God really doesn't exist!?

It took you that long? Were hammered with religion as a kid?

Interestingly, I read somewhere long ago, that if a religious person doesn't dump it by 24, they likely never will. But interestingly, too, I have many friends who didn't dump it until their 30's or 40's.

Actually, it isn't terrifying at all, if I can help.

Firstly, the idea of hell. I find it weird that Christians take glee in thinking that non-believers will burn forever. Now, how sick is that?.

I'm thinking that the book you mentioned is about Bart Ehrman? (no, I looked it up. It's about Dan Barker. Ehrman went thru the same thing... Moody Bible Institute, Wheaton College, where Billy Graham went to school, but then to Princeston Theological Seminary. It was there that the absurdity of religion dawned on him. Ehrman is a great writer, teaches as U of NC Chapel Hill.

You must read some his books.... 20+ or so of them.

I like three particularly.

Misquoting Jesus

Forged...Who Changed the Bible and Why

God's Problem.

Youtube him.

"And I the Lord will cause them to eat the flesh of their sons and the flesh of their daughters, and they shall eat every one the flesh of his friend." - Jeremiah 19:9

"Behold, I the Lord will corrupt your seed, and spread dung upon your faces, even the dung of your solemn feasts; and one shall take you away with it." - Malachi 2:3

"Then you shall eat the offspring of your own body, the flesh of your sons and of your daughters whom the Lord your God has given you" - Deuteronomy 28:53

"The King asked her, 'What’s the matter?' This woman said to me, 'Give up your son so we may eat him today, and tomorrow we'll eat my son.' So we cooked my son and ate him. The next day I said to her, 'Give up your son so we may eat him,' but she had hidden him....The king said, behold, this evil is of the Lord." - 2 Kings 6:28-29,33

"Samaria shall bear her guilt, because she has rebelled against her God; they shall fall by the sword; their little ones shall be dashed in pieces, and their pregnant women ripped open!" - Hosea 13:16

I find it a real comfort that this god is just the musings of bronze age goat herders. How horrible if this thing really did exist!!!!!!!! And there are utterly dozens of passages like this.

But, see, Christians don't read the bible. They cherry pick it for cutesy stuff. And they aren't even aware of it, yet they will tell you every word is true.

Go figure.

Hey, and again, congrats.

No your life would have been meaningless if you remain a christian. It feels as if your life is meaningless now because you just now came in terms with the truth and reality. Now that your an Atheist you can find meaning and happiness. Express all you repress feeling, humanly natural instincts and all.

I'll tell you something about me. Since the day as a child, when I was told the story and great dealings of God, Jesus Christ, The 12 apostles, etc, I always question the religion and the thought of God. It just never made sense to me and the answer just never added up nor made any damn sense. I would always say I was a christian because I felt I had to not because I so it was right, because it didn't feel right. So as I got older, old enough to use more common sense and understand, I thought I got to church to see if I could finally find God. But I found was no ones was really, not so much, were people there for god. They were there for alternative reasons sex, some any way. I slowly so myself pulling that way too. Then after hearing all the garbage the bible had to offer, I finally convinced myself to STOP convincing myself I'm a christian. I picked up on other things more my train of thought. Something that anyone one with common sense would agree with.

I'm a Satanist or Atheist (take your pick I'm still deciding), and I read a book by Anton Szandor Lavey, it's called The Satanic Bible. I loved the book. It not necessarily a bible, at all, nor is it filled with verses of sort. You should read it for yourself. And like you asked of others I want you to keep an open-mind and really read it.

I'm 22 by the way. I'm glad I realize early on before it was to late and wasted my life wondering, "What if I would has came to my senses earlier on.

How can you prove a negative? You can't?

I feel that there are many tough and possibly answerable questions that believers must inevitably ask themselves. Why does God allow suffering? Why can't prayer regrow amputated limbs? I prayed for my dying loved one and they did not recover, why??

But none of these questions show that there is no God.

On the other hand, believers can't prove that there is a God.

For those who have never explored Christianity, whether they call themselves atheist, agnostic, or whatever... they should at least give it a fair shake. Try it. See what happens. You might realize that there are experiences to be had that you cannot get anywhere else.

For proof of the God of Israel (the Christian God) please read below:

The Judo-Christian God of the Bible is the One and True God because He is the only God that has withstood the test of time, science, history, and prophecies of the Bible. This can be seen through the Dead Sea Scrolls that were written over 2000 years ago; proving that it with stood the test of time because it matches up word-for-word of the Hebrew Bible today. Verses such as Leviticus 17:14 stating “For it is the life of all flesh; the blood of it is for the life thereof: therefore I said unto the children of Israel, Ye shall eat the blood of no manner of flesh: for the life of all flesh is the blood thereof: whosoever eateth it shall be cut off.” and Isaiah 40:22 stating “It is he that sitteth upon the circle of the earth, and the inhabitants thereof are as grasshoppers; that stretcheth out the heavens as a curtain, and spreadeth them out as a tent to dwell in:”. These verses in the Bible are proven to be scientifically true thousands of years after they were written! The Israelites being enslaved to the Egyptians 3000 years ago and the Israelites spending 40 years in the desert is historically accurate proving that the Bible stands the test of history. And the test of prophecy is being fulfilled right now by the world leaders discussing and making plans how on they, the leaders of the world, are able to unite the world through a global government and economy. This is written in the Bible in verse of Revelation 13:7 “And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations.” and in Revelation 13:16-17 “And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads: And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.”.

Why does your life seem "a bit more meaningless?" That's just preposterous. Your life has whatever meaning you choose to bring to it. No imaginary sky critter can create that for anyone, even if religious folks tell you that's the case.

More than just that definition of god exist.

It always baffles me how some people can downcast others for being sure of something, due to their certainty as well. It makes you just as hypocritical as any theist proposing peace violently. Neither atheists nor theist no the truth in all certainty, and for a member of either side to claim themselves as definite in correctness.... I suggest they claim the open mind they falsely preach.

"God really doesn't exist!?"

If you say so, but doesn't change the fact. You keep on saying there is no God, life goes on. Hopefully you'll see one day. Only God can lead you to the truth. And I'll take a look at your source. Oh and by the way you should buy and read "There Is A God: How the World's Most Notorious Atheist Changed his Mind" by Antony Flew.

"Godless". The one by Dan Barker? Ive seen Dan Barker debate and i am familiar to his views and i am not impressed that he exists. By the way bro, for what its worth, reading Aquinas, Hegel, Heidegger, Anselm and Leibniz make its very thoroughly convincing that God exists. To me its absurd to think that the Material world was just brought into existence from nothing and that the whole purpose of life is that our species suffers a huge heat death 4 billion years from now.

Not denying evolution, but the natural, materialistic view point of the world is thoroughly unconvincing

To me, you sound almost exactly like a Christian promoting the bible, just flip-flop beliefs.

"Read the bible, you cannot possibly continue not believing in Jesus"

Glad to here you are happy with yourself though.

You must be new to R&S, this debate has been raging for years now on this section. Either way, welcome the world of skepticism.