Mopac

No one here is trying to hinder the God deniers from making assholes of themselves.

This forum certainly is a waste of time for people like brutaltruth who blocks the only person here who competently represents the theistic position and practices Orthodoxy.

Live in an echo chamber of lies. 

@brutaltruth

I know I have told you this before in vain, but I don't need the dictionary to prove what 2000 years of church tradition teaches. It is simply the easiest way to prove, like the OP states, that atheists are delusional and arbitrary.

But it isn't some of them. All atheists are delusional because they reject reality. It is built into their position.

You can hate me all you want, but I am trying to nurse people out of their delusion. You are simply here to inflate your ego. 

But I love you just the same, which is why I am wasting MY time talking to you atheists to begin with. It is certainly work for me. For you, it is fun.

The Ultimate Reality, by definition is neither an invention nor is it possible to be non existent.

If you say my God doesn't exist, you undermine the ground you stand on.

I'm sorry Goldtop, but your harsh words do not carry any weight to me. I only see vain posturing.

See, we don't actually think the way you are saying we think. I didn't say anything about anybody going to hell, you did that.

We don't really make that judgement call. God knows who his are.

And we certainly do not exterminate people.

Actually, I came to Orthodox Christianity on my own, I certainly wasn't brainwashed.

I don't think you are treating me fairly or with respect. You seem to have a lot of prejudice.

You are certainly not talking about the faith I believe in.

Any Christian who is not Orthodox does not belong to the church. How can you have God as a father without the church as a mother? Doesn't work.

The Roman Catholic Church is heretical, as are the tens of thousands of protestant churches that broke away from them. It is hardly fair to ascribe their sins to my faith.

And Muslims are in error. They are not part of the church. Fyi, they persecuted my church, as did the Roman Catholics.

I cherish the time I get to spend the priest at my parish. We went out for coffee yesterday, actually.

I don't hate you at all, but I can't help but think it is you who hate me. Really, not even me, but God.

Cleanse your intellect. Honestly examine yourself, and discard the things that get in the way of The Truth. Pay attention to the things that motivate you especially. To purify the heart is to rid yourself of idolatries.

Since you do not see, that shows you do not know.

It is written

"Blessed are the pure in heart, they will see God".

And so that is what you should strive for. Purity of heart.

Yet it is written,

Of course I have, but how do you know that without knowing who Jesus is?

It cannot be helped that those who make their identity sin feel hatred, but I would say that making one's identity sin cheapens who they really are as being made in the image of God.

I know because that is what Orthodox Christianity teaches, and as I accept that I can see how it is true.

Jesus certainly talks to me, I'd wager that is how I am able to experience anything at all!

It is hard for me to deny the presence, as there is not a thing created that was created apart from Him, enlivened by The Holy Spirit.

To God be all the glory.

Because The Word of God is The Truth, and I know The Truth is real.

Jesus Christ is The Word of God.

The sacrifice we Orthodox do is to practice vegetarianism over half the year, fast most of that time. We do not wage. wars, and we bless those who curse us and despitefully use us. We are naturally good for the environment. In fact, we have nothing but reverence for the creation, as God is in it. We are not anti-science by any means, and we realize that without this sacrifice and aesthetic practice, technology only serves as a tool to amplify the destructiveness of the unspiritual man.

So no, our sacrifice is not the same as the vain sacrifice of the idolators, who in their materialism sap the Earth of its resources for vain amusement and the fulfilling of the flesh's lust. There is no comparison. Good sacrifice is temperance and charity, not the useless sacrifice of the heathen.

And our sacrifice is surely foolishness to the heathen, because they have different standards of what is good than us. They strive for the good that our faith naturally brings, but they don't know where it comes from.

You won't because you are a nihilist and truth has no meaning for you. 

Yet even then, I speak of no gods, I speak of God. The Ultimate Reality, and denying this God is manifest foolishness.

Sincerity of faith and charity. Mercy and Truth. To love one's neighbor as oneself and to love The Truth with all one's heart, soul, mind, and strength. In Spirit and Truth.

Here is the main difference between my religion and yours.

Knowledge is not the same thing as Truth. Our focus is on valuing God above all, who is The Truth, not humans. It is out of our love for God that we love others, and it comes from that, loving The Truth. So while the end result might seem similar or even the same, they are in fact very different. Our love of others comes from a sincere humility. The love of the humanist comes from a pride of humanity. Our love of The Truth comes from a sincere humility. Faith in science comes from a pride of knowledge.

^

The last 2 posts are evidences and hopefully proof to some people that atheism is a delusional position.

Reality denying nihilists.

I would hope not.

But it didn't end with Stalin. He relented for the sake of ww2 and getting soldiers. It wasn't long after that the persecution continued. Even by Stalin's successors. Gorbachev was the one that relaxed things, and it wasn't long after that Russia threw off The Soviet union.

And fyi, Soviet Propaganda during this time mirrors the type of rhetoric that many members of this forum use! No exaggeration. 

My religion is not following orders out of fear. My religion is purifying the heart.

The Ultimate Reality exists.

Are you saying that inventions of men don't exist?

Yet even these gods made through man exist.

Love perfected casts out fear.

And I certainly don't hate or fear you.

You don't really know what I believe, Goldtop. Your lack of charity will forever blind you to it.

But certainly hope for you to one day find true love.

Orthodox Christians do not do these things.

In fact, the excommunicated Roman Catholics did their fair share of persecuting us.

There is nothing Christian about burning people to the stake, compelling people to convert or die, or even declaring holy wars.

The Jain ideal of a saint is someone who starves themselves to death in a cave. What about this sounds appealing to you?

You certainly don't know my God. I will be happy to correct you of your superstitions.

Yes, it is certainly hip these days for those who have realized the futility of arguing against The Truth to call me names.

Go with the crowd.

If the pronouncement of these words was so important, Jesus wouldn't be different in every language.

There is only One God.

The Ultimate Reality.

You can go on telling me what I believe, but that isn't what I believe.

You sure do have a lot of opinions.

I don't believe God invests in things to gain, because with God nothing is lacking. Neither do I accept that God learns, as God knows everything even before events take place.

In Orthodoxy, we teach synergy, which is the interaction between God's grace and our free will. It is better to work with God than against God. Either way though, no man can frustrate God's will.

So if you are teaching something else, I can at least say that it isn't Christianity.

Sorry, any dipshit with a bible can start a church. There is only One True Christian Church, and we aren't in a state of anarchy like the heretical western churches you like to associate with us.

But if you are going to judge unrighteously, note that I associate your atheistic ideology with The Soviet Union, which mercilessly killed millions of my people and tried to eradicate God from the minds of all its people.

Something that, frankly, I don't think you would be too far from attempting if you ever were put in charge of things. As far as I'm comcerned, you have a murderous and anti-human ideology. Scientific Atheism is what the Soviets called it. What a joke!

If I say that what you are saying is unsound theology, you will simply attack my faith.

Well, this is what I think. The Greek word for "will" is "thelema", and based on what you are saying, it seems to me that this is really your god. I don't recognize your will as being God, sorry. A god only in name. 

The God I know and believe is omniscient, and it would be haughty of me to presume to be able to teach God anything.

EtrnlVw is not an Orthodox Christian.

The Bible is a part of our church tradition, so these churches that build their faith with an attitude of sola scriptura are really not getting the full faith. The Orthodox Church determined what books were in the bible. It is ours to interpret through Church Tradition.

EtrnlVw to my knowledge does not even feel comfortable identifying as a Christian. I don't think he likes labels.

It may all just be a big joke to you, but to me it is something that really matters. All that matters even.

So you poo poo it all away, because it is all a big joke that simple folk like me take too seriously. Maybe I'm misguided at best.

Well, my goal here isn't to validate myself or feel smug about how clever I am. I am here out of love, and nothing more. Love that many here would not recognize as such, but it is love none the less. 

What is there to say? You want it to be something different?

As The Ultimate Reality is God, atheism is the denial of Ultimate Reality.

And well, this is certainly what atheism is. A denial of reality. Is this not what delusion is?

And I have good reason for not only believing this, but knowing it. If that is irreconcilable with your insistence on identifying with a deluded and superstitious position well... maybe you should consider abandoning it in favor of a position. that may still be wrong, but is at least REASONABLE. Atheism is not a reasonable position.

If this seems like monomania to you, well, look at it from my perspective. How am I supposed to reason with somebody who identifies with an arbitrary position? It would be foolish for me to even think I can have a truly reasonable discussion with a person who is in denial of reality. Where can we go without addressing the elephant in the room?

How often do I talk about atheism in my day to day life? Not nearly as often as here. And why not? This place is full of nihilists. Clearly this is the sickness we are dealing with here. This is what I am here to address.

You aren't really rejecting me, you are rejecting God. 

Sounds like more pride.

The reason I'm saying this is because I have read the writings of many real saints, and they specificially warn about people that present themselves in such a boastful manner.

I mean look, you are even declaring that you are teaching God. 

Language such as "religious freaks" and "I have always been in love with the Father and always in love with the spiritual message, as a result I bring it like it is, religion and religious doctrines have no real place in that love and curiosity. Those do not dictate what is true for me or acceptable, God does."

Sure does seem haughty to me.

What do you find offensive about what I said?

What I said is not an opinion. Its a fact.

I don't believe you actually understand my faith, and given your language which is devoid of charoty, you aren't likely to without an attitude adjustment.

If you honestly want to know, I will do my best to clear up discrepencies.

Starting with this one.

The word "God" with a capital "G" means The Ultimate Reality, and rejecting the existence of God is nonsensical.

The Ultimate Reality.

The Supreme Being.

The Truth

This is my God, and your denial of it doesn't change it.

You sound pretty haughty for someone who is claiming to be a saint, or really, maybe something greater than a saint. Your words do not seem to be seasoned with charity.

Omniscience means that God does not learn. There is nothing for God to learn, God knows everything.

We make choices, but God knows what we are going to choose. If that is hard to wrap your head around, it's probably because God isn't really something you are supposed to be able to wrap your head around. Not to discourage the contemplating of God! That is good practice.

God should be worshipped for who God is. It's not about what we get out of it. Remember, gain is not godliness.