From: exukjb@exu.ericsson.se (ken bell)
Subject: Re: lighten up, people
Summary: lighten up!
Keywords: faith 
Organization: Ericsson Network Systems, Inc.
Date: Wed, 29 Jul 1992 15:46:05 GMT

In article <Brxn7q.Hoy@news.cso.uiuc.edu> tpe36878@uxa.cso.uiuc.edu (Mr. Mensa ) writes:
>From: tpe36878@uxa.cso.uiuc.edu (Mr. Mensa )
>Subject: lighten up, people
>Summary: lighten up!
>Date: Sat, 25 Jul 1992 06:55:00 GMT
>Keywords: faith 

>Hello to all:

>        Well, tonight was the first time I have ever read this newsgroup, and I
>have a few things to say:

>        1) the idea of God is not illogical. I am a scientist (an astronomer),
>        and I believe in God. I believe that He (or whatever pc pronoun you
>        see fit to insert) created the Universe. BUT: I also believe 100% in
>        the natural laws that control the Universe (ie Big Bang, Worm Holes,
>        Black Holes, etc.) I am VERY interested in correspondance with someone
>        who has a differing opinion on this.

>        2) to believe in a God does not imply religiosity. Believing in a
>        higher being does not mean that one is necessarily a relious person.
>        For that matter, it does not even imply--if the person is religious--
>        that he (I don't believe in pc, sorry) is a `religious freak'.

>        3) God is not a person! I am Catholic (err, no comments please) and I
>        do not believe that God is a person, per se. He (see above note) does
>        not have a physical existence. He is a spirit of Love. One will
>        never 'see God' in a physical sense, because that is simply not how
>        He exists.
>	
>        4) the Bible (to me, at least) is not a literal work. Come on, people..
>        who really believes that the Universe was created in SIX DAYS?!?! BUT:
>        whereas it is not literal, it is not fiction, either. This may seem
>        confusing, but I had it explained to me very well by the little-known
>        author James Connor. The stories in the Bible are there to teach us
>        how to live our lives.
>	
>        5) finally, LIGHTEN UP PEOPLE!!!! Geez. I mean, as if. People, people
>        people.....there is one and only one way to prove the existence of
>        God......




>        If anyone wants to pursue these discussions any further, do not
>hesitate to e-mail me, too. I am a VERY open-minded person, but I still
>have not some across anything that explains things better that the 
>existence of a God, whatever YOU may believe this God to be.



>        In Nomine Patris et filiis et Spiritus Sancti....
>        thomas ehardt
>        tpe36878@uxa.cso.uiuc.edu

I would like to know how, in your view, God explains things. It seems to me 
that the pronouncement 'God...' has served mostly as a kind of question 
stopper rather than as a critical explanatory concept. I also think the 
question of God's nature is a substantive issue in the God-debate. I can't 
understand someone in effect saying, 'I believe God exists and explains 
certain basic aspects of the world we inhabit, but of course we cannot 
expect to have least idea of what this being is like.'


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Kenneth Bell                                    Welcome to Mind Wars
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