Creation, true, false, or unsure?

minarchist said:

The concept of the trinity is a paradox.

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Not really. If I put three drops of water on a saucer, the three being separated by a space, and I then tilt the saucer so that the three run together, I still have three drops of water even though they have united to create one.

Another way to look at it is to look at a triangle. It has three faces, does it not? But it is still a triangle.

So it is with the Trinity. Each of the three; God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit, is a part of the One God.

SFCRetired said:

Not really. If I put three drops of water on a saucer, the three being separated by a space, and I then tilt the saucer so that the three run together, I still have three drops of water even though they have united to create one.

Another way to look at it is to look at a triangle. It has three faces, does it not? But it is still a triangle.

So it is with the Trinity. Each of the three; God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit, is a part of the One God.

Click to expand...

I like the water analogy

SFCRetired said:

Not really. If I put three drops of water on a saucer, the three being separated by a space, and I then tilt the saucer so that the three run together, I still have three drops of water even though they have united to create one.

Another way to look at it is to look at a triangle. It has three faces, does it not? But it is still a triangle.

So it is with the Trinity. Each of the three; God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit, is a part of the One God.

Click to expand...

ron73440 said:

I like the water analogy

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Yes. It was quite revealing.

SFCRetired said:

Not really. If I put three drops of water on a saucer, the three being separated by a space, and I then tilt the saucer so that the three run together, I still have three drops of water even though they have united to create one.

Another way to look at it is to look at a triangle. It has three faces, does it not? But it is still a triangle.

So it is with the Trinity. Each of the three; God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit, is a part of the One God.

Click to expand...

The water analogy is the best I've heard, honestly. When you divide a drop of water, each droplet is wholly water. They're the same thing.

The triangle analogy, less so - a face of a triangle is not wholly a triangle, while each Godhead is wholly God.

All analogies are flawed in the end

My beliefs, in as dense a summary as I can manage:

I believe that the Universe is > 8billion years old (the exact age is in contention)

I believe that life on Earth started through an abiological process, and that life is almsot certainly not a unique occurance in the Universe.

I believe that evolution occurs through the process of natural selection, and the speciation occurs over time in discrete populations.

I believe that all life on Earth share a common biological ancestor, including humans.

I believe that God is real, and that Jesus Christ was born His Son.

I believe that Christ is a real presence today, and that He will touch your heart in time, requiring only that you be open to it.

I believe that I am incapable of faith, in that faith is the suspension of reason. If I were to suspend reason, I would be lying.

I believe that faith itself is a gift from God, and is the mechanism through which He touches the world today.

Lyndsy Simon said:

The water analogy is the best I've heard, honestly. When you divide a drop of water, each droplet is wholly water. They're the same thing.

The triangle analogy, less so - a face of a triangle is not wholly a triangle, while each Godhead is wholly God.

All analogies are flawed in the end

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Very similar to the idea of the hologram. All parts contain information about the whole. A paradox? Nope. Reality.

Lyndsy Simon said:

My beliefs, in as dense a summary as I can manage:

I believe that the Universe is > 8billion years old (the exact age is in contention)

I believe that life on Earth started through an abiological process, and that life is almsot certainly not a unique occurance in the Universe.

I believe that evolution occurs through the process of natural selection, and the speciation occurs over time in discrete populations.

I believe that all life on Earth share a common biological ancestor, including humans.

I believe that God is real, and that Jesus Christ was born His Son.

I believe that Christ is a real presence today, and that He will touch your heart in time, requiring only that you be open to it.

I believe that I am incapable of faith, in that faith is the suspension of reason. If I were to suspend reason, I would be lying.

I believe that faith itself is a gift from God, and is the mechanism through which He touches the world today.

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A cogent statement. I don't agree with it all. But I respect it.

1. I believe in an 8 billion year old earth, as all the available evidence tends to support it.
2. I am convinced of the evolution of the physical beings, whether they be human, vertebrate, or invertebrate.
3. I am just as convinced that the Act of Creation (of humans) spoken of in Genesis was the endowment of Man with an immortal soul. The Scripture speaks of God creating man in His image. What is the nature of God? God is a Spirit, therefore the "man" created in His image would also be of a spiritual nature. The physical man evolved from something else. That Man and certain species of chimpanzee share over 90% of their DNA should tend to support that argument.

Bottom line: What you or I believe, or choose not to believe, should not be cause for disrespect nor, as has happened before, violence. I find the subject fascinating and, in my lifetime, have given it a lot of thought. What I have written concerning the creation of man is the best explanation I have been able to achieve.

I will add this: Whether you are Christian, Jew, Muslim, Buddhist, or Pastafarian, it is your right to believe as you wish. It is not your right to attempt to force your beliefs on anyone else.

SFCRetired said:

1. I believe in an 8 billion year old earth, as all the available evidence tends to support it.
2. I am convinced of the evolution of the physical beings, whether they be human, vertebrate, or invertebrate.
3. I am just as convinced that the Act of Creation (of humans) spoken of in Genesis was the endowment of Man with an immortal soul. The Scripture speaks of God creating man in His image. What is the nature of God? God is a Spirit, therefore the "man" created in His image would also be of a spiritual nature. The physical man evolved from something else. That Man and certain species of chimpanzee share over 90% of their DNA should tend to support that argument.

Bottom line: What you or I believe, or choose not to believe, should not be cause for disrespect nor, as has happened before, violence. I find the subject fascinating and, in my lifetime, have given it a lot of thought. What I have written concerning the creation of man is the best explanation I have been able to achieve.

I will add this: Whether you are Christian, Jew, Muslim, Buddhist, or Pastafarian, it is your right to believe as you wish. It is not your right to attempt to force your beliefs on anyone else.

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+1 and then some. It is the right and choice of every person to decide, practice, exercise, celebrate, for themselves their choice. Nobody should force or have their will forced on another.

SFCRetired said:

1. I believe in an 8 billion year old earth, as all the available evidence tends to support it.

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Just a minor correction. The age of the earth has been determined to be in the neighborhood of 4.6 billion years, and the universe as a whole is about 14 billion years.

ADobbs1989 said:

Just a minor correction. The age of the earth has been determined to be in the neighborhood of 4.6 billion years, and the universe as a whole is about 14 billion years.

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Thank you. That is what I get for relying on my ancient, and rapidly fading, memory cells.