I happened to see this book in the library a few days ago. Thumbing through it, what caught my attention was the very first “reason”, namely the existence of superhero movies! What do superheroes have to do with God? Simple. The author claims that themes of honor and self-sacrifice, which are often found in such stories, are totally inexplicable from the materialistic worldview. The author goes on in the same vein through his other thirty “reasons” to believe – the existence of emotions; the fact that you can feel moved by the beauty of music, or nature, or babies, or a sunset, or pretty much anything else; the fact that you can have doubts; the fact that you have consciousness at all. Every one of these things is a baffling mystery for materialists, according to the author.
This isn’t a surprising argument at all, it’s just the same old argument from ignorance we’ve seen before. If you can’t explain some random thing off the top of your head, the answer must be “God”. You get the impression that the author believes that material objects are supposed to lie there inert, like rocks or dirt. So he must believe that ALL living things, including animals and plants, have to be animated by some magical “life force” or “spirit”. This is all well and good, except how does that explain death? I mean, say a body has a heart attack for example. Why couldn’t that supernatural life force keep it moving anyway? Why not?
And if all living things are just inert material bodies animated this way, why not rocks? Why not furniture, cars, houses? That idea would seem to fit in with a lot of folklore about trolls and hauntings, but seriously have you ever seen a tree walking around? Or a rock?
https://www.rickstedman.com/31-surprising-reasons-to-believe-in-god/
It took me a few years to really get past ideas like this. It’s so much easier to give up to a supernatural power. The materialist answer needs something like evolution to explain why cooperation was necessary to human flourishing. Evolution is a pretty tough discipline if you aren’t willing to just accept at face value, or trust the scientists for getting it right. And then you need to understand how we came to even be able to study something that. Darwin struggled with the theological implications and many people still do. Then it gets really messy when you start trying to figure out exactly who encouraged inquiry. So much of it is based on military needs and raising populations so they can be taxed and exploited. The funding of course came from religious institutions, but it’s kinda complicated how they ended up with the funding in the first place. Eventually you get back to the agricultural revolution, and we just don’t have great data on what they were thinking back then.
http www rickstedman com/31-surprising-reasons-to-believe-in-god/Ah I see. A book seller. The mind is a beautiful playground.
“This book will rock your world! Could sex, zombies, art, nature and music all be neon signs pointing to the existence of God? Atheists, agnostics, skeptics and Christians alike will be challenged by the thoughtful and well-reasoned arguments in this book. You’ll be stunned by the 31 Surprising Reasons to Believe in God!" ERIK NEILSON Senior Pastor, McMinnville Christian Church, McMinnville OregonI doubt it. I could give a thousand reasons that life and reality stun me into believing evolution and in turn that this understanding and appreciation for Evolution and Deep Time provides a spiritual underpinning that no printed text's facades can touch. :coolsmile:
Like all junk like this, at best it might prove the existence of an advanced being, one that to us seems like a god. But that has nothing to do with their notion of a christian god.
Spinoza said god was laterally everything but his version of god was not the Christian version or a creator god of any kind. Back to square one.
Whenever a Christian tries the “where did life come from if God doesn’t exist” argument, I don’t even bother to talk about evolution anymore. I just say I don’t know. But I don’t have to know. There are multitudes of things about the universe that I don’t understand, but just because I don’t understand them, that’s no reason to assume that “God did it.” If you want me to believe that God exists, you have to give me a better reason than that, a more personal reason.
Whenever a Christian tries the "where did life come from if God doesn't exist" argument, I don't even bother to talk about evolution anymore. I just say I don't know. But I don't have to know. There are multitudes of things about the universe that I don't understand, but just because I don't understand them, that's no reason to assume that "God did it." If you want me to believe that God exists, you have to give me a better reason than that, a more personal reason.Actually that let's them off the hook. What they're really asking is, God exists, he's the god of the Christian bible, and do you believe in this existing god. So make them work for it. Ask what they mean by the word god. And if they tell you something or other, ask them why you should adopt their definition versus say a Muslim's definition, a Buddhist, Hindu, etc. That'll expose the fact that they're not interested in a real discussion at all.
I happened to see this book in the library a few days ago. Thumbing through it, what caught my attention was the very first "reason", namely the existence of superhero movies! What do superheroes have to do with God? Simple. The author claims that themes of honor and self-sacrifice, which are often found in such stories, are totally inexplicable from the materialistic worldview. The author goes on in the same vein through his other thirty "reasons" to believe -- the existence of emotions; the fact that you can feel moved by the beauty of music, or nature, or babies, or a sunset, or pretty much anything else; the fact that you can have doubts; the fact that you have consciousness at all. Every one of these things is a baffling mystery for materialists, according to the author. This isn't a surprising argument at all, it's just the same old argument from ignorance we've seen before. If you can't explain some random thing off the top of your head, the answer must be "God". You get the impression that the author believes that material objects are supposed to lie there inert, like rocks or dirt. So he must believe that ALL living things, including animals and plants, have to be animated by some magical "life force" or "spirit". This is all well and good, except how does that explain death? I mean, say a body has a heart attack for example. Why couldn't that supernatural life force keep it moving anyway? Why not? And if all living things are just inert material bodies animated this way, why not rocks? Why not furniture, cars, houses? That idea would seem to fit in with a lot of folklore about trolls and hauntings, but seriously have you ever seen a tree walking around? Or a rock? https://www.rickstedman.com/31-surprising-reasons-to-believe-in-god/This guy has not done any homework if he claims there is no materialist explanation for these 31 reasons. Consciousness is the only legit mystery on the list.
I happened to see this book in the library a few days ago. Thumbing through it, what caught my attention was the very first "reason", namely the existence of superhero movies! What do superheroes have to do with God? Simple. The author claims that themes of honor and self-sacrifice, which are often found in such stories, are totally inexplicable from the materialistic worldview. The author goes on in the same vein through his other thirty "reasons" to believe -- the existence of emotions; the fact that you can feel moved by the beauty of music, or nature, or babies, or a sunset, or pretty much anything else; the fact that you can have doubts; the fact that you have consciousness at all. Every one of these things is a baffling mystery for materialists, according to the author. This isn't a surprising argument at all, it's just the same old argument from ignorance we've seen before. If you can't explain some random thing off the top of your head, the answer must be "God". You get the impression that the author believes that material objects are supposed to lie there inert, like rocks or dirt. So he must believe that ALL living things, including animals and plants, have to be animated by some magical "life force" or "spirit". This is all well and good, except how does that explain death? I mean, say a body has a heart attack for example. Why couldn't that supernatural life force keep it moving anyway? Why not? And if all living things are just inert material bodies animated this way, why not rocks? Why not furniture, cars, houses? That idea would seem to fit in with a lot of folklore about trolls and hauntings, but seriously have you ever seen a tree walking around? Or a rock? https://www.rickstedman.com/31-surprising-reasons-to-believe-in-god/1944, Slovak National Uprising... Can the author explain why was the anti-fascist uprising joined by members of communist party in Slovakia, if they are baffled at honor and self sacrifice? It reminds me discussion between Dr. Turek and Christopher Hitchens. Dr. Turek was stressing that Hitchens cannot explain morals as they cannot come from "mighty molecule" or "mighty atom", because its HIM who is the materialist in the room.
Belief in god needs no “reasons." You either do or you don’t.
If you think you need reasons, you’re wavering.
Lois
Whenever a Christian tries the "where did life come from if God doesn't exist" argument, I don't even bother to talk about evolution anymore. I just say I don't know. But I don't have to know. There are multitudes of things about the universe that I don't understand, but just because I don't understand them, that's no reason to assume that "God did it." If you want me to believe that God exists, you have to give me a better reason than that, a more personal reason.Actually that let's them off the hook. What they're really asking is, God exists, he's the god of the Christian bible, and do you believe in this existing god. So make them work for it. Ask what they mean by the word god. And if they tell you something or other, ask them why you should adopt their definition versus say a Muslim's definition, a Buddhist, Hindu, etc. That'll expose the fact that they're not interested in a real discussion at all.In a way, that's what I'm saying. When you talk about evolution with Christians they always jump right on the details. Always. If YOU can't explain very single tiny detail about how evolution works, then as far as they're concerned the whole theory is invalid and they don't have to worry about it any more. But ask any question at all about God and "no, no, no, God doesn't need to be explained, God is all-powerful." There's a great line in one of Terry Pratchett's Discworld novels ("Interesting Times" if you want to look it up). One of the wizards is talking about "meddling with things you don't understand", and the Archchancellor says something like, "We're supposed to meddle with things we don't understand. If we hung around waiting until we understood them, we'd never get anything done." We don't have to understand evolution either. Details like where everything came from are a distraction from the real point, which is "What makes you think the god inside your head is the supreme ruler of the universe?"
Advocatus asked. “I happened to see this book in the library a few days ago. Thumbing through it, what caught my attention was the very first “reason", namely the existence of superhero movies! What do superheroes have to do with God?"
God is the biggest superhero of all time.
Lois