Welcome all Adherents
Do you believe? Then you should join this group. If you're an atheist interested in adherents questions and comments and would like to have civil and respectful conversation and debate, pls join.
How do I know that your god is The One, True God?
Hi all,
I wanted to start a discussion to listen to adherents and hear what they have to tell us based on some questions I'd like to pose to them. In other words, I want to sincerely play the role of a seeker and ask them how I would know that their god is The One, True God. The purpose is not to deconvert or convert, I just want to walk through a seeker conversation where I'm allowed to ask questions of adherents and see what they have to say ... to listen. I am willing to expand on what I mean by "The One, True God" if a reader asks for that, to the extent that I think the definition is sufficient for the discussion.
This is the adherent's golden opportunity to proselytize; to convert me.
In order to do this effectively I need to ask the adherent for their imprimatur on a rule by which I can do this without bogging it down so that I can never get my questions asked. So, here it is. I'll ask a question as a hypothetical. It may be that there are more assumptions to the hypothetical that one could add, but I'll ask for the sake of discussion that we allow only the assumptions of the hypothetical I offer. This way, I can at least get through a few questions. If someone thinks the assumptions are insufficient just state that with your answer and we'll accept that as your answer informed by the assumptions of the question.
So, here's my question. I'll ask it and see if I can get a useful answer, recalling that I am a lifelong atheist who has never believed and who is sincerely trying to sort out all the gods out there and figure out which one to follow:
How do I know that your god is The One, True God?
Zachary Harris
We've reviewed 5 candidates from polytheistic contexts in pursuit of the "true mono theos". I'm not seeing how this could be the most fruitful trajectory for accomplishing the stated task.
Nov 21, 2012
Zachary Harris
A Thanksgiving message for Kir:
The important point is that when a kid gets a present under the tree on Christmas morning it is because there IS an intelligent being who went to the effort to buy just what the kid wanted or needed, wrapped it, and put it there. Christmas presents don't just happen to be there because of some "universal property" that arises out of impersonal forces. Do psychological factors contribute to erroneous belief that "Santa Claus" is the identity of the personal agent responsible for those presents? Of course! But the correct analysis would not therefore be to chalk up the belief system to "agenticity", but rather to correctly identify the Actual Agent. I thought that was the goal here. Maybe I was wrong.
This Thanksgiving, I challenge you to lay down all desire to invest your efforts in minimizing the various "Santa hypotheses" around the world, and instead redouble your efforts in seeking to find The One, True Father who gives all good gifts you have ever received, so that you may be able to express some gratitude where it is most due.
Nov 22, 2012
Ron V
I see "god" as the sum total of all things. My "god" is observable and knowable, by all humans, without organized religion, just not a "god" invented by the human mind. How can this/my "god" not be the one true god?
Nov 23, 2012