Faith Freedom International

[Unknown 279]

WHO AM I? WHY AM I HERE? WHERE AM I GOING?

There are many answers. And no one can prove conclusively that his answers are right. You accept the answer of the atheist or the Hindu as much on faith as the answers of a Christian.

The answer that you are a highly developed animal who is here by chance and that everything ends when you die is rather comforting. It gives you freedom to act as you please.

But you know it isn't true. There are evidenes of a spiritual world even if they cannot be scientifically measured. You have a conscience; you have a feeling of right and wrong; you turn to a higher power in time of trouble.

Give consideration, then, to the answers of the Bible. These answers are so unusual that it is obvious that no man thought them up. They do not flatter man. They seem foolish. They are hard to accept.

WHO AM I?

I am a spiritual being who temporarily has a physical body. I was created in the image of the infinate God to live in a similar way that God does: with the ability to think, to will, and to choose. This gives me great dignity.

So God created man in His image (Gen. 1:27).

WHY AM I HERE?

I am here because God has a purpose for me. The ultimate purpose is that I glorify God. God is honored when I do His will, when I promote His kingdom, and when I enjoy with gratitude the good things of His world. Life is very meaningful when I am in harmony with God's plan. And it is a great comfort to know that He controls everything.

(Jesus said:) For whosoever shall do the will of my Father which is in heaven, the same is my brother, and sister, and mother (Matt. 12:50).

WHERE AM I GOING?

If man had used his gift of free choice to choose for God, life on earth would have been a perfect existance. But we chose to rebel against God. We do not glorify God. We prefer to promote self. We are inclined to evil. The world is a devilish place simply because we serve the devil.

Since God cannot tolerate evil, there is only one just recourse: continued existence (since we are spiritual beings) in a place of punishment and torment.

In flaming fire taking vengenance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ (2 Thess. 1:8).

But God refused to let His creation end in failure. He provided a way in which man can regain his position of true manhood. This way is by faith in Jesus Christ. Jesus is the God-man who paid the penalty for our rebellion and earned for us the opportunity to become the true person we were created to be. For such the future is glorious: reunion with God is a condition of complete joy and fulfillment!

For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten So, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life (John 3:16).

In a sense, you are what you think you are. If you think you are merely an animal, you will live as such. If, however, you accept in faith the answers that God gives to these three key questions, you will realize your position as created in the image of God. You will also realize the great gulf that sin has made between God and you. And you will accept Jesus Christ as your mediator. In so doing, you will be reinstated to your manhood. You will be assured of true living, both now and throughout eternity!

Choose the way of life! Read your Bible! Find out more of the glorious life God has in store for you!

~Yasmin

[Unknown 288]

To Yas

You know, the problem is we do not have any evidence that christianity is 'the one'. No one can even prove conclusively christianity's answers are right. Man has the power to reason for a reason. Surely you don't expect people to just blindly believe? If we do that, just how different are we from schizophrenics, fanatics, lunatics and the likes?

[Piggy]

Short version of the bible........................

"In the beginning was the word". (man's word)

There's money to be made in writing, printing and distributing books, especially copyrighted popular best sellers.

[eruss]

[Unknown 288]

To eruss

Oookay, how bout I change my sentence to 'man has the power to think for a purpose'? Where on Earth would your reason with big R have place in my sentence?

And this Gordon Clark, I find this brudder here very funny. Check out his arguments:
- He rejects empiricism (this one really makes me laugh. LMAO!)
- He rejects rationalism, and also rejects irrationalism (I was like, huh? )
- He accepts dogmatism (basically, just presuppose something as true first without any proof, then debunk anything else that happens to contradict it. I personally find this as a masterpiece! ROFL!)

You know my conclusion? He's full of sh*t, he's full of sh*t, and he's full of sh*t.

[eruss]

[Unknown 288]

To eruss

Nope. But even without reading the book I can roughly predict his arguments through his ideas. And like I typed, his ideas are really hillarious. Why don't you quote parts of the book here so we could see just how accurate my prediction is?

[eruss]

[Unknown 283]

The ongoing debates on this site have been eye-opening for me, the last months. So many arguments, opinions and debates, so many ways of saying the same things.

You see, Earth is just one thing, the physical Earth in front of any pair of eyes that exists (and have existed, and will exist). Each and every one of us will see it differently from everyone else, and none of us will ever know anything, just be able to assume. And BELIEVE.


Those questions can be answered like this, by me:

Who am I?

I am the one I perceive and then choose to be. I have a physical appearance, defined and ruled by physical laws, and a mental appearance, which is my own representation of me and the world. The first one is of the physical universe and something I will never experience in itself (only receive impulses from in my consciousness), the latter is everything I am, and something absolutely nobody else will ever see (ever seen/heard/tasted/smelled/thought/felt anybody else's consciousness?). THAT is who I am.

Why am I here?

Chance made sure I was born, randomly and by pure luck. It is a miracle in itself, but not a miracle with any purpose or higher meaning, a random miracle, which was a natural consequence of nature's way of happening in the moment. There is no meaning in it, only a natural way of life's ongoing process. Nothing exists prior or after this moment, just IN this very moment right here right now. And that is nature, Earth, the Universe. Put any higher, God-given, spiritual meaning into it, that is your business. But do it for your own sake, for your own life. Because that is the only place it'll make any wortwhile contributions. Discuss YOUR meanings and beliefs with anyone else, they will have THEIR meanings and beliefs, and you might influence each other, but you still have your very own separate meanings and beliefs.

Of course, those are my meanings and beliefs, don't take them seriously if you don't want to, I won't EVER make them more real to you than your own beliefs. Don't make yours any more real than mine either though...

Where am I going?

The same place/way/world etc as anything else on this planet. Or even the Universe. We are literally huge constellations of molecules, billions of pieces put together by unexplained forces, built into beings and later dissolved and rebuilt as other phenomena. I was a goat once, and a rock, I was a cloud and a star. Now I am a human. Later, I will be a lot of other things. Nothing more than that, you know. So simple, yet so hard to acknowledge.

Denial of these things are what defines humans, not a search for the absolute truth, but the absolute meaning in our lives. That's what confirms for me we are human and nothing else. Basically, a search for answers and the truth will only be accepted by us when they work WITH our human nature, and our human nature and its natural ways of working will override anything contradicting them (non-logically enough, the truth and logics too).

Whoever says we are the ultimate beings, the supreme "animals" on Earth, of profound intelligence and wisdom, created in God's image, intelligent etc forget that we aren't perfect in any of these ways. And our limits are our boundaries, as well as our possibilities. To keep it simple, I don't think ANYONE of us has the right to claim the existence of anything but our own mind. For whoever gave us the insight and authority to do so, really?

Do you have it? Do I? Nah, we don't. At all.



Anything else, any other explanation, is too much to me. I don't need to think about gods, divinity, heaven, life after death, spirituality, things beyond our world or anything else like that. I can get insights from them, and put meaning and joy into my life through beliefs in them, but never make them anything more than what they actually are; explanations, beliefs and faith beyond what my brain and mind can actually and factually fathom, and gain insight into.

You see, whatever you tell me from now, I still know your mind made it up, as well as my mind made this up. But this is my belief, as your belief is yours, and they give us a reason to live on, to do things, to exist. My explanation is enough for me, and most likely will always be so.

Don't make it hard on yourself; just accept and then move on, make your world to whatever you want it to be.

My word.



PS: If this is too much "rubbish", too "floating", too "vague" or whatever: I am not trying to tell anybody the truth. Because there is no truth except the one you give yourself. So try to find that truth that makes your life, your days, your family and friends, your things to the best you can ever have, right now and forever on. THAT is what gives me instant pleasure and happiness, every moment. It's a big burden when you think about it, but it is absolutely worth it... It's the best source I'll ever get to the positive things in life.

[Unknown 288]

To eruss

Hmm, really, and I wonder why I always have to go to the library and borrow whenever I need textbooks.

I ain't got that kind of money to spend. If you want to send me a full copy for free, of course I'll be more than willing to accept. There ain't such book in our national library here either. Like I said, why don't you quote his arguments here, so we could see it? Or, perhaps you can send me the scans or texts through my mail, so I could read em.