[PLUG-TALK] Michael, On the subject of God.

Russ Johnson russj at dimstar.net
Tue Nov 18 18:06:42 UTC 2003


* Michael C. Robinson <michael at robinson-west.com> [2003-11-18 08:48]:
> The bible isn't 2000 years old in written form.  It was an oral
> tradition which had not been officially codified for at least 100 
> years after Christ's death.

I hope not. That would mean it pre-dates the nice stories it tells.
Since some of the bible is supposed to occur after Jesus' death, it
would be hard for it to be 2000 years old. 


> The six books of the Torah 
> existed longer, but written copies of even the Torah were 
> rare historically.

Everything in written form is rare, until the invention of the moveable
type press. Handscribing books takes a long time, and errors creep in. 

> The Catholic church is more than what's in 
> a book, the pope can be traced through a line of men all the 
> way back to Peter.

So you say. I'm sure the bells and whistles are well documented, that
doesn't make it any less a creation of man. 

> Accounts in the bible can be corraborated
> with Roman records and other sources

Yes, some of the bible can be corraborated. Did you see the show on
Sunday on the History Channel where they explained how the walls of
Jericho fell? It had nothing to do with God, and had everything to do
with sound waves and their actions on sand and fault lines that ran
under the walls. 

> Where your talking about
> structures mentioning pyramids, those aren't human organizations
> or religions.  Why ignore ancient traditions of faiths which 
> are not written in any book?  

I'm not. I mentioned a couple of other religions that are older than any
form of Christianity. 

> Worship of God is offering oneself to Him, purity improves 
> the offering.  The gift He offers is eternal paradise.

Prove it.

> Unless there's nothing after death, people like you Russ are
> in big trouble.

Why?

> Saying God doesn't matter when he most likely
> does care about what we do is ludicrous.

Most likely. Do you know what God says about people who have doubts? 

> Being unable to 
> control coming into existence, what makes any person think 
> they can single handedly control what happens to them after 
> death?

I have no delusions of grandeur. When I die, I'm gone. Nothing
spectacular about it. 

God is a creation of man to help him deal with death. Some people can't
handle the notion that when they die, it's over. Done. Finished. 

> I don't see religion as subjugation compared to 
> what God could do.

Some guy on another continent says boo, and you jump because he said to.
He's controlling your actions.

> He could decide that His creation 
> turned out poorly, then rectify the issue by wiping it.  
> The fact that He hasn't shows how merciful he is.  It also 
> demonstrates that humanity is of great value to God.

Or it proves that he doesn't exist, and it's all been a 2000 year old
prank played on you. 

> There's no way to prove that God doesn't exist so look
> at the above again even though it's fairly obvious you
> won't at this point.

No, I feel it is incumbent to prove that he DOES exist. The default
answer is that he doesn't exist. 

In other words, he doesn't exist until proven to exist. 

-- 
Russ Johnson
Dimension 7/Stargate Online
http://www.dimstar.net

Top post? http://www.caliburn.nl/topposting.html

Random thought #19 (Collect all 22)
"People are more violently opposed to fur than leather because it's safer to harass rich women than motorcycle gangs." - Unknown




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