I am going to go get it for a challenge that was issued earlier and I am supposed to be reading Chapter 7. I have been thinking about reading the whole thing.
Should I go ahead and read the whole thing?
Atheists would you be interested in having a discussion with me if I read the whole thing?
2007-11-13 10:26:59 · 33 answers · asked by Anonymous in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
You won't like it.
But yes, you might as well read the whole thing. It's not written with you in mind, so I doubt it'll persuade you of much, but it's worth reading just so you can better understand the position of people you don't agree with. (You know, if that's something important to you)
2007-11-13 10:30:29 · answer #1 · answered by STFU Dude 6 · 9⤊ 0⤋
The only "criteria" to be a Christian is to believe in Jesus Christ, specifically, that he is God in human manifest that died on a cross for your sins. People are saved by grace through faith alone. You can be anything and be a Christian. You can be gay or divorced and be a Christian. You are also right that people shouldn't be going around saying who is and who isn't Christian. Only God knows for sure. However, that said, there are certainly things that should define a growing Christian. If the person is continually living in sin, it's possible they may have never received Jesus. Why? When you become a Christian, you receive the Holy Spirit. Christians should strive to live life without sin, though it's impossible for anyone to. Christians should help others who think they are Christians and living in sin to realize that it's not right. However, there really is no criteria for who God saves. God saves sinners. God doesn't save good people; if anyone is trying to work for their salvation, they are not saved. Christians should do good things because of their salvation. That includes loving the person, while of course hating sinful actions. I pray for Christians to show love and not hate toward people. Hate is obviously not a good thing, and hopefully Christians will understand the idea of hating what people do instead of hating the person.
2016-05-23 01:21:25 · answer #2 · answered by ? 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Read the whole thing. Keep an open mind, do not condemn too early. It should be a book that makes a big change to your way of thinking. Nothing clever or tricky about it. Logic.
You must start at the beginning. If you are a Christian; would you advocate only reading bits of the Bible to people interested? No.
2007-11-13 10:33:01 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
Ahh Chapter 7, the Good Book and the Changing Moral Zeitgeist. Excellent chapter. I also recommend chapters, 1-6 and 8-10 :p
Read it all. No sense reading just a chapter of it.
Yes, I'd be interested in such a discussion.
2007-11-13 10:42:21 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
I think you should read the whole thing. If you are confident in your faith you should have nothing to fear.
For an actual expose against Christianity, however, I would have suggested either Thomas Paine's "Age of Reason" or Sam Harris' "Letter to a Christian Nation", but Dawkins book is pretty good nonetheless.
Happy reading....and if I'm around I'd be happy to answer any questions you post about any part of the book.
2007-11-13 10:31:35 · answer #5 · answered by QED 5 · 3⤊ 0⤋
Well if the purpose is to make us Christians doubt the creator of the universe over a small book I would not waste my time with it personally. The universe is here and now and this book is written by a small minded human with no faith. Which would you want to side with. I was an atheist once, I had nothing, My life was empty and meaningless. Now I believe an my heart is full, the universe is limitless, and life is not empty or meaningless. So for the sake of argument I think it is better to be a fool and let God have all the answers then to be an educated fool and believe in my own delusions which alone we are dust and only God remains even after our dust blows away. I would rather be on God's side don't you think?
2007-11-13 11:10:25 · answer #6 · answered by Vivianna 4 · 0⤊ 2⤋
I just read the opening paragraph of Chapter 7 - it's self-explanatory.
The God Delusion is not a fictional story where you need to read it all to understand it.
Each chapter of The God Delusion is a stand-alone.
Having said all that, this is an excellent book in its entirety; if you are a seeker of knowledge as I am, you will enjoy it.
.
2007-11-13 10:38:30 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Read the whole thing, but take some blood pressure pills first
While I think he has some good solid arguments, I find his attitude and delivery very unhelpful. To put it mildly. You could have a degree of fun with some correction fluid.seeing how much slant and unnecessary insult you could get rid of without touching his actual case at all..
Which I think still stands, despite him being a lousy diplomat and in that respect a poor communicator.
Ex-Christian atheist, and my e-mail is open.
(PS : good comments on "word for word" and "dynamic equivalents" on the bible question!)
2007-11-13 10:59:02 · answer #8 · answered by Pedestal 42 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Just think what a position of authority you'll be in if you read the whole book! You can say that, yes, you HAVE read The God Delusion, actually. You'll be drowned in respect whether you agree with it or not.
I'd be very interested to know what you think and I'd happily discuss it with you.
2007-11-13 10:34:32 · answer #9 · answered by Bad Liberal 7 · 5⤊ 0⤋
Yes. Read the whole thing. Free your mind.
Once I read it, I would be pleased to have a conversation with you.
Here's the challenge, though: Read it as if the whole idea of God never existed. Read it using the mentality of the one who wrote it, or else you won't learn anything.
I've done this (^) before, and it made Edward Taylor's poems MUCH more enjoyable/understandable for me.
2007-11-13 10:36:06 · answer #10 · answered by {fiyerae}rox.my.world. 2 · 2⤊ 0⤋