blackbird

Nobody who believes the Bible believes God willed himself to life. That's not the definition of God. In Biblical theology, God is understood as being omniscient, omnipotent, as you said, but also He is eternal. That is the only way of looking at it that makes sense. If he is eternal, then it stands to reason he has infinite power to create the material universe. Omnipotent means infinite power. So according to the Bible he simply spoke the universe into existence. The Bible uses those simple terms so that the reader can understand. It is not magic. Magic is actually a different concept. The Bible teaches God is a spirit that is present everywhere. God is not part of the material universe which He created. Does this make sense? Every effect has a cause. One of the basic principles of logic. The universe is an effect and therefore had a cause. The cause is God. No scientist has come up with a plausible explanation. Even some of the greatest scientists that ever lived believed in God because it makes sense. We are here because someone, i.e. God created us and placed us in his created universe.

Have you ever read a text book on evolution versus creation? There are thousands of articles which debunk the theory of evolution. Many article also talk about cells, viruses, etc. Viruses are not considered to be a complete life form. They are kind of an intermediate between a living cell and some protein. quote First, we need to look into what a virus really is. We may regard a living cell (for example, a cell in your skin or liver or other tissue, or a bacterial cell) as a very, very complex chemical factory. This factory is capable of many functions, including that of reproducing itself. Directing all this machinery is a blueprint, which is the coded information contained in the molecule DNA (sometimes RNA). A virus is very different—it consists of a protein ‘shell’ or coat, containing a small amount of this ‘blueprint’ material (RNA or DNA). Note that it has no ‘factory’ of its own—it cannot move itself, it has no power source, and it has no machinery with which to duplicate itself. When it latches onto a cell the material it contains is released into the cell, and the information on the ‘blueprint’ takes over and starts to direct the cell’s factory, which starts to manufacture many copies of the virus. The cell eventually swells and bursts, releasing lots of new viruses to start the process all over again. So we see that a virus is nothing much more than a package containing a code, which takes over from the cell’s code so that that cell then makes more code-containing packages. The cell is destroyed in the process. (See diagram below.) Many semantic arguments have raged over whether a virus can be called a living thing or not. This is one reason why many people feel it is sort of ‘half-and-half’—therefore a good candidate for a kind of transitional stage between life and non-life. Whether you call it living or not is a matter of definition, however—I hope to demonstrate that however you define life, the virus can in no way be used as an evolutionary ‘intermediate’. The reason is simple—it needs to have all the complex machinery of a living, cellular organism available to it! Without a fully functioning, living cell, the virus cannot reproduce (or should we say, arrange its own reproduction). So, whether you are an evolutionist or a creationist, a virus will not appear before a cellular creature is on the scene. Viruses do not really fit anywhere on the evolutionary ‘tree of life’, since they are obviously not the ancestors of one-celled creatures. (And how can they be their evolutionary descendants?) So we see, then, that any changes which might occur in viruses have very little, if any, apologetic value for evolutionists trying to show us how a fish changed into an amphibian, for instance. This is the third point which could be made in response to Dr Jones’ assertion. The final point relates to the argument one hears (in this case applied to bacteria as well) that a change in a disease-causing agent converting it from a minor nuisance to a serious health threat would be a major evolutionary step. Surely, says the argument, this could not be labeled ‘horizontal change’ or ‘change within the kind’? Once again, though, we will see that this has very little relevance to evolutionary apologetics. unquote for the whole article go to: Origin of Viruses (creation.com)

The theory of evolution is just that, a 19th century theory, by Darwin. It is sometimes called Darwinism. It is actually more of a religion. It is not really science. It has never been proven. But Darwinism has been taught as scientific fact to millions of school kids in the past century. It is accepted by many people as a scientific fact, which is far from the truth. But many people believe it because it sounds good and they don't know any better. Some very bright scientists have studied it and come to the conclusion it cannot be true. It just doesn't properly explain things and the evidence for it doesn't exist. Of course diehard Darwinists will claim otherwise. But experts can easily debunk their claims too.

You seem to be trying to play word games. Word games are an exercise in futility. It accomplishes nothing and wastes a lot of valuable time. I would suggest you just state your case as to why you don't believe in God. Let's be clear. I am not against you. I realize I am not a perfect person. I am actually far from it and have lots of faults and often say things that would be better left unsaid. But we all do that don't we. I understand most people have very little or no knowledge about supernatural or spiritual matters. I also understand how some people are atheists. Why would you or anyone be an atheist? That's the number one question. It doesn't seem logical. How do you explain the existence of the universe and life? Where did everything come from? Why are we even here?

Biologists study biology. I'm not sure they "study evolution". What is there to study? Evolution never happened as Darwinism claims. There are no transitional fossils to prove the theory that one species evolved from a different species. If it were true, one would think the earth's layers that contain fossils would be full of transitional fossils. But they don't exist. So the claim that man evolved from some slime in a pond is nonsense of the highest order. No proof exists. One important point: "It isn't rational to argue that the world which is based on cause and effect is itself uncaused." Everything has a cause. Therefore the universe and life had a cause. It didn't just happen.

The account of creation in Genesis precludes evolution. It has also been debunked by trustworthy scientists. I would strongly recommend you read the book "Darwin's Universe - From Nothing, By Nothing, For Nothing, Survival for Nothing" by Yan T. Wee Excellent book going into various subjects that debunk evolution. You can get it on Amazon.ca. _____________________________________________ I never claimed to be an expert in viruses. I trust the experts. I don't see any connection between evolution and viruses. Viruses do mutate and form different variations. That is why we have different kinds of Covid viruses. That is not evolution.

"12 For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places." Ephesians 6:12 "19 And for me, that utterance may be given unto me, that I may open my mouth boldly, to make known the mystery of the gospel, 20 For which I am an ambassador in bonds: that therein I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak." Ephesians 6:19

That's exactly the line all the Islamic countries and all Islamic terrorists use. It is a false and simplistic narrative that does not tell the truth. Islam was spread by the sword since it was started in the 7th century and has not stopped since. It now controls much of the world. Islam is the predominant religion throughout the middle east, north Africa, parts of southeast Asia and is growing in influence in some western countries. Israel was the home of the Jews going back several thousand years, long before Islam was started in the 7th century. The Jews (Israelis) were forced out of their land by the Roman Empire 1,500 to 2,000 years ago. The land was fought over by Christians and Muslims for centuries through the middle ages up until the 20th century until many Jews returned from the diaspora in the 20th century, after losing 2/3 of their population in Europe in the Holocaust, and re-established the State of Israel again in 1948. The Jews lived in their communities scattered around the world for 1,500 to 2,000 years and is the only ethnic group to maintain their culture/religion as a group over that long period of time. They survived in spite of 1,500 years of genocide and persecution against them by most of the world. Much of that persecution was the fault of the teachings of the established Church through that 1,500 years. The book, God's First Love, written by an Austrian German scholar/author describes that 1,500 years of persecution. In spite of all that, they have been able to return to their homeland and reclaim the State of Israel. That should be considered as a miracle in and of itself. Enough of them finally managed in the 20th century to move back to their ancient homeland and re-establish their State of Israel in 1948. This has been recognized by the great majority of countries in the U.N. and the world.

Health care is failing in Canada. Politicians run it and are mismanaging it. Much like Commie China trying to kill all the sparrows to save more grain for the people. Millions of people died as a result. Many people are dying on waiting lists in Canada with the failing health care system. I'm not an American but I know Socialism is a failure. Socialism means wasting piles of money on bureaucracy and administration. That's just the nature of bureaucracy/government.

Canada sends about 55 million dollars a year to the UNRWA to provide funding for several causes in the West Bank and Gaza strip for Palestinians. There have been concerns and complaints raised that some money goes to the education systems that have anti-Israel material. Also concerns that some money could be making it's way to Hamas. The government denies this and says “The department exercises enhanced due diligence and uses anti-terrorism clauses in partner agreements to prevent funds being diverted to terrorist groups,” he said. Ottawa to keep sending money to Gaza as groups call for checks against terror funding (msn.com) This is an incredible revelation. So an anti-terrorism clause on a piece of paper somewhere is supposed to prevent funds from ending up in the hands of terrorist groups? Sounds like typical bureaucracy that believes whatever that is written on a piece of paper will always guarantee money won't be misused. How often have we heard that kind of thing before? We know government regulations for the MAID (medical assistance in dying) do not stop abuse of the program and do nothing to stop people from being pressured to take MAID. So claiming an anti-terrorism clause is in partner agreements to fund Palestinians sounds like some kind joke.

President Biden will win a lot of conservative support for his supportive comments about the barbaric Hamas attack. US President Biden: Hamas’ ISIS-like slaughter of Jews is ‘pure evil’ (msn.com)

Very convenient for you to say that. I never spoke to you. You came on and made an insulting statement about Christians/Bible believers to another radical anti-Christian: Your own words speak for themselves. You started by insulting people with religious beliefs and then demand nobody speak to you about religious beliefs. You say what you feel like but don't want to hear anybody else's opinion that might contradict your opinion.

So why do you trust a small minority of Covid deniers and reject the advice of the great majority of experts? Do you not believe that vaccines have saved millions of lives over the past century? I have a grand daughter that is an anti-vaxxer. I feel sorry for her kids who are never vaccinated against all the diseases that could occur. Things like whooping cough, measles, chicken pox, small pox, influenza, just to name a few.

This is the history of how China under Chairman Mao tried to eradicate sparrows from existence and it resulted in the death of millions of people. This is really the story of what Communism, Socialism can do to a society. It is the story of how a leader or government can cause great harm to the people when it thinks it can play God. We may be witnessing this kind of thing with Trudeau's war on climate change. Trudeau imposed carbon taxes which are being annually increased. The have been bringing in regulations having a huge impact on the energy industry trying to force them to be net zero (zero carbon emissions). They are spending billions upon billions of dollars to fund the EV battery industry. And on and on costing Canadians a vast amount of money. It could result in putting millions of people into poverty and it won't have the slightest affect on the climate change because that is natural and beyond man's control. Trying to control or change the climate is very similar to Chairman's Mao's attempt to eradicate sparrows to save grain for the people. The same principle could be applied to health care or anything else the government touches. Government leaders simply do not have the knowledge or ability to control the universe and are usually controlled by political pressure. China decided to exterminate sparrows and millions of people died (msn.com)

There you go making broad assumptions. Who said I am not amicable. I do at times respond to blatant insults from certain people whose only reason for being here is to throw insults. I try not to use fowl language or insulting names. I try to simply state facts which seems reasonable to me. If one doesn't speak, there is no forum, right? A forum only exists because people comment on it. Otherwise there is nothing. So how do you come up with your judgement that it is fiction if the cover says "Holy Bible" and nothing more?

So what does that prove? Maybe they never had the chance to discuss their beliefs with you. About the only people that go door-to-door these days are Jehovah's Witnesses and possibly Mormons. Regular churches do not have people that go around talking to strangers normally. So of course they leave you alone. That really proves nothing. Sounds like if someone attended a church and started talking to you, you would immediately get your back up. You want to be "left alone". Not a great way to treat your fellow man who might have something useful to tell you.

No, I would define a rational discussion as one in which when someone presents strong evidence on something and the other person gives a little and is willing to acknowledge that may be true or actually accepts it. I am all for rational discussion. When it comes to the Bible, most people, who are non-believers to begin with, automatically get on the defensive and throw dirt. I understand that. I try not to get my back up. But getting back to the point, what do you believe?

You see. You just proved what I said in my last comment. As I said, the world system and most of the world is under the influence of the prince of darkness. Forums don't lend themselves to rational comments on biblical matters when most people are atheists or agnostics. That is the way social media is. We can't change that. It is impossible to have a reasonable discussion on it on these forums. I realized that long ago. But I always hold out a little hope there might be the odd exception. But you know nobody convinces anyone else about politics or religion. That is a given.

If you have a rational comment to make, make it. I am not holding my breath. When it comes to the Bible, a rational comment on the forum from most people is very unlikely. There is the odd exception, but not many.

LOL... A book you have not studied or even read, but claim the ability to judge it. When did you try to have a rational discussion with me? Not today. Your first comment as far as I can tell was: "Believe it or not... neither. One can not follow God nor Satan. This is not a binary option." Then your next post was: "and I do not believe in what you say.. no matter how many times you repeat it. With us or against us... so tribal and so primitive. "

That is true insofar as the world's religions are false. Biblical Christianity is not a religion. The word religion generally refers to false belief systems. That's because you are a prisoner of Satan's world system and thinking. Who is your God?

Everyone who is not following God is automatically under the influence of Satan. That is because this world system is Satan's domain for now. The only way out of that is to be born again.

That's the internet. You can find almost anything. I am sure you can find Trudeau dressed in Muslim garb too.

"1 The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. They are corrupt, they have done abominable works, there is none that doeth good. 2 The LORD looked down from heaven upon the children of men, to see if there were any that did understand, and seek God. 3 They are all gone aside, they are all together become filthy: there is none that doeth good, no, not one." Psalm 14:1-3

Nobody said it makes "you morally superior or smarter". Nice try though. If you want to start accusing people out of the blue, you have a mental problem. The Bible says the accuser of the brethren is Satan. Who are you following?