The TRUE reason for the EvC controversy, and why it can not be resolved.

Do you mean uniformism or uniformitarianism?nat”u”ral”ism n 1 : action or thought based only on natural desires and instincts 2 : a doctrine that denies a supernatural explanation of the origin or development of the universe and holds that scientific laws account for all of nature 3 : realism in art and literature ” nat”u”ral”is”ticThis message has been edited by Phat, 03-24-2006 01:17 AM

GFC, would you like an avatar? I have one for you...a mobius strip!

Thats why we have a forum with a site with science forums and also faith/belief forums. Yet I beg to differ that most Christians who are not strict literalists are in fact Gnostic.Around these parts, we have two basic contrasting views among our Christian group:
1) Not all are "saved". God desires that all be saved, however, and He who began the good work is finishing it. Or...
2) Everyone is already saved (on the planet) God has done the work, and it is now up to us to behave appropriately. Just as the Pagans got it before the Pharisees and Sadducees, the atheists/agnostics will get it before the main church folk who are too haughty and exclusivist to see the big picture.Both sides agree, however, that it is not about a literal Bible in a word for word sense. Some of us disgagree over the origin of the basic thought contained within the Bible and if it can be shown to be cohesive..(Holy Spirit, maybe?) I maintain that it is the character behind the book that is important rather than the book itself.I disagree that Jesus is not literally necessary to make His philosophy valid. Jesus DOES need to live within us....yet who am I to frame the issue of the characteristics of my Omnipotant God, anyway??

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Gradually it was disclosed to me that the line separating good and evil passes not through states, nor between classes, nor between political parties either, but right through every human heart, and through all human hearts. This line shifts. Inside us, it oscillates with the years. Even within hearts overwhelmed by evil, one small bridgehead of good is retained; and even in the best of all hearts, there remains a small corner of evil. --Alexander Solzhenitsyn, The Gulag Archipelago

Hi, Paul. I guess that I can break it down to you as I believe it...(not that I understand much! )I believe that God created us long before we "created gods". Whether or not we had this instinct to "create gods" and/or be as gods ourselves came from a literal Fall or not is not too terribly important. The facts show that humans are imperfect, prone to ego-centrism, and passionate about unprovable belief systems.Likeminded believers can always cheerfully agree on most all interpretations of reality---provable or not. The challenge is the debates that are had between differing beliefs!Gnosticism, as I have always understood it, maintains that the origin of everything---be it God or be it Quantum Physics---can be figured out through human wisdom....in that enlightenment is the end result of continual education.Personally, I believe that education is a good thing for everyday life but that the deeper questions concerning our origins and our collective destiny will only be known through relationship and impartation from the Holy Spirit.Of course...how do I or anyone else convince someone who has seen no evidence of the Holy Spirit? Im still praying about that one!

I hope not! We are doing a pretty bad job of running the place without Him, thats for sure!