What's your spiritual faith and why do you believe in it?

Mott the Hoople said:
What about predestination? That's a fundamentalist concept that would conflict with my egalitarian values if it wasn't for the fact that I'm better than ya'll. ;)
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???.....predestination isn't a fundamentalist concept.....about the only denominations that give it lip service are the Calvinists....and even then, it doesn't teach what you imply.....
 
The 12th Man said:
I just can't take the Anglicans seriously. Catholic that I am, I have plenty of respect for Lutherans, Calvinists, Methodists, etc., but none for the Anglicans. Considering it exists so that marriage could be watered down, I did find it appropriate when those Episcopal churches accepted gay marriage.
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If you're catholic you may not condone same sex marriage. Ask your boss. But as you do, you're no better than one of us damn anglicans.
 
PostmodernProphet said:
???.....predestination isn't a fundamentalist concept.....about the only denominations that give it lip service are the Calvinists....and even then, it doesn't teach what you imply.....
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Actually pre-destination encompasses a lot of Christian philosophies because it also encompasses one of the main attributes of God which is being omniscent.
 
Celticguy said:
then hes lived his life favoring right over wrong which a worthy goal with or without God.
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Ah, the typical "Pascal's Wager" philosophical response! But an atheist can live a virtuous life similar (if not the same) as the Christian. I think morality is not a matter of metaphysical beliefs. Right and wrong action is both a personal and collective perspective. Also, if he is wrong and the Muslim is right he is doomed to suffer for all eternity, not because he is Christian but because he associated partners with God.
 
Sun Devil said:
Actually pre-destination encompasses a lot of Christian philosophies because it also encompasses one of the main attributes of God which is being omniscent.
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God as omniscient IS a fundamentalist concept......however, being omniscient does not equal predestination, which again, is NOT a fundamentalist concept......in truth, any fundamentalist would probably attack you if you said he believed in it.....it was one of the main points of contention between the reformed baptists and the mainline baptist churches.....
 
Sun Devil said:
Ah, the typical "Pascal's Wager" philosophical response!
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again no.....Pascal's Wager is that one should believe, because it costs him nothing if he's wrong and he's in heaven if he's right......CG's statement was that he's living his life the way he believes it should be lived, regardless of whether there's a God or not........
 
Sun Devil said:
But what if you're wrong about God?
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Well, if he's right, he gets an eternal paradise. If he's wrong, and consciousness just disappears upon death, it doesn't matter either way. Then again, the reality could be a deity which punishes those not obeying a religion we no longer practice. Who knows.
 
PostmodernProphet said:
God as omniscient IS a fundamentalist concept......however, being omniscient does not equal predestination, which again, is NOT a fundamentalist concept......in truth, any fundamentalist would probably attack you if you said he believed in it.....it was one of the main points of contention between the reformed baptists and the mainline baptist churches.....
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Focusing on the bold

Being omniscent does relate to pre-destination because it all falls under the same umbrella. For example if God is all-knowing and knows a Roman soldier is going to throw a newborn baby off a cliff because of a birth defect yet does nothing then this inaction falls under the category of morality and whether God's inaction of intervention was morally good or evil. Similar with God knowing Moses parting the Red Sea. According to Christian philosophers, God knew Moses was going to be chosen to lead the Israelites to the Promised Land and knew he was going to part the Red Sea to get there and "willed" it so. So in that respect since God being omniscent knew this beforehand and willed it (via divine intervention through providence) God not only knew beforehand, he intervened...As you can see all of this is connected and once connected it leads to another problem, as in the case of Moses this leads to the problem of Freewill (whether Moses acted on his own or was it divine influence?)
 
Rose said:
Well, if he's right, he gets an eternal paradise. If he's wrong, and consciousness just disappears upon death, it doesn't matter either way. Then again, the reality could be a deity which punishes those not obeying a religion we no longer practice. Who knows.
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Wait so if he is wrong his consciousness is merely annihilated.....Notice I said what if he is wrong and the Muslim is right? That is my point. If the Muslim is right his consciousness at least his brain is not just annihilated but his so-called soul is resurrected and is tortured. That is my point is that the argument of Pascal's Wager contains a slippery slope. as an agnostic I have the liberty to say, with billions of galaxies and stars and possible life inhabiting various planets what deity who is Lord of all that exists would care for a fucking religion when there are billions of galaxies and various forms of life? From the perspective of some distant galaxy we are a grain of sand and that is how I like to think that is how "God" sees all of life. If I walk on a beach I'm not concerned about the particulars of each grain of sand although I know the sand is there collectively because my feet sinks into it but I'm not concerned about the particulars of each grain. I'd like to think that is how God sees all of life in the universe.
 
Sun Devil said:
Focusing on the bold

Being omniscent does relate to pre-destination because it all falls under the same umbrella. For example if God is all-knowing and knows a Roman soldier is going to throw a newborn baby off a cliff because of a birth defect yet does nothing then this inaction falls under the category of morality and whether God's inaction of intervention was morally good or evil. Similar with God knowing Moses parting the Red Sea. According to Christian philosophers, God knew Moses was going to be chosen to lead the Israelites to the Promised Land and knew he was going to part the Red Sea to get there and "willed" it so. So in that respect since God being omniscent knew this beforehand and willed it (via divine intervention through providence) God not only knew beforehand, he intervened...As you can see all of this is connected and once connected it leads to another problem, as in the case of Moses this leads to the problem of Freewill (whether Moses acted on his own or was it divine influence?)
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paint is related to walls.......paint is not walls......
 
Sun Devil said:
Jarod very good post.....

I have a question. When you say you believe God is everything do you refer at least partially that some of your beliefs would be considered "indirect monotheism?" What I mean is to say God is everything seems to have some pantheistic qualities but I'm not assuming that is what you're saying but I'm guessing you mean that God's presence "emanates" from all living and non-living things...Am I close? Perhaps you can elaborate.
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Yes, that is a better way of putting it, God's presence emanates from all things. I would consider it monotheism, as I don't believe it is different Gods, its one consistent God, in fact its a kind of super universal monotheism. In fact, if you believe in a separate "devil" are you not worshiping more than one God?
 
PostmodernProphet said:
again no.....Pascal's Wager is that one should believe, because it costs him nothing if he's wrong and he's in heaven if he's right......CG's statement was that he's living his life the way he believes it should be lived, regardless of whether there's a God or not........
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If you are honest with your self, is believing or not believing really a conscious choice?
 
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