11/17/99

Hi,

If they don't read the Bible, how can they back up what they say when they say they're Christians? What would you think of a person who said that he was devoted to Shakespeare and then found out he had never read any of Shakespeare's works nor had he ever discussed Shakespeare with anyone? Nevertheless, I can't judge what is in a person's heart and so I can only speculate from a statistical point of view and so I don't label anyone. I don't think I ever said "suddenly have change in their lives or else they're not Christians". I don't think "suddenly" is how I would characterize it.

Also, I agree with you that these "atheists pretending to be Christians" probably think they are real Christians. I have people I work with every day who think they're real engineers.

You seem to think that Christianity is some kind of intellectual exercise, but I think it's a complete change of world-view that has profound consequences on how one lives one's life. Now I can open the Bible and quote verses in support of what I say, but since you reject the authority of the Bible, we would be arguing from different standards.

The Bible says test what you hear against scripture. I continuously test what my church teaches.

You wrote:

"I have the god-like power to create, within the limits of the human body. You can't compare the limits to a demigod; that assumes there is a more powerful being above you."

The power to create is the power to break the bonds of cause-and-effect; it is beyond science. In fact, it is just as you say, it is god-like. And yes, your version of polytheism does not include the gods on Olympus, but I think I said that. It's still many gods, yourself being one of them.

Your answer to my question would seem to be that, after having become convinced that god exists, you would sit down and do nothing because the search would be too exhausting. The mystery of the universe, the one who created you, and you would do nothing because it's too much trouble? Also, I guess that finding God would put you out of the "god-like" business wouldn't it?

Cheers,
Lynn

11/17/99

Hello,

People pretending to be Christians doesn't necessarily have to do with whether or not they read the bible. Some people believe that Christians are anyone who believes that Jesus is the son of god, and follows the general message. Daily studies of the bible aren't necessary. Some of the people you claim are not really Christians read the bible daily and can back up their backwards beliefs with the bible. Shakespeare doesn't really enter into it, does it? Is there a belief system based on Shakespeare?

If you're speculating from "a statistical point of view", where are you getting your statistics from? I don't understand how you can be so sure that there are lots of atheists running around pretending to be Christians who really believe they are Christians. Do you suppose that these people are actually filling out surveys and saying, "Yes, I believe I'm a Christian but actually I'm an atheist in disguise."? That makes absolutely no sense. By the same logic, anyone can say that you're an atheist pretending to be a Christian, but you really believe you're a Christian. What's the difference between yourself and these people? You have a different concept of what a Christian is than other people do. Why is your concept right, and others' wrong?

Is the power to create really the power to break the bonds of cause and effect? If I walk into a darkroom and create a photograph, is that beyond science? It IS science that allows me to create the photograph in the first place. Science isn't going to create it on its own, it allows the creator to do it. And when I say it's god-like, what I mean is that I have the ability to create something that's never been created before. Your god can create a deadly virus no one's ever seen before, and I can create a lovely photograph no one's ever seen before. My concept of "god-like" doesn't include the supernatural. It doesn't matter if it's an essay or a cure for the common cold, we create things every day, and it never goes beyond science; that is, it is never supernatural.

You stated, "your version of polytheism does not include the gods on Olympus". Again, atheism has no version of polytheism. Atheism is the denial of all deities. Polytheism is a belief system that includes more than one deity. Therefore, atheists are not polytheists, no exceptions. I am not a god, I am a human being.

I never said that after I became convinced that your god exists I would sit down and do nothing. What I told you was that it would take quite a while to study the bible and different forms of Christianity to determine what I should follow. I'm not about to just be sucked into something immediately after deciding there is a god. That's for the fundamentalist born-again Christians, who always seem to allow themselves to be brainwashed as soon as a church catches wind that they're new believers. I don't think your god would mind if I took my time deciding what the truth is instead of falling in with the crowd of atheists pretending to be Christians who really believe they're Christians. Not trying to be flippant, just still wondering how you justify judging other Christians to be non-Christians when you don't even know for sure if you're a true Christian. But if you know for certain that you're a true Christian, what makes you sure?

Meretricula