The Atheism Thread

[Arnold Layne]

Ah, the Gnostics.

I have a translation (J M Robinson) of the Nag Hamadi Library.

The fragmentary nature of the texts makes any attempt to reconstruct Gnostic theology (?) all but impossible. Gnostics also seem to have hiddeny their system beneath the obscure and arcane.

But they certainly left us a lot to think about! I find reading the Gnostic texts really very stimulating. Highly recommended, especially for those with a background in Early Christian history, and the theological/philosophical language of the times.

[Puff Adder]

Ah, the Gnostics.

I have a translation (J M Robinson) of the Nag Hamadi Library.

The fragmentary nature of the texts makes any attempt to reconstruct Gnostic theology (?) all but impossible. Gnostics also seem to have hiddeny their system beneath the obscure and arcane.

But they certainly left us a lot to think about! I find reading the Gnostic texts really very stimulating. Highly recommended, especially for those with a background in Early Christian history, and the theological/philosophical language of the times.

Care to share some names of the literature to which you refer?

[Riserto]

Hello,

I am 18 years old and I live in Spain.

Spain has some of the worst catholic SHIT HOLES in the whole world. Damn bible bashers and control freaks. The reason I do not believe in God is that I have seen that the people that supposedly follow this God so badly are actualyl abusing this to achieve power and are actually behavign like c*nts.

"Thou shall not kill" , "Thou shall not steal" Oh c'mon all bollocks.

They think that just because they go to Church they are better people.

Fuck religion, fuckin waste of time. Good ideals but shit practice.

Long live free independent though,

atheism = autonomy

Peace

Karl

[TonyBotello]

i don't believe in god, but i do believe in a force that is greater than ourselves.

i know there's something out there...

[Bad Penny.]

I prefer animism catholicism etc are all bollocks used as a form of social control,what are the ten commandments except social rules,my old man used to say religion is for weak minded people who cant believe in themselves.......................Amen

[d_L_t]

"Thou shall not kill" , "Thou shall not steal" Oh c'mon all bollocks.

but its right though

killing + stealing has nothing to do with god, its common morals...

i wouldn't dare steal or kill and i dont need god to tell me that, I ALREADY FUCKING KNOW THIS IS WRONG !!!

i admit though, most wording of the bible is utter shite, man-made in my opinion.

i do believe in god though

iii

[moggggys]

whats a god , an idea or concept made my man so therefore a simple perpetuation of a religious perspective on someones train of thought , see past the idea of a god and your free at last of all the associated bullshit and manipulations of man

we are but accountable to ourselfs , at the end of time ( my time ) ill not be on my knees to anyone as i know full well im simply a product of a chemical reaction and evolution , when your gone your gone , live for the moment

[Bad Penny.]

Yup,your here for a good time,not a long time,enjoy it while it lasts cos when its lights out its the end of the game :wink:

[christopherc]

Agnostic

I dont know, you dont either, so stop all this nonsense

[Father McPot]

Agnostic

I dont know, you dont either, so stop all this nonsense

That's very close to my view, but a lot more strict.

Mine: I don't know, you might not know either, but it's fun (and a way to get to know one another) to debate about it.

[p0tnood13s]

Agnosticism is the philosophical view that the truth value of certain claims — particularly metaphysical claims regarding theology, afterlife or the existence of deities, ghosts, or even ultimate reality — is unknown or, depending on the form of agnosticism, inherently impossible to prove or disprove.

Atheism is the position that deities do not exist,[1] or the rejection of theism.[2] In the broadest sense, it is the absence of belief in the existence of deities

[Randalizer]

agnostic, 'cause atheism is as bad as any theism.

[scraglor]

mohammed, was a man. pontius pilate was a man, julius caesar was a man, buddha was a man, herod was a man, and jesus was a man. reason, no contemporaneous writings saying otherwise. sorry to see so many that doubt jesus existed.

theory; 1947, the qumran scroll, the dead sea schrolls, were kept for many years by the jews, because they contained manuscripts of isaiah, and daniel, which the jews did want anyone to know that the dating on isaiah and daniel would be confirmed and they would have to deal with their prophecies, one of which mentioned cyrus would capture babylon and predicted that the gate on the eurphrates would be opened. the other is of course the prophecies of the messiah.

last part of theory is that the jewish scribes have records, original no doubt but at least old copies. of every word jesus uttered pubicly. so the leaders of the jews would have these docs in safe places. therefore i assert that jesus was indeed an historical fact and that the words of this human have been fairly well preserved.

jesus may have just been a manic depressive with a messiah complex. a magician who faked his death, and then appeared very much alive after his death now able to walk thru doors.

jesus said he was god. and i believe him. jesus created everything. course he smoked dope so could have been trippn and lots of people were trippn with him.

gen

funny how the romans had no record of him

[Pip]

Always reminds me of cube theory in a 2D world.

Imagine you live in a 2 dimensional world, simplified you are a stick figure on a piece of paper, you can not imagine what 3 dimensions would be like, if you came across a cube, a 3D object, what would you see? sometimes a square, sometimes 4 dots, sometimes a straight line, but you could never see the whole cube, you could never know what the cube really was, most likely you could not even understand that the Dots and square and lines are even connected as you see them at different places at different times.

In the same way we can not concieve the idea of a 4D world, we may see bits and pieces of a bigger picture, but our 3D brains can never see the true nature of anything in the extra dimensions.

Do I believe in dieties, no, but there is so much more to the universe and mankind and not even scratched the surface of what we are a part of, there may be lifeforms in more dimensions, even those outside time who can travel time in the way we travel in 3 dimensions, but are they deities? no more than I am a God to an amebia, just entities living in different mediums of the greater universe.

[mokum777]

Ricky Gervais (on being an atheist)

It annoys me that the burden of proof is on us. It should be: You came up with the idea. Why do you believe it? I could tell you Ive got superpowers. But I cant go up to people saying Prove I cant fly. Theyd go: What do you mean Prove you cant fly? Prove you can!