Why deny the Holy Spirit?

Question

Why would anyone bother denying the Holy Spirit? It is my personal opinion that by doing so, an atheist is being just as close minded as they might say a Christian is - by denying the mere possibility of God existing is pretty close minded if you ask me. And, you don't get a second chance after you announce it.

I'm not trying to start any arguments. I'm just saying ... why not play on the safe side? ;)

I think it says, after you denounce the Holy Spirit ... that is the unforgivable sin.

I also never said I was a Christian. I believe in a higher power. Most likely God. I'm not 100% about that. I'm just saying, I wouldn't deny ANYTHING really. So why take the chance. :)

Sorry if this is a popular question. I did a search and there were similar but not the same question.

Okay, sorry, I mean the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit.

Never heard of the wager thing. Sorry if that makes me ill-informed. I'm not up on this stuff.

I'm also sorry I keep adding details. What I MEAN by play it on the safe side is, if you choose LATER in life to believe in God, if it really is an unforgivable sin, you cannot take what you said BACK. Therefore, you're playing it on the safe side UNTIL you figure out what you truly believe. Does that help?

Answer 1

others will ridicule you for this statement, however i have felt the Holy Spirit's presence in my life, if only they knew the truth

Answer 2

What? Nonsense. Just because YOU SAY I deny the Spirit, it does not follow that I'm doing so. I think the idea of the Holy Spirit is beautiful, and personally I suspect that something like the Holy Spirit may influence all the good people of the earth, of all religions and of none. The Quaker leader George Fox also suggested in some of his writings that the Holy Spirit is present even in "bad" people. Or as Fox put it, the Quaker should "walk cheerfully over the earth, hearing that of God in every one." Which implies that there actually is "that of God" in everyone. Whatever you're trying to do with your little exercise in stage-managed blasphemy, I hope you move beyond this intellectually & spiritually and do more positive things with your life. I'm an agnostic, and won't try to recruit you back to some version of Christianity that you're currently rebelling against - possibly you're rebelling for a good reason. But I do hope that the Spirit - whatever it consists of, and however it moves -- will work in your life and in your brain to bring you inner peace, and to make you (and all of us) an instrument for building a better world. Peace and love, man. And if there is a God, may God bless.

Answer 3

Pascal's wager:

"If god exists, it's infinitely better to believe, since you get heaven instead of hell for eternity. If he doesn't, it doesn't matter since you're dead anyway. So overall it's better to believe"

This is, of course, false.

Some of the problems with the argument:

* The implied assumption that god may exist (with a 50% probability, no less!)

* The assumption that there is an afterlife with a heaven and hell

* The assumption that the god cares about belief in him/her above all else

* The assumption that if you believe in a god, it will definitely be the same god that actually exists.

* The assumption that you lose nothing if it's false. You have lost a great deal, from time praying to a nonexistent entity (some people pray several hours a day!!!) to morality (your god may ask you to hurt other people) and much more besides.

* The assumption that people can believe in something simply because it benefits them. Would you believe goblins exist for twenty bucks? Why not?

* The assumption that any god won't see through the "believing just to get into heaven" ploy.

For more:
http://www.abarnett.demon.co.uk/atheism/wager.html
http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/pascal-wager/
http://www.infidels.org/library/modern/theism/wager.html

Answer 4

an atheist denies the Holy Spirit because there is no evidence for it. So are you "being just as close minded" by denying every other religions explanations for things?

most atheists don't deny the possibility of a God, they just don't think the evidence is there. On the other hand, you've got people who want to kill gays and ban stem-cell research and evolution because they are "certain" that the Holy Spirit is inside them.

I'm just curious, why are religious people always questioning atheists and not other religous people? Do you really think any of our problems would go away if we got rid of atheists?

Answer 5

Because, it was a way of denouncing my Christianity. It was liberating. I have no problem committing the unforgivable sin.

Here, I'll do it again. I deny the existence of Jesus, he is only a myth. Believing in a omnipotent god is highly logical, he cannot exist and he does not exist. The holy spirit can take a flying leap too. I banish it from my soul. *grins*

Answer 6

"And everyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man (JESUS) will be forgiven, but anyone who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven." (Luke 12:10)

So...... we can Blashpheme one part of One God but not another part of the One God ?

Obviously God, the son and Holy Ghost are all three seperate entities at ONE AND THE SAME TIME which is a Tri-theistic belief.

If the diety took three separate forms but not all three AT ONE TIME then we might call this diety a TRIUNE God (Three very worthy parts of one god) .

But, how can you blaspheme the Holy Ghost and not blashpheme the son at the same time if they are all ONE ?

How can God know when the end time is coming but the son does not know if they are ONE and the same ?

In other words..... polytheism – Three separate entities that are independent of each other. When you have three gods which intertwine but are sufficiently separate then you have a Trinity comparable to Buddhism and maybe Hinduism.

The truth is that Paul introduced fundamental pagan ideas into Christianity and got away with it.

The original corruption of the texts are not the fault of Christians.... but NOW it is a duty for them to search for the truth. Dont accept the generic "God is too compicated to understand" answer.

Every heart knows that God is one…. No partners, no children, no parents – One and only one.

True love of Jesus is honoring the Abrahamic message which is of MONOTHEISM.

Search for the Prophet he foretold would come after him, and study what that message says.


//

Answer 7

There's a problem in your question.

If denying the possibility of God existing is close minded, then by that logic, isn't denying the possibility that God doesn't exist close minded?

You say why not play on the safe side. We don't have a choice in the matter. Either you believe or you don't. You can't force yourself to believe in God if it sounds unrealistic to you.

Answer 8

you cant dis-believe in the non-existent, the are no real holy spirits as you say, it's all man made make-belief fluff, there are no real gods, theres no real prove of any supreme entity ever, have we seen any allah or god tell all human species and all of natures life what to do in the last few days, not likely, just books and scriptures of long forgotten myths gone to the powers of males in cloaked sheaths, with lies of faked entities of words handed down, deception and greed is all that ever this was and will ever be, live life, stay free,..

Answer 9

because playing on the safe side isn't true believing, and i'm pretty sure if there is a god, he'll know if you're just pretending or not.

and also, i do deny the possibility of god because evolution and the 1st law of thermodynamics tells me to.

Answer 10

Do you deny Santa Claus? If so than you are closed minded to the existence of Santa Claus.

Answer 11

I don't deny your holy spirit, to deny it would be to admit that it exists. You have to admit something exists in order to deny it. I don't think your holy spirit exists. Thats not a denial, thats whats called "nonbelief".