Faith

In regards to your ability as a man you scoff at God being capable? "All 6 billion" you say as if its a large number. If God calls every planet in the universe by name, which I'm sure is far more than 6 billion, you think this is even a large number to Him? I don't care if I am off topic, the foolish thing that we do alot is measure God's capability by what we can do. Think about having a crowd of 6 billion people asking you questions and asking you to help them deal with your problems all at once. None of us can do it. So now God can't do it cause we can not? Can you or I create a universe with a command? Obviously not, none of us could. Because it is vastly beyond human comprehention, men turn to therories which their minds can understand, big bang and evolution. It is easier to fathom and comprehend its possibility, so men turn to it. Alot of people will ask, "Why does God do this?" or, "How did God do that?" If they don't understand they turn away.

If you ask, "Why did God do that?" as to question the reason to your own opinion, then you have no right. Remember who we are, men and women, incapable of understanding God, mainly because our hearts are set on evil things, our minds corrupted and set only on our own opinion, and not what God has told us. This is proven by the world today. Murder, war, rape, theft/greed, adultery/lust, absolute disobedience to God. Because our hearts are evil, we do not search for God, God searches for us. "In the same way, all of heaven rejoices over one sinner who repents, than over ninety-nine righteous people who do not need to repent."

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1 Corinthians 12-14 "We have not received the spirit of the world but the Spirit who is from God, that we may understand what God has freely given us. This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, expressing spiritual truths in spiritual words. The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritual discerned."

}SoC{Sumguy

no...

__________________
"And now you've seen his face,
and you know that there's a place
in the sun, for all that you've done.
For you and your children.
You always wanted to beleive.
Just ask and you'll receive,
beyond your wildest dreams.
And you already know how this will end...."

jaej

You've read the art of war? Is it any good? I guess it must be since you put it at the top..

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}SoC{Sumguy

yeah, its good. kinda machievelian though.

__________________
"And now you've seen his face,
and you know that there's a place
in the sun, for all that you've done.
For you and your children.
You always wanted to beleive.
Just ask and you'll receive,
beyond your wildest dreams.
And you already know how this will end...."

jaej

Faith, are you a hermit? If the words of man are so corrupt, and every non-christian is satan's slave, why do you associate with us? You rant and rave about how boundless god is, but all you do is say that no one can understand him, so man turns to other things. Other things that make sense! What do you not understand about science? Please tell me, I've been dying to know for a long time. Here, maybe this will help:

sci·ence /ˈsaɪəns/ Pronunciation Key - Show Spelled Pronunciation[sahy-uhns] Pronunciation Key - Show IPA Pronunciation
–noun 1. a branch of knowledge or study dealing with a body of facts or truths systematically arranged and showing the operation of general laws: the mathematical sciences.
2. systematic knowledge of the physical or material world gained through observation and experimentation.
3. any of the branches of natural or physical science.
4. systematized knowledge in general.
5. knowledge, as of facts or principles; knowledge gained by systematic study.
6. a particular branch of knowledge.
7. skill, esp. reflecting a precise application of facts or principles; proficiency.

Science is not something made up. It is simply a collection of OBSERVATIONS, and these observations are clumped together to try and explain a phenomenon with a THEORY. Can it be any simpler?

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plainskeptic

Why I am not a Christian (and some other books) by Bertrand Russell
Man's Search for Meaning by Viktor E. Frankl
The Meaning of Happiness by Alan Watts

Skepticologist

The most influential book (or books) in my evolution from fundamentalist Christian to agnostic was Joseph Campbell's four-volume set entitled The Masks of God. Campbell, at his death in 1987, at the time a professor at Sarah Lawrence College and founder of the Eselen Institute, was the world's foremost authority on comparative mythology. And what I took to heart from his research was that religions are nothing more than mythological systems that have gained wider acceptance than some others.

What I continue to marvel at is that modern-day humans in developed countries, with access to advanced education and the latest scientific research, continue to even feel a need for religion, or mythology for that matter.

There is no longer a need for allegorical explanations of the developing universe when we have completely sufficient, although not yet completely developed, scientific explanations.

Astreja

The book that had the most profound immediate effect on my life was Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand. It's not exactly well-written, but it has one particular concept that's absolute dynamite if taken seriously.

It took me quite a while to slog through the earlier part of the book, but then all the lights came on at once. I immediately realized that I was doing a preposterous amount of work but getting no recognition for my efforts, and systematically cut myself free of the people who were exploiting me. The effects of reading that book still persist thirteen years after the fact.

shammahbn

Perhaps the book that changed my life the most was _Revolution: The Story of the Early Church_ by Gene Edwards. _Will the Real Heretics Please Stand Up_ also had a big effect on my life.

I read "To Train Up a Child," by the way. I also met the author, whom I did not like. I don't know about the author or the sort of religious people he hangs around with, but the premise of the book, which is to purposely train your child rather than waiting around for things to happen is obviously wise. That principle is the very basis of our education system.

What you object to, I know, is the use of a paddle or maybe even spanking in general. Mine were paddled when necessary. I would be happy to compare any of my children with any you want to compare them to. They are well-adjusted, happy, brilliant, and constantly praised everywhere I go. In fact, I would credit some of that purposeful training for saving my 2nd son's life, because he knew to stop when I said stop, even at 2 years old. He's 16 now, and a role model.

truthlover
http://www.oldoldstory.org
http://www.rosecreekvillage.com

hell_raiser195

Is There Life After Death by Anthony Peake

It uses science to prove that there is an afterlife, there is little speculation, its all science, and its all factual. Well worth a read!

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A wise man knows that he knows nothing