Clarity

Originally posted by @lemon-lime
Years ago I tried to reconcile my former atheistic ideas with Christian beliefs. But because of many obvious paradoxes and contradictions I was compelled to choose between one or the other... I could find no middle ground that made any sense.

Other than Christianity being a religion that has belief in a God central to its ideology, and atheism being a belief that there is no God or Gods...what were some of the other “many obvious paradoxes and contradictions” that you came across during this period of reconciliation?

Originally posted by @lemon-lime
what is the central thread holding it all together?

Is there a name I could google, or a website that describes/explains this?

I don't want to jump to any unwarranted conclusions, but what you've described thus far sounds very familiar. I can't quite put my finger on it, but I'm fairly sure I've heard something like this before.[/b]

Why are you replying to your own post as though it was someone else who wrote it?

Originally posted by @divegeester to lemon lime
Why are you replying to your own post as though it was someone else who wrote it?

It's his version of "courage", perhaps.

Originally posted by @divegeester
...atheism [is] a belief that there is no God or Gods...

A lot of atheists do NOT believe that there is no god or gods. JS357 is a good example. "Explicit" atheists, on the other hand, do believe that there is no god or gods. Ghost of a Duke is a good example.

However, an "implicit atheist" like me has an "absence of theistic belief without a conscious rejection of it". As I have explained many times, I am open to the possibility that there is a god or gods ~ I have not consciously rejected it ~ but I have found the claims of various religions that they have information about a revelation from a god or gods to be not convincing.

Originally posted by @lemon-lime
You're right, it's life (not light). This isn't the first time I've made that mistake.
It was John 8:12 where he said "I am the light of the world"

Yes.

"Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life." -- John 8:12, KJV

His followers shall have the "light of life." Again, this is another focus on the new life available from following Jesus.

Originally posted by @divegeester
Why are you replying to your own post as though it was someone else who wrote it?

It wasn't a reply.
I was connecting it to the post where I asked the question "what is the central thread holding it all together?"

Originally posted by @lemon-lime
It wasn't a reply.
I was connecting it to the post where I asked the question "what is the central thread holding it all together?"

You also said this to yourself in that post:

Is there a name I could google, or a website that describes/explains this?

I don't want to jump to any unwarranted conclusions, but what you've described thus far sounds very familiar. I can't quite put my finger on it, but I'm fairly sure I've heard something like this before.

Do you think this is normal?

Originally posted by @divegeester
You also said this to yourself in that post:

[b]Is there a name I could google, or a website that describes/explains this?

I don't want to jump to any unwarranted conclusions, but what you've described thus far sounds very familiar. I can't quite put my finger on it, but I'm fairly sure I've heard something like this before.

Do you think this is normal?[/b]

Perhaps he forgot to change accounts

Originally posted by @ragwort
Perhaps he forgot to change accounts

But lemon lime's trademark vapid ooze is "inimitable".

Originally posted by @divegeester
You also said this to yourself in that post:

[b]Is there a name I could google, or a website that describes/explains this?

I don't want to jump to any unwarranted conclusions, but what you've described thus far sounds very familiar. I can't quite put my finger on it, but I'm fairly sure I've heard something like this before.

Do you think this is normal?[/b]

I thought it was along the lines of his adding a "Part 2" to his previous reply, therefore addressing the same poster as the first reply.

C'mon, man, it's an internet message board, it's not that hard to follow.

Originally posted by @ragwort
Perhaps he forgot to change accounts

🙂

Originally posted by @divegeester
Other than Christianity being a religion that has belief in a God central to its ideology, and atheism being a belief that there is no God or Gods...what were some of the other “many obvious paradoxes and contradictions” that you came across during this period of reconciliation?

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YouTube

Originally posted by @lemon-lime
Please wait for an authorized representative to answer your call.

[youtube]VBlFHuCzPgY[/youtube]

You've been "rumbled" again

Originally posted by @divegeester
You've been "rumbled" again

All of our operators are busy. Your call is important to us, so please stay on the line...

YouTube

Originally posted by @lemon-lime
[b]I'm not trying to combine disparate elements. I'm just trying to use my own words.

I appreciate you using your own words. No joke, I really do.

I didn't mean to imply that you in particular combined disparate elements. I assumed you were talking about a philosophy (or a religion or idea) you had come across and agree with.

Dont you thi ...[text shortened]... ngdom of heaven is at hand he was referring to himself... he was (literally) within their midst.

Popular Christianity may not gel with other spiritual ideas but at the heart of Jesus' words are more than just good intentions and a moral code. Its been so long since we used our own thinking to make important decisions... we've simply let other people tell us what is what.