Posted by
Johnny
From Tough Questions:
- Why is faith—believing something for which there is no evidence—a virtue? Since Christians say it is, then why has God given us a brain?
- Why is rational skepticism a vice? If Christianity is true, won’t the truth hold up under scrutiny? Shouldn’t the church welcome and promote rational skepticism as a way of confirming and spreading the faith when people see that it fails to undermine Christianity? Why isn’t skeptical literature studied and refuted in Sunday School classes?
- Where is the justice in punishing Jesus for our sins? If our courts of law were to accept the punishment of someone else in the place of the criminal, we would not say that justice has been done, but that injustice has been added to injustice. Would the church have me believe that two wrongs make a right?
- Why pray? If it changes God’s mind then he is not sovereign. If it does not change God’s mind then it is superfluous.
- Why is God concerned about humans at all? If God is infinite then we must be infinitesimal to him, invisibly tiny specks in the universe. If God is eternal then we must be instantaneously expunged flits of life, too transient for an eternal being to notice. Christianity has the hallmarks of a religion of human scale and fallibility made by priests for their own ends.
- Why are women treated as chattel and inferior to men throughout the Bible (The evidence is too overwhelming to cite even a representative portion of the relevant scriptures, but a few of the more explicit examples are 1 Corinthians 11:3,9; 1 Timothy 2:12-14.)
- Why do Christians pray about whether to marry someone, when Paul says that if they want to get married they should just do it (1 Corinthians 7)?
- Why has the church done so little good and so much harm in 2000 years, while science has demonstrated remarkable progress in only 500 years? What does it say of the church that the period when it dominated western history is universally called the Dark Ages, while the period of breaking away from church dogma is called the Enlightenment?
- How did liberal Christians and their churches come to exist? If they are inclined to believe, why did they not continue to believe the “fundamentals”? Could it be because the fundamentals have insurmountable problems that discredit them? If the “fundamentals” are unnacceptably flawed for liberals, why do they believe at all?
16 comments:
"Why pray? If it changes God’s mind then he is not sovereign. If it does not change God’s mind then it is superfluous."
i'm going to comment on this, but please understand that my views come from a religious backing, not scientific in reply to this...though some of the tough questions do ring true and well..i believe prayer works, i have personal experience in this, and i think it's due to the fact that God does care about us, for he is a God of love (yes i know, i sound like sunday school) and prayer just demostrates our acceptance and need of Him and in which turn God will answer the prayers that come from the heart...oh dear i can't believe i'm saying this. but sometimes religion is given a bad rap due to the "rules" and actions of some believers...yes organized religion can be insane but i couldn't imagine living life without faith.
okay that is all i can get out right now.
Most Christians I've enountered believe that God has a plan for their lives. This often leads them to delegate making tough decisions to God, since He knows what is planned and will make the choice for them.
Why is praying for change in your life necessary if God already has a plan for your life and won't make the change? If God listens to one person and makes a change that they desire, he is indirectly admitting that his plan for them wasn't perfect and thus he is not perfect. Also, if he makes a change for one person and not for another, how does this make him a fair and just God?
The only use for prayer that makes sense to me is for asking and answering informational questions. For example, "what should I do in X situation," or "why did you do this to me?" What doesn't make sense is "Lord, please do X for me."
"and prayer just demostrates our acceptance and need of Him and in which turn God will answer the prayer"
With God being all knowing, why would you need to pray to show Him that you care. He should know how much you accept/need him without you thinking it through in your mind to Him or saying it outloud.
How come you capitalize God but not "i"?
I don't think of prayer as frivolous.
If praying "God, please give me the strength to overcome obstacle X," at least makes someone feel more confident, maybe that is all the power they need...
Ok, but by that same token, they could say "Dear Mr. Bungle, please give me the strength to overcome obstacle X." If that works for someone, so be it. But it doesn't mean that Mr. Bungle did anything.
Nor does it show that Mr. Bungle exists
So, we can say that prayer is not frivolous only in that it may comfort the person uttering it. It can't be demonstrated to actually work in the way it was traditionally intended.
Hmm, tradition. I feel a post coming on about that.
oh to answer your question reid, its weird, i feel like i should capitalize God. there! its just something i do. but as for "i", i've given up on capitalizing it, its just how i roll.
this is a great discussion. i wish i was more intelligent.
i don't believe life is pre-determined by God, so prayer is not useless. i jsut know that God is too complex for us to understand.
for example, today i feel like asking God to secure me some night time action...oh how wrong that is!! haha. i hope hell is prepared for me...
Sara, that is probably the BEST use for prayer I've ever heard. I love it. Let me know if it works, because I'm getting desperate.
Question: do you believe in an omnipotent and omniscient God? (You've covered omnibenevolent earlier).
"Nor does it show that Mr. Bungle exists"
Exists...exists. Did praying to Mr. Bungle work in giving you strength? If so, Mr. Bungle exists...or at least the power of Mr. Bungle exists. Maybe there is no Mr. Bungle floating on a cloud in the sky answering prayers...but that doesn't mean prayers can't and won't be answered.
"Let me know if it works". Sadly, putting your hands together looking for satisfaction doesn't work very well. In fact, it is easier with one.
Mr. Bungle can exist as an entity in your mind in the form of a meme I suppose, but as an actual tangible object, Mr. Bungle does not exist when you were given the power to do something.
Being able to do something shows the power of your mind, whether it draws from Mr. Bungle as a source or simply could do it anyway really doesn't matter. It in no way makes Mr. Bungle any more real than it is inside your head.
As for pleasure from one hand...that's the only way it comes these days. It's too hard to find something else that really exists to do it for you. If Mr. Bungle existed in real life, maybe his wife would do it for me.
I love how this conversation moved to sex/masturbation in 2 different ways. Fantastic.
As a side note, Mr. Bungle used to exist. It was a band that was primarily active from 1991 - 1999. They produced some incredibly weird, but surprisingly accessible music. Listen to their 1999 release, "California" for starters, because it's the most accessible and the most concise.
yes johnny, prayer does work! this is SO VERY WRONG!! haha.
"Question: do you believe in an omnipotent and omniscient God? (You've covered omnibenevolent earlier)." By this i guess you mean all seeing and all knowing? yes i do believe that is how God operates...which in turn makes me feel slightly guilty for actions...haha kidding. this is a great topic. iwish i had a post that had this much action but then i just write about mindless dribble.
oh and kevin, 4 hands are the way to go.
Woo! Go Sara! You're my new hero for obvious reasons.
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