tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1645439856635422478.post6734550123888880249..comments2024-03-08T07:31:03.679-08:00Comments on Templestream: Why Secular Atheism Leads to NihilismRick Wardenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09689451026838986088noreply@blogger.comBlogger12125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1645439856635422478.post-10042000175207275882018-09-21T05:49:41.961-07:002018-09-21T05:49:41.961-07:00"It is not until you reject the dogma, the in..."It is not until you reject the dogma, the inconsistencies"<br /><br />It seems that you hold to a superficial view of Christianity and maybe we can talk about the subject of inconsistency. <br /><br />What is the basis of your ethical decisions of right and wrong?Rick Wardenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09689451026838986088noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1645439856635422478.post-25354587657429714452018-09-20T13:12:44.223-07:002018-09-20T13:12:44.223-07:00Christians need to have everything handed to them:...Christians need to have everything handed to them: an artificial and arbitrary sense of morality, a pre-determined sense of purpose, a contrived view of the natural world around them...<br /><br />It is not until you reject the dogma, the inconsistencies, the "because I said so" mentality of an indoctrinated mindset that you realize that<br />YOU are responsible for your own actions<br />YOU are responsible for righting wrongs in the world<br />YOU are responsible for creating beauty and avoiding destruction<br />No one is going to do it for you.<br />That knowledge gives me a huge sense of purpose.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1645439856635422478.post-19168485862097642792018-04-09T07:12:29.447-07:002018-04-09T07:12:29.447-07:00Rick WardenApril 9, 2018 at 7:05 AM
Thank you, Bla...Rick WardenApril 9, 2018 at 7:05 AM<br />Thank you, Blake, for your comment:<br /><br />"Inventing meaning is neither rational nor logical."<br /><br />Yet this is exactly what you imagine god does.<br /><br />To say this doesn't apply to god is to commit the special pleading fallacy."<br /><br />> It's important to distinguish between objective facts, or what are alleged to be objective facts, rather than focus on facts about personal tastes or subjective experiences.<br /><br />Like humans, God has an identity and this is a fact that does not change. However, unlike humans, God is completely consistent in his nature and and holistic with regard to experiencing his nature with clear revelation, expressing His nature with truth, and acting on His nature consistently, and this forms the basis of all meaning for God and humans. The scripture "God cannot lie" sums up the fact that God must think and act consistently with His own nature. This holiness and consistency is a part of the definition of what God must be in order to be God. And so it is not an arbitrary attribute. <br /><br />As God, it is a fact that God's mind is eternal and His thoughts are eternally consistent, and because meaning is rooted in God's fixed and unchanging eternal nature, it is not arbitrary or invented.<br /><br />I would go on to say that your claim would be true if we were to look at the god that John Piper promotes. His view offers that the foundation of God's actions is based on God's sovereignty and God seeking His own happiness. In this respect, you would be correct. This type of god that simply chooses to seek his own happiness because he is sovereign and nothing can block him from doing so, would be the type of god that you are describing that invents values and meaning based mainly on an act of the will and not mainly based on his nature as defined in scripture: "God is love" -as described in this linked article: <br /><br />https://templestream.blogspot.com/2018/04/we-love-simply-because-god-is-love-and.htmlRick Wardenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09689451026838986088noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1645439856635422478.post-79720687918785509632018-04-05T21:02:32.536-07:002018-04-05T21:02:32.536-07:00"Inventing meaning is neither rational nor lo..."Inventing meaning is neither rational nor logical."<br /><br />Yet this is exactly what you imagine god does.<br /><br />To say this doesn't apply to god is to commit the special pleading fallacy.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02807989390168601673noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1645439856635422478.post-46424304810081172032018-01-18T06:05:06.124-08:002018-01-18T06:05:06.124-08:00Hi,
Some of the personal accounts at this link mi...Hi,<br /><br />Some of the personal accounts at this link might be inspiring for you to read and look into:<br /><br />https://templestream.blogspot.com/2014/06/list-of-people-converted-to-belief-in.htmlRick Wardenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09689451026838986088noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1645439856635422478.post-12974424864273797442018-01-09T05:08:43.201-08:002018-01-09T05:08:43.201-08:00Hello,
That sounds like a bad experience to reali...Hello,<br /><br />That sounds like a bad experience to realize that your beliefs offer such a bleak outlook. But there is hope because the idea of God actually makes a lot of sense and God does exist in reality. This link looks into the idea of knowing God in a personal way, and based on my own life I can sincerely say the all of the ways of looking at God are not only logically cohesive, but the meaning that is found in God through knowing God gives a deep sense of peace and confidence in life... <br /><br />https://templestream.blogspot.com/p/knowing-god.htmlRick Wardenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09689451026838986088noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1645439856635422478.post-74438091949771056082018-01-08T17:32:19.377-08:002018-01-08T17:32:19.377-08:00I have been an atheists for years and have just re...I have been an atheists for years and have just recently discovered this nihilistic conclusion of my atheism. It has essentially shattered my motivation to act towards any goals and I am struggling to find my way out.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1645439856635422478.post-55853127430676876172017-04-10T13:03:16.094-07:002017-04-10T13:03:16.094-07:00"If you have to put effort into something, th..."If you have to put effort into something, then it's the opposite of inevitable, isn't it?" <br /><br />- Interesting question. I agree that a lot of things are like that. It is inevitable that a burger on the grill will burn, and maybe cause a grease fire, it is just put on and left there with full heat on. <br /><br />But in terms of spiritual life, the beauty is that it is not based on effort, but on grace and faith. We simply can receive the atonement of Christ dying on the cross to pay for our sins by faith that God did this for us, to give us eternal life so that we can glorify God, who is the reason why we have any existence in the first place. <br /><br />If you try to really live like a nihilist in an honest sense, it's very difficult to do. Because so much of life points towards the fact that there is meaning and value, which not does make any sense if secular nihilism is true. <br /><br /><br />Rick Wardenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09689451026838986088noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1645439856635422478.post-20783791367530020752017-04-10T06:14:27.940-07:002017-04-10T06:14:27.940-07:00If you have to put effort into something, then it&...If you have to put effort into something, then it's the oposite of inevitable, isn't it? <br /><br />Working at McDonals inevitably leads to early death, but only if you work way too hard every single day. And if you give a crap. Also it's possible to infact live longer while working there. But that's "inconsistant" for an arbitrary bullshit reason.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13630047639388608058noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1645439856635422478.post-22261193058514218642017-02-21T09:55:11.393-08:002017-02-21T09:55:11.393-08:00I agree completely, Dean. It is difficult if not i...I agree completely, Dean. It is difficult if not impossible to deny this issue.<br />Rick Wardenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09689451026838986088noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1645439856635422478.post-77418384293959529212017-02-19T06:44:48.191-08:002017-02-19T06:44:48.191-08:00This is just one of many, many questions ideologic...This is just one of many, many questions ideological Atheists can't face. There's more of course, but this is one that none of them can deny.Dean Esmayhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18276461872662209520noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1645439856635422478.post-46758784004192016952016-05-21T16:18:58.067-07:002016-05-21T16:18:58.067-07:00Precisely.Precisely.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com