Originally Posted by KeepingItReal (Post 944729)

Originally Posted by Villages PL (Post 944669)

It has been suggested more than once on TOTV that it's possible to become faithful. I'm not sure I know the right way to say it because I don't remember the exact words. It was said that there's a certain way to go about it but not with intellect. You have to be open to it in some way. So I think if people are suggesting that it's possible, I would like to know how it's done.

It has been done without someone being open to it. Take a look at Saul, for one. https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Acts+9



I believe someone said on one of the religious threads, "If you don't like the topic of religion, you don't have to read it. You can just pass it up." If you don't read something it can't be shoved down your throat. But it seems like there's more to it than that. They actually want to join in and trash the topic. In other words, if they don't like the subject of health, they don't want anyone else to have it either. So they try to destroy the thread and/or get it shut down. Why can't they just pass it by? Are you suggesting that they can't help themselves?

I came on this thread to read about religion, not about FOOD or to receive another lecture about how to eat. Sure enough... another lecture about FOOD. I refuse to not read a thread because it might go off topic, esp. into one I'm tired of hearing about. I have every right to object to that.




The lecturer? Do you think this thread is lecturing about religion? And so what if it is, you don't have to be here if you don't want to. I wouldn't mind if there would be a new thread on religion every day. I wouldn't mind if they started a separate board for religion, and I'm not a religious person. In no way would I ever accuse them of forcing religion down my throat. If I were to lose interest in it, I could just stop reading. Why don't you do the same with whatever displeases you?

Originally Posted by KeepingItReal (Post 944729)

Originally Posted by KeepingItReal (Post 944729)

Originally Posted by rubicon (Post 944713)

If you don't like the subject of health........... If you don't like the subject of religion don't read it...

Originally Posted by CFrance (Post 944747)

No, this is a debate about religion. Not food and how to eat! The body being a temple, in religious sense, has nothing to do with what to eat.


Please stop twisting subjects people are posting about out of context in order to insert your favorite subject into every thread.

Originally Posted by Polar Bear (Post 944775)

I basically agree with this principle. The only problem with the if-you-don't-like-the-topic-then-don't-read-it approach is that some posters will try to turn any topic into a discussion of their pet topic.

Originally Posted by quirky3 (Post 944773)

Fyi, Stephen Hawking is a lifetime member if the Pontifical Academy of Sciences, a scientific academy of the Vatican.

Here is a quote from the then-Pope (Pope Benedict XVI) in November 2012, regarding the Pontifical Academy of Sciences:

"Dialogue and cooperation between faith and science are urgently needed for building a culture that respects people and the planet...Without faith and science informing each other "the great questions of humanity leave the domain of reason and truth, and are abandoned to the irrational, to myth, or to indifference, with great damage to humanity itself, to world peace and to our ultimate destiny."

Originally Posted by CFrance (Post 944747)

Originally Posted by onslowe (Post 944767)

Excellent post, CF France. Truthful and precise. :)

Originally Posted by Polar Bear (Post 944775)

I basically agree with this principle. The only problem with the if-you-don't-like-the-topic-then-don't-read-it approach is that some posters will try to turn any topic into a discussion of their pet topic.

Originally Posted by KayakerNC (Post 944776)

:agree: Thanks for saying it.

Originally Posted by tedquick;9***31

While I cannot provide a definitive answer to the two questions that VPL asked, if I understand what kitty is suggesting, and that being that man has blocked his “approachability” with denial or a heart that disallows God’s entreaties, then the result will be something other than God’s intended goal.

God’s freewill gift to us is both a blessing and a curse. The blessing is that we can choose faith or no faith. The curse is that we can choose faith or no faith. Two or more people, each having shared identical experiences, will rarely, due to filtering through their own personal histories, end up with indistinguishable conclusions; similar, perhaps, but rarely identical. Our freewill (and what a powerful and liberating gift [except for its simultaneous curse]) is perhaps one of the most valuable gifts that God has given to mortal man, second only to His Son which delivered, to us, Grace. We can choose. We can choose right or wrong. We can choose life or death. We can choose to have faith or not to have faith. We can choose to believe or not to believe. Or can we?

I believe in God. It is comforting to know that the Triune has been forever. It is comforting to know that the Triune will be forever. While I must admit that it is a challenge for me to comprehend, before the Big Bang, that there was no time and that there was nothing but an infinite singularity, there is some comfort in knowing that there was/is “something out there” that is greater than mankind. I believe that something to be God.

I am additionally pleased that it is not up to me to judge the belief of others nor is it up to me to judge the unbelief of others. I do think it is sad that the non-believers have no source or no anchor on which to lean when their worlds are falling apart. The opposite of that is also sad; to whom do they turn when they want to thank “someone” for the extraordinary lives that they may be living: or do they think that it is all of their own doing? (Sadly that used to be me. Gladly that used to be me).

Originally Posted by Patty55 (Post 944814)

I really would like answer to my original question on this topic. When you all quote the bible do you do it from memory or do you look it up? Not being snarky or sarcastic, I've found it amazing how you all just whip them out.

I was brought up Catholic, we keep it simple. It comes down to "Where is God? God is everywhere." Then you hook up the trailer and off you go.