And for direct reply to Link:
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My opinion in this matter is some that I know is shared by at least some people on Earth. With the ability to think, and to act, the humans created a problem; they started thinking about themselves, about who they were, and where they came from. Because they couldn't comprehend/believe that life was over after their deaths, they started believing in Heaven; a place where they would live on forever.
Life is, in my opinion, not something that goes on. Humans do not have a soul. We *want* to have a soul, because it would make life itself easier. The greates fear of all, for most humans, is to die, after all.
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Now here is one of the central issues of modern theology. God, Heaven and souls DO exist BECAUSE humans believe in them. Therefore they exist as an abstract idea. This is what Nietsche meant by "God is dead". He is dead because people have stopped believing.
So we can either believe in god and discuss him as a fact
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We can acknowledge that some people believe in god and therefore discuss him as an abstract concept. In this case god is what people believe him to be. So if Christians decide to believe that god is omnipotent he IS omnipotent because he is made so by there beliefs (the only thing of which he consists).
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Hence, yes God can do anything. If he can make the rules, he can break them.
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This is actually quite funny that you say this. As I recall God was flawless. By going against his own rules, he would make himself obsolete. Could be mistaken of course...[/QUOTE]It has been pointed out before that god does not need to obey his own rules BECAUSE he is flawless. Rules are meant to be broken - at the right moment with the right cause, ...
Because god is flawless he ALWAYS KNOWS when it is appropriate to break a rule and therefore is allowed to. Again that goes only for an omnipotent god in case he exists.
This is kinda scary. Why is it wise? Will you smite us if we don't change our minds? Or am I just misinterpreting things?[/QUOTE]Basically Chewbaccas wisdom lies in accepting that if perceived from a different point than his the points that I made may be true. This is what I applauded in my reply post because he (as do I and we all should) concedes that he may not hold the absolute truth.
Again I say: Somebody MIGHT hold the absolute truth but NOBODY can know he does because the only thing you know is that you can never be completely sure.
[ 08-15-2003, 05:05 PM: Message edited by: Faceman ]