Basic aims and propositions of site:

An intention of this site is to give a perspective from which to view some common objections that reasonable people might consider as negating a possibility of God, as they understand him. It is an intention that a case for belief and faith will not be made by presenting (this writer’s) philosophical arguments, but to suggest ways in which many of these issues are consistently acknowledged and addressed in the passages of the bible itself - the bible claiming to be one of the important ways God has provided for revealing himself to us.

Core propositions:

There is an internal logic and consistency to a set of integrated concepts presented throughout the Christian bible (and outlined in the following pages) that provides a ‘reasonableness’ to the proposition of an unseen God who makes himself known to those who seek him - he is available for any person to come to know with an assurance of belief that leads to a faith which is not unreasonable and not at all to be deemed ‘blind faith’.

Many issues of confusion that lead people to conclusions of doubt and non belief can make more sense when viewed ‘as if’, i.e. from a perspective of supposition that if perhaps there is a God, what would be the issues around such problems when looking from his point of view, as opposed to how they look when we put ourselves at the centre of our deliberations and make our own issues our starting point.

God appeals to the heart and speaks a language of the heart so that he therefore cannot be fully known by means of human knowledge, reasoning, logic and intellect alone.

Believing and having faith are not purely matters of the mind but are based in an experiential ‘knowing’ revealed in the heart.

Human reasoning is not negated or excluded but God invites us to ‘reason’ with him, not on our own, and to make it a matter of personal interaction rather than a reasoned logic which has limitations when coming from within the mind alone and lacking an outside reference point.

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Focus, aims and purpose: to offer a ‘pathway to faith’ by presentation of core messages of the bible in its own words so as to provide a not unreasonable basis for belief and a foundation for faith - in a personal, living and loving God – and to point the way by providing some direction for the reader, attempting to address some of the major objections raised by modern atheism, rightly exercising the minds of many thinking people.

A further aspect to these pages is exploring whether some justification for atheism’s non belief in God may lie in finding that the God in whom atheism does not believe, is also not particularly the God that he himself claims to be - thereby keeping open, hopefully, a possibility for the discovery of both a reasoned and sure faith.

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Heartfelt desire can enable us to begin taking a pathway of discovery toward faith; it is not always instant or smooth, but taking our first steps can generate a mutual responsiveness. To those who first enquired about himself and such a journey, Jesus said, ‘Come and see’(1) – it required something interactive; it could not be answered with a mere word of explanation, but opportunity to know was readily and willingly offered.

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1. John 1: 43‑50 NIV

It is a hope of this site to offer some reasoned aspects to believing and having faith. For those willing to engage in such considerations, whether inclined toward belief or non belief, it is hoped that you, as reader, will find that difficult questions or genuine doubts have been taken seriously and considered respectfully.

This site does not intentionally or knowingly seek to promote any new or novel philosophical concept of the writer’s own making or any particular brand or organisation of Christian faith – rather it has an aim for letting ‘God’ speak for himself in his own words, as it were, as found in the Christian bible– with basic propositions and outlines to provide perspective and to help make the intended messages understandable and accessible to contemporary readers. It is hoped that the format can enable a discovery of the many positive messages that have always been contained in the Christian message, helping to make it more understandable and relevant (and therefore more available) for those attempting to come to grips with some of the issues and challenges that face us in current times.

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Scepticism: this site hopes to convey that, in an era of rationality, there can remain a reasonableness about adopting a position of faith. Partisanship with faith organisations has been a contributing factor in the successful achievement of many social reforms recorded in history, with benefits that have a continuing legacy. Such successes have, however, become overshadowed by revelations, rightly identified and investigated, of institutionalised abuses and exploitation not in keeping with avowed principles and values. This site would encourage, nevertheless, consideration that issues relating to life, existence and humanity’s future are not best served by too quick an abandonment of time honoured sources of hope and faith in exchange for popularist views promoting scepticism and non-belief.

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Coming to a belief in God is made possible, in this writer’s experience, by consideration of the consistent and core messages from the Christian bible, combined with a personal responsiveness to those messages. Such engagement allows an experiential process of being drawn into a knowledge of God’s heart that brings understanding beyond anything possible through reasoning and intellectual deliberation alone. This aspect can be seen, in reality, to be based on a familiar process, i.e. a ‘testing of the hypothesis’ as it were. Those unwilling to venture down this path could be considered to remain in a state deprived of knowing, i.e., in reality, ‘not knowing what they do not know’.

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Many who arrive at a position of non-belief are not unfamiliar with claims and passages from the bible, and some have read it extensively. Most people will have been exposed to biblical quotations, often presented negatively in news and entertainment, or sometimes by church adherents making judgemental statements of condemnation and exclusion. However, such passages can often be taken in isolation or read out of context, sometimes conveying a negativity beyond the intentions of the bible authors, thereby overshadowing many prevailing messages of hope that the bible seeks to offer.

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This site aims to present passages around core themes intended for people who may be seeking a basis for belief in God, or perhaps those who are unsure, or even doubtful and unconvinced that there is any basis at all for believing. It also hopes to help bring some clarity for those feeling perhaps lost, confused, disillusioned or disappointed, maybe with a sense of failure, and possibly for some, having no idea in which direction to go or where to begin.

It is a hope for these pages that no matter how strong or fixed a state of unbelief has progressed, that doubts and genuine questions will find genuine acknowledgement in the manner in which they are addressed. This hope springs in no small part from an assured conviction that no person, even the most wayward, out of control or ‘godless’ in disposition, is excluded from those to whom God offers a welcoming invitation through his attempts to reach out – desiring that all would come into a relationship of mutual benefit with him.

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There seems to be nothing like the topic of ‘religion’ to stir emotive reactions: hostility, controversy, contempt. One reason behind this (attempting to be addressed by this writer) is that many tenets from the bible or the context in which they are delivered, can flow against conventional wisdom and accepted social norms. Another important reason is that deep within the human heart, sometimes below even the level of everyday consciousness, there can be longings and stirrings, hopes and dreams, or sometimes deep disappointments, hurt, brokenness, betrayal or disillusionment, that biblical expressions, and the way they may be delivered or understood, can seem to mock the everyday realities and limitations we know as part of living in this world.

However, I would urge you, valued reader, to take some time for looking deeper into what may be fuelling those initial, surface responses to see if there are not some issues that warrant some ‘wrestling’ with God, as it were. You can only be assured from these pages that he is interested and concerned, and not only willing, but longing that they be brought to him and that he might reveal something more of himself through them that can bring peace of mind to a troubled heart, or fulfilment in identity and purpose for a longing soul.

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To all: these pages are commended and dedicated to the enquiries of your heart.

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