Faith is Bliss
Their may or may not be a god (or many gods).
He/She/They may or may not have a purpose for human existence.
Human knowledge does not at present give us the answers. Many choose to ignore the search for said knowledge in favor of a cheap and quick pre-made set of beliefs, doctrines and traditions.
Intelligent design is not science because it can neither be proved nor disproved.
That which lives dies; that which does not live, does not.
Eternity in hell, however it is defined, is too great a punishment for any crime whether against God or against man.
The idea of eternity in heaven only appeals to those who have knowledge of death (and perhaps a fear of it). If we were originally meant to live forever, we could not appreciate it. Everyone would live forever. Death defines life and gives it meaning. It makes our time here valuable.
Eternity in heaven would eventually become hellish no matter how infinitely varied experiences there could be, the fact would remain that it could not end.
I agree with Blaise Pascal when he said, "Faith certainly tells us what the senses do not, but not the contrary of what they see; it is above, not against them."
Faith = Ignorance.
Knowledge, assuming everything we experience and learn about our surroundings is not a fabrication of some sort, is like a train that can take us further and further as the human race progresses toward truth. Faith is taking that progress and saying, "That's quite far enough thank you, I'll take it from here," and effectually jumping off the train. The person that does this does one of two things. Either they say, "I can't know (agnostics)," and stop searching for truth, (maybe out of frustration with the search, maybe out laziness) or they delude themselves and say, "I've found truth," and ignore the parts that aren't or can't be proven in favor of the comfort of confining the universe to their belief system.
Is there one right way?
Can we know for sure, or does that defeat the purpose? If so, why?
Has anyone else thought these things and the next several concepts that follow in the natural progression of thought that can leap-frog me so that I can gain some speed on my knowledge quest?
He/She/They may or may not have a purpose for human existence.
Human knowledge does not at present give us the answers. Many choose to ignore the search for said knowledge in favor of a cheap and quick pre-made set of beliefs, doctrines and traditions.
Intelligent design is not science because it can neither be proved nor disproved.
That which lives dies; that which does not live, does not.
Eternity in hell, however it is defined, is too great a punishment for any crime whether against God or against man.
The idea of eternity in heaven only appeals to those who have knowledge of death (and perhaps a fear of it). If we were originally meant to live forever, we could not appreciate it. Everyone would live forever. Death defines life and gives it meaning. It makes our time here valuable.
Eternity in heaven would eventually become hellish no matter how infinitely varied experiences there could be, the fact would remain that it could not end.
I agree with Blaise Pascal when he said, "Faith certainly tells us what the senses do not, but not the contrary of what they see; it is above, not against them."
Faith = Ignorance.
Knowledge, assuming everything we experience and learn about our surroundings is not a fabrication of some sort, is like a train that can take us further and further as the human race progresses toward truth. Faith is taking that progress and saying, "That's quite far enough thank you, I'll take it from here," and effectually jumping off the train. The person that does this does one of two things. Either they say, "I can't know (agnostics)," and stop searching for truth, (maybe out of frustration with the search, maybe out laziness) or they delude themselves and say, "I've found truth," and ignore the parts that aren't or can't be proven in favor of the comfort of confining the universe to their belief system.
Is there one right way?
Can we know for sure, or does that defeat the purpose? If so, why?
Has anyone else thought these things and the next several concepts that follow in the natural progression of thought that can leap-frog me so that I can gain some speed on my knowledge quest?