a pick-up line I use has the answer to that.

strangely, women don't seem to like the references to the Nephilim.

Thats 'cause when you use the word Nephilim it sounds like you're talking about something in your pants.

More crap from people determined to believe at all costs that their own imaginary friend is real and everyone else's isn't.

Look to the bottom of the list where they claim to answer skeptical questions, but it's just more of the same crap.

edit: Hey. If you want a big laugh, look at the first paragraph in the reincarnation question at the bottom of the list. They practically fall over themselves trying to refute reincarnation while at the same time not also refuting christianity.

coincidentally, I am.

While I admire the effort the organizers of this site put into this, this is a lot of theology that won't do a lot of good. It doesn't even truly serve as a true, unbiased reference (biased on certain issues inside Christianity, that is) for a Christian's walk. I think more and more people are turning away from a personal relationship towards "how-to books", or to their pastors. While pastors have that covering and are there to instruct, people are laying down their own right to have a relationship and having a relationship through their pastor/church staff, if that at all.

We (the body) are falling into a religious spirit that reminds me of how the Pharisees were, and that really makes me sad.

I hate religion. Religion is the opposite of relationship, it's a manmade institution that was formed with good intentions, but fell into a wall that separates us from personal revelation.

Here is a question that is not on that list and I have never heard any religious person successfully answer.

What evidence do you have that a god exists?

looks like the qualifications of "successfully answer" is entirely up to you.

personal experience probably doesn't mean much to you.
The fact that everything does exist in an orderly fashion, consciousness and sentience and the odd occurance that just about every culture around the world had a religion isn't really proof, but it could point in that direction.

one question that I never heard any atheist "successfully answer" is what evidence is there that God or a god doesn't exist?

in the end, we'll all believe what we want to believe. Facts point in my different directions, so each one of us will have backing for our own point of views.
You could hear a voice from heaven calling out "I exist, b***h" and while the clouds form a hand giving the birdie, and you'll probably be able to explain it away.
and I'll be able to explain away a vision of buddha walking up and kicking me in the nuts.

No matter how much logic you employ or facts you seek, it will always come down to your basic beliefs.

regarding the Passover question...

I always thought that was the celebration of the brutal, senseless, and truely evil crime of God murdering hundreds of innocent babies, destroying untold number of families livlihood when their livestock was struck down removing the family's source of milk, meat etc.

All this because the Pharoh was using free will to do as he chose. To make it even worse, God toughened the Pharoh's heart so that he wouldn't agree to let the Jews go. I guess he was really itching to kill himself a bunch of Egyptians who did nothing wrong.

You can't prove a negative.

Like ArchAngel said, it's up to what you believe. In our very own Bible, what we follow, it tells us that there is no undeniable proof that we can show to everyone and it be irrefutable. It's a matter of faith, of personal experience, and of choice. I choose because of my personal experiences that make me have faith that there is a God - I have proof for my own life, proof that it's been touched, proof that only I have - The proof I have for my beliefs won't apply to you, because you're a different person. You are not me, and what I've seen and heard and experienced won't fit you, because they were made, spoken, and given straight to me, for me.

If that makes sense to you...

That's right. It's a Jewish tradition of celebrating Egyptian death, correlating into Jewish freedom. It's celebrating God's faithfulness to the Hebrews, and, although it doesn't necessarily glorify Egyptian death, by celebrating their freedom which was gained by Egyptian death, they are. I don't like Passover anyways...

Not really. It's one of the least reliable forms of evidence there is.

How does it point in that direction? Especially since all these religions around the world are so different from each other.

What evidence do you have that there isn't an invisible magic elf sitting on top of your computer monitor?

What evidence do you have that there isn't a chinese teapot currently in orbit around the sun somewhere?

What evidence do you have that the entire universe wasn't created five minutes ago with us and all our memories already in place?

Why does god automatically get a free pass while none of those ideas are taken seriously?

No. If something like that happened, and other people confirmed that they saw it too, I'd have to seriously consider the possibility that it was a god.

God existing and god being worthy of worship are two different things, by the way.

No. It doesn't come down to what your basic beliefs are. It comes down to what those beliefs are based on and why you have those beliefs rather than a different set of beliefs.

It Was. Welcome to the Matrix..

... You and everyone who read that should be being visited by Agents soon if you're telling the tr-

it's all possible.
but none have made big claims that have yet to be refuted, nor stood the test of time. Nor have any of them had any effect on my life so I have no reason to jump out of my status quo to accept it.

What do I have to gain by changing my beliefs to become agnostic? A feeling of intellectual superiority? I already have it. I'm set.

if you to know why I believe in God, it's out of personal experience and the fact that I have yet to see convincing evidence that there isn't a God.
And yes, this is in light of claims in the Bible that have not been refuted.
Like any good theory, it held up pretty damn well to the test of time (almost 2000 years). For a good deal of that time, it was under immense scrutiny.

frankly, you can't disregard personal experience. Not your own. All your beliefs come from it. My beliefs come from mine.
Amazing concept, isn't it?

First of all, I don't see how you have intellectual superiority.

Secondly, how about intellectual integrity? You don't have that.

You're kidding, right? How about the fact that a global flood is flat-out impossible. There isn't enough water in the world to cover all the land. Of course it wasn't a problem for people back then since they believed that the earth was flat (and the bible suggests that it is) and they just believed that all the water poured off the edge of the earth. Also, there is no way that two of every species in the world would fit on an ark and live there together for an entire year. How about evolution? It refutes genesis pretty well. And if there was death before humans existed, then there was no reason for jesus.

Throughout the entire bible, god acts like either a bully or an idiot. Either way, he is not someone who is worthy of worship.

mmm...wow. questioning my intelligence.
you have truly transcended the art of debate.
if only I could be more like you.

alright, let's talk about the flood.
no, a global flood isn't "flat-out impossible." We have more than enough water to cover the entire surface of the planet. Hell, you "flat out" the surface and the waters will cover it.

Now, did it happen? I don't know. I'm not so sure on much of the old testament so I'm not going to refer to it much. And no, Evolution does not refute the genesis account. Evolution is merely a theory explaining the adaptation of populations. No conflict with Genesis. Hell, Evolution doesn't even necessarily need to define the origin of species.

hmmm.. let's see if I get my head around this one.
no. That's entirely off. The "reason" for Jesus is the figurative "spiritual" death.

hypersapien, if that's your view on God, I highly doubt you have been throughout the Bible.
Believe what you want, I can't change it.
But, I'm not the one trying to convert people.
or at least jump on their backs for their beliefs.

Speaking of which, whatever happened to all those people who b***h about beliefs, particularly ones of the religious nature, being pushed on others.
Huh, guess it's only wrong when it's not your beliefs.
Consistency: what a b***h.

but seriously, you seem to have a lot of frustration towards "God".

If there was death before Jesus came, then you say there was no reason for Him to come... Am I right in understanding that this is what you're saying?

If so, you miss the point here completely. What do you believe the purpose of Jesus coming was?

Also, please address this before going further:

And ArchAngel, stop arguing in the manner you are. It doesn't do you good, it doesn't do hypersapien any good, and as a whole it does not edify anyone. If it tears down instead of edifies, don't speak that out. As a Christian, to a Christian, I am asking you to stop arguing with hyper, atleast in the way you are.

ArchAngel, I was writing the above comment and did not yet see what you had posted. Trust me, if I had, it would have been written a completely different manner.

If you're a Christian, you've just shown a terrible side of Christianity - While arguing with an athiest/agnostic, none the less! You're supposed to be holy, set apart, evident of the fruits of the spirit, the list goes on and on and on and you've just disregarded it all. I could go on a tangent about this, but right now all I'll tell you to do is stop. So just... Stop.

And also, evolution is contradictory to Genesis-style creation in that it suggests life formed contrary to the instantaneous (7-day, rather) creation depicted in the beginning of the Bible.

That whole argument is not relevant to my faith unless God calls me to argue for or against that.

Josh, for the most part, I was arguing not unlike yourself. towards the end, I became rather sarcasm laden.

but I do want to know what is it about what I said you find repulsive. Is it the language? the sarcasm? the ranting? all of it?
I'll admit that I was overly emotional and it's better than I shouldn't be.

I'm done, now, it's degenerate into insults and sarcasm (with my own contributions, I understand). No value, anymore.


and Theory of Evolution is that populations adapt over time. it happens. Natural selection.
Saying we came from a monkey-like ancestor or that life evolved over millions of years, that's an extrapolation of the theory.
As for the 6-day creation, that's one interpretation. the Hebrew word for Day also can mean "Age." I, myself, make no claims on how I think the world was created.