Journal LawfulGood's Journal: Not in the least interested 12
I don't even ask the question 'is there a god?' because I'm not in the least interested in the answer.
How very odd. If there is a God, he created you. He gave you a mind and a will. And he sustains your existence this very moment. It seems to me that this question should at least arouse your interest...
The big questions in my life revolve around _how_ to live my life, so that the world my young son inherits is a little better for my efforts than the one I came into, not who to live it for.
What exactly do you mean by "better?" Better implies that there is some "good" that you would like to world to move closer too. And a "bad" that you would like it to move away from. A Christian would say that there is a "good" defined by God's nature from which we can say whether the world is getting "better" or "worse." Without that set point of reference, there's no way to make the kind of judgements you're attempting.
You say it yourself. (Score:1)
That's the crux. If you're not sure if there's a god, it's possible to be entirely disinterested is his existence or lack thereof.
Speaking as a very religious person, all this prosletyzing and such is really just silly--if you do good, and you are good, people will come to you. If you have to sell it to get people, you might wish to re-examine your religion.
Re:You say it yourself. (Score:1)
That's the crux. If you're not sure if there's a god, it's possible to be entirely disinterested is his existence or lack thereof.
It certainly is possible. But I don't think it's wise. If someone gave you some evidence that there was five million dollars buried in your backyard, would most people be disinterested? Or to take a negative example, if someone told you your house was going to explode with you in it, would you be disinterested? There are stakes involved that shou
Re:You say it yourself. (Score:1)
I tend to assume most Christians at least have some intention of proslyetizing, just because it's a requirement in all Christian religions I'm familiar with.
As for Pascal's wager, which this is boiling down to...to use your analogy. My backyard is 16 acres. You could give me a fair bit of evidence that there was $5mil buried in my backyard (there is a God), but without specifics or a better way of looking (which God is the TRUE God) there's a lot of ground to search and the pote
It takes more than that (Score:2)
Re:You say it yourself. (Score:1)
Well... don't get me wrong. If someone on
Re:You say it yourself. (Score:1)
Your distinction between prosletizing and evangelizing is noted, with the caveat that others may draw the line between informing, persuading, and aggressive persuading differently. Which is always a problem, of course.
While I like your analogy, I'm more inclined to believe that if your scale of 1-100 is "What's Humanly Possible", then even if God is so far outside the
Re:You say it yourself. (Score:1)
One, "Roshi" is a Zen title, loosely meaning "respected one"--one of the tenets of Zen is that the teacher-student relationship is very loose, and teachers are expected to occasionally learn from students, while students are expected to take responsibility for sessions as though they were teachers themselves. Just so you don't search for Roshi thinking it's part of his name. =)
Two, if you're really interested, and I have time in the next week, I'll glean some of the most useful bits out of my
Re:You say it yourself. (Score:1)
Heh. If I'd be clever enough to do that, my fingers would be a lot less sore at the end of the day... and I'd probably stop wearing out keyboards...
Agreed. I haven't really thought too deeply about it before. But I think that the line that must not be crossed is trying to force
Re:You say it yourself. (Score:1)
Humans are capable of goodness on a scale of 1-100.
God is assumed to be goodness 1,000,000,000.
Your theory: we need to be saved, because no one can match God's goodness and anything less is ultimately abhorrent to him. (paraphrase, I know *g*)
My theory: God does not so much care if we're saved, he judges us solely on where we stand on the 1-100 scale, because he made us that way and I can't believe God would rig the game so we couldn't win it. When we die, if we score high e
Re:You say it yourself. (Score:1)
Congrats to your bro!
If?? (Score:2)
Romans 1 says:
18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness,
19 because that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them.
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 they are without excuse.
21 For even though
Re:If?? (Score:1)
The point of that line of the post was to address his claim of indifference to the existence of God. It was an "if-then" statement to try to get him thinking. The "if" wasn't intended to express doubt, it was just the necessary part to get him to the "then."
John 15:18 has come to my mind a few times. Especially during the personal insults. If only they knew how it makes me jump for joy!
18 If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first.
19 If you belonged to the worl