New non-Christian on the forum

[TheBeardedDude]

TheBeardedDude here, I'm new and I am not a christian. Anyone interested in some back and forth questioning?

 

[handy]

Hi and welcome!

If you haven't already done so, please read over our Terms of Service. I hope you'll find friends and interesting discussions here.

 

[TheBeardedDude]

I hope so too.

 

[Mike]

Anyone interested in some back and forth questioning?

Welcome to CFnet!

We are happy to have you here whether you are a believer or not, and things will go fine as long as you adhere to the ToS that you and every other member agreed to upon registration. Regarding the portion of your OP that I quoted above, here is an excerpt from section 2.2 of our Terms of Service

Non-Christians will not create threads inviting members to ask them about their belief systems such as "Ask the Atheist" or "Ask the Agnostic". Such threads are seen as a means to promote other faiths.

You should review the entire ToS, but I wanted to draw your attention to that here before you go down that path any further.

 

[Tony Hyman]

Remember Christ was very interested in saving non-believers as well and luring them into the truth of everlasting life according to John 4 where The Lord Jesus demostated that anyone is welcome who wishes to believe in His name as He did in the case of the Samaritan woman regardless of her past beliefs and doctrines.So the lesson here is if you mingle with the Life Insurance Industry dont be too suprised if an Insurance Salesman latches on to you to buy Life Insurance or other cover.Remember you are getting involved with Disciples Of Christ here who's mission is to fish for men Mark 1:17and woman to become Sons and Daughters of God our Only proven Creator and Heavenly Father, who by the Holy Spririt lays it upon your heart to accept the free non -pressure offer ,or reject it.Unlike the "Eros" mankinds form of love for ulterior motives . The kingdom of God accepts and loves you for whom you are(Agape love). Not what you have got or have achieved or done in the business world or other belief outside of these basic requirements and doctrines as measured according to the standards Only Son Of God ,Jesus Christ John 3:16.
I believe as a believer in God though Jesus Christ that you are just as intitled to be accepted in to the Universal Brother and Sisterhood and pray that you to will thirst for the living water of everlasting life and not die of thirst according to the living already dead from birth ,of the Earth ,who refuse to accept Jesus Christ , because of sin which infects us all ,Christians as well as Non-Christians ,as truthfully call yourself at this stage of your involvement here ,by your own choice, for some reason known only to you.Welcome and may the Holy Spirit guide you as Christ did with the Samritan Non- Christian who thankfully saw the light before all was lost.

 

[Ryan]

TheBeardedDude here, I'm new and I am not a christian. Anyone interested in some back and forth questioning?

Welcome. What would you like to discuss? Do you believe in God the Creator? Oftentimes also called the Father.

 

[Speculative]

Hi from another guy with a beard

 

[TheBeardedDude]

A short reply to everyone should suffice for everything asked.

I am a non-believer
An atheist (or perhaps one might prefer to say agnostic-atheist, or maybe apatheist)
I am a former believer having come from a Southern baptist background.

 

[TheBeardedDude]

I'm also trying to reply to "Let's try this again" thread but the mods have limited me so that I can only reply after approval. I guess it is not allowed to ask or reply if one does not call themselves a believer.

Forget the fact that someone who would come here seeking dishonest attempts at Q&A would simply lie and say they are a believer so as to avoid suspicion. My honesty in my intent is rewarded with censoring. How very open-minded.

 

[farouk]

I'm also trying to reply to "Let's try this again" thread but the mods have limited me so that I can only reply after approval. I guess it is not allowed to ask or reply if one does not call themselves a believer.

Forget the fact that someone who would come here seeking dishonest attempts at Q&A would simply lie and say they are a believer so as to avoid suspicion. My honesty in my intent is rewarded with censoring. How very open-minded.

All I can say is that you have repeatedly declared yourself an unbeliever. You may reasonably expect people to be sympathetic towards your welfare and to answer reasonable questions about the Biblical faith. But frankly it's reasonable for Christians on a Christian site to want to make sure that the site isn't being used to promote unbelief.

If you don't really understand this, then I guess people like me can be of only limited help to you. (I have tried to respond constructively to some of your other comments.)

Also, an open forum is not the place to express personal issues against mods.

 

[TheBeardedDude]

Is a christian forum not a place to come and learn about Christianity? How can one be expected to learn without asking questions? How can one ask questions, if they are censored?

The mods will delete it anyways.

 

[farouk]

Let me refer you to Hebrews 11.6 : "But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him."

I am sure that the mods would not be at all hostile to constructive questions, but since faith is the key to discussion about Christian doctrine and practice, it is not unreasonable to ascertain what sort of questions are going to be displayed. (Some folk do come here with the apparent desire to promote unbelief.)

 

[TheBeardedDude]

Let me refer you to Hebrews 11.6.

I am sure that the mods would not be at all hostile to constructive questions, but since faith is the key to discussion about Christian doctrine and practice, it is not unreasonable to ascertain what sort of questions are going to be displayed.

First off, I love the quote tool on this forum.

To the reply, faith is an interesting topic. I'll just start off by asking, what does it mean to believe something based on faith? and Can anything be believed on faith? If no, why not?

 

[farouk]

Let me refer you to Hebrews 11.6.

I am sure that the mods would not be at all hostile to constructive questions, but since faith is the key to discussion about Christian doctrine and practice, it is not unreasonable to ascertain what sort of questions are going to be displayed.

First off, I love the quote tool on this forum.

To the reply, faith is an interesting topic. I'll just start off by asking, what does it mean to believe something based on faith? and Can anything be believed on faith? If no, why not?

Thank-you for your further question.

I think you are using the terms 'believing' and 'faith' in ways that are different; I would use them as meaning something rather similar (and in translation, for instance, they might be difficult to distinguish).

But let me give you an example from Isaiah 40.22. It speaks of the 'circle of the earth'. For centuries after this was written, some people, who might otherwise have dismissed the Bible, thought that the earth was flat. But in fact here it is in keeping with modern knowledge about the earth. Another example: in the Old Testament, the dietary requirements for the Israelites (not necessarily for the church today), who had to spend 40 years in the wilderness, are actually soundly based for those who are in such a hot and arid environment.

In the end the facts around what God did and maintained were not separate from trusting Him in His purposes and in acknowledgment of his care for the welfare of His people.

This is all more as a background to the central themes in Scripture about the Person and sin atoning work of the Lord Jesus Christ.

 

[TheBeardedDude]

Thank-you for your further question.

I think you are using the terms 'believing' and 'faith' in ways that are different; I would use them as meaning something rather similar (and in translation, for instance, they might be difficult to distinguish).

But let me give you an example from Isaiah 40.22. It speaks of the 'circle of the earth'. For centuries after this was written, some people, who might otherwise have dismissed the Bible, thought that the earth was flat. But in fact here it is in keeping with modern knowledge about the earth. Another example: in the Old Testament, the dietary requirements for the Israelites (not necessarily for the church today), who had to spend 40 years in the wilderness, are actually soundly based for those who are in such a hot and arid environment.

In the end the facts around what God did and maintained were not separate from trusting Him in His purposes and in acknowledgment of his care for the welfare of His people.

This is all more as a background to the central themes in Scripture about the Person and sin atoning work of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Faith and belief are two different terms. I am using them as they are meant to be used. What then is the difference between believing that the sun will still be burning tomorrow and having faith that it will?

There were a few additional questions in the preceding post that I think are important not to skip over too.
Can anything be believed on faith? If no, why not?

And anything when viewed from above with a limited distance of sight, will appear to be circular. It is the reason that a compass works so well

 

[TheBeardedDude]

And one of my favorite quotes in discussing how one looks at the world, is one by the late Stephen Jay Gould.

"In science, fact can only mean confirmed to such a degree that it would be perverse to withhold provisional assent. I suppose that apples might start to rise tomorrow, but the possibility does not merit equal time in physics classrooms." [Stephen J. Gould]

 

[farouk]

Thank-you for your further question.

I think you are using the terms 'believing' and 'faith' in ways that are different; I would use them as meaning something rather similar (and in translation, for instance, they might be difficult to distinguish).

But let me give you an example from Isaiah 40.22. It speaks of the 'circle of the earth'. For centuries after this was written, some people, who might otherwise have dismissed the Bible, thought that the earth was flat. But in fact here it is in keeping with modern knowledge about the earth. Another example: in the Old Testament, the dietary requirements for the Israelites (not necessarily for the church today), who had to spend 40 years in the wilderness, are actually soundly based for those who are in such a hot and arid environment.

In the end the facts around what God did and maintained were not separate from trusting Him in His purposes and in acknowledgment of his care for the welfare of His people.

This is all more as a background to the central themes in Scripture about the Person and sin atoning work of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Faith and belief are two different terms. I am using them as they are meant to be used. What then is the difference between believing that the sun will still be burning tomorrow and having faith that it will?

There were a few additional questions in the preceding post that I think are important not to skip over too.
Can anything be believed on faith? If no, why not?

And anything when viewed from above with a limited distance of sight, will appear to be circular. It is the reason that a compass works so well

Here's an interesting use of the words 'faith' and 'understand' in the same verse of Scripture:

Hebrews 11.3 : "Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear."

 

[TheBeardedDude]

Thank-you for your further question.

I think you are using the terms 'believing' and 'faith' in ways that are different; I would use them as meaning something rather similar (and in translation, for instance, they might be difficult to distinguish).

But let me give you an example from Isaiah 40.22. It speaks of the 'circle of the earth'. For centuries after this was written, some people, who might otherwise have dismissed the Bible, thought that the earth was flat. But in fact here it is in keeping with modern knowledge about the earth. Another example: in the Old Testament, the dietary requirements for the Israelites (not necessarily for the church today), who had to spend 40 years in the wilderness, are actually soundly based for those who are in such a hot and arid environment.

In the end the facts around what God did and maintained were not separate from trusting Him in His purposes and in acknowledgment of his care for the welfare of His people.

This is all more as a background to the central themes in Scripture about the Person and sin atoning work of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Faith and belief are two different terms. I am using them as they are meant to be used. What then is the difference between believing that the sun will still be burning tomorrow and having faith that it will?

There were a few additional questions in the preceding post that I think are important not to skip over too.
Can anything be believed on faith? If no, why not?

And anything when viewed from above with a limited distance of sight, will appear to be circular. It is the reason that a compass works so well

Here's an interesting use of the words 'faith' and 'understand' in the same verse of Scripture:

Hebrews 11.3 : "Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear."

Implying that faith is the belief in something without evidence then?

 

[farouk]

Thank-you for your further question.

I think you are using the terms 'believing' and 'faith' in ways that are different; I would use them as meaning something rather similar (and in translation, for instance, they might be difficult to distinguish).

But let me give you an example from Isaiah 40.22. It speaks of the 'circle of the earth'. For centuries after this was written, some people, who might otherwise have dismissed the Bible, thought that the earth was flat. But in fact here it is in keeping with modern knowledge about the earth. Another example: in the Old Testament, the dietary requirements for the Israelites (not necessarily for the church today), who had to spend 40 years in the wilderness, are actually soundly based for those who are in such a hot and arid environment.

In the end the facts around what God did and maintained were not separate from trusting Him in His purposes and in acknowledgment of his care for the welfare of His people.

This is all more as a background to the central themes in Scripture about the Person and sin atoning work of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Faith and belief are two different terms. I am using them as they are meant to be used. What then is the difference between believing that the sun will still be burning tomorrow and having faith that it will?

There were a few additional questions in the preceding post that I think are important not to skip over too.
Can anything be believed on faith? If no, why not?

And anything when viewed from above with a limited distance of sight, will appear to be circular. It is the reason that a compass works so well

Here's an interesting use of the words 'faith' and 'understand' in the same verse of Scripture:

Hebrews 11.3 : "Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear."

Implying that faith is the belief in something without evidence then?

You mention evidence; here is what Hebrews 11.1 says. (The whole chapter is of great interest, actually, if you read it.)

"Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen."

 

[TheBeardedDude]

"You mention evidence; here is what Hebrews 11.1 says. (The whole chapter is of great interest, actually, if you read it.)

"Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen."

I've heard this before and have absolutely no idea what it means. To say that "faith is the substance of things hoped for" is to equate it to a hope or a wish that is based on "things not seen." Implying once again that faith is believing in something without evidence, but hoping that evidence will present itself in the future.

Can you address my other questions?