If I were to say to you that your opinion, that the Teapot doesn't exist, is in fact a belief, and that the onus is on you to justify that belief, would you think I was nuts?
From "Is there a God?" by Bertrand Russell,
- "Many orthodox people speak as though it were the business of sceptics to disprove received dogmas rather than of dogmatists to prove them. This is, of course, a mistake. If I were to suggest that between the Earth and Mars there is a china teapot revolving about the sun in an elliptical orbit, nobody would be able to disprove my assertion provided I were careful to add that the teapot is too small to be revealed even by our most powerful telescopes. But if I were to go on to say that, since my assertion cannot be disproved, it is intolerable presumption on the part of human reason to doubt it, I should rightly be thought to be talking nonsense. If, however, the existence of such a teapot were affirmed in ancient books, taught as the sacred truth every Sunday, and instilled into the minds of children at school, hesitation to believe in its existence would become a mark of eccentricity and entitle the doubter to the attentions of the psychiatrist in an enlightened age or of the Inquisitor in an earlier time."
God reveals Himelf to who He pleases. It is as simple ss that.
ReplyDeleteYes, in the exact same way that Thor, Odin and Zeus reveal themselves to whomever they want. And if they never appear to you, it is not because they don't exist, it's because they don't wanna. And this is the perfect excuse, because you cannot lose either way.
DeleteAfter a certain number of shots of whiskey or any other alcoholic beverage containing a sufficiently high amount of alcohol, even atheists will be able to see the figure of your god doing a table dance or some other magic number!! It’s all in the drink!
Delete"If I were to say to you that your opinion, that the Teapot doesn't exist, is in fact a belief . . ." But this is neither our opinion nor what we are saying. And I am pretty sure you know this. If you tell us that you know that the Teapot does exist and we remain unconvinced because you cannot provide sufficient evidence, that is not a belief. It is the rejection of your claim. This is just like in a court case where someone is pronounced "not guilty" because there was not enough evidence to prove guilt. This does not mean that the jury believes he is innocent. It is a rejection of the guilty claim because of insufficient evidence.
ReplyDeleteMany theists will say that my lack of belief in gods is itself a belief, and that I am required to justify such a belief. This is also nuts. I'm just holding a mirror...
DeleteSo, Barry, I have a jar on my desk that I have been tossing pocket change into for several years now. I have also not counted them in several year, but I am going to make a claim here and say that the number of coins in that jar is an even number. Do you accept this claim? And if not, does this mean that you "believe" that the number of coins in the jar is an odd number? So, what do you "believe" here, Barry, odd or even?
ReplyDeleteI fail to see any relevance in your comment.
DeleteYou have to seek the Lord and want relationship with him, because u have to have interaction with me ,if I meet a stranger I just can't meet him and say I'm your best friend and have me open up to him God shows himself to those who seek him, and if prophesy isn't enough evidence toto at least prove the Bible is a Supernatural book , I don't know what would convince you for the Jewish people only people to loose their country and then regain and still be a nation exactly like God said and then in 1948 became Israel again coincidentally Abraham the father of the Jews born 1948 years after Adam ? And then in 6 day war when the nation of Israel surrounded by 14 Arab nations representing 110 million people and Israel had a regular army of 70,000 with the reserves of 230,000 , yet when attack and first and a great disadvantage on low ground their lightening quick work of the Israelites brought the destruction of planes and tanks on the ground and the war was over in 6days if God is fighting for them then the math don't make sense ?;God is real
ReplyDelete10For thus says the Lord: After seventy years are completed at Babylon, I will visit you and perform My good word toward you, and cause you to return to this place. 11For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope. 12Then you will call upon Me and go and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. 13And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart. 14I will be found by you, says the Lord, and I will bring you back from your captivity; I will gather you from all the nations and from all the places where I have driven you, says the Lord, and I will bring you to the place from which I cause you to be carried away captive.
All biblical prophecy isn’t even prophetic. Just statements.
DeleteHaving read the above statement, I have just come to the realization that there is still an incredibly high level of ignorance on Earth, even in this day and age, when humanity has finally achieved a level of scientific knowledge and technical advancement that would have been considered something beyond science fiction back in the Middle Ages. And yet, despite all of the scientific progress and engineering accomplishments that have become established facts and scientific knowledge in todays society, we still see a few individuals that have the audacity (or stupidity) to come out of the woodworks and make fantastic and extraordinary claims about their invisible imaginary friends residing in the heavens!! Admittedly, I am open to the idea that there could be extraterrestrial civilizations out there, but gods??? That’s where one crosses the line between reality and fantasy.
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