bevin Posted May 7, 2007 Posted May 7, 2007 It is really hard to prove a negative - but basically nothing prior to King David has strong support, and King David himself has practically no support. All the actual geologically and archaeological evidence points to a world MUCH older than 6000 years. Anyone viewing the evidence without knowing the contents of the Bible would form a completely different description of the world prior to King David than the Bible describes - apart from such large scale hard to loose facts about Egypt and Babylon being in existence for long periods of time, and hence their appearance in the tale. But, of couse, you won't view that as a contradiction. /Bevin Quote
Administrators Gail Posted May 16, 2007 Administrators Posted May 16, 2007 I am interested in the effects of faith on a person's emotional (besides spiritual) well-being. What happens to a person who has no faith at all? Or no reason at all? Certainly there are times when the Christian has doubts (opposite of faith) but also the person who needs everything explained rationally undergoes periods of doubt. I personally believe that there is a real need and place for faith in one's life. What one puts his/her faith IN might make a difference in their measure of happiness or peace, but that's another story... Quote Isaiah 32:17 And the work of righteousness shall be peace; and the effect of righteousness quietness and assurance for ever.
bevin Posted May 17, 2007 Posted May 17, 2007 People with no faith at all live relatively normal lives - you don't need faith to live, just a pragmatic attitude. People with no ability to reason become leaders in the Bush administration :-) /Bevin Quote
Moderators John317 Posted May 18, 2007 Moderators Posted May 18, 2007 People with no faith at all live relatively normal lives - you don't need faith to live, just a pragmatic attitude. People with no ability to reason become leaders in the Bush administration :-) /Bevin I agree that there are many people who seem to live "relatively normal lives" apart from any faith in God or in the Bible. Some actually appear to do quite well and are highly successful in their life pursuits, etc. History offers many examples, among which are: Karl Marx, who, during his late teens, had professed sincere faith in Christ; Frederick Nietzsche, who studied the Bible a great deal during his youth and was called "the little pastor" by his classmates; Andre Gide, who was a fervent Prostestant in his youth; V. Lenin; Joseph Stalin, who studied at a seminary during his youth; Che Guavara; and Fidel Castro, who was Catholic in his youth. Eugene Debs was an atheist and an admirable lawyer who campaigned for justice and social progress and ran many times as a socialist candidate for President. His social values were influenced very much by Christian idealism and he also appealed to voters' Christian values. Karl Marx was also quite willing to take advantage of Christian values and ideals for the benefit of socialist causes even while ridiculing both the people and their values. During WW II, at a concentration camp in China run by the Japanese, Christians and non-religious people were thrown together and left to fend for themselves. By the end of that experience, there was no doubt that Christians-- or I should say people of faith-- did much better and survived through helping each other unselfishly, whereas the atheists did not do well or even survive because they had no reason to help others if it wasn't to their benefit to do so. Christians helped each other even when it was not to their own benefit. I have forgotten the name of the book written by a well-known writer who went through the experience and wrote an excellent book about it. If you're interested, I could give the name of author and book on a later post. This sort of thing has been well documented a number of times. For instance, by a famous psychoanalyst, whose book is titled (as I recall), The Meaning of Life, and also by those who were held as POWs by North Vietnam. It's fairly easy to continue life and to show love to others when everything seems to be going well. The bottom line is what do people do when everything seems to be falling apart and they have to deal with a dog-eat world where there's every practical reason to be out just for #1. Will one then show unselfish love for others even though it is to one's disadvantage to do so? Under those conditions, people of faith seem clearly to do better than people who have no faith or religous beliefs. That having been said, however, it shouldn't be construed as a denial that there are atheists who are capable of unselfish devotion to others. But the difference is that the atheists tended in those circumstances to show "love" only for those with whom they agreed or had something in common; whereas the people of faith shared selfless love for everyone, even with those with whom they had nothing in common. Quote John 3:16-17 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. [17] For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.
Moderators John317 Posted May 18, 2007 Moderators Posted May 18, 2007 Correction: The book mentioned is not The Meaning of Life but Search For Meaning by Victor Frankl. He writes of his experiences in the Nazi concentration camps and of the influence of belief in God on prisoners' behavior and survival. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Man's_Search_for_Meaning Quote John 3:16-17 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. [17] For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.
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