Yikes Pericles :) "scale new heights"? you sure have a way with words.. in fact that was the very first thing I noticed about you in your first ever post..... still in good form I note.

I can't address all that you raised now.. I'm just rejoicing in the fact that all of us can have such an indepth convo online..

*waves at everyone*

Poirot :).. female eh.. shouldn't you be a bit quieter ? (cheeky look)

But *whacks self*.. ok.. I'm back now..... you are correct.. it is a great place to set ourselves free of many usual hinderances..such as distance, and impart and receive the collective wisdom or ignorance as it may be, of others.

Pericles.. I will address those points.. when I get my newly acquired wireless router going...and my grandaughter offffff my puter *I want the kitten! one* she says.. then it's Hi 5 and she dances around my office.. hiding embarassed when I poke my head around the door.

If anyone has asked me anything.. apologies for not specifically addressing it, Pericles keeps me occupied.. blame him :)

FOLKS.. this is a great resource for both sides of many questions on Christian thinking.

http://apologetics315.blogspot.com/search/label/debate

Audio debates. I'm sure there will be something of value for us all.

Cheers

I am in danger of another 'posting' jibe here, apologies to mjpb-no rush intended, but I am indebted to AJP, for not only his response, providing what I never thought to say, about dogma and atheism, thanks, but also for the miracle worked on digging out 'old posts'.

How do you do it? I am amazed.

I'll consult my 16 year old tonight, he knows everything.
I excised mjpb's 'facts' from the post AJP supplied, see below.

"I believe in God's existence.... Why? Because I didn't have enough faith to remain an atheist. The shift was difficult as the lifestyle had its moments but Christianity definitely has its own rewards.... God and Christianity make sense to me".

Well, talk about 'dogma', I'm gobsmacked, floored, overwhelmed, beside meself, what can I say to refute that lot?

God is a BIG magnet, drawing souls in from the lesser magnets of, say, atheism, agnosticism and 'all those wrong religions', who hold their prey in place by injecting 'faith'. If there is not enough 'faith' injected, you simply spiral helter-skelter, or is it Pell Mell?, towards God, and get fixed for life (and hereafter).

Well, you've got me there, I can't compete, and I've seen the error of my foolish ways, hold a seat, I'm coming over.

Apart from the fact that I barely ever call myself 'an atheist', I am totally unaware of any 'lifestyle' that goes with that title.

Do, someone, please let me in on this mystery.

What is an 'atheist lifestyle', for Heavens sake?

Now, I am not going to dispute mjpb's claim that Christianity makes sense to him, clearly it does, and who can complain about that?

The 'rewards' is not so clear cut.

We'd have to excise out of 'human life' what was an action exclusive to Christianity, not done by anyone else in the world, to know that.

I am uncertain what that is, since most people seem to behave in a surprisingly similar way, in a 'human' way.

Any pointers would be appreciated.

Ah, no problem TBC.

My finding of old posts is just a combination of a sharp memory along with the help of Google’s site search function.

I simply Googled:

site:forum.onlineopinion.com.au "enough faith”+atheist+mjpb

And viola... http://tiny.cc/k030k

TBC,

As for your puzzlement in regards to what the rewards are, speaking from my personal experience and the experiences I shared with fellow church-goers in Bible study and other miscellaneous moments, the only rewards I can think of are the mental and emotional comfort and security that comes with thinking that the Big Guy’s got it all sorted and that even if the poop hits the fan big time, then there’s always the land of sunshine and lollipops awaiting you at the end of it all anyway. It’s win-win.

If you’re life is filled with riches of all sorts, then it’s because god wanted you to have them; If you’re constantly struggling in life and running into misfortune after misfortune, then those with less in life are rewarded the most in the afterlife. Again, win-win.

Boaz,

Thanks for the link. There’s a couple of debates I’d be interested in listening to, but unfortunately with the likes of William Lane Craig, Matt Slick, Jason Lisle and Steven Meyer giving the Christian point-of-view, I’m not confident I’ll learn anything new.

AJP... I am seriously amazed, impressed and thankful.

Now I'll be able to see what rot I've written in posts-past.

I would never have thought of doing that I confess, however simple it might be for others to comprehend. Thanks.

There is no doubt that if we are looking for real miracles from the secular world then 'The Googles' would have to be at the top of the list, on a par with 'The Internets', as dear George used to call them.

If only Lourdes was half as productive, even once a year, as the secular world is every day, there'd be no holding back true believers.

Funny thing.... I have no 'faith' in secular Microsoft type products, but they still seem to weave their black magic and deliver things to me, even while I have no idea how they work (or how to work them properly so it seems). Yet my rellie had ultimate 'faith' in her salvation-at-Lourdes, knew and understood all the main and peripheral bits of Mumbo required to succeed, and it still did nothing worthwhile.