I grew up in an odd home. My family's Jewish, or at least identifies as such based on the fact that my father was raised Orthodox, and I also identify as Jewish. Yet we believe that Yeshua/Jesus is Messiah, which is not the norm for Jewish people to put it mildly. So sensing the oddness / controversial nature of this upbringing naturally got me curious at a young age about issues of religious identity, faith and reason, etc. I ended up majoring in Religion at a secular university (UNC-CH, Bart Ehrman was my NT prof), a great experience but it didn't end my curiosity. I ended up living in Israel for a year working with homeless, came back, and went to study philosophy at a seminary.
At this point, I am persuaded theism is true. Which is to say that I perceive good reasons to infer the existence of a personal Creator of the Universe, and I have not come across reasons to defeat this claim which I consider good enough. I don't say this to bait anyone; it is just what I mean by 'persuaded'. How certain I am of theism (as a conclusion) depends on how closely I happen to be tracking reasons, and so I have to admit that changes. Furthermore, my reasons are classical; so for example, I'd take very little exception with Bill Craig's popular presentations that he uses in debate.
In any case, I believe there is more to it than arguments (not less to it than that - arguments, reason, logic, and evidence all matter). But I've always desired to and usually benefited from dialogue with people who believe differently than I do, and honestly I just haven't been doing it much in recent days, but got caught up with other stuff. It seemed appropriate to introduce myself just in case we get into a tussle of reason, rhetorical handshake, productive dialogue, or anything else like that. Here's to good intentions. Thanks.
MockingGods Master of Logic
Joined: Nov 14, 2002
Posts: 5693
Location: Planet Earth
Posted:
Tue Dec 15, 2009 11:29 pm
Welcome mattis... here's hoping you enjoy your time here
DigitalAtheist Graduate Thinker
Joined: Apr 13, 2009
Posts: 661
Location: Canada
Posted:
Wed Dec 16, 2009 2:20 pm
Welcome, Mattis.
mattis wrote:
I grew up in an odd home. My family's Jewish, or at least identifies as such based on the fact that my father was raised Orthodox, and I also identify as Jewish. Yet we believe that Yeshua/Jesus is Messiah, which is not the norm for Jewish people to put it mildly.
Wow! Is this like the, "Jews for Jesus," sect that I've heard about? If so, then I have a lot of questions for you – though I promise not to bombard you until after the next two weeks. (I know that you'll be fitting about 20 different holiday celebrations in that time, so no point in trying to get through on the line. )
_________________ Be very, very careful what you put into that head, because you will never, ever get it out. - Cardinal Wolsey
elusive_elf Newbie First Class
Joined: Nov 25, 2009
Posts: 35
Location: milky way galaxy
Posted:
Wed Dec 16, 2009 3:55 pm
hey mattis, welcome to the forums,
i think it's cool that you were working with the homeless. i did a little volunteer work myself not too long ago, and i got to say it's a truly enriching experience helping those less fortunate. although the people i volunteered with were great, some of them seemed quite surprised that i was an atheist.
i guess i was the first atheist they met (that admitted to being so ), and perhaps they assumed that without religion, a person is incapable of acts of benevolence. although we didn't discuss religion much, i like to think that maybe they learned that an atheist isn't evil by default.
i assume that, with living isreal, you got to see an aspect of religious conflict that most of us don't really see in the u.s. and most western nations. you should have a lot to add to the discussions. looking forward to your input.
_________________ -peace through empathy and reason-
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), and perhaps they assumed that without religion, a person is incapable of acts of benevolence. although we didn't discuss religion much, i like to think that maybe they learned that an atheist isn't evil by default.
