I liked what you said re: supernatural / natural being the same thing. yes, creationists are generally nuts - but most humans have some things that they irrationally hold on to because they think its important; i'm willing to be patient, but it's unfortunate that you often can't hold a discussion with these people.
we all have ideas of God. that "Supernatural" aspect of him - God being unknowable - that is, accepting mystery and ambiguity, is often thrown out in favor of an idea of God that we can hold on to (i.e., a God who made the earth 6,000 years ago, and put dinosaurs there as a prank to "test our faith"), and when that/idea/ of God is challenged, we figure that if our idea can't hold, then God can't exist, and therefore doesn't love us.
you said,
"If God was shown to exist, he would be a very natural being"
yes! that's exactly what we believe. we believe that God was in Jesus reconciling the world to himself. a man, the only true man, being what he is supposed to be, the rest of us being fallen. we notice that existence is characterized by suffering. we believe that God revealed himself in Jesus, who died for the sins of a fallen world. there is no proof for this. my faith in God is about being loved.
i was speaking to a monk about this.. not all christians are like american christians. in Russia, i met several scientists who became Christians because they saw mystery and wonder in their work, and wanted to be reconciled to God, forgiven, loved so as to love. in the west, we talk about "what we believe". zen buddhists are different; they believe that you ought to sit and count your breath. around the world, and through history, christians have believed that God designed us for eternal life in love and friendship with him, which is something that we believe because we love one another right here, tasting this this life. the truth of Christ is not proven by dinosaur bones; it is a rather concrete practice of acting rightly, practicing mercy, accepting mystery, believing in love (that is, God in Christ), and obeying in faith by being reconciled to the world. when we stop living this way, we look for dead anchors to hang our faith on, such as an unneccessarily literal interpretation of genesis.
i don't mind questioning things. i became a christian while doing so. i'm sorry some of us are hateful towards.. smart people. often we are more worried about defending ludicrous ideas than we are concerned with showing Jesus' love in the flesh, i.e. making friends with scientists regardless of what they believe.
i don't see what the hubub is. evolution really says nothing regarding the existence of God. it just sees complex forms coming from concentrations of energy. rather amazing...
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I liked what you said re: supernatural / natural being the same thing. yes, creationists are generally nuts - but most humans have some things that they irrationally hold on to because they think its important; i'm willing to be patient, but it's unfortunate that you often can't hold a discussion with these people. we all have ideas of God. that "Supernatural" aspect of him - God being unknowable - that is, accepting mystery and ambiguity, is often thrown out in favor of an idea of God that we can hold on to (i.e., a God who made the earth 6,000 years ago, and put dinosaurs there as a prank to "test our faith"), and when that /idea/ of God is challenged, we figure that if our idea can't hold, then God can't exist, and therefore doesn't love us.
you said,
"If God was shown to exist, he would be a very natural being"
yes! that's exactly what we believe. we believe that God was in Jesus reconciling the world to himself. a man, the only true man, being what he is supposed to be, the rest of us being fallen. we notice that existence is characterized by suffering. we believe that God revealed himself in Jesus, who died for the sins of a fallen world. there is no proof for this. my faith in God is about being loved.
i was speaking to a monk about this.. not all christians are like american christians. in Russia, i met several scientists who became Christians because they saw mystery and wonder in their work, and wanted to be reconciled to God, forgiven, loved so as to love. in the west, we talk about "what we believe". zen buddhists are different; they believe that you ought to sit and count your breath. around the world, and through history, christians have believed that God designed us for eternal life in love and friendship with him, which is something that we believe because we love one another right here, tasting this this life. the truth of Christ is not proven by dinosaur bones; it is a rather concrete practice of acting rightly, practicing mercy, accepting mystery, believing in love (that is, God in Christ), and obeying in faith by being reconciled to the world. when we stop living this way, we look for dead anchors to hang our faith on, such as an unneccessarily literal interpretation of genesis.
i don't mind questioning things. i became a christian while doing so. i'm sorry some of us are hateful towards.. smart people. often we are more worried about defending ludicrous ideas than we are concerned with showing Jesus' love in the flesh, i.e. making friends with scientists regardless of what they believe.
i don't see what the hubub is. evolution really says nothing regarding the existence of God. it just sees complex forms coming from concentrations of energy. rather amazing...