Matthew 27:52–53

@kellyjay said
That is your beliefs your faith on the matters of those events and Jesus' life.

No, my beliefs on this matter do not constitute "faith".

@fmf said
No, my beliefs on this matter do not constitute "faith".

What you accept as true or false is based on what you think is true and false; your worldview is the faith you have. Rejecting anything is based upon how you see the facts surrounding them; they either tell you there isn't enough to convince you it isn't true, or it simply isn't true; it is a judgment call, a matter of trust on what you think worth trusting or not.

@kellyjay said
What you accept as true or false is based on what you think is true and false; your worldview is the faith you have.

Nonsense. You are rinsing the word "faith" of all practical meaning. The words "worldview and "faith" are not synonyms.

@fmf said
Nonsense. You are rinsing the word "faith" of all practical meaning. The words "worldview and "faith" are not synonyms.

The word faith has always been one of practical meaning, and it is only of late have people tried to define it as purely a religious term robing it of its meaning of being something we believe is worthy of putting in our trust.

@fmf said
Nonsense. You are rinsing the word "faith" of all practical meaning. The words "worldview and "faith" are not synonyms.

Your worldview is comprised of those things you believe are the way you think they are; you trust in your understanding of many things you cannot prove or know for sure, yet you act; we are all creatures of faith.

@kellyjay said
The word faith has always been one of practical meaning, and it is only of late have people tried to define it as purely a religious term robing it of its meaning of being something we believe is worthy of putting in our trust.

Your "faith" ~ that [1] you are going to live forever because of your religious beliefs and [2] that torture in burning flames in eternity awaits me because I don't share your religious beliefs ~ does not create any actual hazard or danger for me.

[1] Me finding your torturer God ideology to be morally incoherent and irrelevant to me is not a conclusion for which I need "faith" to reach.

[2] Me finding your hope of living forever to be farfetched and irrelevant to me, again, is not a conclusion for which I need "faith" to reach.

@kellyjay said
Your worldview is comprised of those things you believe are the way you think they are; you trust in your understanding of many things you cannot prove or know for sure, yet you act; we are all creatures of faith.

Your theist faith ~ according to your beliefs ~ rewards you with immortality for having that faith, so you are making a massive aspirational leap based on your conjecture about supernatural things.

Meanwhile, my conjecture about supernatural things translates into my agnosticism and my perception that death is the end, so I am making NO massive aspirational leap and, unlike you [with your faith] I am not settling for - and pinning my hopes on - a religious package of answers and promises.

What do you think I am pinning my hopes on?

@fmf said
No, I mean "obliged".

To be "obliged" infers a legal requirement.

To be "obligated" means I exercise my free will.

Either way one can choose to believe it or not.

So then, in your opinion, what does it mean to be obliged with regards to the verses you referenced?

@josephw said
To be "obliged" infers a legal requirement.

To be "obligated" means I exercise my free will.

I am British. So my dialect is different from yours.

@josephw said
Either way one can choose to believe it or not.

I think, when it comes to supernatural phenomena, we cannot decide or choose to believe them. But we have had that discussion before.

@fmf said
I am British. So my dialect is different from yours.

That sounds a lot like a deflection, dialect notwithstanding.

Use the Oxford English Dictionary if you so desire.

@josephw said
So then, in your opinion, what does it mean to be obliged with regards to the verses you referenced?

Is it OK for a Christian to believe that stuff like Matthew 27:52-53 is farfetched, superstitious hokum?

@josephw said
That sounds a lot like a deflection, dialect notwithstanding.

Use the Oxford English Dictionary if you so desire.

We use "obliged" differently from Americans in everyday English. You and I are not arguing a legal case in court.

@fmf said
Is it OK for a Christian to believe that stuff like Matthew 27:52-53 is farfetched, superstitious hokum?

Christians believe a lot of "farfetched, superstitious hokum".

If that's your opinion of Matthew 27:52,53, then you're welcome to it.

@josephw said
Christians believe a lot of "farfetched, superstitious hokum".

If that's your opinion of Matthew 27:52,53, then you're welcome to it.

Yes I know I am welcome to have whatever opinion I want. But you telling me that does not answer the question.

If a Christian believes Matthew 27:52-53 is farfetched, superstitious hokum, is it 'OK', or is it a case of all-or-nothing?