I am an engineer and an Atheist. 100% believe in evolution and Big-Bang or similar theory.
Being an engineer has nothing to do with anything.
Evolution can't explain how we have something instead of nothing to begin with. Neither does the Big Bang theory. If you were to honestly look at the Big Bang theory, the only rational explanation at this point is a creator independent of the creation (as I was saying in my other post, with the whole rewinding the point of origin back into infinity).
...most of your "arguments" require a belief that a god exists to begin with in order to be true, so they aren't convincing to someone who doesn't believe that.
And any "argument" against God requires a belief that the universe is eternal (something that cannot be true according to science) or a belief that nothing makes everything (also against science and reason). Given what has been set before us so far, not believing in a creator is much more scientifically illogical than believing in a creator.
“Essentially, I realized that to stay an atheist, I would have to believe that nothing produces everything; non-life produces life; randomness produces fine-tuning; chaos produces information; unconsciousness produces consciousness; and non-reason produces reason. Those leaps of faith were simply too big for me to take, especially in light of the affirmative case for God's existence … In other words, in my assessment the Christian worldview accounted for the totality of the evidence much better than the atheistic worldview.”There is also no rational reason that your version of a god is any more real than any other religion.
My rationale behind the Judeo-Christian God being the true God is that He is the perfect fit for what all sound philosophy and science has shown us so far. Based on what we know of the universe and our selves, His revelation to us has shown to be the most consistent and persuasive. He is the most well documented and consistent God.
...most of your reasoning comes down to: God is real because the bible says so. The bible is true because god wrote it.
No, my reasoning comes down to this:
- Based on what we know of the nature of the universe, a creator must exist.
- The Judeo-Christian Scripture is the most profound, consistent, and complete revelation of a creator.
In science, when something is unknown, Scientists try to find out what it is. They are constantly looking for answers, and theories are constantly being tested to see if they are true or not. If new information is discovered that contradicts a theory, the theory is thrown away and they try to find out the answer again.
With religion, when something is unknown, religion makes it up. If new information comes to light, religious doctrine rarely changes to reflect that new information. Not only does this result in incorrect information, but it stops people from looking for the real answers.
As if a prerequisite for science is atheism? The theistic scientist doesn't dismiss evidence. He isn't against learning. The only difference is that he knows there is a creator, and looks at everything as a way to better understand the mind of the creator. And there has been nothing found to warrant change of scripture. God's revelation is complete. He has shown everything that the human spirit NEEDS to know. That in no way means that we should stop studying the universe. Again, as science stands now, a creator is STILL the only logical conclusion as to how our existence came about.
Some religious people think they have all the answers act act negatively towards others because of this. One example would be in the other thread and Beatles intolerance of Islam. I saw that thread and just ignored it even though his beliefs didn't reflect mine, but Beatles had to post a long post bashing his religion. Other examples would be when people blindly follow religious doctrine and it negatively affects others.
There is a difference between the true religion, and the false religions. I know you don't understand this. But spreading pain and ill-will in His name is not something we are taught. I wasn't "bashing" Islam, I wasn't intentionally trying to hurt osaeed. I was simply presenting arguments against Islam from the Judeo-Christian perspective. If osaeed is a faithful muslim, then he should be studying the Judeo-Christian Scriptures anyway. We believe that Islam is built from the misunderstanding of those scriptures. All I wanted to do was have a discussion on why Islam is, or is not, true.
Also, the true faith comes with no negative effects, at least ultimately. Again, you can't understand this because of what is in your heart and because you have no desire to find out otherwise.
People want excuses not to beleive, and they'll twist anything to fit that want. The spiritual darkness of a human seeks out anything it can find as ammunition against God. They see what they want to see, that they may believe what they want to believe. This is why simply reading Scripture is not enough. There are atheists who have read all of the Scripture, but only in hopes of finding proof that it can't be real. They have no hope of seeing it for what it is. Their heart is not open to the truth. They are spiritually blind, and by choice.
I kinda feel people are cheating themselves by thinking they are going to get an afterlife, and not living the way they want to.
This makes no sense. We are not oppressed. Are you murderer? Are you a liar? Are you obsessed with sexual immorality? Do you love destroying your body? Do you hate all that is good and pure? That's all we are "cheating ourselves" out of; darkness and emptiness.
I can't "prove" God to you, and I'm not trying to do that. You are missing a huge point. If your CHOOSE to be utterly defiant toward God, there's nothing that can MAKE you believe. It's impossible for an atheist to understand the true concept of God, because they intentionally fight against him. And it is hard to try and explain this to them. It's like trying to explain what blue is to someone who was born blind. It's like trying to plant a crop where there is no "ground". They want nothing to do with Him. And this is where all the doubt and confusion concerning Him comes from. It is your choice. If you just open your hearts to Him, He will show you how He is real. No matter what you think, deep in your hearts you know that He must exist.
He has said that there is absolutely no excuse for not believing in Him. Look at all that is in the universe. Look at it's power and glory. Look at the human spirit. Think about how profound thoughts and feelings are. Think of all the complexities. Think of all the diversity that is held in unity. Ponder the very essence of this existence. The proof has always been right in front of you, the problem is that you willingly close your eyes to it and deafen your spirit. Ultimately you are trying to be your own god. You want the glory. You want the power. You want the throne. And this has eternal consequences.
Is the only thing you are concerned with is your own earthly desires and pleasure? Do you really beleive that that's all there is? Don't you realize the emptiness in your human-centric views?
By the way, I use to be an atheist/agnostic up until about a year and a half ago. I'll go more into my personal story at a later time, perhaps.
For those atheists/agnostics, may I suggest using this site for some of your questions?
http://www.gotquestions.org/Perhaps it will stir up curiosity within you that will lead you to Him.
Try to read Scripture with an open heart, do research on religion and the universe from every place (not just places that are biased one way or the other). Just TRY. Ask the questions that matter. The BIG questions.
I hope this isn't appearing as a condescending or anything. I'm probably far from the best person to be preaching. My life so far isn't a good example of the Christian life. I've only accepted Him recently, and am not very wise in these matters. All I'm sure of is that He exists, and that Jesus was indeed Him in flesh whose purpose was to save us.
This topic is for each of us to talk about our beliefs, and perhaps respond to others beliefs within the context of our own.
