I have one: please explain what you mean by 'God'.

Why hasn't anybody walked on water since Jesus did it?

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It would be nice if you would answer the question: "why do you believe?"

Preferably with something other than: "you can't understand" 

Because that was one of those "Jesus miracles". Like, no one tells water to turn to win, and it happens any more. No one says "cast you nets on that side of the boat" and alot of fish are caught any more. It was a miracle that Jesus did. I guess that some one else could figure out a way to walk on water without flotation devices, but that still wouldn't take away from the ipact of Jesus walking on the Sea of Galilee in a storm.

p.s. there was a great significance as the what water he walked on to...the emphasis is usually just put on that act, but the sea of Galilee had great significance to.

Me personally, it is because I have a relationship with God. I suppose its fair to assume the next question is 'how do you know that?' and the answer to that is not one you will like, but it is "because in my heart I know He is there. I have felt his presense and I see His glory." you pobably will not like that answer as proof there is a God, but That's not what you asked me I guess. So, there's your answer.

Could you at least prove NASA said they can prove it? 

This doesn't tell me anything that isn't already assumed from the fact that you're a Christian.

This is the equivalent of "becuase I say so"

We're getting closer. So, how have you seen his presence and how have you seen his glory?

The only answer you've provided so far is basically "I believe because I believe." In my opinon, that's not really an answer.

To give you an example, I know you don't like science, but as a relatively simple example:

If you lived in space and didn't experience gravity all that much, I could still explain to you my experiences with gravity by telling you how things fall when I drop them. I could then go on to explain how I can set up a device to measure torque when one mass is brought next to another one attached to a rod. In this way, even if you have no direct experience, you can gain an understanding from someone else's experience.

Note that this isn't necessarily proof of gravity, since you (being unfamiliar) might suggest that there is another force at work, and more investigation is required. But in this case you could at least see where I got the idea that it might exist.

A real answer would explain what experiences you've had and how a god is required to explain them.

For example: "I feel humble" isn't really a convincing experience, since lots of people feel humble without god.

These are red herrings. If god is alive, then he may or may not have a metabolism. You are restricting life to what we call life on this planet. Is that restriction even justified?

Same for intelligence. What is the relevance of how god processes information? Especially since we are just beginning to understand how we processs information ourselves. 

Metabolism is by definition a necessary condition of life. To say that god is alive but has no metabolism is like saying god is a rectangle that has no corners.

I am not asking for details. I'll happily take "it has a brain" or "it has a CPU" for an answer. The bottom line is that if this god is intelligent it must process information and that processing has to take place somewhere.

How is god's metabolism and information processing mechaninsm relevant? If you are standing in the middle of a highway and I tell you to get out of the way because a big truck is coming are you going to ask me if it has wheels? In the context of this thread, god is both alive and intelligent.

Well, it's relevant in that we were told we could ask specific questions that confused us about this "God". He's simply wondering how god is alive and capable of thought.

No disrespect, but we can't help it if the answers to God questions prove that he's self-defeating. That's why we're atheists.

PAUSE

Alright. It will take me a while to answer these posts. So if you could bear with me. I should have them all adressed by today, but please do not post anyhting further until I have said its ok. I would like to adress everyone's questions, and for that I will need some time to type and think. Thank you for your patience and I will resume it soon!

I am sorry that the Christians did not respond to that question, since (as it sems to me) to be an easy one for any Christian to answer. However, on here I have never seen an easy question, so please correct me if I do not answer fully, or answer something way off what your original point was.

Mostly because people see the moral ideals of the two, combined with the similar traditions and the fact that Christianity sprung from Judaism, and group the two together. In fact, the two are so closely grouped together many Christians assume Jewish people to be Christians! Although there are Jewish sects that agdhere to Christian theology (such as the Messaonic Jews), most Judaism is far from Christianity.

What is Judea?

Jewish tradition (ie. circumcision). Jewish theology (which I am by far no expert on) is far different from Christian theology. Jews do not beleive in the 66 book Bible Christians have, but only the first few books. They do not believe in the Trinity, or Godhead. Some Jews believe in heaven and hell, most do not. I have heard JEws explain their view of heaven and hell like this "everyone goes to heaven, but it's like we are all candles. Some shine brighter than the others, but they all shine." Some Jews disagree with that, some don't. It is rather hard for me to distinguish what is Jewish since I am no Jewish expert, and their beliefs are as varying and Christian beliefs.

What is Christian?

Christianity claims the one view of the Trinity (other than Catholicism). The Trinity is ONE God, in thre divine beings. Like a triangle, one shape...three sides. That example has some flaws, but its a basic explination. Christians believe in Jesus Christ as God...also as man. he was God, and man, at the same time while he was on earth. There are debates about his divinity, and his being a man, and them being at the same time; but that is amost groups that get called Christian, but are not (like Pentacostals and Jehovas Witnesses). Christians believe in a literal hell, and a literal heaven. Christians believe in the Bible as teh word of God, therefore the laws of God should be followed. Christians have almost the same laws as Jews, however SALVATION is the key difference between them. Jews can break the law and they rely on works for their attonement. Christans break Gods law, and faith is the only thing that forgives (ie. there is no work, no offering, no nothing that can forgive sins, only faith in God).

What is similar?

The laws are extremely similar. The 10 Commandments are the base for both of their laws. That is what REALLY gets Christians and Jews grouped together in the same moral ideal, which in turn gets confused with the same theological beliefs. Since Christianity and Judaism are the same religion until Jesus came along (seeing as JEsus was Jewish) taht often creates teh idea that they are the same religion. ALSO, in the Bible you can see early Christians telling others that JEws can be saved (meaning that early Christians, didn't consider themselves a religion, but rather a body...some JEws were Christians and still considred themselves JEws...some Gentiles were Christians and still considered themselves Gentile).

Extra note:

The people you mentioned under the Christian section...CRAZY. Pat Robertson is a flase prophet, Ted HAggerd is a dummy, and so are the other guys. That is not to say that they aren't still saved, because God does forgive...but I doubt that Ted and the mreally are. Pat maybe, cause he's just off his rocker.

You want a realmodern Christian example, chekc up on John Piper, Paul Washer, and R.C. Sproul. Those are great guys who PRACTICE what they preach...unlike Ted Haggard.

I should hope that you do not assume that some one has a relationship with God just based on themselves claiming to be Christian. Don't be so quick to think that just because some one says tey are Christians that means they actualy ARE.

I have not seen His presense. When I die I will, but probably no sooner. God isn't Morgan Freeman, he doesnt mop floors in a building and give his job away to Jim Carey! As much as I like Morgan Freeman, he isn't quite God...haha. But seriouslly, how have I seen hHis glory? This answer won't EVER fly with an athiest, but I have seen His glory in everything. In nature, and in humans. The human eye can comprehend more in a second than a computer can in years. He has taken me, cleaned me, made me new, and filled me with life.

I say that won't ever fly talking to an athiest because athiests explain those things away, which is wh ultimately I do not try to scientifically argue a God...because when it al boils down, it's all about faith.

I suppose the example you are looking for has something to do with "I do this, and God does this...". When the best example I can give you of that is prayer. I pray this....and usually it happens. The reason that is actually a bad example is because there are many problems with it. you could say "well pray taht God gives me the wining lottery numbers". And you'd buy a ticekt, and probably loose. Also, the problem with that is on the Christian end, because they pray for things like "give me a raise"..."a new car"..."a boat". God aint Bob Barker, he don't just say "c'mon down......you've won a new car!!!!!!" That's fooloshness. The bible says "what ever you ask in my name you shall recieve." That is twisted to mean "end your prayer with 'in Jesus name'." When in reality, Jesus means, whatever we pray for to further His kingdom and to magnify His glorfy in our lives will be done.

SO, knowing that, I can give you an exampl.e I prayed that a friend of mine would come to see God. That that freind would be humbled and come to God. Because the way he was living his life was aweful. Death could have come at any second. One month after I prayed that prayer (though I prayed in every night through that month) he called me up and told me he was at church because he went to flirt with a girl...and he told me about what happened that night and how he felt. It was 3 am so I was just like "ok, thats life....hope you and her have fun..." Well, a week later I was talking to a girl, who told me that my friend got saved. You'll notice long periods of time between me talking to people in this story, because I had moved away and I didnt talk to them much.

Crossover, there are a few pointers that may help you here.  I realize that you do not want to debate, but the statements you have made constitute several logical fallacies.  Among them are "No True Scotsman" and "Argument from Emotion".  Even in an intellectual discussion (not debate) it is important to remember that your opponent will point these out as flaws and use them against you. 

I understand that you are seeking simple discourse on questions regarding religion so there is no need to throw these things in your face.  You feel the way you feel, you believe what you believe and it sounds as though you are trying to educate yourself on the topic.  Below is a link to logical fallacies if you would like to review them in the event you want to debate.

Logical fallacies

This is a tough group and an intellectual one.  You were smart to start out saying you wanted a discussion, not a debate, but it never hurts to understand the rules of debate.

Now, on to your post above - why do you think some prayers are answered and some are not?

By no means! I was comenting on the numbers of peple as they fall away, because he said people were turning awawy from Christianity. I was not talking about the substanse of Christians who are true Christians. Thats why I said "in general".While Charles spurgeon and Johnathan Edwards may be gone, we still have the John Piper's, the Paul Washer's, the R.C. Sproul's, the Lecrae Moore's, the Tedashii Anderson's......they are still here. They are discipling a group that will step up when they are gone and be strong in the faith, as they were. I was simply commenting on the numbers falling away, not the numbers that stay. And I sure DO NOT consider myself to be on the level of a Charles Spurgeon, but then again at his peak he still had a few years on me!

This feels like a word game. I said salvation is grace not power and you redefined it to be power.

I'm not sure wht you mean by a technical miracle.

God does not have to prove himself but Christians have the requirement of proving the truth of their faith. What separates the "true" Christianity from all of the pretenders? "By their fruits you shall know them" . Fruits implies something tangible. If all you have that differentiates you is that your words are different than the false Christs then you have nothing tangible.

Because His saving power combined with His love is what we know as grace.

Technical miracle...like walking on water!

MASSIVE twist of scripture. I reccomend you go back and read ALL of Mathew 7 in its full context and in light of Galatians 5:22.  The word used in Mathew 7 karpos. The word used in Galatians 5:22, karpos. So don't even try to say they aren't in the same context, or that they refer some a different type of fruit other than spiritual one...because the scripture will prove you wrong.

Here is where I can not tell you. It may not really be so much that you can not understand (cause, I guess maybe you can), but rather, I do no know how to describe a feeling of conviction brought upon by the Holy SPirit that is so strong it breaks your very soul. I can not describe to you the feeling of regeneration taht you get from having the Son come in to your life. And I can not describe the feeling of sheer you get from being made holy and without blame in the sight of the Father. I am sorry, but here is where my words fail me.

I can only hope that you do not count the fact that I am short on words to describe the presence of God against me or Him. But here is the man who gave it his best shot to describe God:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=66tt1tDfD1k

That is more of a description of God than it is a description of his presense...but I do fel in the presence of god hearing it. If that helps. 

Both. I NEVER said you can not see God from the world. What I was trying to say was just because you see the world doesn't mean there is a God. That is not to say that I do not see God in the world around me. It is to say that no logical arguement can be made (that I know of) just based on the fact that there is a world. 

Nothing. It has nothing to do with the presence of God. I wasn't describing the presence of God.

IT's a feeling. Not a mental or physical feling, but a spiritual feeling. When it comes to spiritual things, wors can not be used...at least not by me. I am not tht great with words. In almost al of these questions you are asking you will not get an answer that you can literally see, or take to the bank, or play with. Need I remind you that the prupose of this is for you to learn, and not for you to debate by asking questions. It feels as if that is what you are doing...simply asking questions to question my faith.

Or maybe they are arguements that a few people have shut out of their heads becaue it is something they can not comprehend. One thing I have learned throught life is that athiests who never become Christians tend to like numbers, solids, things they can touch, feel and smell...but when it comes to stepping out on a limb and grasping a concept that is so much bigger than them it actually requires them to actively give up numbers, the reject it. Numbers do not prove everything, and ideas do no prove everything. That is why it all boils down to where you put your faith. Do you put it in numbers, or the idea that you can not grasp?

That is a matter of perspective statement. I see you as trying to explain thins away, and you see me as trying to explain the things away. its a matter of perspective. Maybe I shouldn't have put that statement up there because it does seem biased, but then again the original topic of this all is Christian beliefs. Antime you talk about any belief or idea there will be biased statements in there because it is all a matter of perspective. You can only see the world as good as the lens you look through it with.

The first question falls under the Sovereignty of God. I wil quote to you a man named R.C. Sproul.

"Can our requests change God's severeign pla? Of course not. When God declares He is going to do something, all of the prayer's in the world aren't going to change His mind. But God not only ordains the ends, but He ordains the means to those ends, and part of the process He uses to bring His sovereign will to pass are the prayers of His people. And so we pray."

I beleive the second question is answered in here also.

As for wickens. I can no more comment on them than I can on the prayers of the Zulu. I have no idea how often they even get a result to comment on the ones they get, let alone do I know anything about why.

Don't just focus on the ends, but focus on he means. I prayed that god owuld move in His life...I didnt say how, when why..I just prayed for it to happen. How God does it is His business. Whether he uses a girl to get Him to go to church or He slaps Him in the face while my friend is in his room alone, the prayer is answered.

Why did it take a month to save him? i really don't know that it did. It ttok a month for me to talk to him. But I assume the question isnt so much focused on the lenght of time but the fact that it took time. So I will refer you back to my anser to your first question. I said "I didn't say how, when, or why"....and I didn't. I said move. When, why, how, all God's stuff that he takes care of...none of my concern.

And, God didn't need me to do anything. He commands me to pray. But I shall refer you back to the R.C. Sproul quote.

I'm not really going to comment on the video, except to say that civilization was around long before Christianity.

Ok, sorry. So how does this show his glory?

Your original post asked for questions to "learn more about the people [athiests] have come to disagree with." These are my questions. If they make you question your faith, then I'm sorry.

The reason I ask these questions is because I don't care about the trinity or whatever. What I don't understand about "the people" is what actually makes them think there is a god. Are all of your reasons simply personal? Do all of them stem from internal experiences that only affect you? Are there any things that aren't "spritiual" or that you can put into words that demonstrate why it makes sense to believe in god?

Why do you think that it takes faith to "believe" in "numbers"? Do you think that the advances of modern technology rely on math and science?

Have you shut out science as a means of explaination because you "cannot comprehend" it? (I say this not as a personal attack but because you often say that you don't want to "debate" about math and science)

As for the rest of the post, I'm going to refrain from making comments to avoid the appearance of debate.

Just one more question:

How do you know that it was your prayer that saved your friend?

Question:

Why do you personally think God created the earth and the human race? God is assumed to be omniscient, and so he would have forseen that Adam and Eve would go against his wishes and eat the forbidden fruit. However, he created us anyway, presumably full well knowing that we would be doomed to a fallen creation and that the majority of us would end up in eternal damnation. Why create a bunch of living, feeling creatures who will suffer forever? Wouldn't a merciful, loving god have simply refrained from creating us?

The only conclusions that make sense to me, respectively, is that:

1) God is not omniscient, and therefore not all-powerful.

or

2) God is cruel and uncaring and created us despite his knowledge that many of us would suffer.

Do you agree with one of these options, or do you have an alternative? I realize you can't know for sure what your god's motives were, but please, take a stab at it. I've never gotten a straight answer from any Christian to this question, probably because they've never really thought about it.

It shows His glory through his creation

NO NO NO. They do not make me question my faith at all. I'm simply saying it feels as if you are debating through questions.

These reasons are simply personal...because personally I am BAD at science and math. There are Christian scientists who study and use science for proof of God...but thats for them to do. Me, no no no.

I don't think it takes faith to believe in science. And yes, I do think modern technology relies on math and science. You missed the point of what I was saying in all of that.

Nope. I have not shut out math and science. I do not debate it because I do not comprehend it. There are Christians scientist who can debate it all day long..l.but I am not one. It's like football...and I consider them the deffensive linemen (I say taht because  I am 6'0 145).

It wasn't. It was God's prayer that saved my friend. My prayer was sijmply that God would. 

By technical miracle I mean something tangible that is a miracle. Like feeding 5,000 with a few loaves of bread and a few fish. Healing sickness, raising people from the dead. That stuff that JEsus did....ALTHOUGH, by a Christian deffinition of miracle you are wrong to say that if a miracle can be reproduced then it isnt a miracle. Jesus told the apostles they would preform miracles, some of the same ones He did...but they were still miracles. If a miracle becomes regular (like expecting the postman) it is NOT a miracle.

Do you think the statements:

"It shows his glory through his creation"

"I know he created it because it shows his glory"

create a circular argument?

or, in the alternative,

How do you know he created it? 

Clearly I missed the point somewhere. Could you explain how it doesn't take faith to believe in science, but it depends on if you put your faith in science (numbers) or in an "idea that you can not grasp"?

The distinction you're making is not at all clear to me.

Either:

a) your prayer caused or convinced god to save your friend, through whatever means, and for whatever reason, and so was responsible for your friend being saved

or

b) your prayer did not cause god to save your friend because he did it completely independent of you, and so it didn't matter if you had prayed or not

Right?

If a, how do you know that your prayer caused god to act?

If b, why does it matter that you prayed?

Finally,

How do you know that your faith is more valid than everone else's?

What is a spirit? If a spirit has no material substance, what kind of substance does it have? In what sense can it be said to exist? What is the difference between a being that does not exist and one that has no material substance?

How is it possible to perform any action without having different states? I think you (and indeed any reasonable person) will find this problem insurmountable. An unchangeable thing cannot (by definition!) interact with anything in the universe.