[tyrrian]

this topic brings up several questions and points i'd like to offer my own two cents on.

*first and foremost, i must offer an admonishment. the fallacies i notice most often can easily be used to misinterpret the following post. i will identify them so that hopefully, you won't.
Fallacy #1 - assuming that since word or phrase "XXXXX" means YYY to you, Joe used it also to mean YYY. especially when dealing with words or phrases such as God, Creator, Evolution, Intelligent Design, Big Bang, Science, Faith, and so on... even if Webster agrees with you, its still important to interpret based on context. so many theological scholars fail to do this, quite as often as scientists arguing counterpoint. lets be wiser than them.
Fallacy #2 - assuming that YYYism and YYYists universally believe/teach/admire/promote XXXXX. logically this can never be true. for as many people as are Christian, each one has learned/been taught/explored Christianity under a different set of circumstances and thus a unique perspective has arisen from it. we necessarily cannot be the same person as anyone else and therefore cannot hold the exact same perspective on anything.

That said, the following is what i believe. in a sense, they are the articles of my faith.

*to me, faith is the intense feeling of belonging to the Creator, of knowing God loves me, and of loving God.

*i believe in the Creator(God). not everyone does. i accept that. i'm sure my Creator accepts it to, as i know that they are as much Children of the Creator as i am.

*the Creator is a being beyond my comprehension, existing both as a distinct identity and throughout all that exists.

*i have free will, a gift of the Creator, to act, speak, and believe as i choose.

*the Creator is a good and loving God, all-powerful, all-knowing, all-present, and full of compassion for all that is in existence

*the Creator is the spirit of love and compassion.

*we know evil and sin; they are actions, words, and thoughts which deny the spirit of love and compassion.

*we have all sinned, no one is perfect.

*the Creator loves all, thus all are welcome to forgiveness of their sins.

*heaven is the presence of God and the eternal co-existence with our Creator

*hell is not fire and sulpher, nor physical torment. these are our metaphors for the rejection and denial of God and an eternity without our Creator

*from my perspective, the complexities of our living universe provide further evidence of a Divine Creator, aside from what my instincts/intuition/heart/soul tell me. this serves as a great comfort in times of uncertainty and doubt.


you may poke holes in whatever you wish. the faith i hold today has grown from the Lutheran upbringing i was given. i used to think being a good Christian meant believing the Bible word for word. i don't think that's so important anymore. the Bible is a wonderful guide, and i prefer to accept it as a truth. but i also accept that the sum of God cannot possibly be found within its pages.


i remember a "logic test" from an earlier post. something like if two of the following are true the other can not be:
a) god is all powerful
b) god is all good
c) bad things happen
[/i]but i think it has left out the following point:[/i]
d) we all have the capacity to heal and overcome the bad

i present this analogy: as a child, i sometimes fell while trying to learn how to ride my bike. my parents knew that this could happen. they knew bikes can be painful to learn how to ride. they also knew that in time my scrapes and cuts would heal, that i had the ability to overcome them.

i believe the Creator does stand by us in bad times, after all i think we all have the ability to heal and overcome. and we've been given other human beings to share our lives with and support in the bad times.