So this Priest visits the Pope and tells him "Your Holiness, I don't think I believe in God anymore." The Pope responds with "Just do what I do...fake it."
I mean is it your business to monitor the beliefs of anyone elses but yours? This spiritual nosiness of yours and other Christians is the blight of this entire world. Not what Atheists believe--what you think you are entitled to nose into and judge.
Your well-intentioned ignorance, Christians of the world, is legendary.
Let the Atheists think God does not exist. God is perfectly capable of answering His children Himself. After all, God created Atheism too, remember? I'm pretty sure God did just fine before you and your Christian "RIGHT" came on board to give GOD a voice and a hand according to your vision.
God does not NEED a PUBLICITY AGENT on His BEHALF. GOD DOES NOT NEED A LAWYER EITHER.
Mind your own beeswax and pray for non-judgmentalism, why don't ya?
"Mind your own beeswax and pray for non-judgmentalism, why don't ya?"How about you apply that to yourself and quit judging me and leave me alone?
Not sure how me asking a question is judging anyone? Discussion websites like answermug usually encourage discussion. It is my understanding that religious questions can be asked in the religion category of answermug. If you are a moderator and my question is out of line or if you speak for the owner of answermug, you can delete it if you like. Otherwise you are free to ignore my post as all you ever do is belittle and criticize any post I make.
Hello Tom. I agree that there are metaphors in the Bible like the use of sheep and goats, the Lake of Fire and others. When you speak of myths, are you referring to things that would take a miracle from God like the flood in Noahs day, the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, or something else?
MYTH has two meanings. When talking about the bible, I use this definition: a traditional story, especially one concerning the early history of a people or explaining some natural or social phenomenon, and typically involving supernatural beings or events.
I have little use for the other definition, which is: a widely held but false belief or idea. And I fear most people think when I talk about the bible I intend the second.
I don't think I follow? Can you give me an example? I have a feeling it is likely something that I consider to be true, but can't say until you give an example of what you speak of as a traditional story in the Bible.
I'm confused, I'm pretty sure that you believe in the concept of God and his creation, no? Do you mean like creating Adam from dust and Eve from one of his ribs?
(Genesis 2:7) And Jehovah God went on to form the man out of dust from the ground and to blow into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living person. (Genesis 2:21, 22) So Jehovah God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep, and while he was sleeping, he took one of his ribs and then closed up the flesh over its place. 22 And Jehovah God built the rib that he had taken from the man into a woman, and he brought her to the man.
If it's of any help, I give below MY UNDERSTANDING of what TJ's last post means. It may or may not be what HE means.
TJ said, "The whole concept of a God and His creation. To say theGenesis Myth is not at all disparaging."
That probably means, it is okay to regard "the whole concept of a God and His creation" in the Bible as "theGenesis Myth". It "is not at all disparaging" to do so. TJ made it very clear in his previous post what he meant by Myth.
Q "Are there really atheist clergy and do they really teach that the Bible is only myth and metaphor?"
1. Interesting and well written article in the linked to website owlcation.com. The site refers to the result of research and profiles of atheist clergy members published in a book in May 2015 and called "Caught in the Pulpit: Leaving Belief Behind"
2. In a much earlier survey reviewed in July 2002 "Cost of Conscience commissioned Christian Research to conduct a survey into 'The Mind of Anglicans'" It is said that the survey "has grave implications for the governance, unity and future of the Church of England." According to the survey:
Female clergy’s confident belief in God the Father registered 74%. Male clergy returned 83%.
Female clergy returned a 70% confidence in the doctrine of the Trinity, male clergy posted 78%.
On the Holy Spirit, often dubbed by women as feminine and the Sophia, matters were much closer 74% (F) to 77% (M).
‘I believe Jesus Christ died to take away the sins of the world’ is confidently asserted by 76% of male clergy. This confidence falls to 65% in women clergy.
Jesus is asserted as the only way to salvation by a pitiful 53% of male clergy. Even so, this is streets ahead of the women priests who can only muster a 39% assurance.
Belief in the bodily resurrection of Christ is more positive with male clergy confidence up to 68%, while female clergy just make it over the halfway line at 53%.
Belief in the Virgin Birth tumbles to 58% certainty in male clergy and collapses to a dismal 33% in women clergy.
Jesus as Saviour of the world shows a similar disturbing" decline with confidence in the belief among the liberals ranging from 22% down to 6%.
"With such a view, the whole task of mission is obsolete. If Jesus Christ is simply one of the ‘many ways up the mountain’, then most of the Church’s endeavour, not to mention the witness of her saints and martyrs, has been a profound waste of time. .... An embarrassing number [of clergy] seem to be drawing their stipends under false pretences."
3. Coming back to the site, owlcation.com, it is not overtly against religion but it would not be surprising if it does not support religiously influenced viewpoints. It says a lot about Christian ministers, with a mention of Jewish ones too, who have lost faith in their beliefs and have become atheists. However, it does not give even a hint of those who move to other faiths like Buddhism for example, or even Islam where they again have to contend with the God idea. The video below is one example of both what the article says, that "Many young people enter the seminary ardent believers and emerge as atheists." and what I said that atheism is not their only resort.
WM BARR . =ABSOLUTE TRASH 