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Tests of Faith
- Thread starter Psalm23
- Start date
The Kilted Heathen
Crow FreyjasmaðR
When they can brush off even the most caustic criticism of said god from those who don't believe in them.
Psalm23
Well-Known Member
That makes sense. Kinda like in debates how both debaters dig in their heels more when objections arise?
The Kilted Heathen
Crow FreyjasmaðR
I more mean that if one's faith is weak, insults and criticisms of one's deity will cause one to have a crisis of faith, and possibly become angry at the offending person. Claims of "blasphemy" and the like. If a god truly cared that someone thought poorly of them, we'd know.
Psalm23
Well-Known Member
I would suggest a few in addition to the ones I wrote:
1. Are you scared of God? I would call this the Job Test. No matter how angry you are, do you refrain from cursing God, because you know there will be actual consequences? It's like the personality vs character text; your personality can change, but your character is what you do when no-one's looking. God is always looking. Do you honestly care? I.e., if your faith isn't slightly OCD, it probably should be
2. Do you feel at peace with your God even if you're not at peace with the rest of the world?
3. How well do you relate to other faiths, are they threatening? Do you feel the need to defend yours even if it's not being attacked? Are there things that nag at you a lot in the back of your mind you keep putting off?
4. Trust relies on the truth. Your God should be able to withstand the truth, and new discoveries etc. shouldn't shake one significantly.
1. Are you scared of God? I would call this the Job Test. No matter how angry you are, do you refrain from cursing God, because you know there will be actual consequences? It's like the personality vs character text; your personality can change, but your character is what you do when no-one's looking. God is always looking. Do you honestly care? I.e., if your faith isn't slightly OCD, it probably should be
2. Do you feel at peace with your God even if you're not at peace with the rest of the world?
3. How well do you relate to other faiths, are they threatening? Do you feel the need to defend yours even if it's not being attacked? Are there things that nag at you a lot in the back of your mind you keep putting off?
4. Trust relies on the truth. Your God should be able to withstand the truth, and new discoveries etc. shouldn't shake one significantly.
Psalm23
Well-Known Member
I would suggest a few in addition to the ones I wrote:
1. Are you scared of God? I would call this the Job Test. No matter how angry you are, do you refrain from cursing God, because you know there will be actual consequences? It's like the personality vs character text; your personality can change, but your character is what you do when no-one's looking. God is always looking. Do you honestly care? I.e., if your faith isn't slightly OCD, it probably should be
2. Do you feel at peace with your God even if you're not at peace with the rest of the world?
3. How well do you relate to other faiths, are they threatening? Do you feel the need to defend yours even if it's not being attacked? Are there things that nag at you a lot in the back of your mind you keep putting off?
4. Trust relies on the truth. Your God should be able to withstand the truth, and new discoveries etc. shouldn't shake one significantly.
1: Probably too much actually. It’s more so because I struggle with knowing in my heart that God receives and accepts me. I also have been diagnosed with OCD and dealt with compulsions surrounding religion and other compulsions such as rereading and compulsions done in the mind or out loud.
2: Not really though have had moments of calm before during prayer for instance. The insecurity I feel in my relationship with God as I mentioned above does not help me feel peace.
3: I think I relate ok with other faiths. Other faiths do not make me feel threatened. What has nagged me quite a bit is the self-doubt. Questions such as “ do you really believe?” “Can you think you believe but be deceiving yourself?” And so I would look for evidence that I believe and see my faith show in various ways and yet the questions are unrelenting. It is the reason why I liked your posts on a test of which God one believes in. It brought some encouragement to me.
4: I haven’t found anything that would cause me to turn from my faith. I have listened to a couple of debates and watched some videos from the friendly atheist YouTube channel before. Other than that and RF, not too much exposure to opposing views in a religious sense.
PearlSeeker
Well-Known Member
Christian martyrs were willing to risk their lives because of their faith.
One atheist argument against theism is that faith results from the existential terror of death. We simply cannot conceive of our own non-existence so we create a fantasy of magical sky-dad who keeps us alive forever and ever. To disprove this I must find a way to be at peace with a godless universe Kodi nox with no afterlife.