Atheism
Out of context: Reply #50
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- gramme0
"Aye, Rand - I often wonder what "most people's" general conception of God actually is. I could just about wrap my head around their decision to Believe if it was in something utterly abstract, sublime and infinite - but I get the impression a lot of people think It's some bearded, sandal-clad dude dicking-around in the clouds with a gaggle of harp-plucking fairies."
I don't know any professing Christian who has read more than a few words of their Bible who believes such a thing. You have to remember that there are three persons in the Godhead, which is a mysterious concept in and of itself...especially since when we here of someone with three personalities, we think of insanity/delusion; but God is instead three distinct personalities in perfect communication and harmony with one another. This doesn't fit the models we have seen of insanity, since split personalities don't ever communicate with one another in human experience.
There is God the Father, who has often been falsely represented as a bearded old man blowing hot air. We can thank the various numbskulls throughout the years who took Michelangelo's Sistine chapel images literally. God the Father does not occupy a particular physical space...nowhere in Scripture is such a notion backed up.
Then there is God the Son, AKA Jesus (technically, his actual Aramaic name was Yeshua). The Son did not take physical form until coming to earth in human form; at that time, God came down and became fully man as well as fully God. I am sure that Jesus wore Lord boards and rocked a nice curly beard because everyone else at the time did. Now, having ascended into heaven after his resurrection, his body is perfected, though we can only speculate as to what exactly he looks like since the descriptions in Daniel, Revelation etc. are highly metaphorical.
Finally, there is the Holy Spirit, which is of course another intangible entity. The Holy Spirit is what moves a person to believe. Intellect might have something to do with it, but the intellect does not engage unless the Holy Spirit moves. When the Holy Spirit does not move a person toward Christ, then Christ and everything he stood for seems utterly, patently absurd. However, I take comfort in knowing that those who mock faith really, truly have no idea what they are talking about. Faith can ultimately be only experienced, it cannot be understood through witness or explanation.
- *when we hear of someone...gramme
- heh, I appreciate the response and deft inclusions of humour to get me thru - but none of that means anything to me ...detritus
- ... but I suspect the '80%' of believers are the very numbskulls you refer to. You're quite well-versed - others aren'tdetritus
- My haiku-length contracted responses make so little sense.detritus
- *defers to Maker*detritus
- hahagramme