T. E. Lords

It makes sense to me that when man first started worshiping the sun, the earth, death and life it wasn't abstracted at all. Humans noticed the cycles of life and how Animals, minerals, waters, and people were all connected. When you eat you shit and stuff grows out of shit. I don't think it was until later that they anthropomorphized these natural forces and began to think of them as divine.

agnawstick

I have a sneaking suspicion that alot of people who claim pure belief, have had many doubts since being saved. There is so much testimony from people who believe they are "the only one" they knew who ever seemed to doubt.

It is not encouraged. It is the pink elephant in the room. How could you be the first one at your church who said you had real problems with the infallibility of scripture? You think there is something wrong with you because nobody else is stepping forward to declare it. People don't step forward. They either withdraw, or pretend like everybody else that they are free of doubts.

The thing that baffles me a bit, is that even looking at the bible, guys who saw Jesus raise the dead, walk on water, cure cripples, heal blind people, had alot of doubts. Judas, Thomas, Peter all had crises of faith even in their own tradition.

I would have a very hard time doubting if a guy walked across lake michigan from me, cured Stephen Hawking, then raised my aunt from death, yet these people doubted and today there are those who suggest they have no doubts on much less evidence than these folks. It is all heresay now.

Off topic a bit, and it has been discussed ad infinitum, but if you personally witnessed Jesus doing all the miracles, in it's time, with no 20th century special effects, would that convince you? It sure didn't convince Thomas, Peter, or Judas completely. Why should we be expected by the church to be more faithful than Thomas?

Back on topic, I believe that in the absense of scientific explanation, a "belief in the divine" is not very unnatural at all. Communist Russia was a 20th century reality. We already had science that led to different hypothesis. It is the rare group before science, that didn't want to ascribe the unexplainable, to well the unexplainable deity.

Jobar

Christ, welcome to II. (I want you to know I think that is a *killer* screen name, and I laugh every time I use it! )

What I'm going to do is split this thread- your questions on how to deal with this addlepated believer deserve a thread by itself.

The new thread will be- drum roll- "Questions from Christ"!

T. E. Lords

Yeah I didn't know what the hell that had to do with growing up in an atheistic society either.