tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8025355312720857456.post6290493784494712208..comments2023-02-23T09:24:01.219+00:00Comments on Life and Faith: Jesus - my imaginary friend?Dan Kinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13065774459407620529noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8025355312720857456.post-27457262856708455452011-07-16T18:34:33.851+01:002011-07-16T18:34:33.851+01:00Dan King- Thanks for the response. I've also c...Dan King- Thanks for the response. I've also considered that it's possible for more than one religion to be partly right, but I think you'd agree they differ on the ultimate truth, which is the path to a pleasant afterlife. I've looked at many of the major religions from a very objective angle, and it all comes down to blind faith in unverifiable claims, and this is my problem. I personally see the claims coming out of religion as the epitome of human existance, the desire to create subgroups with like minded people. I think any god that were to exist would be infinitely above our primal instincts.Joshnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8025355312720857456.post-19947267813852023332011-07-16T18:13:24.258+01:002011-07-16T18:13:24.258+01:00Hey Josh - thanks for your comments!
I agree with...Hey Josh - thanks for your comments!<br /><br />I agree with you that all religions make exclusive claims, but most of them also have certain things in common and to me it seems likely that all or at least many of them have got it partly right at least. I'm personally convinced by the claims of the early Christians that Jesus was and is the Son of God and by the incredible story of His self-sacrificial death and resurrection. I still have much in common with members of other faiths however, who don't share all of my convictions.<br /><br />I also think that God is ultimately well beyond our ability as humans to comprehend, but that's not to say we can't get glimpses from time to time, or that He can't sometimes reveal himself to us in ways that we can make some kind of sense of.Dan Kinghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13065774459407620529noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8025355312720857456.post-24058577289944685182011-07-16T17:16:22.649+01:002011-07-16T17:16:22.649+01:00As a skeptic, I'd have to say what you've ...As a skeptic, I'd have to say what you've experienced is also experienced by members of other religions, whether it be a state of nirvana or speaking in tongues. The problem with almost all of these religions is they make exclusive claims. So either somebody is right and everyone else is wrong, everybody is wrong, or we need to rethink our concept of "God". This is where skeptical thinking comes in, claims need to be verified with evidence, otherwise how can we differentiate all the various claims between all the various religions. I do not claim any absolute knowledge about any "god", but I think if one does exist, it is vastly different than the one that exists in the minds of humans.Joshnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8025355312720857456.post-23856924127601160932011-06-07T13:49:51.515+01:002011-06-07T13:49:51.515+01:00Hey Gary - thanks for your comments!
On the "...Hey Gary - thanks for your comments!<br /><br />On the "faith healing" thing - one of the guys I prayed for was an atheist and was more surprised than I was when the prayer got answered!<br /><br />As you say though, there are always two ways to skin something and I suspect that for now we will both continue to interpret this in different ways.<br /><br />I don't think it's fair to say though - as you've said elsewhere - that there is zero evidence. There's quite a bit of evidence in my humble opinion, it's more a question of how you interpret it. What I would concede is that there is no incontrovertible, publicly available <i>proof</i> (in the scientifically testable, falsifiable sense of that word) - but we've discussed this before and have different ideas about what this signifies!<br /><br />In my view, all of these things are <i>signs</i>. They're supposed to encourage people to go looking for God and to meet and experience Him for themselves, whilst continuing to leave the door open (at least for now anyway) for those who would rather not live in a God-oriented world.Dan Kinghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13065774459407620529noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8025355312720857456.post-889027833323909212011-06-06T09:26:22.919+01:002011-06-06T09:26:22.919+01:00Hi Dan! With regards to the things you find less e...Hi Dan! With regards to the things you find less easy to explain...<br /><br />The knowledge of others, or others have of you. Psychics have long claimed to be able to do this, and they certainly seem to be able to convince quite a few people that what they are saying is real, however they don't stand up to scientific scrutiny. This is similar to what you describe, but in a non-God context.<br /><br />I have had strange experiences where I think of something, and the person next to me says it. This happens too often to be coincidence, but tends to happen more with the people I am closer to, so is probably more that the same stimulous in the environment have led to the same brain thoughts. That's how I explain it anyway, but equally a believer might say God is giving them some insight. There are always two ways to skin something.<br /><br />Faith healing is an odd one. I guess there are no statistics out there on this one as to number of healed attempts tried versus succeeded etc! There is however good evidence of the placebo effect, and how the brain can think you're being made better and then you actually are. Faith healing surely is an even stronger version of this. To a believer, God can cure them, and they must have a great expectation that they will be cured. A much larger expectation than when taking placebo pills.GarySargenthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10182218829794322330noreply@blogger.com