Why do people believe what they believe?

[fallingblood]

Nope, there is not absolute proof that no being in the universe is able to clone a human and put his own consciousness into a human body.





My implication was that you are not able to provide absolute proof that a global flood did not occur. Why wouldn't a God be able to cause a global flood to occur and cover up the evidence if he wanted to? As I said, "the obvious issue is 'reaonable proof,' not 'absolute proof.'"

This is now just becoming ridiculous. There is no point on debating further if you want to resort to illogical reasoning.

 

[joea]

Why people believe what they believe, in my own opinion is this....we have been programmed and conditioned from an early age to certain belief systems ( borrowed knowledge )...what is the point of a belief system if one knows the truth ??.......belief is a distraction from knowing ( truth ). Let the flower discovers it's own fragrance.

 

[Agnostic75]

This is now just becoming ridiculous.

Yes, because you falsely claimed that there is absolute proof that Hillary Clinton is a human being, and that a global flood did not occur.

As I told you before, the main issue is "reasonable proof," not "absolute proof." There is reasonable proof, not absolute proof, that if a God exists, he is not the God of the Bible.

 

[fallingblood]

Prove your stance. Where is your reasonable proof?

 

[footprints]

If you mean an environment that does not include a particular God who exists, and who influences why people believe what they believe, I agree.

It is interesting to note that although the Bible has not changed much for at least the past 1,000 years, many Christian beliefs about various issues have changed a lot.

Whether you like it or not, God per se, is part of our environment, and it is what some religions are based on.

Pertaining to the bible not changing, but Christian beliefs have; This is what happens when science explains things. The old knowledge gives way to greater knowledge and understanding. Science has shown many ways of how God per se, could have done many things, which the bible credits God for.

 

[Agnostic75]

Whether you like it or not, God per se, is part of our environment, and it is what some religions are based on.

Like many other agnostics, I do not preclude a reasonable possibility that an unknown God exists, but I do preclude a reasonable possibility that the God of the Bible exists.

 

[Agnostic75]

Yes, which indicates that secular factors primarily or solely determine what people believe.

I would doubt, secular is the right term to use. With greater knowledge also comes greater understanding of the spiritual aspects of life as well. So I would put it like this, which also aligns with scientific knowledge to date;

That the environment primarily and/or solely determines what people believe.

But where did the environment come from? Even if a God exists, there is not any credible evidence that he is the God of the Bible. If the God of the Bible does not exist, it is not surprising that women tend to become theists more than men do, that elderly people give up religion less frequently than younger people do, and that geography has a major influence on what people believe.

If a God inspired the Bible, he wants people to hear the Gospel message, but only if another person tells them about it. That is quite odd. In addition, God wants people to have enough food to eat, but only if they are able to obtain it through human effort. That is also quite odd. James says that if a man refuses to give food to hungry people, he is vain, and his faith is dead, but that is quite odd since God has caused and allowed millions of people to die from starvation. If the God of the Bible does not exist, that explains those situations.

Apparently, human social evolution has changed in ways that it would have changed if naturalism or deism are true. If a moral God exists, I do not believe that he would deprive people of valuable knowledge for thousands of years, and mimic a naturalistic or deistic universe in many ways. A man who honestly searches for the truth should not have to die in ignorance. Why would a loving God choose to create a system like that? Why would a loving God withhold evidence that would cause more people to accept him if they were aware of it?

Regarding "scientific knowledge," the vast majority of scientists in the U.S. believe in naturalistic or theistic evolution. Do you believe in theistic evolution? 93% of the members of the National Academy of Sciences do not believe in a personal God.

Regarding animal sacrifice in the Old Testament, and the human sacrifice of Jesus in the New Testament, that was nothing new since some pagan religions did the same thing. Ancient people, in their naiveity, which they could not help, somehow came to believe that if they killed animals, that would please their Gods. The New Testament is merely a revised version of animal sacrifice.

It is quite odd that God did not send Jesus to the world for at least 4,000 years, and that during Old Testament times he apparently did not pay much attention to anyone except for Hebrews. A better explanation is that Hebrews appointed themselves as God's chosen people.

The New Testament claims that Jesus performed many miracles in Jerusalem, throughout all of Galilee, and throughout all of Syria, and that vast mulitudes of poeple followed him around. If the claims are true, Jesus would have been a unique person in all of human history. He would have easily become the biggest celebrity in the Middle East and beyond, but non-biblical, first century history says very little about the miracles of Jesus other than to say that some people believed that he performed miracles.

The anonymous authors of Matthew, Mark, and Luke do not claim to be eyewitnesses, and the book of John was written too late to be of any value to Christians. The Gospel writers seldom reveal their sources. It is well-known that Matthew and Luke borrowed a good deal from Mark.

If the Ten Plagues occured in Egypt, they would have been unprecedented news stories in the entire Middle East and beyond, and that would have been the end of Egypt as a major power in the Middle East, but no non-biblical records say anything about them.