Please post your favorite Bible verses here

[cnfuzzd]

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Then there are others who, afraid of the suffering incident to the discriminations of life and death, unwisely seek Nirvana. They have come to see that all things subject to discrimination have no reality and so imagine that Nirvana must consist in the annihilation of the senses and their fields of sensation; they do not appreciate that birth-and-death and Nirvana are not separate one from the other. They do not know that Nirvana is Universal Mind in its purity. Therefore, these stupid ones who cling to the notion that Nirvana is a world by itself that is outside what is seen by the mind, ignoring all the teachings of the Tathagatas concerning the external world, go on rolling themselves along the wheel of birth-and-death. But when they experience the "turning-about" in their deepest consciousness which will bring with it the perfect self-realisation of Noble Wisdom, then they will understand.

The true functioning of the mind is very subtle and difficult to be understood by young disciples, even masters with all their powers of right-knowledge and Samadhis often find it baffling. It is only the Tathagatas and the Bodhisattvas who are firmly established on the seventh stage who can fully understand its workings. Those earnest disciples and masters who wish to fully understand all the aspects of the different stages of Bodhisattvahood by the aid of their right-knowledge must do so by becoming thoroughly convinced that objects of discrimination are only seen to be so by the mind and, thus, by keeping themselves


away from all discriminations and false reasonings which are also of the mind itself, by ever seeking to see things truly (yathabhutam), and by planting roots of goodness in Buddha-lands that know no limits made by differentiations.

To do all this the Bodhisattva should keep himself away from all turmoil, social excitements and sleepiness; let him keep away from the treatises and writings of worldly philosophers, and from the ritual and ceremonies of professional priestcraft. Let him retire to a secluded place in the forest and there devote himself to the practise of the various spiritual disciplines, because it is only by so doing that he will become capable of attaining in this world of multiplicities a true insight into the workings of Universal Mind in its Essence. There surrounded by his good friends the Buddhas, earnest disciples will become capable of understanding the significance of the mind-system and its place as a mediating agent between the external world and Universal Mind and he will become capable of crossing the ocean of birth-and-death which rises from ignorance, desire and deed.

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[Magic_Man]

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The reason (or one of the reasons) atheists don't want the God of the Bible to exist is because they are sickened by all the killing and violence. Of COURSE they prefer another imaginary God to exist.


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Thanks for the support.

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Thanks for COMPLETELY ignoring the question. Here is your choice:

A) The God of the Bible, in all his completeness, exists. He has slaughtered innocents, made arbitrary complicated demands of worship, thanked people for offering their daughters to be raped, and more. HOWEVER, he has also done many good things - healed the sick, given people hope, etc.

B) Another imaginary God exists. This one is all-benevolent. He has NEVER ONCE harmed an innocent, and instead of "hardening the hearts" of the violent, he softens their hearts and helps them to right their ways. He ROUTINELY appears to the people of the earth to make his presence known in NON-CRYPTIC, COMPLETELY UNAMBIGUOUS ways, and thus puts an immediate end to many religious wars.

You said:
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I believe that all atheists don't want the God of the Bible to exist. They may well want the God who is a figment of their imagination to exist. If you're an exception and really want Him to exist He will guide you into the truth.

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I said:
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How could you possibly want the God of the Bible to exist in FAVOR of other Gods?? The God of the Bible commits mass slaughter of innocents. Wouldn't you prefer an all-loving God??

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Which one do YOU WANT to exist? What's wrong with wanting option B?

[NotReady]

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Which one do YOU THINK exists?


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FYP

C) none of the above

[Magic_Man]

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Which one do YOU THINK exists?


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FYP

C) none of the above

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You claimed that atheists want a different God to exist than the God of the Bible. You are still dodging the question, and I will soon be forced to accept that it is because you agree that it is patently ridiculous to choose option (A) over (B) or AN INFINITY of other imaginary gods that are superior to option (A). Make your pick, A or B? I'll even give you a super simple choice:

A) The God of the Bible, in all his glory.
B) The God of the Bible, with every detail in exact agreement, EXCEPT he did not commit mass slaughter of the innocent first-borns in Egypt.

Which one do you prefer?

[NotReady]

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Which one do you prefer?


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A) and B) are the same.

[madnak]

He's right, Magic. God can't commit crimes - he's God! If God kidnapped person, kept them in an isolation tank for three months, cut out their guts while they were still alive, skinned them, and then killed them by slowly driving screws through both eyes, well that obviously wouldn't be torture. God doesn't commit torture!

[tame_deuces]

Does this question have any meaning?

It's like asking:
You have to chose a new mother...and you can go for...

1. Your mother.
2. A much better and nicer person.


Understand that a religious person's relationship to god is not always clearcut and business-like and does not have to be, to make perfect sense.

I'm an atheist and have no problem with accepting that, as atheists we see things with a different perspective.

[Magic_Man]

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Does this question have any meaning?

It's like asking:
You have to chose a new mother...and you can go for...

1. Your mother.
2. A much better and nicer person.


Understand that a religious person's relationship to god is not always clearcut and business-like and does not have to be, to make perfect sense.

I'm an atheist and have no problem with accepting that, as atheists we see things with a different perspective.

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I disagree. It's like asking this:
You have a mother who smokes 4 packs a day. You have to choose a new mother, and you can go for:

1) Your mother
2) An identical clone of your mother, except that she does not smoke.

Any reasonable person would choose (2).

[Magic_Man]

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Which one do you prefer?


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A) and B) are the same.

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Are you saying god did not murder people in Exodus, or that they were not innocent? A) and B) are CLEARLY not the same. (A) contains an action by God, no matter how you interpret the REASONS for that action (perhaps you think they were not innocent and deserved to die). (B) is the IDENTICAL God, SANS that action. They cannot be the same. Claiming they are the same is preposterous, and I hope everyone sees that here.

[tame_deuces]

And thus it becomes a matter of perspective at the question at hand, you're perspective differs from mine and hence we can't agree on there existing a logical answer.

You're asking a believer to chose between two versions of gods, one which does not comply with his beliefs and which does, and then stating that they are identical except for actions they commited/did not commit which makes one better than the other. It's abit illogical in itself, since they clearly can't be identical anymore.

If given (1) and (2), and statement A proves (1) is correct, which do you chose? That's the gist of your statements.

But the one you are asking probably disagrees with (A).