Are people who claim to know God liars?

[Muffled]

Faith is basically trusting the unknown. Whether the rattlesnake is going to bite or not is unknown.

I have to put myself in unknown situations sometimes, I just think it not to make claims about the outcome.

Is there a God? I don't know. Is there a heaven or a hell? I don't know. Will I go to heaven if I believe in Jesus? I don't know. Would it be better for me if I believed in any of a number of other Gods? I don't know.

To claim I had knowledge of any of these things I feel would be lying to myself and to others.

I believe faith is trusting what is known. I may not know the path I am put on but I do know the guide that put me on it. Sort of like a mountain climber trusting a Sherpa to lead him up the mountain.

I believe it is unknown whether a rattlesnake will bite at any particular moment but it is definitely known that rattlesnakes bite.

I believe it is a question of trust. Do you trust the person who stands for what is right to speak the truth about God or do you rely on your own inexperience? Who has more knowledge?

 

[Muffled]

What I suspect, is that "God" died. God died to give birth to the universe. So there is currently no "God" to really have knowledge of.

What man "knows" of God is a creation of man's subconscious mind because it can't really be confirmed. It's like seeing a mirage. You can see it. There's no question, it's a real experience, but never going to the spot physically to verify it's there.

I believe a mirage is what it is. It is not imaginary. It is really there. It just isn't what it looks like.

I believe a creation of the subconscious mind can't do what God can do. I believe I know my subconscious pretty well and although it likes to fantasize it never tries to pass off those fantasies as reality.

I believe confirmation does take place but for the skeptic no amount of confirmation will be acceptable and for the gullible anything that seems like confirmation will do.

 

[Nakosis]

I believe a mirage is what it is. It is not imaginary. It is really there. It just isn't what it looks like.

The world you see isn't the world you perceive. If it was the world would be completely upside down sense the eye physically inverts images. The brain conveniently inverts this image for your conscious awareness. So if the brain can completely invert what you perceive, what else is it capable of? The brain can alter your perception of reality. For example I have eye damage in one eye. Basically a straight line physically is wavey. I can see it if I close my other eye. However my brain takes the image from both eyes and creates a straight line for my conscious awareness. My brain does a lot of work behind the scenes to create a straight line that I can't actually perceive.

I believe a creation of the subconscious mind can't do what God can do. I believe I know my subconscious pretty well and although it likes to fantasize it never tries to pass off those fantasies as reality.

You can't, by definition, be aware of the subconscious mind. Whatever you are conscious of is not the subconscious mind. What you are aware of is the thoughts and images it passes to you. Feeling, emotions, etc. You are only aware of 2 to 5% of what's going on in your own head. However this is the entirety of where our consciousness resides. So we tend to feel it is the entirety of what is in our head. The vast majority of your brain you will never have conscious access to.

I believe confirmation does take place but for the skeptic no amount of confirmation will be acceptable and for the gullible anything that seems like confirmation will do.

Fair enough, you have to decide for yourself what amount of evidence is acceptable. Any belief, concept or something accepted as fact by a majority of folks, one can find a reason to question the truth of.

I guess for me if I can verify something works consistently it's useful. Whether it's the truth or not.

Can a belief in God work consistently for you? Sure. In fact I found it so consistent that it didn't matter which God. One God or religion is as good as any other. I found that with enough conviction my mind is capable of creating the experiences necessary to support that belief. Same as it's capable of creating a non-inverted world for me to perceive.

I've perceive a lot of things that couldn't have physical reality, like the mirage. The perception is real, the image you see however doesn't have physical reality. Is it true, is it not true? Doesn't really matter to your perception or belief. You perceive it, you believe it truth is irrelevant in this case.

 

[Nakosis]

I believe faith is trusting what is known. I may not know the path I am put on but I do know the guide that put me on it. Sort of like a mountain climber trusting a Sherpa to lead him up the mountain.

Sure, but what you don't is whether the Sherpa has actual knowledge. At least not until they get you to the top.

I believe it is unknown whether a rattlesnake will bite at any particular moment but it is definitely known that rattlesnakes bite.

Humans are really bad at predictions, but we have knowledge of events that have already occurred.

I believe it is a question of trust. Do you trust the person who stands for what is right to speak the truth about God or do you rely on your own inexperience? Who has more knowledge?

Who has more knowledge? I don't know. I only know what I know. The past that I myself have experiences. What other folks know I can only guess at until they've proven their knowledge to me. They tell me something is true and I've been able to verify it for myself. Someone who can do this on a consistent basis I suppose this becomes knowledge about that person based on past experience. Not based on an assumption of what that person knows.

 

[Muffled]

The world you see isn't the world you perceive. If it was the world would be completely upside down sense the eye physically inverts images. The brain conveniently inverts this image for your conscious awareness. So if the brain can completely invert what you perceive, what else is it capable of? The brain can alter your perception of reality. For example I have eye damage in one eye. Basically a straight line physically is wavey. I can see it if I close my other eye. However my brain takes the image from both eyes and creates a straight line for my conscious awareness. My brain does a lot of work behind the scenes to create a straight line that I can't actually perceive.


You can't, by definition, be aware of the subconscious mind. Whatever you are conscious of is not the subconscious mind. What you are aware of is the thoughts and images it passes to you. Feeling, emotions, etc. You are only aware of 2 to 5% of what's going on in your own head. However this is the entirety of where our consciousness resides. So we tend to feel it is the entirety of what is in our head. The vast majority of your brain you will never have conscious access to.



Fair enough, you have to decide for yourself what amount of evidence is acceptable. Any belief, concept or something accepted as fact by a majority of folks, one can find a reason to question the truth of.

I guess for me if I can verify something works consistently it's useful. Whether it's the truth or not.

Can a belief in God work consistently for you? Sure. In fact I found it so consistent that it didn't matter which God. One God or religion is as good as any other. I found that with enough conviction my mind is capable of creating the experiences necessary to support that belief. Same as it's capable of creating a non-inverted world for me to perceive.

I've perceive a lot of things that couldn't have physical reality, like the mirage. The perception is real, the image you see however doesn't have physical reality. Is it true, is it not true? Doesn't really matter to your perception or belief. You perceive it, you believe it truth is irrelevant in this case.

I believe the world is not upside down, so the mind is perceiving reality but of course the mind decides what upright means.

I am sure you could get something to work for you but there are some very important things that only Jesus can do for you.

 

[Nakosis]

I am sure you could get something to work for you but there are some very important things that only Jesus can do for you.

Like what?

Other than the promise of a afterlife in heaven that I'm not sure exists.

Is there something you feel Jesus can do for me today that only he can do?