Is God a delusion?

[phkrause]

Out of the carnage of 9/11 arose a phenomenon known as the New Atheists. Enraged by the mass murder of the terror attack—all done in the name of God—these New Atheists declared intellectual war on all theistic faith and assumptions. For them, religion itself was “the great scourge” of human life, an irrational and dangerous force, and the sooner humanity shed it the better.

Read the article here:http://www.signstimes.com/?p=article&a=40050015625.645

[Gerr]

The god of the perpetrators IS a delusion.

[pierrepaul]

I often wonder this as well. I grew up SdA. I was a spiritual child. Prayer and Bible study were part of my daily routine. God was real to me. When I sinned I felt great guilt and felt the hurt I believed I inflicted on Jesus. In my mid-20s I read through the Bible and noted for the first time the plethora of contradictions, internal inconsistencies and pure nonsense. My faith was shaken and it never recovered. Back then, there was no internet and I didn't have Biblical research materials at hand. My Bible and a Strong's concordance was all I had. I felt like I was the first to have discovered these problem texts in the Bible. By age 30 I realized I was an atheist. From age 30 to 40 my life was filled with ups and downs, modest successes and monumental failures; anxiety and depression were never far away. My marriage was strained. Yet despite all the problems I got myself in, a solution often appeared, often through no extraordiary effort on my part. It was as if someone, something was watching over me (and then I wonder, why me? and not someone else; why would God favour me, after I turned my back on Him, while others suffer? Has divine favour smiled on me, or am I just lucky). At age 40 I returned to church. After a few years, my marriage was back on solid ground, my children were growing up happy and healthy, life was better. I still doubt, but I practice my religion - I study, I teach, I preach, I pray, I tithe. I still have lingering doubts and I wonder if my renewed faith is but a psychological coping mechanism for me. I love our church, our church members and our community of faith. But I cannot help wondering if it is not a delusion. So my prayer remains - Lord, I believe; help my unbelief.

[Aliensanctuary]

Religions propagate delusions and misunderstandings, but ultimately, our Creator will show us all that the Kingdom really is. Religion distracts us from faith in, and surrender to, our Creator only.

The Temple is the key to understanding the Kingdom of God.

[fccool]

You can't a definitively answer this question, and that's where the New Atheism fails flat, because it's obsessed with proving the opposite.

In short, the falsifiable propositions can't be shown to be correct or incorrect.   They can only be accepted or rejected.  

For example,  I can say that I have a power to turn invisible, but only when no-one is looking or recording me doing it.  The moment they see me I turn visible again.  In that sense, the claim is ever-evasive in terms of how we approach evidence.  If there's no direct way for one to verify my claim, then the claim can merely be rejected or accepted based on a belief. 

It's the same thing with God proposition.  It's structured in a way in which there's no way to verify directly.   You have to wait until you die, or hold on to some future promise of Jesus coming back, or rely on vague feelings, or believe some claims of miracles in the past or even present.   But there's no definitive way to gather a bunch of people in a circle and say "Hey, we are going to do the Elija type of test here and have God demonstrate his power by defying the laws of physics so it's absolutely clear that there's something beyond our immediate existence.  God would know how to convince each and every one of you, and doing so would be a piece of cake to the Creator of the Universe".    There are claims that God did that in the past.   But all of it is a one giant and complex claim that one either believes or rejects.  That's all it is.

In terms of a delusion, all of us rely on delusional beliefs.   For example, we live in a "country" yet there are no natural borders and limits to such construct.   It's merely an idea we believe in. 

Whether something is a delusion is secondary to the discussion as to whether something is harmful or beneficial.

[LifeHiscost]

Maybe at one time, though I don't ever remember it, I might have believed in the nonexistence of God, but the evidence presented by the Holy Bible coupled with following its' instructions has settled any doubts there ever may have been.

13These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know that you have eternal life. 14This is the confidence which we have before Him, that, if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us.…1 John 5

1The heavens proclaim the glory of God.

The skies display his craftsmanship.

2Day after day they continue to speak;

night after night they make him known.

3They speak without a sound or word;

their voice is never heard.^a

4Yet their message has gone throughout the earth,

and their words to all the world.

God has made a home in the heavens for the sun.

5It bursts forth like a radiant bridegroom after his wedding.

It rejoices like a great athlete eager to run the race.

6The sun rises at one end of the heavens

and follows its course to the other end.

Nothing can hide from its heat.

7The instructions of the Lord are perfect,

reviving the soul.

The decrees of the Lord are trustworthy,

making wise the simple.

8The commandments of the Lord are right,

bringing joy to the heart.

The commands of the Lord are clear,

giving insight for living.

9Reverence for the Lord is pure,

lasting forever.

The laws of the Lord are true;

each one is fair.

10They are more desirable than gold,

even the finest gold.

They are sweeter than honey,

even honey dripping from the comb.

11They are a warning to your servant,

a great reward for those who obey them.

12How can I know all the sins lurking in my heart?

Cleanse me from these hidden faults.

13Keep your servant from deliberate sins!

Don’t let them control me.

Then I will be free of guilt

and innocent of great sin.

14May the words of my mouth

and the meditation of my heart

be pleasing to you,

O Lord, my rock and my redeemer.....Psalms 19

God is Love!~Jesus saves! 

---

[Robert]

On 3/11/2016 at 5:01 PM, phkrause said:

Out of the carnage of 9/11 arose a phenomenon known as the New Atheists. Enraged by the mass murder of the terror attack—all done in the name of God—these New Atheists declared intellectual war on all theistic faith and assumptions. For them, religion itself was “the great scourge” of human life, an irrational and dangerous force, and the sooner humanity shed it the better.

Read the article here:http://www.signstimes.com/?p=article&a=40050015625.645

I liked the author's ending statement:

Illusions and delusions

Despite Dawkins’s certainty about his views, in his book The God Delusion he does hedge his bets a bit. He has a chapter titled “Why There Almost Certainly Is No God.” Almost certainly no God? Why almost?

For someone so sure of his attack on “God, all gods, anything and everything supernatural,” he has given himself an “out” here. Paul explained Dawkins’s slight uncertainty when he wrote that enough about God’s existence can be seen “by the things that are made” that people will be “without excuse” on judgment day (Romans 1:20). In other words, Dawkins isn’t fully convinced of his position, because the witness from the things “that are made” is too powerful.

For all the certainty of Richard Dawkins and other New Atheists, logic in fact does suggest that the real illusion is the delusion that God does not exist.

[Robert]

On 3/26/2016 at 6:51 PM, Kevin(wrx) said:

My personal belief is that atheism is short lived. 

Yes, because when "the man of sin" and his delusions come to fruition there will be no atheist. (see 2 Thess 2:3-10)  

 

 

[Robert]

On 3/26/2016 at 0:24 AM, fccool said:

In terms of a delusion, all of us rely on delusional beliefs.   For example, we live in a "country" yet there are no natural borders and limits to such construct.   It's merely an idea we believe in. Whether something is a delusion is secondary to the discussion as to whether something is harmful or beneficial.

I especially dislike how you endeavor to "cloud" truth and make it questionable.  This is nothing more than an attack on one's faith in God.  Why do you persist? 

 

[Aliensanctuary]

Quote

I'm not exactly sure what you mean by "the temple is the key..."?

The Tabernacle in the wilderness and later, the Temples, were the closest humans ever got to the Kingdom of God. There, God directly communicated to humans to inform them of his laws and what he wanted them to do or where they should go. The religions of today have created numerous, conflicting distortions and misunderstandings of the real Kingdom, aka myths and superstitions. Those who claim that God tells them to do this or that probably do believe in a god of delusions.

The last few chapters in Ezekiel give us a picture of the Kingdom of God on Earth, the Temple, the city, and the surrounding territory. There was farmland surrounding the priest's land which surrounded the Temple. The tithes of animals and crops continued, being used to help support the priests. Thus, even though animal "sacrifices" will continue in the future Kingdom, they won't be for sins, but for a tithe of food.

I tend to try to picture the solemnity of the Tabernacle and Temple services, then compare them with today's Christian religions, and to me, there is very little similarity. People don't seem to fear God as in days of old, but rather treat him as a good buddy and make extraordinary claims that he tells them what to say or do in their distorted version of the Kingdom.

As a footnote, when Christ walked upon the Earth, the Kingdom of God was very near also, hovering above the land of Israel from time to time. The Kingdom was a mountain, high and lifted up, a pyramid-like city in the sky surrounded by clouds and rain and wind, for it was so big that it created its own weather. It swooped down low over Israel as Christ hung dying on the cross, creating an unnatural darkness. It used its earthquake weapon to shake the land, frightening the city's inhabitants below.

Our distorted and false religions will all be swept away when God's Kingdom arrives and we are taught the truth.

[fccool]

On 3/28/2016 at 6:00 AM, Robert said:

I especially dislike how you endeavor to "cloud" truth and make it questionable.  This is nothing more than an attack on one's faith in God.  Why do you persist? 

 

That fact shouldn't be in danger to any flow or examination of reason - the most reliable way we actually have to know if something is true or not.

I really don't understand why you'd feel that your faith is under under attack every time someone voices an opinion that doesn't align with yours. 

[Martn]

Personal experience is key.

People who don't believe in God or doubt God's existence simply have not experienced anything miraculous enough to convince them beyond a doubt. A few do, and they change their minds right away.

It's hard for people who haven't experienced (very extraordinary) supernatural occurrences to imagine that those of us who do really are telling the truth. Especially when so many have been proved to be liars.

Of course most folks believe even though they haven't seen. When push comes to shove, however, they may or may not keep their faith.

Jesus said those who truly believe in him will do even greater miracles than he did. This should be commonplace, by now, but the Church has failed, so far. As has all religion.

If we had the kind of faith a tiny mustard seed has, we could --and should-- move mountains. Literally.