Choosing a faith

Why are you conflating Christianity at large with a cult leader?

Perhaps you don't understand my point. Scientific law exists and has existed without humans. We simply learned the theory and law which proved what already existed and which had been operational in practice. Discovered does not equate to "Created". There are numerous...perhaps infinite relationships between notes that have not yet been composed or defined to the satisfaction of human understanding or enjoyment. To argue otherwise would place humans on the level of creators. And yet there is nothing new under the sun.Your warped deification of human reasoning explains your anti bent.

Wellll Excuuuuse Me!

We? We schmee....I recognize no group authority here.kick rocks

You have one final message pending on the other topic. Then the topic will close. Why not post this over there?

I'm not upset with anyone at EvC at the moment. Did you understand why I labeled you a Binitarian? One thing I have noticed about Biblical Creationists at this Forum is that they *all* to a tee pick on Darwin. Darwin becomes a sort of a straw-man. Similarly, had Henry Ford *not* invented the Model T, someone else would have done so, likely under a different name. Out of curiosity, I put your sentence into the search engine to check where you were getting your sources.
This is what popped up:
1) National Geographic--. Theory of Evolution
2) Evidence for evolution (article) Khan Academy --Evidence for evolution
3) Lamarckism | Facts, Theory, & Contrast with Darwinism--Lamarckism (scientific theory)Which only shows that there are far more names to question than simply Darwin. So out of curiousity, what are your sources as you attempt to learn just enough science to refute it?Ever since I came to this forum 19 years ago, I never cared one whit about disproving evolution. And I was newly saved when I first came here. Fair enough. Keep in mind though that this topic is not about evolution but about faith.

GDR in Message One:

---

Firstly, I contend that there is only one cosmic intelligence that is responsible for our existence. It doesn’t matter what name you give that deity, it might be god, allah or zeuss. What matters is the characteristics or nature of the deity. As theists we all form our own view of the nature of our deity and that is an issue of faith. (For that matter everyone has a world view and live by some code whether they adhere to it or not.) My point is that it isn’t about choosing which deity that we choose to worship, but the nature of whatever deity we choose.
​
Secondly I suggest that the Bible was inspired. Now when I say that I recognize that people have been inspired to do all sorts of things. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings was inspired. So yes, I agree that God inspired people to write their stories and understandings, in the case of the OT, of Yahweh and then in the NT of Jesus as the true representative of Yahweh. That does not mean that He told them what to write, but to simply tell their stories and their beliefs which were all ultimately combined to make up the 66 books of the Bible.
​
So then as Christians we have to start with Jesus. I think a good place in how to understand that is when John in his gospel says that the “Word became Flesh” with Word representing God’s nature. Jesus said that we should “love our enemy”, “turn the other cheek”, “go the extra mile etc. He called us to love others and beyond that to love others sacrificially. That is the great commission. How then do you square that with the OT contending that Yahweh committed genocide, ordered His followers to commit genocide and even to have the community stone to death neighbours for ridiculous offences. YOU CAN’T. As humans we all look for “Blessed Assurance”. It is a faith. So then, is our faith in Jesus as God’s representative or in a literal reading of an inerrant Bible. It can’t be both.
​
The other Biblical translation for inspired is God breathed. I contend that is a better term. God breaths life into the Scriptures so that we can read the genocidal accounts and understand just how easy it is for us as humans to hate, and completely walk the opposite road to the road that Jesus calls us to walk.
​
For too many years the church has put the emphasis on personal salvation. All humanity, (and maybe even beyond humanity), are chosen. However, we aren’t chosen for salvation, but for vocation. We are all called to spread God’s love as embodied by Jesus into the world. As to what happens to us after our deaths is in God’s hands and with the resurrected Jesus we do have a small glimpse of what that might be.

---

​
​

Out of curiousity, I typed Is Evolution A proven Fact? into the Duck Duck Search Engine.The only source among the six or seven listed that challenged the legitimacy of evolution came from Ken Ham. From Answers In Genesis which trains newbie believers into defending Biblical Creationism. The rest of the sources were interesting seeing as how they were not making the same argument (Evolution VERSUS Creationism) but were merely explaining the science and theory behind modern biology. If we were to somehow magically agree and throw out the entire theories behind Biological Evolution, what would we have left? Does anyone expect society to slap their foreheads, realize that the Bible is literally true and bow at the altar of Genesis? (Dont forget to visit Ken Hams enormous wooden boat depicted to look like the Ark of Noah! )Again, Im not at all sure why defending literal creationism is a hill worth dying on.This article was informative. 15 Answers to Creationist NonsenseAs was this one: The five most common misunderstandings about evolution

The Conversation:

---

5. Religion is incompatible with evolution

​

It is important to make it clear that evolution is not a theory about the origin of life. It is a theory to explain how species change over time. Contrary to what many people think, there is also little conflict between evolution and most common religions. Pope Francis recently reiterated that a belief in evolution isn’t incompatible with the Catholic faith. Going further, the reverend Malcom Brown from the Church of England stated that “natural selection, as a way of understanding physical evolutionary processes over thousands of years, makes sense.” He added: “Good religion needs to work constructively with good science” and vice-versa. I fully agree.

---

This is where you stop reading the Bible for yourself and go off on your church's teachings.
Light on Day 1 but the Sun on Day 4?I get that you believe that your church has sound teachings, but just like dwise1 is sweating me in regards to Calvary Chapel, I am going to sweat you in regards to the United Church of God.First, let's examine what the church says about itself. About the United Church of God
Your church is very thorough in its education of members beyond the Bible itself. I don't see any false teachings yet, but I am wary since years ago I listened to Herbert W. Armstrong.Apparently, your church was a reorganized new start, though Ambassador College descends from Armstrong as does the magazine (formerly known as The Plain Truth ) and now known as Beyond Today.
To be fair, it looks as if your church UCG split from Armstrong's Worldwide Church Of God in 1995.I'm not challenging your core teachings yet, though it appears that you have been taught an agenda. Dwise1 reminds me that Calvary Chapel had a strong agenda and that there is organized religion behind the scenes.

Critical Thinkers, by contrast, believe *NOTHING* without verifiable evidence. If God exists, I wonder why He set it up that way.And I wonder why you, who never was a believer, can throw stones at belief simply due to the fact that it does not ascribe to your rules of evidence?

First, I want to go deeper into how you actually read the Bible and rejected all of it.I can see a guy who goes to marriage counseling, gets handed authoritarianism by Christian sources, rejects the whole kit and kaboodle of Christian thinking, and becomes reinforcingly more of a critical thinker.I cant understand, however, why it is so hard to believe in Jesus Christ as Gods character.Is it the whole logical argument from older religions about anthropomorphizing God?Is it witnessing the bad behavior of self-professed believers?
For you, I know that the pattern of lies and denials among creationists was notable, butWhy this carries over into believers who have no problems with evolution mystifies me.I think I know the answer, though it is but a guess. A lot of you disapprove of conservatives.

Oh stop! That's not similar to the Bible at all! You must ask yourself why you feel the need to say such things.We fully understand that you have the position that all beliefs are but myths and fables, but your need to emphasize this shows me that you are but reinforcing your lack of belief.

All I get is that you are telling me that I have believed in a myth and a mythological savior for 30 years. So its not enough that you "outgrew your childhood beliefs" as you and others so smugly say. (Smug because it implies that you are better or smarter than I am)You are so sure that you (and your peanut gallery support group) are wiser than I am that you tell me things like "you never listen to what *we* told you and keep repeating yourself time after time after time".Do you have any idea how psychologically hurtful that sort of stuff can be? I think i'm getting it. I'm no longer welcome here. Why should I keep going to a forum where nobody respects my intelligence *or* my beliefs and acts as if they are smarter than me?

Whose are they then? I was speaking to you symbolically as a human.Only humans take credit for natural laws that existed before humans themselves did.I don't know why I talk to you either. You call me names such as hateful, racist, ignorant, and vile and disgusting.Apparently one has to convert into being a progressive secular humanist before they are given any respect around here.This morning I realize that I am seeking respect from the wrong people.Maybe I need a break.

That goes both ways. I do need a break though.

If God in any way knows and knew the future before it happened, He KNEW we would fail. The whole reason He allowed us to choose to try is because He knew we wanted it that way. Nobody can accuse Him of being evil due to His foreknowledge.Your planet will get wrecked further. Famines and floods. The whole nine yards. And its wrong for end-timers to simply give up and, as dwise1 says, ignore polishing the brass on a sinking ship. We are judged by how much and how hard we try (in the grand scheme of things) and according to the story Jesus and the Saints return just before we make ourselves extinct. Keep trying, nature boy.