Forum: Choose Your Own Topic ]]> http://rfforum.websitetoolbox.com/post?id=6025397 Wed, 26 Sep 2012 14:48:10 GMT http://rfforum.websitetoolbox.com/post/why-proving-the-resurrection-isnt-enough-6025297
Jesus rose from the dead -> We should make a life commitment to Jesus.

Maybe there is path connecting the two, but what would this path be like?

I suggest we first find the conditions for making a life commitment to someone. In other words, we need to first fill in this blank:

We should make a life commitment to X if ______________________

What conditions would you fill in this blank with? And why think that Jesus fulfills those conditions?

Forum: Choose Your Own Topic ]]> http://rfforum.websitetoolbox.com/post?id=6025297 Wed, 26 Sep 2012 13:36:49 GMT http://rfforum.websitetoolbox.com/post/Did-anyone-realise-Owl-City-is-Christian-6025215




Now, here's his worship song:

Forum: Choose Your Own Topic ]]> http://rfforum.websitetoolbox.com/post?id=6025215 Wed, 26 Sep 2012 12:03:48 GMT http://rfforum.websitetoolbox.com/post/Philosoraptor-running-wild!-6025204
Been away for a while (sorry for dropping out of our conversation CTA). Logged on today and noticed two things:

• Forum is busy being upgraded (yay!)
• Several users (Archsage, saibomb, depthcharge etc.) all use Jared's former avatar.

Forum: Choose Your Own Topic ]]> http://rfforum.websitetoolbox.com/post?id=6025204 Wed, 26 Sep 2012 11:40:51 GMT http://rfforum.websitetoolbox.com/post/What-is-sin-6025146
Can it be explained by: abstraction of Good

Where the Good should be understood in a Platonic sense.

Forum: Choose Your Own Topic ]]> http://rfforum.websitetoolbox.com/post?id=6025146 Wed, 26 Sep 2012 09:24:28 GMT http://rfforum.websitetoolbox.com/post/Things-God-Does-probably-not-know-6025141
Of cause God can know that sin is not good on the basic of empirical investigations. And of cause he can know the different between a lesser good and greater good.

However, God can, as I see it, possibly not know how it is to be a sinner and to do sin. He truly felt the pain and consequences himself of sin, but that is not the same as knowing how it is to sin and be in sin. Jesus further felt the temptations of sinning but still not far enough.

So God can identify with the pain of sin, but not with the doing of sin. That means that we have knowledge of some things that God does not. Even though I rather would be without it.


What is your thoughts?

Forum: Choose Your Own Topic ]]> http://rfforum.websitetoolbox.com/post?id=6025141 Wed, 26 Sep 2012 09:19:36 GMT http://rfforum.websitetoolbox.com/post/Against-Calvinism-6025129
Introduction:

Part 1: 

Part 2:

Part 3:

Regards

Forum: Choose Your Own Topic ]]> http://rfforum.websitetoolbox.com/post?id=6025129 Wed, 26 Sep 2012 09:06:13 GMT http://rfforum.websitetoolbox.com/post/Seahawks-vs-Packers-6024064
The pushoff and therefore offensive interferance was obvious, however, no-calls like that happen all the time in the NFL even with veteran referees.

The refs made the right call with the subsequent reception and TD.  Even if Jennings did touch the ball first, it is impossible to say that he had control, and therefore possession, before Tate got his hands on it.  If both players have possession when they come down, the call goes to the receiver. 

Those who are complaining about the new refs are misguided.  The officials reviewing the call in the booth are not part of the union and therefore are the normal, veteran, refs.  They upheld the call on the field because there was not good evidence to overturn it.  If this is the case, the call was not as obvious as everyone seems to believe. 

The Packers beat themselves.  At the end of the day, this call was insignificant.  If the "most elite QB" in the NFL can only score 12 points against the Seahawks of all teams, they deserve to have been beaten.

Forum: Choose Your Own Topic ]]> http://rfforum.websitetoolbox.com/post?id=6024064 Tue, 25 Sep 2012 15:32:49 GMT http://rfforum.websitetoolbox.com/post/Off-the-record-6023615 Does anyone keep personal copies of their Reasonable Faith forum posts archived? Indexed? Tagged?

Do you have specific reasons for doing so? Future-proofing. Posterity? Vanity? Quote-mining? To save time re-typing at other forums (fora.)  etc.

I've been enthusiastically awaiting the new Forum upgrade and contemplating such issues.

I routinely keep copies of my posts made at sites which are generally hostile to religion and biblical theists
or sites where I have a well-founded suspicion that Moderators edit/delete without warning. 

Forum: Choose Your Own Topic ]]> http://rfforum.websitetoolbox.com/post?id=6023615 Tue, 25 Sep 2012 05:53:06 GMT http://rfforum.websitetoolbox.com/post/Obama%E2%80%99s-Religion-6023300 In an effort to balance discussion politically on this forum, I ask, what is Obama’s religion? Is it meaningful that he actually calls himself a Christian?

He talks like a Muslim, acts like a Muslim, and seems genuinely enamored with Islam. And considering his mild utterances about recent, widespread Muslim uprisings that killed several USA citizens abroad, I wonder even more. Simply attending, for 20 years, a black-liberation-theology church led by a racist, USA-hating pastor hardly makes him a believable Christian. 

Forum: Choose Your Own Topic ]]> http://rfforum.websitetoolbox.com/post?id=6023300 Tue, 25 Sep 2012 00:11:45 GMT http://rfforum.websitetoolbox.com/post/Hypothetical-scenario-6023154  

Forum: Choose Your Own Topic ]]> http://rfforum.websitetoolbox.com/post?id=6023154 Mon, 24 Sep 2012 21:51:26 GMT http://rfforum.websitetoolbox.com/post/Will-science-one-day-rule-out-God-6022844 Good morning everyone!

 I thought it would be time to stop lurking around and stop in to say hi.  I have learned a lot through reading all of the topics of discussion here, and for that I thank everyone!

I did want to put forth a comment on a Yahoo! News article that seems to have gotten a lot of feedback on both sides of the isle, and it raised a few concerns which I thought I could ask for some feedback on.

The article is linked here:  http://news.yahoo.com/science-someday-rule-possibility-god-115945479.html

1.)    What is Science designed to prove?

Our natural world is very complex, and scientists have taken the time to explain a huge majority of what we see around us, down to the finest of details, especially with the recent Higgs – Boson discovery.  Is it presumptuous for science to say they can explain away God, or religion?  Let me explain my reasoning:  Science, while it is great at explaining various aspects of the universe at large, there are certain things that they can not test.  Most non-physical entities such as love, peace, and morality are outside the realm of the physical universe and can not be tested directly.  Surely you can run tests to gauge results of these things on individuals, but not the entity themselves.  Furthermore, the laws of causality, ethics, and the belief that our five senses can accurately describe the world around us are precluded to be true before actually starting any scientific testing.  So, while we should all be thankful for scientific advancement, I believe the answer to the overall question of “will science someday rule out the possibility of God” is clearly no, since if God is the cause of our physical universe, then by definition he could not be part of the universe, which is what science is designed to explore.

2.)    Can science obtain a complete understanding of the universe?

In answer to Carroll’s statement, I would say again that even though we know how something works in its entirety, that is not the same question as why, or how it came into being.  By jumping from figuring out how something works, to positing how or why it was created is similar to saying since we know how a car engine works, then there is no need for Henry Ford.  Metaphysical questions surrounding God, or anything outside of the physical realm is a question for philosophy.  To give another example:  If you observe a single celled organism, one would not expect to find a tiny stamp on the side which said “Made by God,” or anything of that nature.  Once we break down our physical world to its smallest elements, we must ‘guess’ as to the reason why it is there.  So, while I agree that there is the possibility that in the future, science could explain how the universe works, it could not explain how it came into being, or why since it was not designed to do so.

3.)    Is there a need for God?

I have two concerns with this quote; the first concern directly deals with bolded section, where Carrol states that any created scientific theory that can account for everything would not need to include God, since it already shows how everything works in the first place.  If this is truly one of the reasons he does not believe God is the creator of the universe, then is he basing his belief off of a theory that is not even created yet?  Secondly, since science is designed to show us how the physical world works, the best science can hope for is a complete understanding of the creation in it’s entirety.  This would not speak to how it was created, since the same laws science relies on for testing would not be applicable.  If the universe could be proved to be eternal, then science would have a claim, but to the best of my knowledge, the standard model is our best guess right now, and it points to (not proves) a beginning.

Thus ends my critique of the article, I hope I did not blather on too long.  Thank you for being such an inviting community and I hope to learn much more as I become more active in my interactions.  I would love to hear any feedback on the article, or my comments to see if my reasoning is sound.

Forum: Choose Your Own Topic ]]> http://rfforum.websitetoolbox.com/post?id=6022844 Mon, 24 Sep 2012 17:31:23 GMT http://rfforum.websitetoolbox.com/post/Your-thoughts-on-suicide-6022782
This is the first time I came across suicide from a closer perspective (even though I didn't know him personally, I spoke with him several times) and I was wondering what your thoughts are about it. Now, I'm mainly interested in a christian perspective since there isn't really much to talk about from an atheistic one.

Forum: Choose Your Own Topic ]]> http://rfforum.websitetoolbox.com/post?id=6022782 Mon, 24 Sep 2012 16:34:32 GMT http://rfforum.websitetoolbox.com/post/Can-a-universe-cause-itself-6022175 I'm pretty new here, and I've loosely followed some of this discussion, but I'm pretty curious to see a kind of response to this particular essay, or at least its essential arguments.  (If one already exists, a link or a reference might work) Thank you.

http://evans-experientialism.freewebspace.com/smith_reason_universe_exists.htm

Forum: On Guard ]]> http://rfforum.websitetoolbox.com/post?id=6022175 Mon, 24 Sep 2012 06:10:06 GMT