Hey FrGamble!

Quote: FrGamble

you can probably count on one hand the people who without any doubt are certain that there is no possibility of God existing,.......

Depends on how often they got Point/Seven-Outed during their last craps session.

Quote: FrGamble

Bob nobody is talking about myths substituting for reality

Every time you state there is a
god, you're substituting the
reality of an obvious godless
universe with a myth. You've
had many chances to prove
your god theory (and that's
all it is) and you've failed them
all.

Quote:

are certain that there is no possibility of God existing, .

These is no possibility of a god existing
in this universe. This is not a supernatural
world. The Amazing Randi still has his
million dollars. People invent ghosts and
gods and magical religious icons and
rituals because it's makes their unimportant
lives seem important. The pretend they
were abducted by aliens or saved from
their sins by some son of a god because
it makes them feel special, important.
The truth is much more boring and mundane
and who needs that.

Bob, you've been told or have told yourself so many times there is no God you really can't fathom there is. It almost sounds painful to you. You want so desperately to cling to God is a myth and compare God to the Easter Bunny, a ghost, a alien, or Thor. Have you noticed than none of the talk concerning the existence of God has been religious? Lately some have been asking a religious question of how or why we can know who God is? But those questions only come after we realize that there is a God. This is based on logic, reason, and what we know of the universe (not to mention good old common sense).

So now, God must get credit for the coronavirus numbers in New York getting better?
If God is to get credit for helping, why does God not get blame for hurting?

https://www.nationalreview.com/corner/beware-governor-declaring-god-did-not-do-this-help-us-in-our-pandemic-pain-we-need-all-the-divine-help-we-can-get/

Quote: FrGamble

Bob, you've been told or have told yourself so many times there is no God you really can't fathom there is.

In fact, nobody told me there is
no god. I had to figure it out for
myself. I joined the Xtian group
in my early 20's and immediately
started to question everything
about it. Especially the god part.

Jesus was god and made a sacrifice
on the cross. Well that's just obviously
silly, god can't make sacrifices, he's
god. Nothing about god made any
sense. So I started asking logical
questions and not only did the people
in my group have no answers, they
treated me like I was a leper. Why
couldn't I just accept things and
shut up about it.

So no, I don't 'desperately' cling to
god as a myth. Been looking for
any evidence of a god for decades
and so far have come up with zip.
You have made it abundantly clear
over the years that there is no
evidence, that all you have is faith
and the word of other people. I
need a little more than that..

Quote: Evenbob

Jesus was god and made a sacrifice
on the cross. Well that's just obviously
silly, god can't make sacrifices, he's
god.

FrG, can you address this?

Quote: FrGamble

Bob, you've been told or have told yourself so many times there is no God

This is a hilarious statement. In
1970 if you were an atheist you
kept your mouth shut. There
was one famous atheist, her name
was Madalyn Murray O'Hair and
she was hated and reviled in the
press. She was an ugly old battleaxe
and the last thing you wanted to
be was be like Madalyn Murray O'Hair.

So nobody but nobody told me
to be an atheist. I was totally open
to the idea of a god when I joined
the Xtian group. And I recall I
was pretty happy with it for about
a month. But then my questions
started coming and I realized these
people had no proof their god
even existed, let alone a reason for
believing as they did.

95% of them were stragglers from
a Xtian upbringing and this was a
form of rebellion to them. Joining
a little group that was apart from
their family church. They had no
questions, they just blindly accepted
every wacky Xtian idea as truth.
I couldn't so that.

Quote: SOOPOO

FrG, can you address this?

God sacrificing something is like
the rich owner of a factory
'sacrificing' his fancy expensive
lunch every Thursday to eat
in his company cafeteria with
his lowly employee's to show
he's just one of the guys. He's
not really sacrificing anything,
it's for show only.

That's Jesus on the cross. God
saying 'look at me, look what
I'm sacrificing'. All the while
knowing full well he's sacrificing
nothing. But it's all a myth anyway,
best not to examine it too closely.

Quote: Evenbob

95% of them were stragglers from
a Xtian upbringing and this was a
form of rebellion to them. Joining
a little group that was apart from
their family church. They had no
questions, they just blindly accepted
every wacky Xtian idea as truth.
I couldn't so that.

I've noticed this. Many xtians are 'godhopping' going from one church that didn't quite fit, to the next church that didn't quite fit. Never challenging the core problem of there being no god.

I think I invented that new word "Godhopping", I'll have to use that somewhere else, given the chance. Each little church across the land thinks they are the ones tha actually figured out the true Jesus, when what they have found is a group of semi like minded people who won't question their belief.

Quote: SOOPOO

FrG, can you address this?

As I've mentioned we are in the midst of an important question about God's existence. I think we are getting clarity on the reality that there is a "God" as we have discussed it. I'd like to make sure we are on the same page here first and foremost. The problem with addressing Bob and his question is that it is about theology and specifically the Christian religion. If someone is not even able to use their reason to come to the clear conclusion that there is some "God" that obviously created and sustains all that exists it makes it very difficult to have a good discussion on the nature of God, the meaning of sacrifice, the life and teaching of Jesus, the fulfillment of the law, incarnation, etc. It is usually just met with ridicule and closed mindedness.