[onslowe]

I am another who thinks the OP is right. I am thankful that I've reached a point in my journey where I am busy enough with my own faith and do not engage others in pointless 'faith' debates or "Is God a myth?" arguments. I believe and that's ok for me. (And I am not a fundamentalist, but I do hold with the fundamentals of Christianity.)

No one can do more than pray for oneself and for others.....'Lord...help my unbelief.'

Best wishes to all above.

[justjim]

Originally Posted by donb9006

It's fine and dandy as long as it's based on a fact or truth. When people have opinions and beliefs that are irrational, based on lies, then it becomes a problem.

"The Truth....is a beautiful and terrible thing and should be therefore treated with great caution". J. K. Rowling

[graciegirl]

Some inner voice tells all of us. It is wrong to hurt.

[billethkid]

And who defined a miracle as one in a million.
A convenient assertion to facilitate a position or stance.
Too much poetic license and arbitrary defining to suit me.

The tone however has a vaguely familiar ring!
Butkus

[Parker]

Originally Posted by DougB

You are a miracle

DougB, this was a great post. That baby foot is now stuck in my head today, in a good way. (Why is it you never have a bad post?)

[cromlich]

awesome

[tucson]

Originally Posted by KeepingItReal

No need to try and argue a point for it would be useless but I do hope and pray you are able to find something to trust and believe in more than just the things you can see. When the storms of life come, and they will come, it may be too late. God does not take second to anything, including oneself.

KJV John 12:37
But though he had done so many miracles before them, yet they believed not on him:


KJV Hebrews Chapter 11

1 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.

3 Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear.

6 But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.

7 By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house; by the which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith.

"And the truth shall make you FREE!" Thanks "KeepingItReal", for the perfect post of God's Holy Word :-)

[lightworker888]

the scientist, the believer, the pragmatist, the optimist, the agnostic, the pessimist.....etc Isn't it a miracle that we can all get along! And are there moments when each of us is one of these? Maybe it's a miracle that all our parts can cooperate enough to keep us "sane"...JMHO


LW888

[rubicon]

Vision a POW behind bars one sees the ground the other the stars.

The debate here while cerebrally stimulating will always end with "faith based " or "no one knows".

Remember basic philosophical question "Ï think and therefore I am" It has now been altered to Ï think, I think and therefore "I am"

We have all struggled with these basic questions of life and they are indeed intriguing as the make up of the universe people etc is truly magical and appears to be more intelligently designed than happenstance.

Personally I reached a point in my life where while I still view my surroundings with the eye of a child I have settled with the fact that the reasons will never be known to me while I still live. Perhaps in death .

[kittygilchrist]

I reached a point where I stopped trying to figure out God with my mind and used faith. That only works for people who have faith. It's a conundrum, how that works.

[donb9006]

Originally Posted by KeepingItReal

No need to try and argue a point for it would be useless but I do hope and pray you are able to find something to trust and believe in more than just the things you can see. When the storms of life come, and they will come, it may be too late. God does not take second to anything, including oneself.

KJV John 12:37
But though he had done so many miracles before them, yet they believed not on him:


KJV Hebrews Chapter 11

1 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.

3 Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear.

6 But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.

7 By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house; by the which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith.

Why would you pray for me to relinquish my responsibility for my own life to something/someone else? Are people genetically predisposed to cede control to "higher powers"? Are we predisposed to cede control to authority? It makes me wonder because of the prevalence of people who think like that. Look at all the religions in the world, each tries to "control" your thoughts and actions. Ever wonder why?

Oh, and you can't use your own book to prove something. Especially a book that has been tweaked and changed over the years to "fit". The Bible is a shadow of the original writings. Why are so many of the other "books" left out? Christianity itself is a shadow of the original idea. King James had the Bible completely rewritten, the "official canon" has changed much over the years. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biblical_canon

The New Testament is pretty much all the work of Paul. Who never met Jesus but seemed to know everything about him. Paul is pretty much the founder of Christianity. He's the Muhammad. Christianity would be a small time sect if not for Constantine who declared Rome would be Christian...pretty much making the entire civilized world Christian. I could go on and on...

Let me know if you want to talk seriously about religion...but be prepared to have your world view shattered. It's why we're not supposed to discuss it. The light of truth outshines lies.

Originally Posted by justjim

"The Truth....is a beautiful and terrible thing and should be therefore treated with great caution". J. K. Rowling

Terrible to those who lie...beautiful to the honest. Why should the truth be treated with caution? If it's always better to be truthful (is it?), why is that quote, quote worthy? That looks like a quote a relativist would use...one whom picks and chooses when to be truthful. She's a writer of fiction...she's an authority on truth? Really?

Originally Posted by tucson

"And the truth shall make you FREE!" Thanks "KeepingItReal", for the perfect post of God's Holy Word :-)

Yes it will...if you let it. Look within, not to someone else for the truth. The Bible as you read it...whichever version you prefer...isn't even CLOSE to the "original texts" which themselves were written decades after the fact during a time when 99% of the population was illiterate and passed things verbally. Remember the "telephone" game as a child? After 4 or 5 times being passed on, the original message was lost. You believe in an idea, not reality as it occurred.

Originally Posted by rubicon

Vision a POW behind bars one sees the ground the other the stars.

The debate here while cerebrally stimulating will always end with "faith based " or "no one knows".

Remember basic philosophical question "Ï think and therefore I am" It has now been altered to Ï think, I think and therefore "I am"

We have all struggled with these basic questions of life and they are indeed intriguing as the make up of the universe people etc is truly magical and appears to be more intelligently designed than happenstance.

Personally I reached a point in my life where while I still view my surroundings with the eye of a child I have settled with the fact that the reasons will never be known to me while I still live. Perhaps in death .

I like how you think...pragmatic with optimism.

[billethkid]

"....but be prepared to have your world view shattered...."

How very ominous....does this infer the rest of us don't know what you or others profess to know?

btk

[donb9006]

Originally Posted by billethkid

"....but be prepared to have your world view shattered...."

How very ominous....does this infer the rest of us don't know what you or others profess to know?

btk

Don't YOU profess to know what I/we don't know? Heaven, hell, judgment, I'd consider that professing to "know" something. Religious folks throw around professed "knowledge of the unknown" all the time. Yet "we're" not allowed to profess different knowledge? We're looked at as idiots for "not getting it".

[Barefoot]

Originally Posted by donb9006

Don't YOU profess to know what I/we don't know? Heaven, hell, judgment, I'd consider that professing to "know" something. Religious folks throw around professed "knowledge of the unknown" all the time. Yet "we're" not allowed to profess different knowledge? We're looked at as idiots for "not getting it".

How did we get from a beautiful picture of a newborn baby's foot to this? By mentioning the word "miracle"? Hopefully, if you look around, you will be lucky enough to see a world filled with small miracles.

[billethkid]