If God actually spoke to you, would you try to obey?

[dianaiad]

Please don't group all atheists as the same. See my post #24 and post #36 from @Bob the Unbeliever for a contradictions of your assertion

Oh, I'm not grouping all atheists as the same. I think I was pretty clear. Every atheist I HAVE SPOKEN TO about this gives me the same answer, boiled down.

I haven't spoken to every single atheist.

...............or every single evangelical Christian, either.

 

[Unveiled Artist]

Jehovah’s witnesses will say, pray to God for understanding and read the Bible and you will be enlightened to understand his word. So many Protestants will say the same thing roughly. Catholics will say the same thing, (but at least Catholics have the obvious ability to identify the obvious truth that the Bible is not the final or only authority).

So, all of the thousands of denominations of Christianity read the same book and come up with opposite beliefs or morals, indicating that the book is not trustworthy, nor is God, because they all claim that the Holy Spirit is guiding them.

So, what if God actually cared enough about you to get off his rich, selfish, narcissistic, lazy *** and actually talk to you? What if he wasn’t asking you to do anything like commit violence, condemn, judge, or kill Idolaters and what not?

What if he asked you “Worship me, visit this hospital, visit this nursing home, give this person food, give this person money, donate to this charity, forgive this enemy, be humble, be kind, don’t look at porn, don’t fornicate, don’t commit adultery, don’t be angry, don’t covet, don’t be jealous, don’t be lazy, and don’t over eat”.

Would you listen to and do your best to obey such a God? I know I would greet such a God with open arms and do everything possible to obey him.

But unfortunately, we have a God who lives with the greatest wealth imaginable while so many are starving. He has billions of people worshipping him, while so many are suffering loneliness and rejection. He doesn’t have the basic charity to just give simple instructions or the grace of understanding while so many are confused.

I had an evangelical Christian recently tell me that God would give me everything I asked for that is according to his will. So, I asked God, “What is your will that I might ask for it”. No answer, so I said “God’s will be done in and through me”.

I’m sure it’s God’s will I’m doing then. I asked God for understanding and no more confusion. Is it his will that I have no confusion? I guess I’m just as confused as God wants me to be

I wouldnt, because the bible doesnt give me enough information to judge which god to follow because I want to rather than being forced.

 

[Unveiled Artist]

Other people would also have to hear him exactly as I did, so then I could be sure I wasn't hearing myself. You know, my self voice is rather deep and bold. so it'd be easily confused with any sort of god.

Actually, that is what people call god. Its shrowed with culture, ritual, sacred scripures, etc to give meaning to that self-voice everyone hears.

For example, I thought to myself how we dont know what will happen today (when I woke up that morning). It sounds philosophical until you almost get hit by a car (brushed by the nose) that same day. That thought could have been god, a demon, gut feeling, or so have you. But since many people already have answers they just plug in their experiences to describe and understand the situation at hand.

If you take away the culture, it is that small voice. I just think some religious are more open and accept it as that than others. Meditation helps.

 

[Unveiled Artist]

Didn't vote in the poll.

I was just reminded that before one can truly answer such a poll, one must, at least for the sake of argument, acknowledge that God just might come down and speak to one.

In all my conversations with atheists (and certain evangelicals, FWIW), I have found that nobody, and I mean nobody, if God Himself came down and told someone to do something that differed from an already set upon POV, that the answer is 'no.'

As in...to the question of 'would you believe in God if God Himself came down and spoke to you?" the atheist answer I get EVERY SINGLE TIME is the circular 'no, because since God does not exist, God cannot speak to me."

The evangelists might acknowledge that god exists, but isn't talking. Comments from them are "if Jesus Christ Himself came down and told me that there was something incorrect about the Bible, I'd turn my back upon Jesus and hold to the Book."

The results are the same either way. Nobody would pay attention.

Hes probably here but no ones paying attention. Makes me wonder....

 

[jacqueline behrndt]

I read this quickly actually because We now live in a world where we worry about mostly ourselves and how we can pay our bills or get the next new gadget we don't need etc. When we look way back we were to lead simple lives live off the land help each other etc. so did god let his people starve or did we do that to each other?

 

[MonkeyFire]

I pray and communicate to passive Jesus with lucidity and empathy.

 

[Windwalker]

Love exists, tried it before, have you?

Certainly. I know what love is.

I know the physical and emotional sensations

And nothing more than that?

As yet no god has brought me to orgasm or even tried.

You are equating love with sex? That's not love.

You have one in mind then please offer evidence of said super lover.

You already have it.

Until then, failed sarcasm is just as much a failure as attempts to prove a god exists.

Your idea of God, is your greatest obstacle to freedom.

 

[Kelly of the Phoenix]

So, what if God actually cared enough about you to get off his rich, selfish, narcissistic, lazy *** and actually talk to you?

He already does talk to me. We don't always get along or agree, but I feel we have a mature relationship.

What if he asked you “Worship me, visit this hospital, visit this nursing home, give this person food, give this person money, donate to this charity, forgive this enemy, be humble, be kind, don’t look at porn, don’t fornicate, don’t commit adultery, don’t be angry, don’t covet, don’t be jealous, don’t be lazy, and don’t over eat”.

I feel He already does give me "assignments". However, prophets in the bible have been known to claim God told them to do things considered impolite or foolish, all to make a point. God and I are going to get into a huge argument if I ever hear anything about harming or killing anyone, but I could see some "stupid sins" being ok'd to make a certain point. Perhaps God might tell someone to look at porn so that it teaches how dehumanizing it is or something. I dunno. I don't watch the crap.

I know I would greet such a God with open arms and do everything possible to obey him.

Obeying Him has to coincide with my morals. I'm willing to bend a bit for "making a point", but not too much. I feel that if morality is so important my soul is on the line because of it, I can't just toss it to kiss God's behind.

I’m sure it’s God’s will I’m doing then. I asked God for understanding and no more confusion. Is it his will that I have no confusion? I guess I’m just as confused as God wants me to be

I find, what is that little cartoon dude's name, started with a "Z", in comic strips in the newspaper. Anyway, saw a strip once where it was noted that if you don't see what you want, maybe you want the wrong things. Sometimes we aren't getting anywhere on the map because we don't realize we brought the wrong map.

I would flatly reject any voice I would hear.

How is that any different from people in the bible getting blamed for not believing in something someone of questionable divinity said?

God is in the business of simplicity, obviousness and clarity, no Bible games. Yeah i would sign up for that.

God told me He didn't say half of what's in the bible and anything He WOULD say would influence all of reality. Like, if the world were going to end, birds and snakes and flies and trees and mushrooms and stuff would all be freaking out. If they're chill, it's good.

Of course I would obey the Lord Satan.

I would if it amused me to do so. We're not exactly big fans of each other.

I'd see a psychiatrist to rule out any mental condition possibly causing me to hear voices. I'd also wonder if I was hearing some sort of spirit or another entity than an omniscient, omnipotent god if I ruled out any voice-producing mental condition.

I wouldn't mind Q.

If I believed it was God wouldn't I pretty much have to do what 'it' says?

Well, I don't believe in free will, just will. If I disobey and God is super, duper serial about it, I'll have to do it anyway. It's like those Final Destination movies. You try to avoid it, but the script just keeps resetting until you get it anyway.

Please consider searching in the gospels to see if you can find a Jesus or a spirit or a God in them, that you can trust to do whatever He wants to with your life.

Is Jesus in the bible? Does he live there? Is it some enchanted book that characters spring out of when you open it?

If it was imply informative? I'd likely wonder "why tell ME? Why not publish?"

There are many Gods who publish: Facebook God, Mr Deity on Youtube, Jeffrey on Youtube ...

 

[Jim]

Is Jesus in the bible? Does he live there? Is it some enchanted book that characters spring out of when you open it?

Yes, yes, and yes.

 

[Mr Faux]

God asks many things that he has to provide the power to do

Psalm 119
For example in the longest chapter of the Bible every line almost is a acceptance of God's word
but almost every line is also a prayer for help in obeying

Can you give me more info

I try to listen to that still small voice inside me.

That voice tells me that some of the Bible is false.

Ive never read the bible. To be honest.

 

[Bob the Unbeliever]

There are many Gods who publish: Facebook God, Mr Deity on Youtube, Jeffrey on Youtube ...

Yes. Some of those guys are great. Far better than old book-gods, IMO.

 

[ChristineM]

Oh, I'm not grouping all atheists as the same. I think I was pretty clear. Every atheist I HAVE SPOKEN TO about this gives me the same answer, boiled down.

I haven't spoken to every single atheist.

...............or every single evangelical Christian, either.

Yes you were clear

I have found that nobody, and I mean nobody,

 

[ChristineM]

Certainly. I know what love is.

Oh,

And nothing more than that?

What more is there to love? Please explain why you consider it more than a physical and emotional experience

You are equating love with sex? That's not love.

Depends sex without love is nothing however it seems you are confusing love and mythology

You already have it.

Yet you are unable to define it. I wonder why?

Your idea of God, is your greatest obstacle to freedom.

Do you mean the freedom to bind your life to a bronze age mythology? No thanks, tried it but grew up.!

 

[Jumi]

If God spoke to me with some kind of orders, I would know it's not God, but something else. If it happened repeatedly I'd seek help.

 

[Windwalker]

What more is there to love? Please explain why you consider it more than a physical and emotional experience

People call certain emotions "love" because they have not yet moved beyond mere emotions and physical sensations in their experience of themselves and the world. All of life is love. Love is the natural state of being when one is free from fear. Love is a state of awareness, the eyes through which you see and understand all of reality. Love is the state of being through which one sees one's own self and others. It becomes the attitude of being.

Depends sex without love is nothing however it seems you are confusing love and mythology

It seems you are confusing me with other posters who believe in mythologies as facts. I have no idea how this statement could apply to me.

Yet you are unable to define it. I wonder why?

Yet I said you already have this, as you called it, a "super lover". You were defining it as the experience of "super lover". But in my saying "You already have it", I got rid of the "other" you imagined and localized this something, "super love", you already have.

Love is a state of being, we all already are, hiding beneath all our defenses and refusals to accept that in ourselves. It is hard to define the subjective reality of one's own existence. But that isn't the problem. The problem isn't that we have to have it "defined" first. As it is not something outside your own subjective being.

Do you mean the freedom to bind your life to a bronze age mythology? No thanks, tried it but grew up.!

You see? You have proven my point. Your idea of God, is stuck in grade school. That's why all the rest that the adults are talking about just sounds like that, since that is all you know. It's your "education" that blocks you.

 

[Kelly of the Phoenix]

Yes, yes, and yes.

Meh. The only enchanted book I enjoyed was this one:

 

[ChristineM]

People call certain emotions "love" because they have not yet moved beyond mere emotions and physical sensations in their experience of themselves and the world. All of life is love. Love is the natural state of being when one is free from fear. Love is a state of awareness, the eyes through which you see and understand all of reality. Love is the state of being through which one sees one's own self and others. It becomes the attitude of being.

I guess you you need to tell neuroscience in general that they have been measuring emotion all wrong.

Something of a contradiction there, "All of life is love. Love is the natural state of being when one is free from fear.". Fear exists in us all, so you are saying love can't exist.

It seems you are confusing me with other posters who believe in mythologies as facts. I have no idea how this statements
could apply to me.

Gods are mythological.

Yet I said you already have this, as you called it, a "super lover". You were defining it as the experience of "super lover". But in my saying "You already have it", I got rid of the "other" you imagined and localized this something, "super love", you already have.

Love is a state of being, we all already are, hiding beneath all our defenses and refusals to accept that in ourselves. It is hard to define the subjective reality of one's own existence. But that isn't the problem. The problem isn't that we have to have it "defined" first. As it is not something outside your own subjective being.

No i asked you so show me a super lover. And to be so ignorant as to suggest i imagined anything.

Love is what? You already implied it cannot exist

You see? You have proven my point. Your idea of God, is stuck in grade school. That's why all the rest that the adults are talking about just sounds like that, since that is all you know. It's your "education" that blocks you.

My idea of god s the same as my idea of harry potter. And again with the ignorance, you know zero about my education and therefore use the childish technique of guessing just to massage your own ego. You use nursery school mentality to accuse me of grade school mentality.

 

[whirlingmerc]

Can you give me more info

Ive never read the bible. To be honest.

Examples would be 'incline my heart to your word' and 'I incline my heart to your word" both from Psalm 119
in come sense we can try but ultimately only God can incline a heart, cause us to love something. We can cultivate something that is there.

 

[dianaiad]

Yes you were clear

yes, and you took 'nobody, but nobody' considerably out of context, which was clearly from the population of atheists and evangelicals I have spoken with.

no matter who it is I talk to, invariably the bottom line ends up being that...God doesn't exist, therefore He can't appear, so if He does, then I'm hallucinating because God doesn't exist. (from one side)

And "God exists but He quit appearing to people and the bible is all we have so if God came to talk to me personally about the bible, and He said something was wrong with the Book, then obviously I'm either hallucinating or it's an evil spirit or Satan because the Book said there would be no more revelation/prophets. "

The circular nature of the argument remains, however it is couched.

Agnostics? Well, in order to be one of those, one must actually admit the possibility that there MIGHT BE a God Who MIGHT be interested enough to say something.

That rather opens the possibility. But agnostics are not atheists.

 

[Shad]

Jehovah’s witnesses will say, pray to God for understanding and read the Bible and you will be enlightened to understand his word. So many Protestants will say the same thing roughly. Catholics will say the same thing, (but at least Catholics have the obvious ability to identify the obvious truth that the Bible is not the final or only authority).

So, all of the thousands of denominations of Christianity read the same book and come up with opposite beliefs or morals, indicating that the book is not trustworthy, nor is God, because they all claim that the Holy Spirit is guiding them.

So, what if God actually cared enough about you to get off his rich, selfish, narcissistic, lazy *** and actually talk to you? What if he wasn’t asking you to do anything like commit violence, condemn, judge, or kill Idolaters and what not?

What if he asked you “Worship me, visit this hospital, visit this nursing home, give this person food, give this person money, donate to this charity, forgive this enemy, be humble, be kind, don’t look at porn, don’t fornicate, don’t commit adultery, don’t be angry, don’t covet, don’t be jealous, don’t be lazy, and don’t over eat”.

Would you listen to and do your best to obey such a God? I know I would greet such a God with open arms and do everything possible to obey him.

But unfortunately, we have a God who lives with the greatest wealth imaginable while so many are starving. He has billions of people worshipping him, while so many are suffering loneliness and rejection. He doesn’t have the basic charity to just give simple instructions or the grace of understanding while so many are confused.

I had an evangelical Christian recently tell me that God would give me everything I asked for that is according to his will. So, I asked God, “What is your will that I might ask for it”. No answer, so I said “God’s will be done in and through me”.

I’m sure it’s God’s will I’m doing then. I asked God for understanding and no more confusion. Is it his will that I have no confusion? I guess I’m just as confused as God wants me to be

Voted for "If I was convinced it was God, I would listen. But it would take a while to be convinced it's God" Directly speaking is a step up from all the conflicting autobiographies and guides around now.

Although I would add I would be visiting a psychologist if it was just a voice. I would need far more than a voice in my head. I would require repeated demonstrations of miracles which I could confirm with other people. Something exceptional like limbs growing back