Many theists have cited medical miracles as proof of god's existence. They show x rays and MRI films of before and after and some include statements from baffled doctors. Well I'm always happy to see someone beat cancer or some other malady, not important to me on how it's done or why.

I won't go into my own experience with a "medical miracle", it's not really relative to my OP and it's a bone of contention with some of my family members, so for now, I'll just leave it as, "been there, done that, seen it, still not impressed."

What my problem is with miracles is their selective nature. A little old lady in Jacksonville, Florida get miraculously healed while the majority of terminal patients succumb when they're all following the same prescriptions that the Bible says will work? Now I don't want to hear anymore of the "God's ways aren't ours" crap, that's too easy, theists have fallen back on that one for too long, in fact, any theistic explanation that involves God's personality or why he might or might not heal anyone is not something I don't care to even entertain. To me, it's just stupid, like arguing over which vampire movie is dealing with the real legend, who cares?

Okey... first of all i have never truly believed in a religion, but I've always had christian traditions and gone to church a few times etc.

started to reaserch a little bit and I've then decided that its all bullshit..

therefore i got some questions for you who know so much more than me:

how are the "relation" between the old and the new testemante? is the new testemant more central in the christian fath now?

example: I told my mother about all the killing, the slaves and all the things that didn't seem good, she told me that this was only in the old testemant and that she didnt believe it, but she did believe the new one because it was written after jesus death... - any thoughts?

she also said that people need something to believe in - i told her that i understood that, she believe in a higher power than us humans but i feel it is wrong to be a christian because of that.

my other friend said that isnt it better for people to believe in for example the 10 commandments and living their life like a christian then not to? - like i felt people that go out drinking everynigth, swears or simply acting gangsta would be better off being christian - thougths?

Last but not least; fantastic site i hope i will learn alot while im here! - if anyone got any tips for me to learn more about religion; books, sites, films etc. would be great!

(sorry if i posted it in a wrong forum)

From my blog

Creation Science Techniques….Prove Evolution

{ This poster is a standing proof of the insanity that religion can foster... See some examples in trollville }

Guess who used to have a post here...

So, I'm just curious what Christian theology says about what the afterlife is like in heaven...

In Islam, apparently you can get 72 virgins.

Do we get to have 'bodies' in heaven? What body do we get? The one that we had at death? A new one? If it's a new one, is it an adolescent one, or an adult one?

What about those who die as infants? What about those who die as a fetus? What about hermaphrodites?

Or are we just 'spirit' in heaven, with no physical body?

And what about sex? Can we have sex in heaven? How can we have sex?

Is everyone sterile in heaven?

Do we have to be married to have sex in heaven, like we do on earth?

If you're a widow, or a widower who remarried, then you've got 2 sexual partners?

What if you're a widow, or a widower, and you remarry, then die and go to heaven? Can you have sex with your first spouse?

What if your 2nd spouse on earth remarries after your death? Then can you have sex with your 1st spouse? Or must you wait for your last earthly spouse (who remarried on earth) to come up to heaven so you can have sex with them? What happens when your last earthly spouse's 2nd spouse dies and goes to heaven?

I'd really, really like to know just what kind of a 'logical' system 'the greatest conceivable thing' has got in store for us in heaven.

Any ideas, anyone?...

He's known you since before you were conceived. He's been at your side ever since. He always is, and has been there, watching you. You run from him from him. You cannot hide from him. He loves you so much that he wants to save you from yourself. He doesn't care if you're a man or a woman, a boy or a girl, or what your nationality and ethnic origins are. He's your father, and he even sent himself as his son, your own foster brother, to die so that he may forgive you for your transgression in rejecting the death of his son, your own foster brother. He wants you to come live with him, at the feet of his throne, so you can tell him how great he is for all time.

But, if you don't believe in the power of his sacrifice as his son, and eat his corpse's remains, then he'll be forced to torture you for all time. He doesn't want to have to do this to you. He loves you much too much, and told you so personally in his own personal love letter to you. He even went through the trouble of dictating it to forty different men throughout human history just to make sure the message got through perfectly. But he'll have no choice if you force him to burn you forever. He'll have no choice, because he believes in mercy.

 Just a few questions for any christians out there.

1. How do you determine the correct interpretation of the bible? How are you sure yours is the right interpretation?

2. If the bible was meant to be interpreted a certain way, then why are there multiple sects of the same religion?

If any christian wants to answer these questions then I will post my follow on questions. 

Thanks. 

I am noticing a trend in theist vs atheist debates of all levels, from your nut jobs vs shit disturbers to high profile educated theists vs high profile educated atheists.  Namely, it's as though we fundamentally speak different languages, and we end up talking past ourselves.  

I believe that in order to conduct any soft of debate, the debaters must agree on the lowest common denominator.  You can then use that as currency and equate the value of any subjective claim.  In a few ongoing debates I'm trying to establish an epistemological frame of reference that we both agree on, without a lot of success.  Think of it as laying the most basic of ground rules.  At it's most basic, I view reality through my senses, and so do they.  Empiricism isn't one of the ways to fundamentally perceive reality, it is the ONLY way.

I have yet to have a valid point raised on this, and want to draw on the vast experience of some of the members here, both theists and atheists as to what your thoughts are on:

1.  The benefit of agreeing on an epistemological frame of reference.

2.  How the theistic epistemological frame of reference differs from an atheistic one.

3.  What can I do to clarify this most fundamental position in my debates, so I can move forward.

We shot the interview with Dr. Ben Schumacher early in June. I'm just now getting to loading the files and logging the soundbites. I have cut two of them, one where Dr. Scumacher comments on Richard Dawkins and another where he offers his explanation of Old Testament cruelty. I hope you enjoy them. Excerpts from this interview will be used in a documentary that I am independently producing and directing.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cjNDEdRKCjw

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gs1PGuFVhLU

I apologize if the audio is a little low and hollow. We shot this with a separate recorder and I haven't downloaded the separate audio files yet, so what you're hearing is the on camera mic, which unfortunately isn't very good. Fortunately we were in a quiet room, so it isn't too bad. It will be better in the future, I promise.