Religion (Christ)

I applaud your sincerity and I think it is very good that you are continuing to read the Bible in order to obtain a better understanding of it's content. I trust that you have done your own research but I wonder if the sources you have read through have been biased. I would suggest researching into both sides of the argument (Christianity and atheism). I would highly recommend reading C.S. Lewis' book titled Mere Christianity if you are interested in learning more about the Christian faith outside of the Bible (as I'm sure you understand that the Bible is not the sole component of Christianity.You stated that you "wanted to know how the world was actually created and learned of the big bang and the evolution". It seems that you're implying that there is some sort of conflict between the big bang/evolution and Christianity. I don't think that there is any such conflict. As a Christian, I belief that the Big Bang was the mechanism through which God created our universe and that evolution is the mechanism through which human life was brought about. Both of these beliefs are consistent with the Bible and mainstream Christian doctrine. Even the Pope, the universal leader of Christians on Earth, has stated that he believes both of these theories to be true (http://www.usatoday.com...). You mentioned Stephen Hawking's views on the origin of the universe and quoted his saying that the universe can create itself from nothing. I'd invite you to consider a quote from mathematician John Lennox: "Nonsense remains nonsense, even when talked by world-famous scientists." However, I would say that I think Stephen Hawking is referring to a singularity in the quote you mentioned. Stephen Hawking believes that singularities (the center of a black hole) eventually lead to new universes. This is perfectly plausible, and I have no objection to this. However, it does not solve the problem of the "first cause", for one could simply ask "Where did the first singularity come from?" To my knowledge, Stephen Hawking has given no answer to this question.I'm going to divide the next few paragraphs into sections 1-4, each representing the respective paragraph you posted in your last argument.1.In this paragraph, you claim that "the Bible and other religions do not align with physical reality..." I disagree; I do not see any conflict between the Bible and physical reality. You state that "the Bible is a lie" due to the story of Adam and Eve and the snake. By no means is the Christian held to the view that there was a literal man named Adam, a literal women named Eve, and a literal talking snake. I myself do not believe these things to be true, and most Christians (with the exception of fundamentalists- which is admittedly a large exception) do not believe these things to be literally true either. Stories such as Adam and Eve, Noah's Ark, and Jonah and the Fish should not present a barrier to belief in Christianity. One is perfectly justified in believing these stories to be nothing more than stories with some sort of significant lesson or meaning behind them. I would also add that ancient Jews did not take stories like Jonah and the Fish to be literally true either. It is the modern Protestant fundamentalists who choose to interpret every word of the Bible literally, but please consider that there is no reason to think that these sorts of views are necessary in order to be a Christian.2.This paragraph still does not answer the question of "Why atheism?" Even if you choose to disregard specific religions (Christianity, Islam, etc.) it seems to me that you still must at the very least consider deism (the belief that there is a creator but that this creator does not intervene, has no contact with humanity, and is not represented by any religion). The jump from disregarding Christianity to affirming atheism is a radical and unwarranted one. The road of naturalistic atheism (which is what you seem to currently affirm) leads to nihilism. Let me share a few beliefs that you must hold to if you follow atheism to it's end:-There is no such thing as truth-There is no such thing as right and wrong-There is no such thing as consciousness-Humans and other organisms have no value-Life has no meaning or purpose-There is no such thing as intentionality (you cannot think about anything)-Everything is predetermined-You and I do not actually existThese are the sorts of beliefs that lie at the end of the road of naturalistic atheism. If you are prepared to affirm naturalistic atheism, then you must also be prepared to affirm each and every one of these beliefs.3.I don't really have much to say for this section; I agree with your comments on blind faith. I think far too many Christians (and other religious people) look at the world through the lens of blind faith, when they should be looking through the lens of both faith and reason.That's a clever pinterest picture- as I said, I agree that there are far too many people like this. But again I would say that it is not necessary to be this way. Christianity is perfectly consistent with both reason and science.4.I don't agree that the world would be better off without religion. Religion has, throughout history, done very good things and very bad things. For example, at the moment Islam is a clear example of a religion which the world would be better off without. However, I invite you to consider the good that has come about through religion (specifically the Catholic Church) including the education of 2.6 million students everyday at a cost of over 10 billion to the Church, 230 universities (the very concept of the university has Catholic origins), and 637 nonprofit hospitals (accounting for the medical care of 1 out of every 5 U.S. citizens, Christian and non-Christian alike). It is very easy to see that some religions, at least, have been a force for good in the world. SummaryI urge you to reconsider your stance on atheism. I think you will find that atheism is unwarranted and unsupported by evidence (both scientific and philosophical) whereas Christian theism is supported by both scientific and philosophical evidence. I wish you luck on your reading of the Bible and will keep you in my prayers. Also, I cannot recommend highly enough the Mere Christianity book written by C.S. Lewis!Thanks, back to Con.