How is faith in God attained?

Perhaps Jesus wasn't really dead. I think this was the source of the fable, he was only in a coma, and his friends entered the tomb with healing medicines, then whisked him away to some unknown hiding place.
 
Yep, heard that one before, he went on to get married and had a few kids of his own too. ;), but then again some believe Jesus was gay!
 
nds1 said:
Rom 12:3-4
3 For I say, through the grace given to me, to everyone who is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly, as God has dealt to each one a measure of faith.
NKJV

James 2:5
5 Listen, my beloved brethren: Has God not chosen the poor of this world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom which He promised to those who love Him?
NKJV

These verses seem to suggest that God somehow "gives" faith to certain people. He gives people differing amounts of faith. If he has chosen the poor to be rich in faith, then is that unfair for people born into wealth? Can wealthy people be equally as faithful?
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yeah some people just believe anything you tell them,thats all.
others THINK for themselves!..and become atheists as a result
 
superluminal said:
People with awesome credentials can discuss their faith all they want. This in no way makes it any less stupid. They may have hundreds of pages of complex dance steps designed to avoid the fact that the very simple truth is that religious belief or "faith" has zero intellectual integrity behind it. It can be emotional, fearful, or conditioned, but it is never reasoned. Get over it.
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I believe there are far more emotional atheists than theists.
 
nds1 said:
To any theist:

As humans, as souls, how does one attain faith in God? Also, can each person attain an equally high level of faith due to equal free will, or are certain people born with a limited potential for gaining faith?
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Faith is gained by hearing the Word of God. Accepting the first (basic) things leads one to be given more things to accept. This continues and faith grows strong. Or one reaches a point where they cannot accept it and faith drains away.

Romans 10
17 So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.


Pride is a limiting factor in this process.

Proverbs 16
18 Pride goes before destruction, And a haughty spirit before a fall.


Meekness is an assisting factor in this process.

Zephaniah 2
3 Seek the LORD, all you meek of the earth, Who have upheld His justice. Seek righteousness, seek humility. It may be that you will be hidden In the day of the LORD’s anger.

Psalm 37
11 But the meek shall inherit the earth, And shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace.




All Praise The Ancient Of Days
 
SnakeLord said:
Anything to support your claim? Didn't think so.
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Predictable reaction? Apparently.;)

First, I think it is interesting that most theists give rational reasons for their belief in God. Their beliefs, on the whole, are based in personal experience of their God, or in logical inference from the perceived order of the universe and/or life. The most common response to the poll (by a small margin) was that theists believe because of the apparent design of the universe. They look out at the beauty of the world and conclude that a God must be responsible. The second most common response is that they feel the direct influence of God in their lives.

In is interesting to contrast these responses with the common portrayal of theists by non-believers. Very often, atheists (in particular) label theists as weak-willed people who believe in fairy tales for purely emotional reasons. Alternatively, theists are often labelled as blind followers of authority, who never ask their own questions about the meaning of life.

I think the results show that this is not true. In general, theists <b>do</b> think about the big questions and come to logical conclusions based on their own thinking, rather than on authority handed down to them. I would encourage atheists on this forum to take note.

Turning to the atheists themselves, we find another somewhat surprising result - that atheists are perhaps not as supremely rational as they would have us believe. It seems that many of the atheists responses on this forum, at least, are emotional rather than rational. They are not based purely on available evidence, but rather on a reaction against the idea of God. There may be many reasons for this. People can react against a religious upbringing, or point to the perceived ills that religion causes in the world.

More worrying from the atheists is the number of people who dismiss the possibility of God on emotional grounds, without really considering why they are doing so. They label the religious as less intelligent, or authority driven, or simply mad, with no good justification. This seems to be largely a knee-jerk response against people who take an opposing view. Perhaps these people should consider the real reasons why they so despise the religious.

Finally, we come to the perception that we all have of other people. Here we see a very interesting psychological tendency. People tend to attribute their own motives and actions to rational choices, carefully thought out and backed by good arguments. But when it comes to evaluating the reasons that <b>other</b> people make certain choices, it is a common human failing to assume that other people are driven almost exclusively by emotion or authority.
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samcdkey said:
He did fight against it for several years, as he had been an atheist since the age of 13.
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what he may have thought he was, is obviously wrong, he could not have become an enlightened atheist to later revert back to the unenlightened, unless he had some major trauma, to his head.
you obviously dont understand, the atheist mind. and nor does any religious person who says the used to be atheist what a crock of shit.
it's just not possible.
 
samcdkey said:
Predictable reaction? Apparently.;)
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As already explained in another thread - this analysis is highly flawed, as it does not dig deep enough into the reasoning behind the face-value statements that the sides provided.

Even JamesR has said that his analysis would not be done the same way now.
See posts 109 (bottom of) and JamesR's own admission in post 114

So this "analysis" by JamesR should not be used to support either side, due to its flaws.

Anything else to support the claim you made?
 
I never answered the question!

How is faith in God attained?
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First buried your head in mysticism, second suspend reason & logicm, the rest will come easily. Believing in god is about the same as believing in leprechauns, big foot, unicorns, demons, devils, ghosts, and any variance of mysticism that exists.
 
nds1 said:
What is "the Word of God"?
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More like Who is the Word of God...

John 1
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made.

Jesus is the Word of God.

As Jesus said:

John 6
63 It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life.


All Praise The Ancient of Days
 
Adstar said:
Faith is gained by hearing the Word of God.
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Adstar said:
Jesus is the Word of God.
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So then we attain faith by hearing Jesus.

Jesus is physically dead. He is not here anymore, as far as I know.

Therefore, according to you, it is impossible for us to gain faith today because we can't talk or listen to Jesus.
 
nds1 said:
So then we attain faith by hearing Jesus.

Jesus is physically dead. He is not here anymore, as far as I know.

Therefore, according to you, it is impossible for us to gain faith today because we can't talk or listen to Jesus.
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No... according to you it is impossible --> "Jesus is physically dead. He is not here anymore, as far as I know."

"For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned."
 
nds1 said:
To any theist:

As humans, as souls, how does one attain faith in God? Also, can each person attain an equally high level of faith due to equal free will, or are certain people born with a limited potential for gaining faith?
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If strong logic is applied with limited knowledge, then we get a very crude and unmeaningful world.

To compensate for our limitations we have faith, so that we can trust that with truth comes meaning, before we actually know the truth. Truth gives logic, not the other way around. When you have truth, even just a glimpse of it, you gain logic, since truth is something that we love, logic is gained through loving it. What logic then is defined as is not a priority, since you gained your definition of it, and you know it is true, as it (if applied correctly) is evidenced, time and time again.

God, is a matter of faith for us, since He is at the beginning, He is the reason we have anything at all. Set aside bad things, look at what you have, there you have something uncorrupt, even if it is faint, perhaps you don't see it so well, but when you get there, everything is a witness of it, and you see that there is meaning with you being alive, of all possible nothing, you are here.

And the world is not dark anymore.
 
Sarkus said:
As already explained in another thread - this analysis is highly flawed, as it does not dig deep enough into the reasoning behind the face-value statements that the sides provided.

Even JamesR has said that his analysis would not be done the same way now.
See posts 109 (bottom of) and JamesR's own admission in post 114

So this "analysis" by JamesR should not be used to support either side, due to its flaws.

Anything else to support the claim you made?
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Read the posts on this forum by atheists, Watch a Richard Dawkins interview or read what he writes about theism.
 
In this way can faith be obtained:

Write the affirmation "I believe in God. Every good I see is evidence of His perfection; every evil I see is evidence of man's corruption."

Read this every night, before you go to sleep. Carry it in your mind throughout the day. Pick a holy book and browse through it often. Make religious friends. Argue with atheists and smile superciliously at their missing the point.

And buy Pizza from Dave's Pizza Parlour: "twice as expensive, but ten times as tasty!"
 
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