Raylan Wolfe Loc: earth

"The word god is for me nothing more than the expression and product of human weaknesses, the bible a collection of primitive legend which are nevertheless childish." Albert Einstein

I wonder why the vast majority of the most intelligent people ever, do not or never have, accepted the reality of any god?

BigOlBear

I am not a religious man. Therefore what you say does not anger me nor does it demand that I engage you in a debate on theology. Your comment demonstrates a special kind of ignorance and speaks to your upbringing. Read St. Thomas Aquinas and then tell us all about how stupid everyone else is. You embarrass yourself when you make statements like that.

Ranger7374 Loc: Arizona, 40 miles from the border in the DMZ

There is a difference between intelligent people and wise people. Both the wise and the intelligent are highly perceptive and full of knowledge, for a man cannot gain wisdom without intelligence.

Einstein, never denied the existence of God, but disregarded it as something written long ago in the past. For the past is gone, we live in the present.

As I increased in knowledge, I began to question, the principles of old. I have found that, the more knowledge one gains the more prideful one becomes. The more prideful one becomes, the more one, forgets the basics. The Bible is written to remind us of the basics of life. For all a human must do is eat, sleep, work, multiply, and die. Everything else, is the how to do it.

The knowledgable have their theories on how this must be accomplished. So questions come up that push our knowledge, so we seek greater learning. The ancient texts of the bible, the study of the bible whether its historical or psychological or spiritual, increases mans knowledge. That is why I picked up the statement, BIBLE- Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth.

It is through the bible that all the strengths of mankinds are listed together. Other ancient texts have part of or some of the philosophy but are limited when executed. Where the lessons of the bible lead to freedom, the lessons of other ancient texts makes man enslaved to something.

Zeus to pick on Ancient Greece, and Ra for Egypt, Baal for the Chaldeans and Beelzebub for the ancient Phoenicians all demanded human sacrifice. Life according to these religions, forced man to work for the gods. The God of Israel, and His Son, just asks man to live for God, and his fellow man. This is totally different.

Since we left ancient times and entered into the "Middle Ages", we humans abandoned the ancient gods. Then in the dawn of the modern times, we began to abandon the God of Israel, the one who trumphed over the ancient gods. For even Zeus was destroyed by the God of Israel. Which enticed the Greeks to learn about him.

Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle, were close, very close to Christ's teaching. If you want examples read the City of God by St. Augustine, that's too much to write here. But in time, some of the knowledgeable in the Age of Enlightenment, abandoned the faith, because they could not be objective.

Now come today. Through knowledge and experience one acquires wisdom. That is the natural order of things. Knowledge that is passed on from one generation to the next, is in hope that the next generation would learn the lessons of the previous generation and acquire wisdom. For learning from mistakes made by self, is experience, whereas, lessons learned from the mistakes of others, is wisdom.

Now we can put each individual under a microscope and see failure. However, if we look at the bigger picture, we will see harmony. The direction of that harmony is either good or evil. We try to correct that evil through wisdom, which comes from knowledge of the past. That is the rub, as in the words of Yoda in the Star Wars saga, "A prophecy, misread maybe"

We as humans and mortals are not infallible, for there is always a chance of misinterpretation. To avoid this, two groups are formed liberals and conservatives. Liberals in the classical sense try to make changes to upgrade the present. Some upgrades are beneficial some are not. The Conservatives, try to rely on what worked in the past, and want to keep it the same. But a balance between the two creates a nation or a people, that becomes great and new challenges leap forward during the course of life. This is what truly makes life worth living.

Not the battle between good and evil, not the battle between Conservatives and Liberals, but the challenges to achieve a utopia that all can experience is the goal. We know that it is impossible for man to control such a utopia. But because humans are capable of great faith they try to achieve this. And many times in human history we achieved it but The society that achieved it was always attacked by an outside threat. Which revolutionized the original country, and if this analogy were to continue with the righteous in control then out of the ashes of the destroyed utopia would be born a new utopia greater than the first. And it is for this reason that a man made utopia, will always be attacked, for mortal man.

Now if outer threats were solved, then the threat would then come from within. and on and on it goes. Throughout history intelligent, highly intelligent men, went against God, many many times. However, they did not last long....Julius Ceasar, Hitler, Napoleon, etc. However, others found God, and their life span increased. This is data from the lives of all intelligent men. Past, and present.

Now, with a combination of principles and what I stated above I will attempt to answer your question with one word---pride. The pride of being right a lot or most of the time, and by accepting God, they feel or fear that the quest for knowledge would be over. But I for one, have come under the understanding through both wisdom and experience, that the belief in God is not an ending to knowledge but a beginning. Thus the debate will continue on the existence of God and eternal life. For the highly intelligent dismiss God and life after death. But the vast majority of the intelligent, say they believe just in case.

The funny thing about intelligent people, is how easily they are swayed by the evidence they uncover. To see this, I invite you to look at the science in proving or disproving the credibility of the Shroud of Turin at the Shroud of Turin website. www.shroud.com%2F&ei=B2j1U5TQOamV8QGd4IGADA&usg=AFQjCNFTXprbAvHmFrR_gp_759yEGLsEvQ&sig2=9MNY4S58F6ozHA5l3bL_oQ&bvm=bv.73231344" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0CB8QFjAA&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.shroud.com%2F&ei=B2j1U5TQOamV8QGd4IGADA&usg=AFQjCNFTXprbAvHmFrR_gp_759yEGLsEvQ&sig2=9MNY4S58F6ozHA5l3bL_oQ&bvm=bv.73231344,d.b2U

Because of this cloth or burial shroud, many, many nonbelievers who sought to disprove the cloth, not only proved to their satisfaction that it is authentic, but converted to Christianity. However, proving and disproving the authenticity of the Shroud is only step one of the evidence. Step two would be asking How?

Learned men, or the intelligent try to say they proved it as a fake, and do no follow up and leave it as a dead issue. However, for the audience, like me, I continued looking at it. And the method used to prove it was false, proved to be compromised which raised the question again. So the How, is still an undiscovered territory nor have they begun to answer that question because of the first question of authenticity.

I hope someday they prove it, so we can continue the investigation into the How. This is our only evidence, of the act of Resurrection and the how. The Shroud has been the most tested object of the world. Science tests out their procedures on the shroud! It is very interesting, therefore, for an intelligent person to say "I don't know!" not only contradicts his statement against God, but contradicts his knowledge and he has to by pride reevaluate what he knows. and on and on it goes.

Now that's the complete explanation through observation. There maybe more, but to answer your question simply, the reason is pride.

Raylan Wolfe Loc: earth

There is a reason religion is called either faith or belief, there is no actual proof of the existence of any God!


Original research team can't explain shroud!

http://www.catholicnews.com/data/stories/cns/1301829.htm

Ranger7374 Loc: Arizona, 40 miles from the border in the DMZ

Therefore lack of explaining does not prove or disprove God. Interesting isn't it? They cannot disprove it nor can they prove it. And it is fun, at least for me to try to prove it or disprove it.

Coos Bay Tom Loc: coos bay oregon

To me my religion is a mystery but my faith is real. All the proof I need is the little miracles That come to me regularly. I can't explain it but I feel blessed.

Ranger7374 Loc: Arizona, 40 miles from the border in the DMZ

If I were you I'd check out this video update.....circa 2009
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CevQjNSkSk8

and in addition to that video, by process of elimination and according to the article you provided can tell you what it is not. And by process of elimination, when you take into consideration of everything that is left over and unexplained, it is what it is said to be.

A particle physicist has proven that at the time that the image was formed, the body of the man of the shroud was suspended in zero gravity. She says that "At the formation of the image, there was no gravity, no entropy, no gravitational collapse, no time and no space"

Now, there is only one man who ever lived that has the power to do that. So one must conclude that the man of the Shroud is none other than Jesus Christ.

This conclusion also shows us what happens to us after death. Scientifically, I believe. Now to understand what I am talking about from here on is just a theory and cannot be proved at this time.

But death is a moment where the human spirit leaves space and time. At present the mortal human being is both spirit and physical, but at death the human spirit is released from the bondage of the physical therefore leaves space and time.

This is a new discovery that I have suspected and needs more research, but both scientific studies have proven the Bible to be true. Therefore, there is a lot of data that must be analyzed before one can say for a matter of a fact "There is no God", science has proven by their own means there is a God. And the Shroud of Turin has helped in that manner.

Raylan Wolfe Loc: earth

You faith has blinded you to reality and you know it!

Youtube as source, weak!

Ranger7374 Loc: Arizona, 40 miles from the border in the DMZ

I didn't get it from Youtube I got it from the Catholic News Network, hahaha! I got it from the article you sent me. You really need to go to the Shroud of Turin website. Here, I'll help you its https://www.shroud.com/

Here you can examine the Shroud yourself. Research the history. Like I said earlier I've been following the scientific research since 1978. And in those times I had to go to the Library, the internet makes it so much easier. Enjoy.

Raylan Wolfe Loc: earth

So in other words, scientists have been studying the shroud for 35 yrs and have not come to conclusion that you want to "believe." That is called a lost cause!

Retired669

Religion is regarded by the common people as true, by the wise as false and by the rulers as useful.

Retired669

After thousands of years of not one single piece of evidence has been brought forward that a "God" exists but yet you have many bible thumpers who believe in a fictional character. Are you people really that gullible after all that time has passed and not one shred of evidence exists to support your claim your fictional character exists? No wonder there is so many stupid ass people in this country if they fooled that easily.... :thumbup: :thumbup: :thumbup:

Ranger7374 Loc: Arizona, 40 miles from the border in the DMZ

I suppose you are right, yeah the Shroud of Turin which has been examined by minds greater than those on this site say its what the people claim it to be. But that is not evidence enough...no....

Or what about how everything in the universe is in such perfect order and nothing is spontaneous, yeah I guess that's not proof either..........

What are you crazy?!??!? I guess you will not believe until you see the Son of Man, seated at the right hand of the Father, Come down in Glory.......and it might be too late then. I feel sorry for you. What a sad life........

no propaganda please Loc: moon orbiting the third rock from the sun

You and I are apparently on the same page, but you expressed it better than I can.

:thumbup: :thumbup: :thumbup:

Retired669

I'm not crazy just curious as to why you believe this Shroud of Turin means existence of your fictional character? So what if an old image of a old man is on a piece of cloth? Maybe someone found a way to make a picture back then and have it last for years. That still doesn't mean your fictional character exists.

I will agree the universe is a vast wilderness of the unknown but it doesn't mean someone or something created it either. Sometimes shit just happens for reasons that can't be explained even by scientists.

Don't feel sorry for me because I've had a good life and none it had religion in it. You see some of us don't want it or need it. We've already seen what it can do to the weak among us. You need to feel sorry for those who need it to survive.