johnsjar

Run 75, 2008

Administrator — Sun, 07 Sep 2008 21:53:16 +0000

Another 11 km today in 1:20:44 for a 7:20 pace. Very angry with myself. I would have made it a literal 4 minutes earlier if my @$^$$### left knee hadn’t swelled up. I am icing it now. It’s my last run before my road trip. Runs during my trip will have to be improvised, but they will get done since I am now training for a half marathon.

I think my next marathon will be Calgary next year.

I have read and studied the Bible extensively…

Administrator — Sun, 07 Sep 2008 03:08:54 +0000

…have you? I know more about the Bible and Christianity than 90% of the self-proclaimed Christians I have met. I used to be a Christian. Have you read and studied the other side, ie: the scientific side?

There is so much evidence for the theory of evolution and so much against the theory of specific creation that it staggers the imagination how anyone could believe otherwise.

If you have not looked at scientific books about evolution in at least as much detail as I have read the Bible, you probably should. Why don’t you read Darwin’s book, or at least a modern “translation” of it? Richard Leakey’s abridgment of Darwin’s work, “The Illustrated Origin of Species” is a good start and an easy read. I know my reference is dated and there must be many more modern books out there, but it’s in my library and so I suggest it.

Having rejected the God as portrayed by the Bible, I have to say that I have not necessarily rejected God or even Jesus. I am merely saying that my God is not like the God of the Bible. If the God of the Bible really exists, then the Bible has been corrupted by Man to slander him, or for some other twisted political reason. Meanwhile, I am undecided as to whether there is a God somewhat related to the Judeo-Christian tradition. But one thing I am absolutely certain of is that he is not like the God described in the Bible. My God would be a good God. I rather think that God is good, but since the Bible has been so absolutely corrupted by men, it is impossible for a resource-less person like me to discern what is truth and what is fiction. But that’s another story, and I will speak of this terrible dichotomy in a future post.

Meanwhile, you should examine the other side, the scientific side, rather than relying solely on traditional evangelical authorities. You should look again.

You seem to have a fair and inquiring mind…

Administrator — Sat, 06 Sep 2008 04:40:27 +0000

I was once very much a believer in the Judeo-Christian tradition. In my defense, I was indoctrinated into it from early childhood, but that aside, I had a natural interest in God, and was very interested in finding him. Yet I had a scientific and inquiring nature so it was a long and painful road (over 45 years now) to the realization that Christianity, and even my belief in a personal God was based on absolutely zero concrete evidence, and my faith was pretty much destroyed. It took me a very long time because in spite of the extreme inaccuracies and misinformation and contradictions in the Bible, I merely dismissed them as due to my current lack of understanding and I clung to the faith that somehow further inquiry would clear up the contradictions.

I did delve into it very deeply, reading not only scientific literature and getting a degree (B.Sc.) in Geology but reading many works by popular Christian authors such as Hal Lindsay and Lee Strobel, and other works such as “The Historical Reliability of the Gospels” and others by leading Christian theologians and apologists. Now, I can’t begin to tell you how relieved I am to no longer be a believer in Christianity or for that matter, God. At first I was appalled and shaken to the core and wondered where my morality would come from. Then I slowly began to realize that I did not need God to be a moral person. And if my morality comes from God anyway, without my knowledge, that’s OK too.

Perhaps I am mistaken in my current beliefs regarding religion, but that is where I am now. You must make up your own mind. And since fear was such a large part of my Christianity, perhaps it is in yours as well. I eventually felt that looking for the truth and double checking everything should not make God angry. Rather he should be very pleased.

You seem to have a fair and inquiring mind and I wish you well on the difficult journey you have before you. Perhaps you shall one day show me to be wrong, perhaps not. But I am proud of you for trying to find out rather than just accepting what you are told. As for me, I can’t begin to tell you how relieved I am to no longer be a believer in Christianity or for that matter, God.

Having said that, I am not absolutely dismissing the possibility of there being a personal God interested in my salvation. I just have no evidence for it. It’s just that if there is a God, he certainly is nothing like the butchering megalomaniac psycho serial killer portrayed in the Bible. If the Bible has any truth in it at all, and if Jesus really is who we think he is, that is, the Son of God come to save us, then it lies buried under a ton of bullshit mud and rubble which we can never extract the real truth from. Maybe that is why it is written in Revelation 22:18 “I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: If anyone adds anything to them, God will add to him the plagues described in this book. And if anyone takes words away…” (NIV). I figure God would never mention such a thing unless he knew it would happen. Therefore it did. Yes, I realize I am trying to prove something is true using a book whose words I don’t trust to be true. But that’s another story.