Do you believe in god?

[Unicorndreams24]

i have recently been thinking a lot about religion and wondering how many believe in god and also what made you come to the decision of believing?

I appreciate your perspective, thank you for feeling able to share. We do not hold the same view and beliefs, but I’m so glad that our society allows for different views, and hopefully to be held with grace and kindness.

@GentleSheep: considering the terrifying biblical descriptions of angels - monstrous beings with eyes in their wings, fire coming out of their faces and whatnot - it's a bit of a mystery why human women were attracted to them! I know it's all the same when you're lying down 😉 but how do you have sex with a fifteen-foot tall partner?

I read something that said the angels conversed with them as equals. I can't remember what it was, though; could've been a speculative commentary rather than 'authoritative'. They clearly did something human men didn't ...

Their huge Nephilim children were strong, hard working and good natured. But they ate a lot. A lot. Everyone was running out of food. I bet they didn't do enough god-praising, either, as that seems to be what god really cares about ...

All true 😂 It's in the scriptures!

Yes descriptions of angels can be quite frightening, Ezekiel described what he saw, too. Angels can appear in human form though, so I doubt they appeared to the 'attractive women' as 15ft monsters!

There's been a lot of speculation about what all of it means. I doubt we'll ever know!

Sarfati appears to be a bit selective with his theology here. Because that verse in Gensis about the sons of gods and giants is covered in the books of Enoch. Books that the Church decided to leave out, although they are referenced in the NT.

What Is the Book of Enoch and Should it be in the Bible? | Christianity.com

Christian website link above. This is also where the fallen angels stuff comes from. Stuff that is in Church theory, but not in the Bible.

Given that the link is to a Christian site, it is notable where it says this.

Quote:" Biblical scholars do not consider The book of Enoch to be Scripture. A book must be considered God’s inspired and written Word to qualify as Scripture. Those books fit into the scripture canon, which has a long history of being accepted as accurate, true, and authoritative teaching. For example, they need to have teachings that fit the accepted books of the Bible. "

So it was decided it was not the inspired word of God, but is accepted as accurate and true. And " they need to have teachings that fit the accepted books of the Bible."

For sure, the site I linked puts the date of Enoch at 2-3 hundred BC, so handwave away. They don't do that with the Gospel of John of course, that was written about 100 CE at the earliest.

So basically it's men who are deciding what fits.

It's the same as the story of Asherah that @GarlicSound mentioned in their excellent post above.

Seems to be a common theme here. It's the priests and the scholars who are deciding what is inspired by god, or gods. And if it don't fit, it don't go in the book.

If God created everything, then who created God?

If nothing existed before everything was created, then nothing can have created God! He cannot exist.

What do Christians think about this?

@Lollylavender have a read of the gospel of John. Easy to find online. It starts 'In the beginning was the Word...' (logos, opposite of chaos).

God is eternal and not created, He does not have to be created to exist. He exists outside time and space (which He created btw!). I find it hard to get my head around but I'm just a feeble human!

Sarfati does mention Enoch, too, I just omitted it as Sarfati says it also describes the sons of God as angels, and mentions the leader of these angels.

I don't know much about the book of Enoch nor why it wasn't included in the Bible, I'd need to ask my pastor.

Why the Gospel of John ? It was written at least 90 years after Jesus, likely later.

It's also Gnostic, and is near tonally different from the other 3 gospels. Mark is the best one to read surely, that is the earliest. Before 70 CE.

What chapter of John explains who made God ?

The Books of Enoch are a bit wild. Only the first book survives I think, because that is canon in the Ethiopian Orthodox Church.

Link here to the first book. Modern translation and I can't say anything about it's accuracy. I have a version on pdf, but Its deep down in my laptop, so I can't do an instant compare.

The Book of Enoch • The Bible Guardian

There is pretty much a full on Parthenon in there. Pagan.

And what is really interesting is that while the Church says Noah's flood was about the wickedness of men, this book suggests it was the "lesser gods" that the "Lord of lords" did not like.

Once you have a read it, the 10 commandments start to make sense too. Why if there is only one god, is he so worried about people worshiping others ?

I think this is an advantage of being an ex Christian atheist reding the Bible. No mental gymnastics needed to make it all fit. Just read what it says.

Well, that’s convenient, isn’t it!

I guess I'm just suggesting to have a read, it doesn't matter which gospel. None are long. If I wanted to discuss something with someone who held a different view, a few minutes reading would definitely help see where others are coming from. Rather than just taking my word. Many Christians believe that God is external, and existed before everything. ' Begotten not created' i.e. always existed. Have a look at the Nicene Creed as well for a summary that many Christians still find useful as a summary. Happy to read a similar short summary or key text from any atheists or agnostic which helps my understanding.

God being created, or me being feeble? 😂

But none of these texts are anything other than fairy tale stories written by humans..!

if God really existed then surely he’d want to make himself known, especially as the huge majority of the world’s population do not believe in him.

That this god was not created, he just magically came into being.

“What do Christians think about this?”

Christian here.
There are two categories of beings - the Creator and the creation.

YHWH is eternal.
He is the Creator. He wasn’t created.

What evidence do you have of that?

.

Phew. It is fascinating to see this atavistic desire to cling on to the supernatural and to attribute human-made scriptures (which reflect their own prescientific mysogenistic cultures) to the hand of a deity.
Just live with kindness.
That way there are no religious wars, no primeval guilt, no barbaric practices.

Have you got a better explanation for how everything came into being?

I can't give you scientific proof which is what you want, I presume. The Bible says God exists outside creation (Gen. 1:1 and John 1:1) and endures forever (Psalm 102:26-27, Isaiah 40:28, 1 Tim 1:17).

There is no explanation that we know for sure. Science is creeping towards an explanation, but I will be long gone before it gets there as will all of us.
Just embrace the not knowing and live with kindness.

No, I don’t. I’m ok not knowing.

I feel better admitting that i don’t know than to ignore evolution & science and just say “it must have been God”

What makes you think that is true? It’s just a story written by people a long time ago. Are you not critical?

Because the Bible says it doesn’t mean there is any truth in it. The Bible is just a set of recollections - transcripts which have been translated many times. Some are obviously not true.