What is the truth about God?

[Mymom]

“GOD is a Spirit, and those worshiping him must worship with spirit and truth,” (John 4:19-24)

[naomi24]

Mymom, as far as I'm aware the authors of the Gospels are unknown, but perhaps you have access to evidence proving otherwise? If you have, I'd be very interested to see it.

Cupid, no he doesn't. Depending on your faith, he's either going to destroy anyone who doesn't worship him - or he's going to inflict eternal torment on them. Where's the love?

[LazyGun]

@ Mymom - correct. No faith in anything.

This argument from design is an old issue, and does not stand up to rational thinking. Trying to equate the universe with the creations of humans is a false analogy.

Next you will be telling us that elements within the human body ( to take just one example) display elements of irreducible complexity, that the human body is too miraculous to be anything other than design. Try using the argument from design on anyone suffering from Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia. Try explaining why the carotid artery is such a miraculous, functional design.

Its an illogical, irrational comparison.

[cupid04]

Naomi, seek and ye shall find, the door is open to everyone. Saul ridiculed Jesus yet he came to believe. Human love often fails, God's love never fails.
The vilest offender who truly believes, that moment from Jesus a pardon
receives. [taken from the hymn, 'To God be the glory'.]

[weecalf]

Why do people ask questions of which there is no answer which the mere mortal can answer .the only question which can be answered with any confidence is summit which has happen then its down to memory or being able to have a source where that answer is available No one knows the answer and if they do say so I would not believe them

[naomi24]

Cupid, not exactly unconditional love, is it.

[LazyGun]

@Sandy - Speak for yourself.

""Reins" wasn't altogether wrong. If he keeps us safe from sin, he's reined in our worst appetites."

You do humanity the disservice of assuming they can only walk a moral path with guidance from your mythical deity. Doesn't say much for you , does it, if the only way your can control your baser instincts is to have someone else do it for you - what are you, a child?

[annadomino]

At least the Plymouth brethren only berate you in the street on their soapboxes, unlike those who come on here and target the same pople day after day on the internet.

[cupid04]

Why do you say that Naomi, of course it's unconditional. Whatever you have
done in the past is all forgiven, the moment you ask Jesus into your life.
I haven't got all the answers you want. There are horrible diseases in the
world, there are people starving, there are innocent people dying. I am not
without pain in my life. Being a Christian dosen't make me immune from the
crap life throws at you. But my faith wouldn't be a faith if I give up at the
first hurdle. We have hope, because when the time comes, he will wipe away
all your tears and you will have new bodies free of disease. Don't you believe
in heaven, Naomi or some sort of afterlife. I read on another thread you were
on the other day that you believe we all have souls. What do you believe
happens to your soul when you die?

[Slapshot]

I truly worship in spirit and the truth is there is NOTHING finer than a 40year old madiera casked Glenmorangie....

[venator]

Alf - tell us about the kettle - far more interesting than this religious waffle...

[naomi24]

Cupid, your God's love isn't unconditional. If I don't worship him, he is either going to kill me off permanently, or he's going to torture me for eternity. How is that love - and how is it unconditional?

As for the rest of your post, a couple of weeks ago I took the trouble to give you a long answer to one of your questions, and you didn't even bother to acknowledge it. Now if I do the same again, will I be wasting my time?

[cupid04]

Naomi, I apologise, please send me reminder of earlier post if you can. I don't
remember what I say on every post. It's my age, you know!

[jomifl]

How would a mere mortal know the truth about god? All we know of god is what he has chosen to divulge to us. Anyone who thinks they know anything about god would have to asume
1. God exists
2. God tells the truth

My personal opinion is that all anyone can know about god is that there is no evidence of his existence. Anything else would be speculation and wishful thinking. Any further discussion on the subject is pointless.

[mibn2cweus]

//My personal opinion is that all anyone can know about god is that there is no evidence of his existence. Anything else would be speculation and wishful thinking. Any further discussion on the subject is pointless.//

Wait up! I haven't heard the fat lady sing . . .

Establishing 'What is the truth...' about anything, presupposes an understanding of the means and process by which truth is determined for which a prerequisite understanding of what 'truth' is, is essential.

Truth, lies not in one's belief in the validity of the words spoken, however strong the conviction of the speaker or listener, but in the correlation of the words to the reality to which the words refer and from which the words derive their meaning. Truth invariably corresponds to reality and understanding reality, the means by which we apprehend and comprehend reality, determines ones ability to differentiate that which asserted to be the truth from that which is in fact the truth.

To know about 'God' is to know that to which in reality the term 'God' refers which in turn requires an essential understanding of the nature of reality which determines in what capacity that to which the term 'God' refers can or cannot and does or does not exist.

To know 'what is the truth' one must first learn the truth about knowledge, from whence it comes and the means and process by which knowledge is obtained, integrated, correlated and verified. There is no shortcut to bypass an understanding of reason nor why such an understanding is essential to establishing what the truth is . . . about anything.

BTW, just so happens I do know a thing or two about 'God' but I agree entirely that any further discussion about the truth of what I know would be pointless . . . without a prerequisite mutual understanding of, among other things, the process of reason and what knowledge is.

Now then . . . where's the fat lady?

[birdie1971]

@Cupid

“... There are horrible diseases in the world...”

… which God could eradicate or have simply not created in the first place.


“... there are people starving...”

… which God could solve by performing simple miracles.


“... there are innocent people dying...”

… which God could eradicate by performing simple miracles.


“... he will wipe away all your tears and you will have new bodies free of disease.”

…. which God could do right here and right now if he wanted to.


If your God exists, he's pretty ineffectual nowadays isn't he?

[cupid04]

Not to me and millions of others he's not.

[beso]

cupid //We have hope, because when the time comes, he will wipe away
all your tears and you will have new bodies free of disease. //

You only have hope *that* when the time comes, He wil ......

Not "because* when the time comes ...

Your faith that he will ever do anything is just that, a faith without basis beyond some silly stories written by ignorant men long ago.

Part of what annoys about those who sit and wait for Armageddon is that they don't care what happens to the planet in the meantime because of their faith their God will put it all right no matter how big the mess.

Many like Elderman relish every bad thing that happens in the world as proof of the glory of his God and evidence that their eagerly awaited grand slaughter is imminent.

[birdie1971]

@Cupid

“... Not [ineffectual] to me and millions of others he's not...”

How do you define ineffectual? You must have a very different understanding of that word than I do.

He seems completely ineffectual to me. He can (we're told) heal the sick, feed the hungry, even create entire worlds at his whim – so where is he today? Why is he not stopping tsunamis and preventing earthquakes? Why is he not stopping civil war and the slaughter of innocents?

It almost like he isn't there at all...