Can I not believe in God and NOT be an atheist?

Atheist do not believe in a God
Theists do believe in a God

it's pretty simple

 

Not necessarily, if Helen Keller's testimony is to be believed. Ostencibly, after Anne Sullivan figured out a way to communicate with her (Keller was blind and deaf from birth, for those who don't know) when she was told about God (Jesus, iirc), Keller claimed she had always known Him, but was grateful to finally know His name.

 

Good for you for getting out of COS. I think that is one of the biggest and most powerful cults out there still in existence. Hopefully they will not be around in the next 10 years.

 

stated in 'those' terms it is, and you are 100% correct, there is no LEM violation.

 

You'd be an atheist by some definitions and not others. *shrug*

 

Yes G-d exist.. I know because He has a best seller out (for a few millennia now)

 

It sounds like you've done quite a bit of searching ( as most of us have) and I can understand some of your reasoning. I just think a true God would not fit into our human logic and reasoning. I'm depending on science and facts with this Covid thing and it's mainly to know we can regain a sense of control in our lives. Truth is we never really have complete control. Faith in things unseen is more difficult during hard times.
To me, a belief that is unsettling is reincarnation. If some spiritual energy being would keep having us come back to lead another life...that seems some weird never-ending torture or an excuse for not doing what we need to in this life.

Who are you trying to win against?

 

If that were all there is too it, it would be an exercise in eternal torture. But, in this theory, we were synthesized from ( whatever it is we were synthesized from ) starting out as a very small quantity, say occupying the body of a one celled creature, and, over time, as evolution progressed, our spiritual selves grew concomitantly.

I posit this scenario because every where I look in life, in the plant kingdom, things start out as a seed, sprout, grow branches and leaves, and eventually reach a fruition of some kind. This model seems logical to me for the soul. If we achieve spiritual fruition, that is because we are at the stage of consciousness where it is possible. It is not possible, for the soul of, say, of a dog to achieve 'enlightenment'. So, at first glance, life seems unfair, But if we look at life with the lens of reincarnation, we an see that in time, the soul of that dog, via the slow growth of consciousness, will eventually reach the human level, and through this lens, life is, indeed,fair.

My belief is that the soul, as evidence we have achieved human consciousness from a very small point, over a period of many millions of years, it is therefore logical we will continue upward to are metaphorical rise to the sky. In eastern philosophy, it's called 'the wheel of death, life, rebirth" and we continue until the day comes we achieve spiritual fruition. When that occurs, we are free from the cycle of death and rebirth. It has been given many names, 'enlightenment' ( which is the one I prefer) "samadhi" "nirvana" " self -realization" etc. so, there is a fruition. It happens when we, as human beings, have experienced everything, been everyone , done everything, and there is no longer "desire" and that desire has been replaced for the desire for enlightenment, spiritual fruition. It will happen to all of us, eventually. So, this is my faith, the faith that eventually life his "eternal spiritual bliss" in store for all of us. The sages of history all seem to agree that one can speed up the process with meditation. The good thing about it is that it's free. Just as a flower in the forest can achieve fruition without the help of mankind, you can, as well, but if we control the gardem, give nutrients it may or not garner on it's own, we can assure fruition and speed up the process.

 

How do you know the Gospel of Thomas is any more credible than the other gospels? And what quotes do you like specifically?

 

I don't think atheists would much protest a spiritual person who lacks belief in a 'god' joining their 'ranks.' However, the anti-theists who commonly call themselves atheists who don't just lack belief in a 'god' but instead believe (and tend to try to prosyltyze) that there is no god while denegrating theists yet lacking precisely the same proof they cite theists lacking, will likely take issue with anyone believing in anything mystical or spiritual (I like to refer to this group as 'The Religion of Nothing' when I feel like triggering folks )

Thats my guess anyway.

 

... sorry quoting is messed up , I’m posting from my phone

 

I wouldn't conflate "stuff cults are made up of" with real mysticism. If you are not familiar with mysticism, it would be easy to make that mistake.

 

Is that the Thomas Jefferson Bible?

Thomas Jefferson supposedly carried a Bible that was nothing but everything Jesus ever said.

 

https://crossexamined.org/qa-answering-questions-of-an-agnostic-brother/

 

Yes...... your belief pattern is actually rather like my own except that I do believe that there are Beings so ancient that they began everything.

You would almost certainly enjoy this near death experience account that largely agrees with your view of the afterlife.


http://www.allaboutchristian.com/spirituality/

 

https://reasonsforjesus.com/is-contemplative-prayer-a-legitimate-approach-to-god/

 

Anything you cant poke with a stick is not atheist

 

huh?

 

https://answersingenesis.org/eviden...-nature/what-can-we-learn-about-god-creation/

 

I do personally believe in a literal six day creation but I believe that when Covering Cherub Halel who became known as Lucifer or Satan led one third of the angels into a rebellion the earth and much of the universe was significantly destroyed and Genesis chapter one is a fixing up of the earth and much of the universe that the rebellion of a third of the angels had destroyed.

I believe that a lot happened before Genesis chapter one....

www.CarbonBias.blogspot.ca/

 

You can believe anything you like. I'm sure God will find it amusing on your judgement day.

 

I call it being "nontheist" if you believe in ASPECTS or concepts that "other people attribute to God" but you talk about Spirituality using "impersonal" or "SECULAR" terms (and do not "personify" or "deify" this as a father figure or anthropomorphic entity).

This is similar to believing in NATURE but NOT believing in personifying as a figure like MOTHER NATURE.
Or believing in TIME without personifying it as FATHER TIME.

I believe that if God and Jesus are used to represent UNIVERSAL concepts,
then the meaning should be able to translate into SECULAR TERMS.

Like taking the female figure THETIS and describing that she represents JUSTICE. Or the Statue of Liberty and explaining in common terms what
it means to exercise or defend LIBERTY which the personal figure represents.

Some other names of God include
WISDOM or TRUTH
LOVE
JUSTICE (I normally equate JESUS with JUSTICE)
LIFE
NATURE or forces of nature/life
UNIVERSE OR Universal laws or truth
CREATION/CREATOR

The REAL difference in whether people make hell for themselves or heaven
is FORGIVENESS.

Believing in RESTORATIVE JUSTICE is the equivalent of faith in Christ Jesus
while not forgiving and seeking to live by Retributive Justice is the opposite and
can become the abusive force of Antichrist behind the selfish desire to force justice on others
that benefits one side. Manmade justice is biased and flawed this way,
and only God's Divine Justice with Mercy treats all people equally to restore peace.

So the issue is not so much "do you believe in God as a personified figure"
The real distinction is do you believe that
Good will overcomes ill will
Truth prevails over falsehood and error
Justice governs humanity and will correct all injustice
Peace will overcome war
Love will conquer fear and ignorance
etc.

If you believe "Good will or God's will" is supreme
and will outweigh any motivations or problems to the contrary,
then that is what it means to have faith in God.

You basically believe there is higher truth or knowledge
or greater good that drives the universe toward justice,
so you believe this power of goodness is greater than any obstacle
or obstruction that could block it.

Some VERSION of that anyway,
whether you believe in universal laws of life,
or collective truth and knowledge that is greater than all.

Not everyone focuses on the same aspect of God,
but AS LONG AS WE FORGIVE AND ACCEPT OUR DIFFERENCES
then we can see "we are referring to the same universal source of life and truth"
even if we use different names or terms, or we focus on different manifestations.

 

is God like Trump, punishes people that do not worship the ground he walks on?

if there is a God, I doubt he would be that petty

 

Dear @FreshAir
God's justice goes both ways, you get what you give.
So if you practice retributive justice by judgment and punishment projected onto others,
that's how people respond and will treat you in return.

It's part of the Golden Rule, but on a collective scale
where the justice we live by in our personal relations
multiplies and influences the type of justice we promote in society.

If you practice Restorative Justice by forgiving and granting mercy
and freedom to others allowing room for corrections for wrongs,
then when it comes time for you to face errors or wrongdoing,
you can ask for forgiveness and opportunity for correction.

The spiritual laws described in the Bible
advise that as we forgive trespasses, then we are forgiven.
If we do not forgive others, we will not be forgiven.

Matthew 6:12
Matthew 6:14-15

If we confess our faults one to another and pray for healing
we can restore ourselves and our relations.

James 5:16
Matthew 18:15-20

That is the beauty and power of faith in Charity or Christianity.
That love is so powerful, the more you love others, the greater
rewards come back to you and uplift everyone collectively.

Granting mercy to others multiplies the power of "grace" to save
relations and humanity, all based on "faith in God's justice" or Jesus
to bring this saving grace to all humanity by forgiveness of past transgressions.

Instead of manmade justice that seeks to punish people for the past.
God's justice is based on forgiveness and correction to HEAL relations
and bring peace to all humanity. So this universal justice is greater than man's.

We cannot receive it until we agree to receive God's grace and forgiveness.
Then this frees up our hearts and minds, to let go of our material understanding
of justice and laws, and to agree to allow God's greater love and will to govern our relations through the higher level of justice that can correct all wrongs.

This faith in a higher justice is what it means to believe Jesus or
Justice is coming to bring salvation and peace to all humanity
to end all wrongs and suffering from sinful selfishness.

It is not the punitive approach in the Old Testament
but the restorative approach in the New Testament
which brings Healing Comfort and Peace as represented by the Holy Spirit.

God's Truth set us free from fear and strife,
Jesus or Justice is this divine truth embraced and embodied in our laws we live by in good conscience, and this brings Peace.
So that is what the Holy Trinity represents -- all positive spiritual principles.

 

that is not the golden rule, just punishing someone cause they do not worship one is evil

if God has an evil side, that is ok, just own it


it's said when he comes again he will be much different ....

http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Revelation 19:11-16&version=KJV

11 And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war.

12 His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns; and he had a name written, that no man knew, but he himself.

13 And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and his name is called The Word of God.

14 And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean.

15 And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God.

16 And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.