As an agnostic, I don't know if there is a god or not. There is no evidence either way, so I don't make the choice.
However, I am also an ex-Christian. I am very well versed in Christian beliefs. I attended a Biblical seminar and read many articles from Biblical scholars. I went to Church faithfully. I listened to the readings and the sermons.
I am also an avid fan of science and I keep updated in many areas.
I am certain the Christian view of God is wrong. God can't be omnipotent, omniscient, & all-good. At least one of those things is false.
It also astonishes me that people accept the Bible as the Word of God. It's a collection of writings (over 40 authors) written over many centuries (some of which were oral traditions long before they were written). 300 years after Jesus (roughly) the Bible was assembled. Many writings were rejected. There were hot debates on some things that were rejected as well on some things that were accepted.
The Bible was written in three ancient languages, two of which were extinct when the Bible was assembled. We don't have originals for any of it. They were all copies. Translating something the size of the Bible into a language always introduces minor errors. Translations can't be perfect on a word to word basis.
There are conflicting translations of the Bible, in English alone. Yet there are people who will argue over a specific word choice and insist that despite all the authors, monks who collected it, and translators, that it's perfect.
An all-knowing, all powerful, all-good God would have truly written the Bible himself, all at once.
I only initially accepted the Bible because the people in my life accepted it. Faith - they called it.
Yet accepting faith dooms people in other religions to finding the "true" religion. God has to be okay with people questioning their religions.
The universe I see doesn't reflect a Christian God. Christianity is wrong.
But I don't know if any other religion is right or not. If there's a god, I don't know what it is. I just know that the Christian God isn't it.
If I knew what god is like, then I wouldn't be agnostic.
God wants to be heeded. When God ordered no one to attack Iraq (in the bible, in Revelation), and listed the punishments (Revelation 15, plagues), he defines himself. God hoped that 1,000,000 Iraqis, including innocent women and children would not be murdered by a president who didn't even hesitate to attack an innocent nation. God war right, and Bush was wrong.
I don't usually respond to those who try to bait people with different beliefs, but I'm curious. What is your explanation, or your concept of a "loving God" who allows something like the Coronavirus to kill hundreds of thousands of people? If God is all-powerful, why can't He stop it? Or do you think He sent it?
Answers & Comments
As an agnostic, I don't know if there is a god or not. There is no evidence either way, so I don't make the choice.
However, I am also an ex-Christian. I am very well versed in Christian beliefs. I attended a Biblical seminar and read many articles from Biblical scholars. I went to Church faithfully. I listened to the readings and the sermons.
I am also an avid fan of science and I keep updated in many areas.
I am certain the Christian view of God is wrong. God can't be omnipotent, omniscient, & all-good. At least one of those things is false.
It also astonishes me that people accept the Bible as the Word of God. It's a collection of writings (over 40 authors) written over many centuries (some of which were oral traditions long before they were written). 300 years after Jesus (roughly) the Bible was assembled. Many writings were rejected. There were hot debates on some things that were rejected as well on some things that were accepted.
The Bible was written in three ancient languages, two of which were extinct when the Bible was assembled. We don't have originals for any of it. They were all copies. Translating something the size of the Bible into a language always introduces minor errors. Translations can't be perfect on a word to word basis.
There are conflicting translations of the Bible, in English alone. Yet there are people who will argue over a specific word choice and insist that despite all the authors, monks who collected it, and translators, that it's perfect.
An all-knowing, all powerful, all-good God would have truly written the Bible himself, all at once.
I only initially accepted the Bible because the people in my life accepted it. Faith - they called it.
Yet accepting faith dooms people in other religions to finding the "true" religion. God has to be okay with people questioning their religions.
The universe I see doesn't reflect a Christian God. Christianity is wrong.
But I don't know if any other religion is right or not. If there's a god, I don't know what it is. I just know that the Christian God isn't it.
If I knew what god is like, then I wouldn't be agnostic.
God was invented by cavemen to explain thunder.
Gods and MAGIC are the most ludicrous things primitive man ever came up with to explain anything
~
God wants to be heeded. When God ordered no one to attack Iraq (in the bible, in Revelation), and listed the punishments (Revelation 15, plagues), he defines himself. God hoped that 1,000,000 Iraqis, including innocent women and children would not be murdered by a president who didn't even hesitate to attack an innocent nation. God war right, and Bush was wrong.
If there is a God,
I doubt that any human
has ever imagined
anything, even slightly,
resembling it.
I also doubt
that it has
any special awareness
of humans.
--
Regards,
John Popelish
I don't usually respond to those who try to bait people with different beliefs, but I'm curious. What is your explanation, or your concept of a "loving God" who allows something like the Coronavirus to kill hundreds of thousands of people? If God is all-powerful, why can't He stop it? Or do you think He sent it?
If there is a god, that being is way beyond human comprehension. No human-designed religion is capable of depicting god accurately and completely.