Something I've wanted to ask a devoted Christian, and AD can take this on if he feels like it, is "Why should I listen to you and not that Muslim guy over there? What have you got that he doesn't? How do you know you're right and he's not? An old book saying you're right? I think he's got that too. Thousands of years of handed down tradition and dogma? Check. Millions of believers around the world? Check. What else you got?"
The seven pillars of Islam are actually a very very good way to live your life. What I have that he doesn't is my personal belief in Christ as the resurrected Son of God and the center of my faith. What he has that I don't is a stronger code of behavior and component of works and deeds to merit paradise. What we both have is the idea of a loving and graceful God who has a strong interest in His creation (and some common stories of Antiquity). In fact, we both know of Christ although in Islam He is considered a Saint and Prophet and He did not die on the cross.
I don't pretend to know whether all the major religions point to the same God or not and I'm obviously not the one to judge, although I believe there is enough human diversity to believe God would give different people a slightly different journey to follow to Him. There is also the factor of human revelation of God's words and human interpretation of those revelations.
I can only speak to my faith life and 30+ years of attending worship and learning.
I've been consciously trying to make statements and present evidence here without proselytizing. I'm basically sharing my personal belief and understanding of the history and the words that make up the Christian faith. So please don't look at these posts as an appeal to conversion or evangelizing.
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V- I believe that morality has to be rooted in something. Something that is important enough to keep you strongly connected to those morals that guide your behavior. The root of morality has to be faith in <something>. Because morals are highly variable across populations I don't assert that "good' morals can only be derived only from faith in God as I understand Him. But they do have to be derived from faith (which means, to me, abiding belief in something not directly provable nor refutable) in something. That's the only way to develop morals that transcend communities in a generalizable way.
I mean, true-believer Atheists have faith - they simply place it in themselves and their understanding that the world doesn't have any kind of God and that all religions are human constructs. This is a centrally humanist argument and you can derive a moral code from humanism.
You could think of the concepts of science; what we know to be true...cause and effect, the individuality of fingerprintes, DNA evidence....these are things which we have very strong faith in because we believe them to be true, faith in those concepts strong enough to merit convictiion and punishment for heinous crimes. Our belief in them is based on what we perceive as results; the same outcome over and over; no refutation of the theory that fingerprints and DNA are unique. We haven't proved it positively; we haven't seen ALL the fingerprints or ALL the DNA. So we take it on faith because it hasn't been disproved and the evidence is very strong. Is there some miniscule chance that they aren't unique? Sure. The results are considered 99.9xxxx % accurate. Do we doubt? No. We may question the methods of gathering the evidence, handling the evidence, interpreting the evidence but not the core concept that makes it good evidence.
That's how I feel about God and everything He has done in my life except I'm willing to take the extra step: I have no doubt (100% accurate!) and require no proof. He is with me. I may question what some people say or believe about Him and I often question my own thoughts or actions or behaviors in terms of my relationship with Him. I may doubt myself but I try very hard not to doubt Him.
And sometimes I fail.
And then there is forgiveness.
edited for capitalization
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Topic: 23 January 2006 - Bonkers T. McQuack (Read 33777 times)