Inquisition of usfan

[usfan]

What a great idea! I'm more impressed with the mods here, every day. Kudos for thinking of a subforum for personal examination, to relieve the other forums of ad hom deflections.

Ok. This is your opportunity to grill me. Ask the questions that you assume, clarify my beliefs. Discover my favorite color, hat size, and deepest psychological aberrations. I may draw the line, if it gets too detailed, but if you want to know, ask.

I'll give a brief summary of my background, to start:
Born mid 1950s, middle class, midwestern us, white, secular upbringing. Never went to church, no talk of God at home. Became drug crazed hippie in college, dropped out, hitchhiked around the country. Enjoyed philosophical discussion, and was overt atheist.. Classic atheist, respectful of other's beliefs, not like the New Internet Atheists you see now.. rooted in the Enlightenment and American values. Heavy background in science, math, and physics.

During travels, encountered God, awoke from atheistic denial, and pursued the knowledge of God thereafter, studying history, theology, and philosophy. Settled down, married, pursued career in the building industry, and raised family. Moved to Az, built homes, and now semi-retired, managing rental homes i built. ..can be crabby and irritable at times.. plays golf, traveled extensively, thirst for knowledge.

Unaffiliated with institutions, and any church. Ordained 30+ yrs ago, abandoned institutional ministries, local and international. Engaged in individual pursuit of Truth. The world is my parish. Computer and tech dabbler, early internet user, engaged in usenet & bbs, etc, before web based forums.. before web based anything.

What i bring to a forum:
Intelligence
Reason
Education
Eloquence
Experience
Wit/humor
Wide range of knowledge
Impatience
Ability
Clarity
Deep humility

My goals in public forums:
The challenge of expressing ideas clearly and succinctly
The competition of debate
Understanding other points of view
Expanded awareness and Enlightenment
Social interaction
Something to do while sitting

That's probably more than anyone wants to know... TMI, i am sure. but anything else? just ask.

 

[Revoltingest]

So....how's it hang'n?

 

[Rational Agnostic]

What a great idea! I'm more impressed with the mods here, every day. Kudos for thinking of a subforum for personal examination, to relieve the other forums of ad hom deflections.

Ok. This is your opportunity to grill me. Ask the questions that you assume, clarify my beliefs. Discover my favorite color, hat size, and deepest psychological aberrations. I may draw the line, if it gets too detailed, but if you want to know, ask.

I'll give a brief summary of my background, to start:
Born mid 1950s, middle class, midwestern us, white, secular upbringing. Never went to church, no talk of God at home. Became drug crazed hippie in college, dropped out, hitchhiked around the country. Enjoyed philosophical discussion, and was overt atheist.. Classic atheist, respectful of other's beliefs, not like the New Internet Atheists you see now.. rooted in the Enlightenment and American values. Heavy background in science, math, and physics.

During travels, encountered God, awoke from atheistic denial, and pursued the knowledge of God thereafter, studying history, theology, and philosophy. Settled down, married, pursued career in the building industry, and raised family. Moved to Az, built homes, and now semi-retired, managing rental homes i built. ..can be crabby and irritable at times.. plays golf, traveled extensively, thirst for knowledge.

Unaffiliated with institutions, and any church. Ordained 30+ yrs ago, abandoned institutional ministries, local and international. Engaged in individual pursuit of Truth. The world is my parish. Computer and tech dabbler, early internet user, engaged in usenet & bbs, etc, before web based forums.. before web based anything.

What i bring to a forum:
Intelligence
Reason
Education
Eloquence
Experience
Wit/humor
Wide range of knowledge
Impatience
Ability
Clarity
Deep humility

My goals in public forums:
The challenge of expressing ideas clearly and succinctly
The competition of debate
Understanding other points of view
Expanded awareness and Enlightenment
Social interaction
Something to do while sitting

That's probably more than anyone wants to know... TMI, i am sure. but anything else? just ask.

Question: why should we take your "God" encounter seriously if you were a drug crazed hippie? How do you know it wasn't just an LSD flashback?

 

[shmogie]

What a great idea! I'm more impressed with the mods here, every day. Kudos for thinking of a subforum for personal examination, to relieve the other forums of ad hom deflections.

Ok. This is your opportunity to grill me. Ask the questions that you assume, clarify my beliefs. Discover my favorite color, hat size, and deepest psychological aberrations. I may draw the line, if it gets too detailed, but if you want to know, ask.

I'll give a brief summary of my background, to start:
Born mid 1950s, middle class, midwestern us, white, secular upbringing. Never went to church, no talk of God at home. Became drug crazed hippie in college, dropped out, hitchhiked around the country. Enjoyed philosophical discussion, and was overt atheist.. Classic atheist, respectful of other's beliefs, not like the New Internet Atheists you see now.. rooted in the Enlightenment and American values. Heavy background in science, math, and physics.

During travels, encountered God, awoke from atheistic denial, and pursued the knowledge of God thereafter, studying history, theology, and philosophy. Settled down, married, pursued career in the building industry, and raised family. Moved to Az, built homes, and now semi-retired, managing rental homes i built. ..can be crabby and irritable at times.. plays golf, traveled extensively, thirst for knowledge.

Unaffiliated with institutions, and any church. Ordained 30+ yrs ago, abandoned institutional ministries, local and international. Engaged in individual pursuit of Truth. The world is my parish. Computer and tech dabbler, early internet user, engaged in usenet & bbs, etc, before web based forums.. before web based anything.

What i bring to a forum:
Intelligence
Reason
Education
Eloquence
Experience
Wit/humor
Wide range of knowledge
Impatience
Ability
Clarity
Deep humility

My goals in public forums:
The challenge of expressing ideas clearly and succinctly
The competition of debate
Understanding other points of view
Expanded awareness and Enlightenment
Social interaction
Something to do while sitting

That's probably more than anyone wants to know... TMI, i am sure. but anything else? just ask.

Wow. Your story is much like mine. I was never drug crazed though > Being a jock in high school and college, we avoided drugs, but drank booze like it was water.

 

[usfan]

Question: why should we take your "God" encounter seriously if you were a drug crazed hippie? How do you know it wasn't just an LSD flashback?

Take it seriously, or dismiss it as the delusions of a drug crazed hippie.. ..doesn't matter to me..

But during the 'encounter', i was dead sober, and had been for several days. In Socal, staying with some 'Jesus freaks', as they were called, then.

So, you think drugs can addle our perceptions about the universe? Is that how atheists are made, too? Since i had been smoking pot before identifying as an atheist, perhaps that theory has merit..

 

[usfan]

Wow. Your story is much like mine. I was never drug crazed though > Being a jock in high school and college, we avoided drugs, but drank booze like it was water.

I did not mention my love of sports, and outdoor activities.. but those have also been an integral part of my life, though i was not really a 'jock', in HS.

 

[icehorse]

During travels, encountered God, awoke from atheistic denial, and pursued the knowledge of God thereafter, studying history, theology, and philosophy.

Your avatar says "biblical christianity". How does your STEMish background co-exist comfortably with the bible? or, put another way, how do you interpret the bible? literally? allegorically? ..

 

[Mock Turtle]

Your encounter with God - could you detail this. At what age did it occur and at what age did you start taking any sort of recreational drugs?

 

[Audie]

How could you.

 

[Dawnofhope]

It’s good to have another reasoned Christian voice on RF. I’ve seen many who come through here to aggressively proselytise, imagine themselves to be above the rules as it’s not a ‘Christian’ forum and are either banned or give up in frustration.

How do you view other religions and understand the verse John 14:6? Thanks.

 

[usfan]

Your avatar says "biblical christianity". How does your STEMish background co-exist comfortably with the bible? or, put another way, how do you interpret the bible? literally? allegorically? ..

My avatar is a US flag, with a coiled Gadsden snake, with 'don't tread on me.' under it. That says, 'American Patriot', and the choice of 'USfan' as my username, should give the impression of someone with positive feelings for the American Experiment.

There is nothing biblical or anti-biblical about my avatar or username. Other than that...

But regarding my views on the bible, i consider it:
1. The final authority for Christian beliefs and orthodoxy.
2. Historically accurate, reliable, and credible.
3. A major contributor to western civilization, the reformation, the Enlightenment, and the American Experiment.

Your encounter with God - could you detail this. At what age did it occur and at what age did you start taking any sort of recreational drugs?

First started pot - 17
Encounter with God - 20

How could you.

Me? What?

It’s good to have another reasoned Christian voice on RF. I’ve seen many who come through here to aggressively proselytise, imagine themselves to be above the rules as it’s not a ‘Christian’ forum and are either banned or give up in frustration.
How do you view other religions and understand the verse John 14:6? Thanks.

1. I am an enthusiastic believer in the 1st amendment, and the reformed view of freedom of conscience. I heartily embrace and accept other people's religio/philosophical beliefs.
2. I'm not a proselytizer, and do not care what people believe.
3. My philosophical roots are atheistic, and i can easily fall into a pit of existential despair and angst.
4. Reason and philosophical musings interest me more than dogmatic assertions of belief.
5. Jn14:6“I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me."
..exactly what He says. Jesus is the only Way to God.

 

[paarsurrey]

Why should one believe in Biblical Christianity? NT Bible is not even written/authored by Jesus. He never dictated it to anybody. Right, please?

Regards

 

[usfan]

Why should one believe in Biblical Christianity? NT Bible is not even written/authored by Jesus. He never dictated it to anybody. Right, please?
Regards

One should believe what the composites of evidence, upbringing, experience, indoctrination, peer influence, trust in experts, critical thinking, and skepticism leads them. Those are the factors, in fact, that comprise our perceptions, and mold our worldview.

We can be lazy or satisfied, with the level of understanding and Enlightenment we have acheived, and coast dogmatically in constant reassurance of our beliefs, or we can keep an open mind to Possibility.. we can grow, imo, in our awareness of the Divine, and not content ourselves with glib one liners and trite talking points.

But that requires an unconditional Love of Truth, and open willingness to change our minds.. a decidedly difficult thing to do.. especially as we get older and set in our ways.

That is the philosophical overview of our epistemology... probably not what you were asking for..

Regarding, 'why the bible?', i can offer these facts:
1. The bible is historically accurate, has withstood millennia of scrutiny, and has been preserved inviolate.
2. The NT texts were written by Jesus' disciples & close associates, & are eyewitness testimony of the life, words, and mission of Jesus. They are the only biographical information we have.
3. Claims of 'change!', 'errors!', and 'manipulative agenda!', are prejudicial, without evidence, and seem only motivated by anti-christian bigotry.
4. The bible, and the Message of Redemption therein, has stood the test of time, and STILL has the power to bring Life, understanding, and reconciliation to God. It is, imho, a Great Gift, bestowed to a lost and dying world.


He that would seriously set upon the search of truth, ought in the first place to prepare his mind with a love of it. For he that loves it not, will not take much pains to get it; nor be much concerned when he misses it. There is nobody in the commonwealth of learning who does not profess himself a lover of truth: and there is not a rational creature that would not take it amiss to be thought otherwise of. And yet, for all this, one may truly say, that there are very few lovers of truth, for truth's sake, even amongst those who persuade themselves that they are so. How a man may know whether he be so in earnest, is worth inquiry: and I think there is one unerring mark of it, viz. The not entertaining any proposition with greater assurance than the proofs it is built upon will warrant. Whoever goes beyond this measure of assent, it is plain receives not the truth in the love of it; loves not truth for truth's sake, but for some other bye-end. ~John Locke

"Centuries of experience have tested the BIBLE. It has passed through critical fires no other volume has suffered, and its spiritual truth has endured the flames and come out without so much as the smell of burning" ~W.E. Sangster

 

[usfan]

I would be remiss if i did not include the obvious influence of biblical Christianity in my worldview. My encounter with God, mentioned earlier, was my introduction to not only the Invisible Divine, but was specifically, my first encounter with the Redemptive power of Jesus.

Over time, intense study, and searching for Truth, i have come to these convictions:
1. Truth about the Mysteries of the universe can be discovered, through spiritual communion with God, through the Messiah: God's messenger to humanity.
2. Written accounts, through the first disciples, preserved over the millennia, keep us grounded in historical accuracy, and prevent error and tangential diversion.
3. Knowledge of God is BOTH a spiritual 'sense', AND a rational conclusion. The Creator of Reason and thinking approves of Reason, as a vehicle of Discovery.
4. Delusion and deception is common, in this world, and snares for our souls are everywhere, to drive a wedge between the individual and his Maker.

My response, in this world of deception, is to defend the Truth, from those elements in the world who attack it. I consider myself an apologist for historical, biblical Christianity, which has not changed its central message since inception. I use history, scholarship, quotes, and reason, to defend the historical Christian faith from detractors and propagandists who attack it with hostile intent.

 

[paarsurrey]

One should believe what the composites of evidence, upbringing, experience, indoctrination, peer influence, trust in experts, critical thinking, and skepticism leads them. Those are the factors, in fact, that comprise our perceptions, and mold our worldview.

We can be lazy or satisfied, with the level of understanding and Enlightenment we have acheived, and coast dogmatically in constant reassurance of our beliefs, or we can keep an open mind to Possibility.. we can grow, imo, in our awareness of the Divine, and not content ourselves with glib one liners and trite talking points.

But that requires an unconditional Love of Truth, and open willingness to change our minds.. a decidedly difficult thing to do.. especially as we get older and set in our ways.

That is the philosophical overview of our epistemology... probably not what you were asking for..

Regarding, 'why the bible?', i can offer these facts:
1. The bible is historically accurate, has withstood millennia of scrutiny, and has been preserved inviolate.
2. The NT texts were written by Jesus' disciples & close associates, & are eyewitness testimony of the life, words, and mission of Jesus. They are the only biographical information we have.
3. Claims of 'change!', 'errors!', and 'manipulative agenda!', are prejudicial, without evidence, and seem only motivated by anti-christian bigotry.
4. The bible, and the Message of Redemption therein, has stood the test of time, and STILL has the power to bring Life, understanding, and reconciliation to God. It is, imho, a Great Gift, bestowed to a lost and dying world.


He that would seriously set upon the search of truth, ought in the first place to prepare his mind with a love of it. For he that loves it not, will not take much pains to get it; nor be much concerned when he misses it. There is nobody in the commonwealth of learning who does not profess himself a lover of truth: and there is not a rational creature that would not take it amiss to be thought otherwise of. And yet, for all this, one may truly say, that there are very few lovers of truth, for truth's sake, even amongst those who persuade themselves that they are so. How a man may know whether he be so in earnest, is worth inquiry: and I think there is one unerring mark of it, viz. The not entertaining any proposition with greater assurance than the proofs it is built upon will warrant. Whoever goes beyond this measure of assent, it is plain receives not the truth in the love of it; loves not truth for truth's sake, but for some other bye-end. ~John Locke

"Centuries of experience have tested the BIBLE. It has passed through critical fires no other volume has suffered, and its spiritual truth has endured the flames and come out without so much as the smell of burning" ~W.E. Sangster

Please read my post #30 in another thread. It gives my point of view about NT Bible and in a way related here also.

Regards

 

[usfan]

I request that those who wish to berate and belittle me, personally, do it here, so the other threads are not cluttered with off topic deflections.

I think it was very thoughtful of the administrators to have a subforum where personal venting can take place.

I know, some won't use it, but will explode in streams of ad hom and hostility, in the topical threads. I only offer this as a reminder..

 

[Skwim]

Take it seriously, or dismiss it as the delusions of a drug crazed hippie.. ..doesn't matter to me..

Boy, right out of the gate and your dander is up. Tee Hee!


,

 

[atanu]

@usfan what you mean by ‘historical accuracy’ of Bible?
Why do you think “I am the way” means the person Jesus? People who came before Jesus were discriminated upon by God? They left hopeless without a redeemer

 

[Jedster]

@usfan what you mean by ‘historical accuracy’ of Bible?
Why do you think “I am the way” means the person Jesus? People who came before Jesus were discriminated upon by God? They left hopeless without a redeemer

just a thought.
Maybe what was said was "“I am IS the way".

 

[atanu]

just a thought.
Maybe what was said was "“I am IS the way".

I too think so.