Oddbean

I struggled with this for a while @HODL I was an atheist / agnostic before I was very close to dying in 2015. I spent 7 days unconscious at the hospital. I didn’t have a “near death experience” hallucinations of the after life etc. Just darkness / nothingness. This is what I believe “hell” is, literal oblivion, it’s terrifying but it also brought extreme clarity that our actions in life matter and I connected with something that is not of this world while I was there. After I came back and since then I can tell you without a doubt in my mind. 1000% certainty, God / Christ is real, It all happened, it’s all true, heaven is real, good is real, evil is real, the soul is real, being a good person is important, honesty / truth is important, integrity is import. Even when no one is looking. Sometimes you’ll be hated for doing the right thing but things we’ll always end up working in your favor at the end. It’s like a cheat code to life to follow the “narrow path”. He will always have your back and he hasn’t let me down once even in the darkest times you’ll see that it was for a reason at the end. What you do in the mortal realm is what you’ll be judged for when it’s all over. Cannot explain it or show proof but I know it to be true in my core. Also, once you feel it. It cannot be unfelt, it’s so obvious in your face but that’s the hardest part for most people because all the things you use to determine truth in the flesh (vision, hearing, logic) doesn’t apply. It’s a matter of the heart only and it’s extremely personal. You can be shown the door but only you can open it. All that being said I don’t push my beliefs to anybody or try to convert people. Nor do I care what they do with their personal lives. I know if I do good, good things will happen to me and when I die (hopefully a long time from now) I will be alright. I do not fear death, it’s become clear to me that it’s a feature of being human, not a bug. Those who do evil or justify things in the name of God are larps because it’s extremely personal and only within you nostr:note1d6r6rk0q0vha3cvgmlkv4mgjw44j3uhu56du6dtrxl29rzxhtxnqe5ksee

Thank you for sharing. I have also been fortunate enough to have a divine experience. It is a gift. Those who have received this gift understand the futility of wanting to convert others. The next level is to be 'One.' If you have ever experienced this indescribable state, you will strive for it again and again throughout your life. It is hard to put into words.

Every thing changes when you have an encounter with God. I don’t think that everyone has a chance to have that encounter and that makes me sad Once you see things you literally can’t explain and you are looking with your eyes and know it is real but it doesn’t make any sense based on how you think the world works it changes your mindset.

bottom line , you must believe as you are told, or burn in HELL for eternity, should you choose to not do so. https://image.nostr.build/0024bf6b9e5efa22feadcb0e9752a60566584c9b1643562d61e72803cc061aa8.png

Caveat good things don’t always happen to good people in this world and some people’s lives may just be in torture despite being great people. This sort of belief sets people up for failure when the prosperity myth shatters.

Who said anything about prosperity? Jesus was literally tortured and put to death. My only responsibility is to do good and have faith in christ. Whatever comes my way is what was meant to be. I find peace knowing that when I pass everything will be okay because I was good when I lived. You seem to put a lot of effort into replying to my post. You seem to care a lot about my beliefs while I accept yours. You seem to want to push people away from faith. Why is it so hard for you to accept my belief in god, while expecting me to accept yours. Why do you feel the necessity to prove me wrong? If you believe I’m wrong why does it matter to you? Why doesn’t it bother you? Why do you feel the need to reply? I was once in your shoes and asked the same questions to those who believed but then I experienced something not of this world. You can do whatever you’d like but one day like all of us you’ll face the abyss. That’s normally when everything becomes clear, not before.

' I find peace knowing that when I pass everything will be okay because I was good when I lived. ' I'm really happy to hear about your Christian faith. My belief about doing good works is that they in no way earn us anything. We are saved by the grace of God alone for the sake of Christ taking our punishment. Because of this, we can't help but want to do good works in response. And when we fail, like we always do, we look back to the cross, knowing that we are once again forgiven.

If you choose to believe evidence does not matter when it comes to faith, you can believe whatever you want, because you’ve made fantasy equivalent to reality. We should all consider reflecting more and frequently on the foundations of our beliefs and understandings. If your belief predicates on lack of proof or evidence, perhaps it’s an emotion you wish to follow instead of being guided by what is true and certain. True belief is humbleness that we don’t know everything, and is inherently scientific in utilizing logic, evidence, and perspective to evaluate existence and get closer to truth. And I don’t mean ‘scientism’ or science as a religion. I mean scientific as a process reaching conclusions based on evidence.

I’ve had plenty of evidence as I explained in my OP It’s all real but you can choose not to believe it and attack my faith by calling it a fantasy but that doesn’t change anything for me nor does it hurt me or make me doubt. What I can surmise based on the language your using in your responses is that you feel the urge to prove me wrong even though my personal beliefs don’t hurt anyone nor did I bring it up at random. Hodl asked a question and I responded. You felt the urge to respond to it. I’m confident that the reason I believe you are so passionate about attacking / mocking my personal beliefs is that you have to prove to yourself that you are right because even if there is a 0.000001% doubt in your mind that I’m right and your wrong the idea of looking into the abyss and realizing it was all real but have run out of time to do anything about it must be absolutely terrifying. Even if it’s subconscious, this is where I believe your aggression comes from. I’m at peace with my beliefs, are you sure you are?

“True belief is humbleness that we don’t know everything, and is inherently scientific in utilizing logic, evidence, and perspective to evaluate existence and get closer to truth.” I agree with you that humility around our own knowledge and understanding is crucial but then you state that you need to rely on your own logic and reason, which inherently lacks that humility. God is beyond our capacity for reason and we can only truly find Him by embracing that deep humility and accepting the mystery. Infinite evidence follows that submission and humility before the Creator. Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. Hebrews 11:1

Also disconnecting belief from use of sense and reason is ignorant. That’s how you get people thinking that they can talk to their personal deity who always appears to agree with their desires. Any true faith must stand the test of the logical faculties otherwise it’s no different than a made up fantasy.

All you have to do is have faith and do the right thing. Everything will work itself out. Speaking of “talking” or “wishing” to a deity tells me you don’t understand. Quid est veritas?