The Holy Trinity

June 5th, 2018 at 8:54:50 PM permalink
FrGamble
Member since: Oct 24, 2012
Threads: 67
Posts: 7596
Quote: Wizard
I agree. I would explain it as needing somebody to blame when there is a bad crop.


I think this immature understanding of God quickly moved from this idea to more of somebody who established the unquestioned and universal laws that govern when one needs to plant their crops.
“It is with the smallest brushes that the artist paints the most exquisitely beautiful pictures.” (
June 6th, 2018 at 12:47:58 AM permalink
Evenbob
Member since: Oct 24, 2012
Threads: 146
Posts: 25010
Quote: FrGamble
Are you calling me and all who believe in God insane?


Ya know, when I was a kid, nobody
talked about having Jesus as their
best friend. Nobody said they had
a personal relationship with Jesus.
When Pat Robertson said it in the
70's, they said he was loony.

Now every Xtion says it, they eat
drink and sleep with Jesus. They
talk to him and Jesus talks back. I
hear it constantly. If you go to
a shrink and tell him a dead guy
is your best friend, and you talk
to him every day, do you know
what they do? But if you tell them
it's Jesus, do you know what they do?

What's an atheist to think about all this,
you tell me. What conclusion
should I draw.
If you take a risk, you may lose. If you never take a risk, you will always lose.
June 6th, 2018 at 12:55:30 AM permalink
Evenbob
Member since: Oct 24, 2012
Threads: 146
Posts: 25010
Quote: FrGamble
every culture throughout history has a notion of "God' .


Every culture needs something to
explain what they don't understand,
so they invent a power outside
themselves to blame. The needs
for gods disappear when science
makes progress. For instance, we
no longer pray and do animal sacrifices
so we'll get a good crop this year.
We use fertilizer and insecticides,
and genetically engineered strains of plants
instead.
it seems to be much more dependable
then depending on praying to some god
who doesn't exist anyway.
If you take a risk, you may lose. If you never take a risk, you will always lose.
June 6th, 2018 at 3:59:11 AM permalink
Wizard
Administrator
Member since: Oct 23, 2012
Threads: 239
Posts: 6095
Quote: FrGamble
I think this immature understanding of God quickly moved from this idea to more of somebody who established the unquestioned and universal laws that govern when one needs to plant their crops.


No matter how much one understands about farming, at the end of the day you need rain for the crops to grow. Humans like to perceive a cause for everything. Who do you blame when there is a dry year? The man in the sky, who else?

You see this at the blackjack table all the time -- we all lost because he hit when he should have stood. Humans are significance junkies, we hate not being able to blame somebody whenever anything bad happens. Married men know the feeling of getting blamed for things that aren't our fault well.
Knowledge is Good -- Emil Faber
June 6th, 2018 at 4:50:53 AM permalink
Dalex64
Member since: Mar 8, 2014
Threads: 3
Posts: 3687
Quote: FrGamble
I think this immature understanding of God quickly moved from this idea to more of somebody who established the unquestioned and universal laws that govern when one needs to plant their crops.


This is a great example of how every religions society has created a god (or gods) to their own chosen specifications.
"Everyone is entitled to his own opinion, but not to his own facts." Daniel Patrick Moynihan
June 6th, 2018 at 6:55:35 AM permalink
FrGamble
Member since: Oct 24, 2012
Threads: 67
Posts: 7596
Quote: Evenbob


What's an atheist to think about all this,
you tell me. What conclusion
should I draw.


Seems pretty obvious Bob. The only conclusion is that there is something different about Jesus.
“It is with the smallest brushes that the artist paints the most exquisitely beautiful pictures.” (
June 6th, 2018 at 8:02:51 AM permalink
FrGamble
Member since: Oct 24, 2012
Threads: 67
Posts: 7596
Quote: Evenbob
The needs
for gods disappear when science
makes progress.


Bob, I just addressed this with ace, maybe you missed the post. What you are describing is a false notion of God usually called the "God of the gaps". That is not what the Abrahamic religions and I think the Eastern as well believe about God. You are thinking of things like Thor, the God of Thunder and polytheistic and pagan gods trying to explain what they did not have the means or ability to explain. So I would agree with you that the more we understand the less people believe in the "god of the gaps", and thank God for that!
“It is with the smallest brushes that the artist paints the most exquisitely beautiful pictures.” (
June 6th, 2018 at 8:04:44 AM permalink
FrGamble
Member since: Oct 24, 2012
Threads: 67
Posts: 7596
Quote: Wizard
No matter how much one understands about farming, at the end of the day you need rain for the crops to grow. Humans like to perceive a cause for everything. Who do you blame when there is a dry year? The man in the sky, who else?

You see this at the blackjack table all the time -- we all lost because he hit when he should have stood. Humans are significance junkies,


Good point, we seem to be built and hardwired to perceive significance and purpose in ourselves and in the world around us.
“It is with the smallest brushes that the artist paints the most exquisitely beautiful pictures.” (
June 6th, 2018 at 1:03:57 PM permalink
Evenbob
Member since: Oct 24, 2012
Threads: 146
Posts: 25010
Quote: FrGamble
Seems pretty obvious Bob. The only conclusion is that there is something different about Jesus.


No, he's no different than every
other 2000 year old dead guy.
The difference is, his followers are
increasingly self deluded. There
was a part in the Scopes monkey
trial where Brady said god talked
to him. Clarence Darrow had a
field day with him on the stand, called
him everything but a raving loon.

That was how people viewed god talking
to believers 100 years ago. They were
potential mental ward patients. Now talking
to gods is an everyday thing. The patients
are running the asylum. In 1955 they
would have been locked up.
If you take a risk, you may lose. If you never take a risk, you will always lose.
June 6th, 2018 at 8:42:42 PM permalink
FrGamble
Member since: Oct 24, 2012
Threads: 67
Posts: 7596
Quote: Evenbob
No, he's no different than every
other 2000 year old dead guy.
The difference is, his followers...


Wait a second stop right here. "His followers"? Wouldn't that make Him a little different than most dead guys you know? Think about this for a bit.

Go ahead and insult and make fun. You know of course that you are wrong. For over two thousand years people have spoken about their personal relationship with Christ and the conversation through prayer. This is why almost no one would ever think you were crazy for knowing and loving the living Lord Jesus Christ. This is another big difference you seem to recognize between a dead man and the Resurrected Lord.

I have to laugh too at your feeble attempt to make it seem like Christians talking about a personal relationship with Jesus is new. Have you never read the NT, the early Church Fathers, or just about any spiritual book about Christ?
“It is with the smallest brushes that the artist paints the most exquisitely beautiful pictures.” (