Path: utzoo!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rutgers!dimacs.rutgers.edu!aramis.rutgers.edu!athos.rutgers.edu!christian From: jeff@ics.uci.edu (Jeff Erickson) Newsgroups: soc.religion.christian Subject: Re: Is there a God? Message-ID: Date: 9 Mar 91 06:20:45 GMT Sender: hedrick@athos.rutgers.edu Organization: UC Irvine Department of ICS Lines: 48 Approved: christian@aramis.rutgers.edu st0o+@andrew.cmu.edu (Steven Timm) writes: | The second [proof of God's existence] is given us in the Bible, | which claims to be the word of God. | My suggestion is to use it for what it claims it is good for, teaching, | reproof, doctrine, and correction. (Not a science book, a history book, | or whatever). If there's something to this Christianity, then there should | be some advantage to this method, and the proof you will see is the change | in your own life. Very true. This can also be said of Judaism, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, Taoism, Druidism, Wicca, atheism, agnosticism, Scientology, past life regression, the martial arts, yoga, existentialism, solipsism, political activism, feminism, hedonism, the use of hallucinogenic drugs, bungee jumping, philanthropy, selfish materialism, and so on. Every one of these things has made a positive impact on someone's life. Every one of them is objectionable to someone else. Just because one of them has a positive impact in you, it is unreasonable to assume it will have a positive impact on anyone else. | (To be fair, following the Bible line requires that you first believe in | God for these things to happen, so in a way it's circular reasoning. But | if the postulate of God's existence is inconsistent, it will show up.) I don't believe so. I believe that it is possible to assume God's existence without deriving a contradiction with experience. I also believe that it is possible to assume God's NONexistence without reaching a contradiction. Neither choice can be verified experimentally; both alternatives are consistent. | The experimental result I cannot shake is, that although there's no reason | why praying to omniscient God should make a difference, I know it does. I believe there is a very good reason why it works, regardless of whether God exists or not. Prayer is a very good way of getting stuff off your chest. Prayer is a very good way to open yourself to the possibility of good things happening to you. (I know, that sounds like mystical bullshit, but it fits my experience rather well.) I agree wholeheartedly with Steven's suggestion. If Christianity has a positive impact on your life, wonderful. That's a great reason to be a Christian. More power to you. -- Jeff Erickson \ Humpty Dumpty sat in a chair. jeff@ics.uci.edu \ Humpty Dumpty had no hair. jeff@128.195.1.1 \ Humpty Dumpty wasn't very fuzzy, was he? \ -- cthulhu, krazy, and wombat, respectively