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As far as the big bang theory is concerned there's quite a bit of evidence. For example it's know that the universe is and has been expanding (and actually is slowing down, which is where the big crunch theory came about. If it slows down enough the universe may or may not collapse on itself.)
Of course, it's still a theory.
I'd really like to see some citations. I'm not saying the Bible doesn't have all that in there, I'd just like to see it myself. Please. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)
I find it hard to dismiss those prophecies being fortold as proof though. Which prophecies are you talking about? Besides the Jesus one (which to be honest could very easily be dismissed as something like The Bible told us this guy will be born and uh... oh, I think HE'S it! Human minds seeing and believing what they want to.)
Why don't you research for yourself? Not presenting offense, just saying we should all research here if we're going to make a statement. If you read the New Testament, as Book of Mathews goes along, there are 8 main prophecies that came true which were foretold 700 years ago in the Old Testament (carbon dating). One is that he was to be born by a virgin mother (Mathews 1:23). Two is that he has to be in the bloodline of King David from the Old Testament (Mathews 2:6). Third is when Jesus was taken to Egypt since King Herod was trying to kill him (Mathews 2:15). Fourth prophecy was that King Herod will kill all the babies of Bethlehem in fear that Jesus will live (Mathews 2:17-18). Fifth prophecy was that he was to be called a Nazarene for he will grow up in Nazareth (Mathews 2:23). The sixth prophecy was that he will go back to Galilee and reside in Zebulun because John has been placed in prison (Mathews 4:15). The seventh prophecy is that he will heal the sick and took up infirmities, which Jesus was known for: healing the sick (Mathews 8:17). The eighth was John will preach in the Desert of Judah (Mathews 3:3).
Each prophecy was specific and went well according to what was happening naturally such as King Herod's wrath, etc. Nothing so vague that it can be possible for anyone at that time.
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I've always thought all religions were made up, and certainly most made-up religions claim that all other religions were just invented and untrue.
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I've always thought all religions were made up, and certainly most made-up religions claim that all other religions were just invented and untrue.
I think that's mainly because they focus too much on the differences than similarities. I said before, most popular religions of the world probably worship the same God, but in different ways. They worship the same God, but believes in other things as well. Like the Islamic religion. Angel of Gabriel is associated with Christianity, who was the angel that went to Muhammad and told him he has to spread the word of God. The Islamic people believe he was the Messiah in return. Christianity and Catholicism is basically the same except different rituals and ways of worshipping. Judaism is the same God, but does not believe Jesus was the Messiah. All in all, these religions are connected and so, people should just focus on the inside rather than the out. But, I do not have much knowledge beyond this.
Buddhism is not really a religion in my opinion, but more on moral and ethnic belief. They do not worship a God, but focus on the teachings of Gautama Buddha. It's philosophical teachings and a non-theistic religion. Hinduism is a religion, but is harder to believe than the other religions. It was just developed through the years; texts of how people should live and what gods there are. Some of the texts were poems and they base the religion off of this as well. The texts also only include spiritual insights, which means it must have been opinions of people back in ancient times. So you're right; but Hinduism is the only religion I'm skeptical about because it's all based on human opinions and not recorded events to try and prove the religion such as the Bible which has many controversial and debatable elements for both sides.
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... if your catholic.. .. shouldn't you guys think that religion wasn't made up... that it was a message from god to the people (moses?) ... something about having faith that what he wrote was true...
I don't know but that's what bible school taught me... I left church because I couldn't accept these words by just faith alone...
My question, if you think it's made up which is basically equivalent to fake to me... why do you call yourself a catholic?
I'm sorry, I'm probably sounding like I'm flaming you..... I'm actually just curious (as I couldn't believe in faith myself)
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honestly...i was pretty surprised to see you making this thread and saying you're a Catholic too
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honestly...i was pretty surprised to see you making this thread and saying you're a Catholic too
That's right, make the damn sinner feel guilty for thinking independently! You go, girl!
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well, here's the thing, i am catholic, and i've went to a catholic high school, and spent a good 4 years learning about my religion, and i seriously do believe in God, however, the reason i made this thread, is simply because this thought just suddenly came into my mind(while i was studying statistics...which was SO boring) and i personally really dislike the idea of closed mindedness that automatically shuts down any other possiblities that there could be, i have no interest in complete blind faith,
another reason is because i still do want to be a catholic so i'm hoping people would post here may be able to show me(rationally and logically... not just shout you'll go to hell) another side to the arguement, as so many other soompi threads have made me reconsider my previous views on different issues... i hope i'm making sense, and dont wry, no offense taken ^^
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i believe jesus christ but not god... w;; er..not meant to be insulting or anything if it came out soundling like that.
i think some parts of the bible is added in to increase the power of the bible and christianity.
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yes, religion is a construct. people created it because they need answers. as humans we are driven to find the understanding to pretty much everything. some people turn to science and some people turn to religion for this understanding. scientists will say that god does not exist because there is no proof of god. no one has ever seen god but so many people just choose to believe that there is a god. and this is the whole point of religion is it not? to believe and have faith. they don't need scientific proof because they can feel god and somehow they know that god exists.
well the truth of the matter is that as humans we don't have the ability to know what is actually true and what is not. how do we know that there isn't actually a god? we don't. we can't prove that there is no god, and we sure as heck can't find a way to prove that there is a god. so we all have these personal truths that we say are absolute. no one knows the ultimate truth and no one ever will.
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No, I do not believe my religion is made up. My relgion relies on faith and not by sight/science.
you said it very well.
Im a christian, and a religion is a belief.. also science is a belief in some aspects. Why? Soem people believe in science and some people believe in religion.
well about dinosaurs and blah blah pre existing.. ask this..
how did dinos form? Big bang theory? how did humans form? big bang theory. If yout hink about it.. it doesnt add up. No one knows for sure.. but i do since im a christian, God made earth, us, life, creation all in 7 days.
anyways everyone has different opinions but like richard said above:
religion does not rely on facts or theories, it relies on faith and love. Your answers, all answers will be answered once youre in heaven, if not answered right now. God works in mysterious ways.. you never know.
-lynn
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you said it very well.
Im a christian, and a religion is a belief.. also science is a belief in some aspects. Why? Soem people believe in science and some people believe in religion.
well about dinosaurs and blah blah pre existing.. ask this..
how did dinos form? Big bang theory? how did humans form? big bang theory. If yout hink about it.. it doesnt add up. No one knows for sure.. but i do since im a christian, God made earth, us, life, creation all in 7 days.
anyways everyone has different opinions but like richard said above:
religion does not rely on facts or theories, it relies on faith and love. Your answers, all answers will be answered once youre in heaven, if not answered right now. God works in mysterious ways.. you never know.
-lynn
I agree.
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Faith and logic do not go hand in hand. This is not meant to be offense to anybody, but if you think about it... it's true.
There are many different religions in the world. For example, why are there so many branches of Christianity? The only reason different kinds of Christianity stemmed off from the original Catholic church is because King Henry (I think) wanted to divorce his wife. So, how do you explain which religion is right? All the different rules and such are all made up in the hands of humans.
All in all, people must admit that faith is not logical. It is based on pure faith and that's it.
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Ive taken world religions and religions varies so much. with such variation, how can one tell whats real and whats not? Its like people use to truly believe in Zeus and Aphrodite, now its just considered a myth. Or how about Hercules? he has so many similarities with Jesus. Son of god (Zeus and God), lived life as a mortal, and did many miracles. and why was Hercules just a myth character?
and i notice there are some contradictions. Buddhist's ultimate goal is to reach Nirvana, which is a state of being where people do not reborn. BUT, a lot of Buddhist do good deeds so in their next life, they will live a better life, even when they know that the ultimate goal is to get out of the reincarnation cycle. People believing in the Abrahamic religions, know that when they die they go to Heaven and Paradise, but they dont look forward to it when disaster strikes. They always say Thank God the tornado didn't strike my house or I would've died! or when they try to use medicine to save a deadly disease when its the will of God that they die.
Sometimes religion induce the usage of hallucination agents and people think they are having a religious experience. There was a case when someone spiked a punch bowl with LSD at a church, and people thought they were having a religious experience. Another case is black magic. Shamans in Africa use toxins from a puffer fish on victims. The victims become paralyzed and assumed to be dead so they bury them. But sometimes the toxin wears off, and they come back to life, hence the birth of zombies.
and to the people who think big bang theory is just a theory. Science is one of those things that self corrects if there is something that proves it wrong. such as...the sun no longer rotates around the earth! and if you use religion as a basis of creation of the world, why not use the ancient Chinese version, where Pangu creating the world. Or how about the Hinduism explanation!
Another reason why i dont believe in religion is because some in some cultures, certain things dont exist. I read some anthropology journals and some natives such as these African tribes DO NOT BELIEVE IN ghosts. they DONT exist in their culture. If you see a dead person, its an omen. and if that dead person interacts with the physical world, its a zombie. the concept of a dead floating human being is incomprehensible to these natives. So, ghosts are not universal, and to them, they do not exist.
In psychology, the power of suggestion can create reality. natives who think they are bewitched get sick, even when they were constantly checked by doctors, and they found NO cause for their illness. By beleiving that you are going to die, the natives bodily functions stop working properly and soon die. Much like the placebo effects in modern medicine.
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Are you trying to suggest that all scientists are really part of some huge conspiracy out to fool the 'common' people? You're being ridiculous; I don't think you know what you're talking about.
It's called the scientific process. Things first come about through ideas and hypothesis, which then must be tested within a controlled environment time and time again. In order to prove a theory, the same outcome must show after carrying out experiments time and time again despite the person who performs them.
Of course things like the Big Bang theory and even the theory of gravity (yes, gravity IS a theory) are not 100% proven, as there are still lots of things we don't know about them. But there is plenty of evidence to back up both mentioned theories which is why they're widely accepted.
Off course, science CAN be made up too. It's called pseudo-science. Things like big foot or the Lake Ness monster could be considered pseudo science.
Turning to religion, there really is no proof of a god. There are writings, yes, but writings are not proof. They're writings. Religion is based solely off of faith, nothing more. And if you believe in that stuff, hey, that's okay. Whatever floats your boat.
Are you trying to teach me about science here?
I think I know what it is and the procedures/process the scientists
have gone through. It's my choice if I believe in it or not.
Science cant proove everything 100%. Scientists think that they are
right but are they really? Can you tell me if they really are? I mean are
you 100% positive that everything that comes out from scientists mouth
are ALWAYS correct? =_________= if you think about it, we choose what
we believe in. Media influence us to believe that the discovery of
scientists are correct but we are not sure of that ourselves. Even if the
scientists and professors goes through many trials and errors and are
positive what they come out is the answer might not BE the answer.
We dont know anything about this world.
HECK, NO ONE DOES. Not even the scientists.
Are you trying to suggest that all scientists are really part of some huge conspiracy out to fool the 'common' people? You're being ridiculous; I don't think you know what you're talking about.
I never said they were there to lie to the people.
But are you sure that atleast 90% of the human population
even believe them? Pff. I bet not even 75% of us believe them.
Science is like faith. You either believe in it or you dont. ^__^
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yes i believe religion is made up to make people hopeful, like telling yourself God will help me through this etc etc.
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personally, I do believe that all religions in this world are made up.
And it would take a ten page essay to explain it which I really don't feel like typing up right now, or defending as a matter of fact. Everyone is entitled to their own opinions, as long as they don't ignore logic or facts that they choose to blatantly ignore.
And there ARE other factors besides science that conflict with religion, you just need to look at society in general and there you go.
But whether your Catholic, Buddhist, Muslim, etc. really doesn't matter to me, as long as people are not overzealous or seek to convert everyone who isn't of there own religion, I'm fine.
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Science is like faith. You either believe in it or you dont. ^__^
People tried to scientifically prove to me that the Earth revolves around the sun, and that there is only one sun...and that our sun is the center of the universe.................................
Just because one sees it, doesn't mean it's true. Which is why there are things called illusions (IMG:style_emoticons/default/excl.gif)
Hell, everything you sense with your 5 primary senses...can be an illusion that plays with your senses.
Yet most people don't believe that?
Then no one believes in 6th sense, 7th sense, and so on with all those other ESP and occultry, cause you can't prove it.
These logical people have no logical argument in prove it. Why not disprove it? _
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yes i agree with u. THis is something we used to talk about in our history class. I believe in the Revolution.
This is a controversal issue so i dont think there's right and wrong. Ppl believe in wat they want. I dont c the point in debating this topic.
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ha, my theory is believe in religion even, because in the end if you do.. there will be no penalty but if you don't then theres always the possiblity of punishment if it is true! so it's a win/win situation
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Ah yes the mere random chance of a single-celled organism then in how turned into a multicellular organism and then somehow grew itself to become an organism then somehow turned into a frog, snake, monkey, reptiles, and then magically the human species. Oh it makes total sense. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/wink.gif)
Nah I don't consider religion to be made up. I questioned myself a lot about what this Christianity is all about? I been to debating forums and watched debates regarding Creationism vs Evolutionism and what not and I (personally) came to the conclusion that (in specific) Christianity is real. The endless amount of testimonies / miracles around the world / and just seeing how God works in other 3rd world nations through his name is incredible. And now I'm one of those people that believes in how God uses science to show people that he is real. I won't get into it right now but thats what i believe in.
Going back to the numerous debates against Christianity, most of the claims against Christianity are absurd such as, how there are inconsistencies within the Bible or that there are contradictions. All of it proven wrong. Its funny how Non-Christians tend to pick out one verse in NT and then to pick another verse from OT and loudly proclaim that the Bible contradicts each other. Just makes me all ticklish inside.
But any who, my religion (Christianity) is as real as it can get.
