Hey guys,

So a while back I watched an interesting documentary on the origin of the quran. One of the major arguments it put forward is in regards to the oldest quran ever found, which dates back to a mere 19 years after Mohammed's death. It was found in the roof of an old hut, and is written on thousands of incredibly large pages of deerskin. Written in Hejazi Arabic, the claim was that since this was a mixed form of arabic, it did not contain many of the accents used in modern arabic languages. Assuming that this was the origin of the quran, this would account for differences in the modern qurans, as accents would change the meaning of certain words and phrases.

I would really like to get an islamic point of view on this, as one of the major ideologies in islam is that the quran is the absolute word of god, and has not changed since it was first written. 

S.

''What can he/it not know if he/it knows everything?'' you may ask. Well why don't we ask the christian Bible...

In my experience it is assumed by many Christians that their ''god'' thingy knows everything. A study of the supposed word of the ''god'' thingy they believe in, will show that this assumption is without (their) scriptural foundation. The bible makes many simple statements that limit ''god'' thingys knowledge. I think there would be no sense to such passages if we take them figuratively. There would be no object in ''god'' thingys saying such things about him/itself if they were untrue.

Ok, I'm not an atheist because I believe in spirits. I see apparitions and I get psychic advice from them as well. I actually heard from a spirit that told me my uncle was going to die soon and I went around and told the rest of the family that and then he passed away 3 months later. So that's why I believe in the spirit world. What is an atheist's viewpoint on that perspective?

L

God is so merciful. He is love and love is he. Worship him for all the wonderful things he does for all of us. How awesome is our god. Unless............................Your in a wheelchair....lol

For all those former Catholics on the boards, what is your current body of knowledge on the Catholic church?

As in have you read the Catechism of the Catholic Church, any of the early Church Father's writings, papal encyclicals, or the Bible (completely).

I would like to qualify reading to mean actually attempting to understand what is written, as one would do so with an article in a science journal or precious document. Or have you just read the materials as you would read a comic strip, with no effort to understand the meaning, contents, and background.

If I wanted to convert, which would be my best option: to convert to Christianity or to Islam?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qYW2xXxFVtU&feature=related

http://www.godandscience.org/evolution/intelligent_design_religion_science.html

 The first 20 or so seconds are the best...see what Maher says (watch it all though freely)...then  read the second link.

Compare...with your own rational mind. Who told you that Christianity wants to 'close of all discussion'? Or that the search for God closes of all discussion?

Here's a test for all athiests.

Riddle me:

Who are the 3 portraits that Albert Einstien kept on his study wall? He (somewhat famously) kept 3 that are known. These are three men. What are the backgrounds of these three men? This is not a statement of Einstein being a Christian..he was not by all accounts.

It's a question about what 'rationally' closes of enquiry and what does not.

Is it true?.....or is it what you've been told? By perhaps the misinformed?

 Hey guys,

Being raised in an italian catholic family, I've often noticed how God, Jesus and various saints are used as a support system. And now more than ever, it seems like putting faith into something like God allows people to take the pressure off themselves and let go of a lot of tension regarding life's little speed bumps. Its a nice little security blanket. Would you agree?

S.

I recently watched the Nightline debate with members of the rational response squad and Kirk Cameron and some guy named Ray that clearly recites rhetoric and spent the whole debate trying to "win the crowd to God" using fear and degradation.  However, it did leave me with some stuff to chew on:

1.  Why do people spend their time and logic disproving something they "logically don't believe exists."  There must be something that draws us to the topic of God that sets it apart from the Easter Bunny and Santa Clause.  I don't see many forum sites dedicated to disproving that the Tooth Fairy exists.

Over the last few weeks we have been interacting with a user who goes by "Meaning_of_life."  MOL has had many interactions that skirt the edge of our rules however we have allowed his tripe to stay because we do everything we can to allow Christians a chance to vocalize themselves on our site.  Recently though MOL has gone too far and we have no choice but to ban him.  He has chosen to make his attacks very personal.  Divulging personal details about certain members, or using personal details about members that they don't want posted.  Some members have suggested that MOL is Matt however an ip check, and email check against sites like facebook show that MOL is someone entirely different.  If you haven't seen our forum rules, here they are.

I deleted two threads that were created with the sole purpose of attacking a forum member personally.  I will not point out the other thread in which a member was upset where a personal detail was used in an obnoxiously hurtful manner.  

If Meaning of Life would like to write an apology letter at some point he may send it to me, I will post it, and it will be used as consideration to remove the ban in the future. Currently MOL can view our site and this thread however any attempt to return will result in us blocking his access to the site entirely.