My question(s) would be: What constitutes "design"? And how do you know it when you see it?
I like it.
Kind of like the "Blind Watchmaker" argument, yes?
My question(s) would be: What constitutes "design"? And how do you know it when you see it?
it's common sense rav; you HAVE to be humbled to reach out to god. otherwise, i just can't fathom anybody wanting to. i'm not the only one in the world who's been humbled, and when you have been, you fucking know it, and it's usually a turning point in people's lives. it's usually a time when people learn something.
knowing god is humbling and empowering at the same time. those things seem contradictory, but they're not.
your interpretation is through traditional religious terms but i don't get why you think this is unusual or even contradictory as far as humble/empowered, especially since you are using a god concept.
explained another way would mean that the humility is the acknowledgement that we don't know everything nor does what we do know is not the foundation of all there is, there could be even more we don't know on a deeper as well as higher level (which is true even literally). this is what you mean by humility.
as for humbing and empowering, if god is more powerful and all knowing as well as the creator of the universe which is a prevalent belief among theists, then of course you would be humbled as well as receiving divine revelation from god would be empowering as well.
didn't i just explain what you said essentially in a more understandable way?? lol
Sort of... It's a valid question. If anyone wants to make design anything other than a philosophical question, then they need to define how you know design when you see it. Otherwise, it's not a testable hypothesis.I like it.
Kind of like the "Blind Watchmaker" argument, yes?
to my knowledge, scholars and the vast majority of the learned christian world have no idea who the lady in 2nd john was.
rav, i'm not trying to play anything down. i'm honestly describing what i was told and what happened to me, and giving an opinion about it. it's not a game, and if you understand what i'm saying you'll realize that there's no debate to be had.
what is this supposed to mean? is it a criticism? are you calling me a liar? are you this patronizing and insensitive to everyone who has had emotional struggles?
i'm just not going to allow you to lie about about my experience, and imply that it was some feel good walk in the park. it wasn't. what an ass you're being.
you think i'm taking credit for it? you think i've contrived this? honey, i don't have the imagination if it's made up, nor the power if it's not. it blew me the fuck out of the water. i thought my head was going to fucking explode trying to keep up. and all i did was offer to help somebody. that's it.
It just doesn't jive with your self-professed humility Lori. It's absurdly inconsistent.
... As far as I can see, the only thing you've been bringing to this forum for quite a while now is fantastic claims (that God speaks to you directly, that there's an entire book in the Bible that's about you, that you've been anointed by God to "birth a kingdom" on earth [whatever the fuck that means]) , a lot of hostility, and the message (which you never seem to get tired of preaching) that the entire world is fundamentally and eternally fucked and that you can't wait for it to end.
Subjective claims cannot be shown ... These often finely-crafted fairy tales down through the ages and now have no value that can be shown to anyone.
Hello SciWriter ...... Have we met before .......
:cheers::cheers:
Mutawintji
rotflmao ....... Sounds like an Angel thats been set a task by God but would prefer a career change ..... lololol
well, i certainly hope that someday you do, and more.
In fact, Lori, I think you have an obligation to tell us everything you know in as much detail as humanly possible.
Signal isn't doing anything wrong with regard to the intended purpose of this forum.
However you have to understand that your own personal testimony is all but completely useless when it comes to trying to establish the truth of something to another rational human being. What you know from experience is knowledge to you, but to you only.
To many other people, the idea that it only takes a sincere plea to God to find him is interpreted as it only takes a desire to believe what you want to believe to believe it.
I mean seriously, even if one does hear voices, and even if those voices seem to contain knowledge and wisdom that one can't believe could be attributable to the information processing that occurs in one's own subconscious mind (which can indeed operate in such a way) doesn't mean that those voices are actually coming from somewhere else instead. It shouldn't even convince you, and it certainly wont convince anyone else.
I think it's more likely that Signal, while having the soul of a theist in the sense that he believes there must be some ultimate and bigger truth beyond everything we see, is unwittingly modulated by his own rational "god given" mind.
It's not that he denies the existence of God (in fact he very often argues for such) it's just that he has trouble getting from A (God possibly exists) to B (exactly what God wants). The is the same problem the entire fucking world seems to have had since the beginning of recorded history (at least). What you want Signal to do is to solve it simply by shutting the fuck up and opening his heart to God.
But what if God requires more than that? What if you're supposed to abstain from certain things? What if you need to be baptized in a particular way? What if you're supposed to be attached to a fellowship? What if you can't really come to know the fullness of God (and therefore can't ultimately escape this mundane existence) without proper discipleship? Different religions teach different things, and many of them require what are considered to be essential and specific things from their adherents lest they be in danger of not being "right" with God. But you don't give a fuck about all that, because you have your voices and your emotions. To you, if it feels right, if you experience it, it's gotta be true. But how the fuck do you really genuinely know?
Cheers for the response Rav. I'm still a little shaken by the whole thing to be honest. I've never meet a IDer in the flesh, (unless Jehovah's Witnesses count- I don't pay much attention to them), but now that I have I'm shocked it's my own father. I had a hint from him a few months back when he said that when he arrived on his trip we'd have to discuss the "Big Questions". When I asked him what that meant he just replied "Life". I feel he's been bulding up to this and is calling me out or something. The discussion will continue tomorrow apparently and I'm not sure how to handle it. Forums are fine because of the anonymity, but this is new to me.
/.../
Question to anyone: Should I be worried? This seems so out of character for him. He was always a non-conformist and believed in spirituality to a degree, (His recently deceased brother helped him choose a golf club today. Not literally, but he felt the presence in a magpie on the course). But, this is a big jump and he seems to want to...I don't know...make me believe it.
it's common sense rav; you HAVE to be humbled to reach out to god. otherwise, i just can't fathom anybody wanting to.
:shrug:
I thought you were here to spread the truth.
One would think you'd put some effort into it.
I mean, considering the importance and all..
In fact, Lori, I think you have an obligation to tell us everything you know in as much detail as humanly possible.