Christian bronies: meet, greet, and mingle!

[long gone 8,929]

There are non-Christians on this thread, yes. What happens as a result is up to you. And me.

But will I really have much say in here, being that I am not religious?

[I used to be a stranger 7,993]

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Edited May 6, 2021 by Blue

[long gone 8,929]

That entirely depends upon if you're here to converse and ask questions, or argue, I would suppose.

The biggest problem with that was the last time I read a Bible was in 1996. I do not know what to question, although things I did question have been highlighted by the Skeptic's Annotated Bible.

[Deathstroke 1,564]

That entirely depends upon if you're here to converse and ask questions, or argue, I would suppose.

 

 

Scientology?

No it's for the most part a stereotype fucker with shit for brains

[I used to be a stranger 7,993]

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Edited May 6, 2021 by Blue

[long gone 8,929]

I checked a few websites in regards to the Skeptic's Annotated Bible. Here is a quotation from berenddeboer.net/sab/

"After nearly seven years, I finished this labour. Every issue raised by the author of the SAB has been answered, except occasions where the author of the SAB only made a dismissive comment. It appears that the issues he has raised have all been very old, they usually are at least two thousand years old, and he could have easily checked an available commentary. The commentary I have used most is John Gill's Exposition, available in print since 1746, and available online at many places for free.

It would be helpful for the scoffers to at least check a commentary before raising a question. Because one of the problems is that the questions raised are often not very interesting, and easily answered. As said in my preface, I have a book from Johannes Polyander in 1621 discussing many alleged contradictions which contains far deeper questions."

 

The fact that such a tremendous number of alleged contradictions have been met (and said to be overcome by some) centuries before the author of The 'SAB' was even born, and despite such objections retains a vast amount of philosophical and historical consensus, I assert means that something more is at work than simply the ontological inertia of popular opinion. I would argue the possibility that the Bible is true and that the alleged contradictions are either possible to explain, or dismissible as well.

Interesting. I don't believe I'm gonna go back to Catholicism after so long because some guy on the Internet says this and that about questions someone raised about the Bible though.

 

Last time I stepped in a church was for a wedding in 2009. I haven't had to go to a church for religious reasons since 2001. I think I'm way beyond "saving" now

[I used to be a stranger 7,993]

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[long gone 8,929]

I recently heard an interesting interpretation as to the possible status of one's salvation.

Traditionally people have thought of it like being on sides of a fence or in the areas of a Venn Diagram. "Either you are saved or you are not, and being undecided is the same as not being saved", or so the old thinking goes. I heard, and I think this is much more accurate, that salvation as a status is more like a motion. If you are going away from God, then it is likely you would not be saved. If you are focused on him and moving towards him to be more like him, then it is possible that you would be saved. The analogy helps the question of whether or not an individual can "lose" their salvation by apostatizing, and has possibly interesting implications in regards to the immoral "believer" and the moral atheist. The primary thing Jesus always said, was that he judged the heart and its motivations, not externals.

Interesting interpretation.

 

But eh, I probably couldn't go back to church anyway. I could never stay awake during sessions and, since I left the Catholic church, I've designed my life around the entire idea that I don't have to go to church anymore. To go back to it would disrupt how I live my life.

[ZisGuy 21]

I'm Christian and always will be though I just recently converted

[I used to be a stranger 7,993]

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Edited May 6, 2021 by Blue

[long gone 8,929]

Well then for heaven's sake never get married, because then you'd lose unilateral freedom over your life.

 

In regards to arguing pro-belief in God, I never said "the power of Christ compels ye to get back to Mass". We're no where near that kind of discussion, I should hope. Unless this whole time you've been equating Theism as a philosophy or Christianity as a Religion with your personal experiences at the local Catholic church.

I have that mostly planned out too. Mostly.

 

Don't blame me, I don't know what I'm talking about most of the time. I just try to make myself seem smart.

 

Back to watching Z97 board overviews I guess.

Edited July 14, 2014 by Daring

[I used to be a stranger 7,993]

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Edited May 6, 2021 by Blue

[long gone 8,929]

Good luck with that.

---

I'm sorry for how you feel about your past experiences with the Catholic church but hopefully we can continue a reasonable conversation regarding Christianity and/or theism, can't we?

Probably. It's not a subject I am well-versed in though.

[I used to be a stranger 7,993]

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Edited May 6, 2021 by Blue

[long gone 8,929]

I'm hoping here there's something we can start with that might be interesting to you. Are there any specific thoughts that you can think of? Things like, 'did Jesus really exist', "why do scientists think God isn't real', "what's the difference between Muslims and Christians and why are people killing each other over it", stuff like that.

uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh....

 

I got nothing.

[I used to be a stranger 7,993]

uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh....

 

I got nothing.

 

Kerbal Space Program is best pony.

[long gone 8,929]

Kerbal Space Program is best pony.

lol what

 

Blue, pls. Pls, Blue. Pls.

[Twilight Dirac 721]

Last time I stepped in a church was for a wedding in 2009. I haven't had to go to a church for religious reasons since 2001. I think I'm way beyond "saving" now

 

"You're never beyond saving" is practically the tag line of Christianity.  You can always rejoin the church.  Nobody will hold it against you.

Edited July 14, 2014 by Twilight Dirac

[crisahys 149]

I am quite non-denominational myself, and I have a history of church goers in my mom's side of the family. I was babtized at 9 years old, and I still consider myself a believer and active in the church community. The city I moved into is much religiously centered than the city I grew up in for 17 years. Plus I've also gone to Sky Ranch, which is a GREAT summer camp I would recommend to kids for about 4 or 5 years, and I went to Colorado through Sky Ranch for 2 weeks and hiked up the mountain.  

[pinkiepartypie 779]

I am a christian, Been since 1st grade

[long gone 8,929]

"Your never beyond saving" is practically the tag line of Christianity.  You can always rejoin the church.  Nobody will hold it against you.

Eh... nah. I already tried it and it just wasn't for me. I'm more than happy in the Church of Gabe Newell of the PC Master Race though.

 

Parody religions <3

[I used to be a stranger 7,993]

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Edited May 6, 2021 by Blue

[long gone 8,929]

My sister is sort of like you in that it's not that there are controversial positions or apparently insuperable objections to theism. She simply doesn't care, doesn't think it's important, and enjoys her hobbies. I courteously think this mindset is terribly foolish but the respect and love of a brother supersedes any logical basis from which some part of me wants to yell at her for remaining so happy in ignorance.

With all due respect, does any of the first part of that sound similar?

More or less, yes. It does sound a bit familiar. I've been looking at secular humanism, though.

[I used to be a stranger 7,993]

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Edited May 6, 2021 by Blue

[long gone 8,929]

The glory in this gif cannot be contained.

 

Basically every legitimate and historically significant Philosopher in the past several centuries has looked at the facts and said "if humanity really is a meaningless pile of atoms, our existence is a terror too abominable to comprehend", or like-thoughts. And that's not theists only, saying that. Friedrich Neitzche, the famous German religious critic and existentialist went insane not long after coming to that realization himself.

 

In the tv show Cheers, there's a scene where one of the characters goes "Maybe we'll all just random bits of matter flying through space for no reason at all." to which another character responds "...Well that's a cheerful thought." and the audience laughs off the scene. Kierkegaard, Aristotle and Dostoyevsky all said, at different times but essentially in the same way with their philosophy, in deadly seriousness "That's not funny."

 

It's only come along in the last century that people have even proposed the idea that a life without meaning was livable or enjoyable.

Well, I've enjoyed my life, with or without any God. Other than GabeN.