Sounds like Satan is diverting on this thread. Wait! Just a moment! Maybe the question should be "Does Satan Exist?"
After establishing the republican party as the new name for the democratic party, Satan retired, knowing the lights are on, but nobody's home.
There are a lot candidates apparent in the world of religion and faith. We know that Moses, Jesus, Buddha, Mohamed etc walked the earth and were real Profits of Faith. In the Polytheist era, physical events in nature were given god status and were worshipped as spiritual beings or gods. As far as I know JEHOVA was a spiritual being that did not walk on the earth. The Devil, anti-Christ, Great White Father were non beings were concepts created by man or as subjects of visions. Saint Christopher and Eye of Horus formed as similar ideas converged from other beliefs. My only wish is that scientific discoveries would be gladly accepted into current religion so that we can all advance and adapt to future challenges. If Jesus (Yesua the Nazarine) returned as promised, he would definitely straighten everyone out.
Religion relies on faith, which is belief even when facts are not present or contrary and cannot be independently verified. Science relies on facts, which is knowledge that can be independently verified.
I'm sorry I don't have time to read 28 pages of this thresd, so it's quite possible someone's already said what I am about to say. The Church of England (article one of 39) defines God as 'The Creator and Preserver of all things seen and unseen.' It does not say you have to believe that God is a supernatural male person sitting in a place called heaven . Science has shown that there is undoubtedly a consistent and an overriding process of creation and recycling throughout the universe. There are carbon and hydroge atoms in the most distant galaxies and in the tiniest insects under the soil. X-ray photogarhs of the largest nebulae resemble microscope photographs of the tiniest objects. All things ithe universe have an equivalent life- cycle (yes, even mountains and lakes) . All things evolve ; even religions evolve: look at the history of Christianity. That is 'God'. Depicting God as a supernatural male perosn is the stuff of legend . It's religious imagery. I don't mock it. If it works for you , well and good
How long ago was the Article 1 of 39 written. I am a confirmed Episcopalian and to my memory the Church Doctrine still followed the Catholic Model with the exception of an option of divorce and the obedience to the Pope. The UK Church was pretty strict in the CIR 1900 period but has relaxed in recent times. I had 29 relatives hanged following the Monmouth Rebellion for taking arms against Charles the First. My surviving ancestor was in the American Colonies and the family name moves on.
Actually. according to the KJV and other transcripts of the Bible people are instructed to believe God is in a place called Heaven. In Matthew, Chapter 6 beginning with verse 9 it is written that Jesus instructed the disciples to pray a certain prayer. I quote from the NIV translation. “This, then, is how you should pray: ‘Our Father in heaven, . . . ' It goes on to say "On earth as it is in Heaven'. If Jesus referred to praying to a Father in Heaven, the Father aka God, then it must be assumed God is in Heaven. There are also passages in Solomons writings that support God being in Heaven.
Why would this question be asked of any human? Isn't it obvious that some are believers--some are non believers but that there is no answer to the question?
Modern science refuses to discuss why a quarter of their students still claim the sun revolves around the earth, and are the last people on earth to ask about whether God exists.
Ah, yes, straightmate , I note you say 'It must be assumed'. In other words, it' s a matter of interpretation. In my experience there are many assumptions about what the Bible says which, whe we examine them ,we find the Bible doesn't actually say! For example,the claim that Jesus is God . This belief, which dates from the early church, is made by associating different passages none of which catgorically say that Jesus is God. For centuries many Christians believed that sex before marriage is forbidden in the Bible. It isn't. We can quibble endlessly over interpreting the Bible, and many people have made a good income out of it. I am simply trying to help those who still feel there is an unbridgeable gap between religion and science. Naturally, religious fundamentalists and confirmed atheists want us to think so, but I am sure there is no need for such extremism. By the way, the Lord's Prayer doesn't; say Heaven is a place! It could mean a state of emotion ('I was in heaven...') . ( It's OK, Im just quibbling )