sergei29 Posted March 10, 2009 Share Posted March 10, 2009 Guys, i have left Christianity two weeks ago, but I "backslid" back to believing. The thing is, when I was going through some doubts, one day I was visiting my friend and his mom ended up sharing with me how great it is to live with God. She didn't know why she ended up telling that to me, but it felt like God was speaking to me through her, saying not to leave Him. Also, people prophesied over me and it made so much sense and it hit exactly on the nail, in terms of what I was going through and what that prophesy meant. I have hard times disproving these experiences and situations as they seem to supernatural and real, that it makes me think that Christianity is true. What about other gifts of the Spirit, if they happen in charismatic churches, doesn't it prove that the Bible is true and it works, despite the seemed contradictions? Please respond!... Sergei Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
par4dcourse Posted March 10, 2009 Share Posted March 10, 2009 You heard what you wanted to hear and believed what you wanted to believe. Even your own xtian bible says: Ecclesiastes 8:7Since no man knows the future, who can tell him what is to come? Your prophets are full of shit. There's another thread here that discusses psychics and cold reading. Study up. It's a con, plain and simple. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cowabunga Jones Posted March 15, 2009 Share Posted March 15, 2009 What about other gifts of the Spirit, if they happen in charismatic churches, doesn't it prove that the Bible is true and it works, despite the seemed contradictions? Sergi, Not only do these "gifts" happen in the charismatic church, they also happen in almost every other experiential sect of any religion. Emotions can be played on. People can be deceived even by those who themselves are deceived. If these emotionally charged and irrational experiences are the proof of a religion, then all of them win. Or, if they are just an example of people misfiring emotions, then it proves nothing. I couldn't help but liken your comments about their "prophecy" to those who read horoscopes and feel that they are "so totally true!" and thats all I will say about that. Let me just say one thing about these "divine" experiences. If they are for real, what a f*cking joke that this is the way a divine being chooses to "reveal" itself. How about helping out an aids orphan? How about revealing a vision to a hell-bound Hindu who has never heard of Jesus? How about stuff that actually matters instead of the damned cooshy affirmation of the cooshy self-righteous and self-entitled who already have their "salvation." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GraphicsGuy Posted March 15, 2009 Share Posted March 15, 2009 Hell, if you want to believe it, believe it. If you don't, don't. "Spiritual gifts" don't prove a damn thing since people in various religions and non-religious people will share those same "abilities" and to a greater extent at times. We all "hear" things that we need to hear at certain times. I read a lot of novels and I read things in them that I basically "need to hear". This happened when I was a Xian and I believed that God led me to read that book...even if I read it many times before that, something new would jump out at me. However, it still happens now that I don't believe. And just wait until you get the "prophecies" that make no sense at all... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shantonu Posted March 15, 2009 Share Posted March 15, 2009 Guys, i have left Christianity two weeks ago, but I "backslid" back to believing. The thing is, when I was going through some doubts, one day I was visiting my friend and his mom ended up sharing with me how great it is to live with God. She didn't know why she ended up telling that to me, but it felt like God was speaking to me through her, saying not to leave Him. Also, people prophesied over me and it made so much sense and it hit exactly on the nail, in terms of what I was going through and what that prophesy meant. I have hard times disproving these experiences and situations as they seem to supernatural and real, that it makes me think that Christianity is true. What about other gifts of the Spirit, if they happen in charismatic churches, doesn't it prove that the Bible is true and it works, despite the seemed contradictions? Please respond!... Sergei The problem--at least to me--isn't whether the Bible is true and works, but if it's true and works, what does that mean? First, of course, the prophesying is pretty easy to fake. That's why fortune tellers do. The Bible condemns fortune telling (sorcery) largely because the Bible wants to have an exclusive market on fortune telling. Fortune tellers make general statements. The hearer of the fortune then picks out parts of the general statement that sound specific. The hearer then believes that something supernatural has happened. It's an old trick. Thus the fortune teller says, "You will overcome your doubts. You will face adversity and triumph. This is a difficult time for you, but you will succeed." But it's always a difficult time for everyone. That's how prophesy/fortune telling works. The more important question though is, even assuming the Bible works and even if it's true, what does that mean? Perhaps God does exist. Perhaps God did perform all of the miracles in the Bible. Is it therefore meaningful for you? If it is, then you should probably adhere to blind faith and go back to being a Christian. Atheism is for those who reject the notion of God even if Scripture is true. The idea of God (as presented in the Bible) is offensive to common sense, reason, morality, and experience. Even if I believed that every single word in the Bible were true, I would still not want to be Christian. I would not worship a God simply because I wanted to get into Heaven or because I was afraid of going to Hell. Fear can't motivate me. I don't believe that God who was worthy of worship would operate on fear. I would not worship a God that sent so many good Buddhists, Hindus, Jews, Muslims, Jains, and atheists to Hell. If God wants to send me to Hell for that, so be it. That's atheism. These are deep and frightening waters. You may not be ready for this. There's no shame in turning back toward the shore. Investigate things for yourself. See if this is for you. If not, turn back. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thurisaz Posted March 16, 2009 Share Posted March 16, 2009 Sergei, kind of funny, ain't it?, that all those "prophecies" always fit so perfectly in retrospective only. Now if there ever had been a clear case of a babblical verse stating something specifically that then became true, and if that thing prophecied would not have been an everyday occurance... something like "Rome will be shaken by a 8.3 strength earthquake on Feb 30th (ha ha ) 2010 16:34 GMT"... now that would be something different. The only thing that kind of approaches this degree of exactness (at first glance) is the founding of Israel after WW2. However... as the parties who made the decisions knew and were influenced by the very book that made the "prophecy", that was really just a self-fulfilling one. Literally. Da babble is just like Nostradamus' Quatrains in that aspect. Those also "turn out to be true"... AFTER the fact. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shantonu Posted March 16, 2009 Share Posted March 16, 2009 I forget who said, "Predictions are difficult, especially about the future," Casey Stengel maybe. Or Yogi Bera. In any event, the reverse of this is also true. Predictions about the past are easy and are often very accurate. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OpheliaGinger Posted March 22, 2009 Share Posted March 22, 2009 i have left Christianity two weeks ago, but I "backslid" back to believing. The thing is, when I was going through some doubts, one day I was visiting my friend and his mom ended up sharing with me how great it is to live with God. She didn't know why she ended up telling that to me, but it felt like God was speaking to me through her, saying not to leave Him. Your friend's mother was probably subconsciously picking up on cues about your doubts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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