Sunwalker

Hugs to @BlinkZ, @Blue, @ChB, @Dubwave Nightshadow, @Incognito Bandito, @Jeric, @Kyoshi, @LittleMac, @Mario3D13, @Mikepokemon9, @Prospekt, @Steel Accord, @Sterling Crimson, @Trotteur Sauvage, @weesh and @Znex

Happy Pentecost! Thank you, @PiratePony . Today at my church I had a nice surprise. There's an old lady of our community who I visit sometimes, she is sick so she couldn't come much to church. However today she managed to come, and she sit next to me. She really likes coming, and I am really glad for her.

Thank you very much! Hopefully it should be a great week, I like this time of the year.

I can say that I understand your feeling, however it’s better to not judge other people since usually it’s not possible to know what they went through or are thinking. Also, I presume that you feel this way because you were unfairly treated by some other atheists, but it’s better to not continue the vicious cycle. Despite any differences between people, in the end of the day everyone is a fragile individual, we all are capable of suffering pain, hunger, cold, etc. It is important to support each other. You do not need to feel good at first, it is not about what you feel, but what you actually do. The latter is something that you can control. Therefore, I would recommend for you to give some words of support anyways.

"And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, full of grace and truth; we have beheld his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father." Merry Christmas to everyone!

I think that it was an well-balanced comment, given what you know about the subject. You didn't try to talk about stuff that you didn't know, you were honest about what you know and talked a bit about it.

This is something that I wanted to answer long ago, but I didn't because English isn't my first language and I am not really much familiar with the English Bible translations. That being said, the Catholic English translations that look the best for me are the Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition (RSVCE) and the Douay-Rheims American Edition (DRA), with the former being the best of these two in my opinion. I think that a pitfall in Bible translations is trying to simplify the language, as this can end up inadvertently omitting certain nuances or even changing the original meaning of the text. The RSVCE looks detailed and formal enough for me. But that doesn't mean that other translations are bad, I am just talking about what I have some knowledge of. Amen!

Hello! Apologies for taking a bit to respond. First, I am sorry for what happened to you. That was really uncalled-for. I understand that it can give a really bad image about God, but ultimately it affects God in no shape or form and also has no bearing on his existence. Ultimately, the one who should be followed is God himself, and not those who claim to act in his name. Their purpose should be just to lead people to God, but let's not forget that people are imperfect and they can commit mistakes. Anyways, I see the idea of evolution as indifferent to the existence of God. The idea of God talks about someone who is the first cause of everything else, that is, God as the responsible for the Universe, including laws by which the Universe works, as well anything else beyond the Universe. God can make things to work in any way as he see fits, so whether evolution is correct or not, it is compatible with the idea of God. Therefore it's not necessary to abandon knowledge in order to follow God. Actually, it's just the opposite: the idea of God presumes that there is a logic by which things work, that is, absolute truths. So seeking knowledge is also an way to understand God, which is why Science was developed in the West, which has a strong influence of Christianity. The Catholic Church has founded the first universities, for example, and even today quite a few universities have a Christian upbringing. About seeking God. Well, everyone has a sense to seek for meaning, to look for something deeper. It's not unlike the sense to seek food when one is hungry, or water when one is thirsty. Those are things that are necessary to live, and it would be quite pointless to have the sense to seek something that cannot be found. Even when people don't believe in God, they still seek for something more, except that they might end up replacing God by pretty much anything else (like power, fame, fortune, objects, other people, or --worse-- themselves). Though these things might have their use when properly used, they are unable to fill the hole that only God can fill. Sometimes the only way to realize that is when you experience the emptiness yourself. Faith is something that is a gift from God. And he gives it to whoever wants and seeks it. It might takes a while, even the saints go through long periods of spiritual dry spell. I presume that it happens so one can seek God in a more uninterested way, without second intentions. Anyways, I would suggest to first seek a different group than the one where you used to be, be them from the Luteran Chruch or otherwise, one that worships God in a mature way. Having the help of other people IRL to help you and learn from is really a good push forward.

I have not been around much lately, because I was also busy with college. Tomorrow, July 4th 2017, is the defense of my PhD Thesis on Chemistry. I would like to request some prayers, so everything goes well By the way, here are some pictures of my doctorate work: https://goo.gl/photos/gGMj7m55t2yMFDNy6

One reason that I do not judge people is because only God knows what actually goes inside them, specially on their innermost thoughts. What goes there may change everything, there are things that may not be readily apparent for the outsider observer, that would change everything "if only they knew or understood". Even them, with God, between Mercy and Justice, the former always prevails, as long there are still a bare minimum of good intentions. God does not blame anyone on stuff they have no control of, or that they don't even know it is wrong. Lastly, but not less important, God respects one's will and will not force people into anything It is also important to remember that being Christian doesn't magically exclude someone from doing bad stuff. Actually, it should be an way to help avoiding sin. But people may still fail anyways. Judas betrayed Christ himself, in spite of all chances that Jesus gave him. In a sense, almost all of the Apostles also did, because nearly all of them left Jesus at the Calvary, specially Peter who denied him three times. Peter and the others, except for Judas, repented of it later and made amends. At any rate, God is always open for forgiveness. With the coming of Christ, God became something closer than a distant authority figure, he became a Father. No matter what, the Father always respects your will, though.

I have started watching SpongeBob back when it started airing, this show still brings me good memories! Currently it has been some time since I last watched it, but I still hold the show in a good regard. My favorite episode of them all is the one of the Imagination Box. It's the one that best exemplifies a child's innocence, and I say that in a positive manner. Anyways, if you want to catch up with the show, here is all the episodes at the same time, lol: See you all around!

I am from São Paulo, Brazil. Nice to meet you

That is fine, @zerox. Those militant people seems to be unable to realize that things are more complicated that people just being A or B, there are much more nuances and differences than what they give credit for. Being misunderstood or falsely accused of lying is really annoying. From what I can notice, they are rather seeking some sort of "social approval" by defending some cause, than actually being interested on discussing things. About your question, yes, you could say that I am interested. I have been interested on discussions about having or not faith for quite sometime. Personally I think that between agnosticism and atheism, it is easier to make an argument for the former, because a negation is hard to prove, one would have to ultimately know every single case and somehow show that it is not there on every single one of them. Stating that one cannot know everything sounds more realist for me, when considering between those two propositions. Anyways, on such kinds of subject it is not a single event or discussion that is going to define one's position, since we are talking not about something simple as which shirt to wear, but rather about an entire worldview, one that defines how everything else is seem and its meaning. In other words, a paradigm. It's the combination of one's experiences and ideas through the entire life. That's why one should not rush, and also understands that other people might see things differently, as the people you talked with should had been understood.

No. Science cannot prove even the validity of its own methods, as this would be circular reasoning and neither the existence of its own object of study, which are the laws of nature. The scientific method by it's turn comes from Philosophy, which has an influence of Christian Theology, more specifically the belief that there is an immutable absolute truth that can be reached by our mind. Without this premise it would not be possible to make predictions from know facts, which is one of the most celebrated features of the scientific method. And it is beyond science to prove this premise because science comes from it. The field of the knowledge that studies knowledge itself and its nature is called Epistemology, and this is where the discussion on the existence of God takes part.