johntheapostate

I dont understand how conservative Protistant Christianity can place such faith in the Bible anyway. Protistants call into question the modern Jewish and Catholic interpretation of faith and yet insist that the original writers and compilers of scripture were guided by divine insperation. The historical founders of the Jewish and Catholic legacy were inerrant in the beginning and yet there modern counterparts somehow became fallible later? This could be taken one step further. Christians believe that God blessed the Jews with divine revelation, yet they did not recieve the ability to interprete that scripture at its most critical moment. The Old Testement has this perspective on the matter. Issiah 66:9 "Do I bring to the moment of birth and not give delivery? says the Lord. Do I close up the womb when I bring to delivery? says your God." At any rate I dont think that a majority of Christians have a clue on how the Bible came to be.

Vivisector

I think maybe one of the downsides of self-awareness is an almost literal compulsion to find meaning in our lives. By this, I mean that we (as a species) seem driven to persuade ourselves that our existence means more than a dog's, an elephant's, a snake's, or a roach's. Personally, I think that we just happen (so we think) to be at the top of the cognitive heap for the time being. Our existence means very little in any sort of cosmic sense - only what we, ourselves make of it and impart to it. Some might think this is a rather cold and hopeless way to look at life; I think, if this is all there is, then it's all the more precious.

As a side note, I think that our characteristic need to make sense of our world and our experiences are related bonus neuroses stemming from our self-awareness. My position is that, God(s) or no God(s), we were basically destined to create something that functioned in a similar capacity. Maybe there's something to that "God gene" idea!

To a point, I can relate. That's why I would categorize myself as a "weak atheist." To my thinking, atheism is the default position, to be abandoned only as a result of convincing (a subjective term, I know) evidence to the contrary. I don't think I have enough time to be an authentic "strong atheist" - there are simply too many gods to disprove, as if one could disprove any of them!

As someone who tries to be intellectually honest, though, I realize that I don't really know if there is one, two or many gods, so I guess you could say I'm agnostic on the issue as well.

Classical

[QUOTE=Vivisector] Our existence means very little in any sort of cosmic sense - only what we, ourselves make of it and impart to it. Some might think this is a rather cold and hopeless way to look at life; I think, if this is all there is, then it's all the more precious.

I guess this cold, harsh, reality was the hardest thing for me to accept personally. I had no problem giving up the idea of a god who was going to throw 99.9% of everyone who ever lived into hell - but I did have a problem thinking I will die and that's the end. After some thought, however, it does make one really treasure every day and every minute. (makes me want to go cuddle with my dog - think I will!) :wave: