Topic: Religion.........

There was nothing before creation, which includes no light. Does that mean there was no darkness?

Tytonidae wrote:"of some description" NR? - you can't make up your own God..

"without a counter" - why is this necessary?

Each person makes their own interpretation of religious scripts. Each person also makes their own interpretation of "God" as each person is uniquely different. If "God" didn't mean something different to each person then there wouldn't be different religions & faiths.

The counter is important because "God" is both Alpha & Omega, Beginning & End (Revelation 21:6). As far as I'm concerned "God" must also either be both Good & Evil or Pure evil is with another. You need both halves to make the whole.

If Good has not been created then it is absent. If it is absent & evil is the absence of good then evil must exist before good & without good as good has not always been.

As I said, before there was light, there was darkness & when there is no light there is only darkness. Whichever way you look at it.
Before there was Heat there was cold & when there is no heat there is only cold. Whichever way you look at it.
If the same absence argument applies to good & evil then before there was good there must have been evil & when there is no good there can only be evil.

It simply cannot apply any other way.

Tytonidae wrote:Ah yes, one's own interpretation - not an option. There is the truth, that's all;there is but one God. God the creator as described in the Holy Bible. All the rest is invention with no basis in reality and entirely pointless.

You don't need 'both halves' - God is the 'whole' as you put it.
Counter for what? what purpose? what counter? doing what? where from? - I don't think I understand 'counter' NR?....

How is it not an option? The “Holy Bible” exists purely because of differing interpretations. The Christian religion is split into many different denominations because of differing interpretations of the Bible & of “God”. Different religions & faiths exist because of differing interpretations.
You can’t prove that anyone else’s interpretation is wrong, just as you cannot prove that your interpretation is right.

Of course you need both halves. God can only be the Whole if God exists at both ends of every spectrum. If Evil is the opposite to Good then for God to balance perfectly without a counter God would need to possess elements of both Good & Evil. Alpha & Omega. Beginning & End. Or is the “Word of God” now not the word of God?

Oh, and the "Truth" is little more than what you can make someone believe.......

Tytonidae wrote: The 'truth' is not just what you can make someone believe, at all! The truth is the truth, whatever anybody believes. You may believe a pear to be a housebrick but it doesn't make it so...

Just like some believe good to exist with no evil counter........ Doesn't make it so......
A belief is exactly that, a belief. Not fact or fiction. Just a belief. Something which is, is a fact. Something believed is a truth. Religion is not built on facts. It's built on beliefs.....
If a person believes a pear to be a housebrick according to that person it is the truth that a pear is a housebrick. It is not however a fact………..

Tytonidae wrote:There's an empirical truth. People can thrash around any which way but there is still a factual reality. Some will get it wrong. Most probably.

And what is there to say that you are not included amongst those some or most who get it wrong?

Tytonidae wrote:Beginning and end is within God - there is no 'counter' to him. He is the total.

God would be total because God has both ends of that spectrum. Beginning being one & end being the other. Both extremes. For God to be total God has to have both extremes of everything. If Evil is the opposite extreme to Good, for God to be total, God must have both. If God only has Good yet evil is around (Which cannot be denied) but God does not have this then God would be unbalanced as God would only have one of 2 extremes. To be total, if there are 2 extremes both must be possessed. If there are 10 extremes all 10 would have to be possessed. If you do not possess all extremes available how can you be total?

Truth & fact are not interchangeable. They are 2 totally different things.

It's not a fact that you have it right. You believe that you have it right. Your belief does not make it a fact. You could get to the end of your life & find that you were wrong....

A decision doesn't have to be made now. Is there a God? If by "God" you simply mean a creator, then yes, of course there is.
If, however, by "God" you mean a perfect "being" who only has Good with no evil counter part, who tests man & holds man in higher esteem than any other of "Gods" creations, then No.

Could I attain everlasting life? I've never thought about it really. If we are energy then energy doesn't die it merely changes form. To this end yes, life is everlasting regardless of what I do so is attainable for all.
The real question is, do I want everlasting life?

I do not see myself as Agnostic, Atheist or Humanist. I am the only thing I can be. Me.

Might be your truth but it is not mine.

I do not reject "God"
I reject man made religion.

So your opinion is not actually factual.......

My mind remains open to all possibilities & not confined to just one.

I do not dismiss any theory, but neither do I accept them all or any at all.

In your mind I'm an atheist, your opinion is your own........

If addiction is something you cannot give up then I am only addicted to that which allows me to survive......

Of course oxygen is an addiction. It's something your body cannot do without. Same with Food, Water & even sleep could fall into that, although I see where you're coming from.

What I'm trying to say is with nicotine, for me at any rate, it's not a case of "Can't" quit, it's a case of "Don't want to quit", same with alcohol. As that is the case "addiction", in the sense that it's something you cannot give up, doesn't really apply to me.

Tytonidae wrote:

People of faith don't speak of 'energy changing form' - that just isn't what is meant by everlasting life in the God sense. Face it, you're an atheist.

Do they not? So what's all this I hear about "Souls"?
And I'm sure you don't take your body to "heaven"..... Or do you?
And what about the "Holy Trinity"?