark 13:2).
6) We should also consider that the above verses do nothing to advance the knowledge of God but they are used extensively by the untaught to promote their own useless fantasies. Those who do not understand the Word preach best through their fleshly imagination by abandoning themselves to colourfully speculate what Jesus supposedly did while He was dead in the tomb.
2 Corinthians 10:4-5 says it all: “For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses. We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the Knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ.”
In other words, speculations are to be treated with the contempt they deserve, but the truth is supported by a variety of thought (or Scriptures) which are relevant to our every day lives and behaviour pleasing to Christ.

 

[Greatest I am]

Blind faith is for fools, but faith driven by understanding is the key of life in all that we do. Inventions, planning, marriage, travelling. True Christianity is not a religion: it is a way of life. All that is required is to "love your neighbour like yourself" If we do that, Christ's character will grow in us; and if you say it doesn't but do that, you will still be a good person. Faith, Hope, Love; if one lacks one of these, that one is living a miserable life.

So you fell justified in calling yourself a Christian without having to buy into the Christian creed.

Quite hypocritical that. You are like one who calls himself a liberal while voting conservative.

Regards
DL

 

[Greatest I am]

I am a man of faith with understanding, so let us reason together. You be the judge as you read the following. From my book "The Way God Told It"
In Matthew 27:52-53 we trustfully read: “And the tombs were opened; and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised; and coming out of the tombs after His resurrection they entered the holy city and appeared to many.”
I believe that the above two verses report something which never took place and therefore those lies are used to divert our attention from the Lord, because it is impossible for it to have occurred before or after the resurrection of the Lord, for we read in 2Timothy 2:18 about: “Men who have gone astray from the truth saying that the resurrection has already taken place, and thus they upset the faith of some.”
In Acts 2:29, Peter says, “Brethren, I may confidently say to you regarding the patriarch David that he both died and was buried, and his tomb is with us to this day.” So Peter effectively says some time after the day of Pentecost that the body of David is still in his tomb (Confirmed by Acts 2:30-36) It is reasonable for us to assume that if the body of King David did not qualify for that alleged resurrection we can be certain that it never took place.
In addition to that, the numbers of anomalies that those two verses contain are also an indication that our Lord never dictated them because:
1) The resurrection of the body will take place on the last day (Read John 11:24, 1Corinthians 15:52, and all of chapter 20 of Revelation.)
2) It should be obvious to anyone that even if those verses in Matthew were true, they are written in the wrong place and therefore are not in harmony with what was actually taking place. Jesus had just died and the alleged resurrection supposedly took place after His resurrection, so why write it there?
3) If the alleged resurrection was after the Lord’s resurrection, why is it conveniently connected with the strange natural things that were happening in relation with the Son of God’s death? (Earthquake etc.)
4) Also if those verses were true, the resurrection of our Lord with His heavenly body would become one of many and no longer one of a kind.
5) Any Christian writer would have known that Jerusalem was no longer the “Holy City” because the presence of God was no longer in the temple (read Matthew 23:38) and the city’s destruction had been foretold (read Mark 13:2).
6) We should also consider that the above verses do nothing to advance the knowledge of God but they are used extensively by the untaught to promote their own useless fantasies. Those who do not understand the Word preach best through their fleshly imagination by abandoning themselves to colourfully speculate what Jesus supposedly did while He was dead in the tomb.
2 Corinthians 10:4-5 says it all: “For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses. We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the Knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ.”
In other words, speculations are to be treated with the contempt they deserve, but the truth is supported by a variety of thought (or Scriptures) which are relevant to our every day lives and behaviour pleasing to Christ.

So you want me to evaluate your woo. No thanks woo is for fools.

If you want to reason, then drop the woo and supernatural garbage.

Regards
DL

 

[free spirit]

So you want me to evaluate your woo. No thanks woo is for fools.

If you want to reason, then drop the woo and supernatural garbage.

Regards
DL

You are afraid of reason, that is your problem, you consider understanding and reason as supernatural, such person is called obtuse. Here, have another go for I am certain you too have the potential to reason hidden somewhere, and lets be civil to each other.
The most popular verses of scripture in the New Testament without doubt belong to the Lord’s Prayer; and most of us have memorised those verses from childhood. But young and old alike have been unaware of the lie that it contains, for in Matthew 6:13 part of it reads: “And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil.” This verse implies that God leads us into temptation, and that there’s the need to ask Him not to do that, but to deliver us from evil.
But why should we ask Him that, when we all know or should know that the evil of temptation is not in God’s character? For we read in Romans 2:4: “Or do you think lightly of the riches of His kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that the kindness of God leads you to repentance.”
And we read in James 1:13: “Let no one say when he is tempted, I am being tempted by God; for God cannot be tempted by evil, and He Himself does not tempt anyone. But each one is tempted when he is carried away and enticed by his own lust.” And 2Peter 2:9 has no ambiguity of the true work of the Lord for we read: “The Lord knows how to rescue the godly from temptation, and to keep the unrighteous under darkness for the Day of Judgment.”
So I am only putting the record straight, in harmony with God’s true character, in accordance with His true scripture by partly restoring Matthew 6:13, to read: “And lead us into repentance, and deliver us from evil.”
The above verse now reflects the true work and character of our God. After all, we are talking about our Heavenly Father, therefore, we should know what He does and doesn’t do. I am sure that an evil man, an enemy of Christ, has cleverly inserted those lies in there so they would falsely assume the power of the Sacred Word and prevent us from truly knowing and trusting our God and Father.

 

[free spirit]

So you fell justified in calling yourself a Christian without having to buy into the Christian creed.

Quite hypocritical that. You are like one who calls himself a liberal while voting conservative.

Regards
DL

Christianity is not a religion, as a matter of fact religion demanded that Christ be executed, and that the early Christians be persecuted.
Hypocritical, for not subscribing to religion's supernatural garbage, really...........

 

[Nakosis]

And how would you know that? You're just making claims for which you have no evidence. Maybe I was and there is no God to find?

If you really wanted to find a God, I'm pretty sure you could.

If you're looking for a specific God according to someone else's beliefs, depends on how much faith you are willing to place in their claims.

Faith is, IMO almost always used wrongly by religious folks. The ignorant need faith, but God shouldn't be expecting folks to accept ignorance as a way of life.

 

[JustWondering]

But each one is tempted when he is carried away and enticed by his own lust.”

According to Christianity, god created everything. Which means the Christian god created everything that Christians believe to be evil. It is not reasonable to me to call an entity good that purposely creates beings to have specific instincts and desires then label said beings "evil" for having these instincts and desires. What good creator would purposely create sociopaths and psychopaths and unleash them on the world? What good creator would create disease and famine? The god of the bible is clearly a monster to any rational objective person.

 

[Nakosis]

The faithful are the ignorant.
It's almost synonymous, faith and ignorance.
It requires acceptance of this ignorance to open the mind. To allow learning and knowledge to take the place of ignorance. What you know you know, doesn't require faith. You need faith for what you don't know. What you don't know you don't. Is faith a position to make any claims from? No. faith is a position from which to begin to learn.

 

[free spirit]

According to Christianity, god created everything. Which means the Christian god created everything that Christians believe to be evil. It is not reasonable to me to call an entity good that purposely creates beings to have specific instincts and desires then label said beings "evil" for having these instincts and desires. What good creator would purposely create sociopaths and psychopaths and unleash them on the world? What good creator would create disease and famine? The god of the bible is clearly a monster to any rational objective person.

Your reasoning on the surface appear to be wise, who can argue with your superficial argument. Unfortunately or fortunately depending from your point of view, God, us and the world have a depth. Please imagine that the LAW like God is all good, however sometime the LAW sends people to the gallows: In that case, is the LAW still good? I personally think that the fault is with the people that breaks the LAW. You say, why a good God created disease and famine or flood for that matter? Man's law or God's LAW is spiritual and there are men and spirits that enforces the LAW without fear or favour. Yes sometime the innocent suffers under the law; Christ was innocent and yet they used the law to execute Him. Yet the law is still good, and God is just: man or sin it to blame.

 

[free spirit]

The faithful are the ignorant.
It's almost synonymous, faith and ignorance.
It requires acceptance of this ignorance to open the mind. To allow learning and knowledge to take the place of ignorance. What you know you know, doesn't require faith. You need faith for what you don't know. What you don't know you don't. Is faith a position to make any claims from? No. faith is a position from which to begin to learn.

You say "faith is a position from which to begin to learn." I have no words to express my gratitude for that sentence. Thankyou.

 

[McBell]

So I am only putting the record straight

On whose authority do you claim to speak for god?

 

[McBell]

Christianity is not a religion..

Your personal version of it may not be, though that is certainly up for debate, but Christianity is a religion.