This is pretty interesting. I am also a protestant Christian though my belief is sort of er... iono. Different? Faith is "Being sure of what you hope for and c

This is pretty interesting. I am also a protestant Christian though my belief is sort of er... iono. Different? Faith is "Being sure of what you hope for and certain of what you do not see." (Hebrews 11:1) Now, how can you be sure of what you hope for if there is not due evidence to have that kind of certainty? Also, you can't be certain of what you do not see without other evidence (e.g we can't see air but we know it exists from a plethora of reasons). I'm not sure that Christianity is about "simply believing" -- I mean yes that describes the effect of Christ's grace (all you need is belief/acceptance to receive it)... but that's not why I choose to believe in a God. The rational / irrational (who cares) reason for my belief in God has to do with the things that are historical texts and events, key elements include the existence of Jesus / his effect on the world, as well as the written word recorded close to after his death. Is the old testament just a silly mythology, or a long way to prove a single point (that humans could never achieve the nature of this thing we call God)? Maybe, I don't claim to know. But I feel that the new testament and its claims as well as the testaments of some people who died refusing to renounce what they saw as truth are very compelling in terms of conveying something important that happened. Do I believe that some really crazy, amazing things happened back then? I think I have due reason to believe it. I mean, I just find it so hard to believe that all those people who wrote the letters and books that make up the bible are crazy. They were crazy enough to die gruesomely and still refuse to renounce their belief, and the thing that separates them from suicide bombers is their apparent sanity in the writing as well as their message of love. Personally speaking I think the evidence is enough for me to put my faith in it, to be sure of what I'm hoping for (that there is a loving God out there). Hey, worst case scenario I was wrong and I loved more people and used my life to help others, right? In addition, it's not like the dude Jesus was preaching "thank god for dead soldiers" or "kill the infidels" or "scare them straight" or anything moronic like that. He preached humility, love, forgiveness and a bunch of things (personally, I feel) the world actually needs. I don't know how anyone can be mad at me for choosing to believe in something like that. Now, I can similarly understand that what I see as evidence may not be evidence enough for another person, and so they may not believe the same thing as me, and that's fine. But for me to tell them that they are dumb for not seeing it, or for them to tell me that I am dumb because I choose to believe something, iono if that's a good thing. We all get the same data and we draw our own conclusions. Am I evangelical? Yeah, I have to say yes. If you want to know more about what I believe, I am happy to spend time talking or do a bible study. Do I shove religion down other peoples' throats or get all political about crap? Not really my cup of tea. I think chill is the best demeanor for life ;D and love is all you need.