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View Full Version : 100% Certainty and Faith


IanBoyd3
2007-10-22, 20:51
I've often heard religious people claim to be 100% certain that they are right. They know God is talking to them, and it is unquestionable. Like, think of Digital_Savior's self righteousness (hate to remind you of annoying shit like that, I know). Point being, if they really were 100% certain, then how can they also say they have faith? Faith implies doubt. It's just a belief. So why do people say that? If any of you religious people are 100% sure, then do you still think you have faith?

Howard.Stern
2007-10-22, 21:19
"I refuse to prove that I exist," says God, "for proof denies faith, and without faith I am nothing."
"But," say Man, "the Babel fish is a dead giveaway, isn't it? It could not have evolved by chance. It proves you exist, and so therefore, by your own arguments, you don't. QED."
"Oh dear," says God, "I hadn't though of that" and promply vanishes in a puff of logic.

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy FTW

IanBoyd3
2007-10-23, 01:48
"I refuse to prove that I exist," says God, "for proof denies faith, and without faith I am nothing."
"But," say Man, "the Babel fish is a dead giveaway, isn't it? It could not have evolved by chance. It proves you exist, and so therefore, by your own arguments, you don't. QED."
"Oh dear," says God, "I hadn't though of that" and promply vanishes in a puff of logic.

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy FTW

Nice, that's a great book.

"We apologize for the inconvenience."

Nightshade
2007-10-23, 03:46
This may sound kinda loaded but I think that they have to have faith to be 100% right, otherwise they would have doubt and would question their own belief system. A majority of religious fundamentalists are afraid of being wrong or questioned so they set up their own belief system, therefore having faith, in being 100% right within their religious faith. It's like having a faith within a faith.

I know it sounds weird but if you think about it makes sense in its own way. It's really the only thing I can come up with to explain it.

ArmsMerchant
2007-10-23, 18:51
OP raises an interesting and important question, one that wll keep coming up again and again as we get farther into the Age of Aquarius. The keybnote of the late Age of Pisces was "I believe"--the keynote of the Age of Aquarius is "I know." Being clear on the difference between knowledge and belief is essential if one is to discuss the issue intelligently.

Faith was once cynically defined as :wjhen you believe something you know isn't true." That said, faith is NOT knowledge--it is accepting something not readily verifiable as true, usually on the basis of some outside authority--i.e., "Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so."

More and more people are in the Gnostic mindset--that is, they accept the existence of God as true not because of the word of some priest or guru, but because of inner knowledge--"gnosis".

Gwanky
2007-10-23, 21:39
If you want to believe the Gnostic gospels, power to you I suppose, however keep this in mind many things that are featured in popular culture such as the Da Vinci Code are false if you do a little bit of independent research, it has been proven beyond a shadow of a doubt that many if not all of the Gnostic Gospels were written after the death of Jesus Christ.

ArgonPlasma2000
2007-10-24, 05:01
OP raises an interesting and important question, one that wll keep coming up again and again as we get farther into the Age of Aquarius. The keybnote of the late Age of Pisces was "I believe"--the keynote of the Age of Aquarius is "I know." Being clear on the difference between knowledge and belief is essential if one is to discuss the issue intelligently.

Faith was once cynically defined as :wjhen you believe something you know isn't true." That said, faith is NOT knowledge--it is accepting something not readily verifiable as true, usually on the basis of some outside authority--i.e., "Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so."

More and more people are in the Gnostic mindset--that is, they accept the existence of God as true not because of the word of some priest or guru, but because of inner knowledge--"gnosis".

I agree with this statement except for the latter. I believe that they believe in their assertion because of convenience as opposed to gnosis. It is much easier to say that what I "believe" is always right and disregard what you have to say.

I also believe that if you are a rational person, you understand that a belief has a small possibility of being falsable.

Nightshade
2007-10-24, 15:47
If you want to believe the Gnostic gospels, power to you I suppose, however keep this in mind many things that are featured in popular culture such as the Da Vinci Code are false if you do a little bit of independent research, it has been proven beyond a shadow of a doubt that many if not all of the Gnostic Gospels were written after the death of Jesus Christ.

You do realize the the new testament gospels were also written after the death of Jesus.