My original point was...as far as Ray Bradbury is concerned...the survival instinct of humankind is so strong that someone would, by necessity, find a way to deal with such a threat. The existence of God is secondary.

Of course, from my own POV, whether I "know anything" or not, it would be up to the will of God whether any such plans would SUCCEED, how well, and with what outcome.

dandelion: Often intrigued talking with Bradbury and he's in a rush, and the immediate comment may be something along the lines of..."I MUST get my work done". He talks about staying one step ahead of death, each short story or poem, or work of creative act, is a step ahead of death.

===

I read that post Nard and it is very revealing. I forgot you lived in Fullerton. I lived in Placentia and then Fullerton, and I worked in Brea. I still miss it so bad sometimes even though it has been twenty years since I was there. One thing I have learned about "sin" or doing something you know is wrong or hurtful to someone else, no matter what the initial rush you get from whatever it is, inside you know, and it makes you feel bad about yourself, even if you deny that, deep down you know it. I guess I'm saying that sin can be so very subtle that before you know what your doing, your in deep. What helps, and this is true not only from a religious aspect but a psychological standpoint, is to say that "I am in your hands lord (or higher power, if you prefer), lead me where you will. What this does is take the burden off of your shoulders. It gives you the strength to carry on and to make the right decision by putting it in Gods hands. This helps not only overcoming sin, but when making a difficult decision or when you are so discouraged that it seems like you can't continue. Let go, so you can carry on...trust me people it works.

grasstains,
You mention that “I’m really starting to miss the old place.” Although I was a latecomer, so do I. But there’s something now that makes this place even better than ever…you decided to come back. Thanks!

quote:

Originally posted by Nard Kordell:
Are you starting to sound like Bradbury himself with that last comment to Phil Knox, or what?

Wow - thanks!!!

quote:

Originally posted by rocket:
Can we change the name of this thread to..."007 & God".

I love it! Two of my favourite subjects.

quote:

Originally posted by rocket:
A very devout priest relayed to me that the better a priest is, the more he questions every aspect and belief he has regarding God.

Right - question everything!

quote:

Regarding scriptures, it is obvious to me that the Bible is multi-authored by man.

Every word!

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Doug Spaulding,

quote:

Originally posted by Nard Kordell:
"...the 'Word' always was, and the 'Word' was always with God, and the 'Word' was God."

Right you are - Jesus is the Word of God! Whenever anyone refers to the Bible as the Word of God, I have to explain this to them.

Please don't base your religion on the Bible, but rather on the Word of God!

quote:

Originally posted by grasstains:
WE DON'T KNOW ANYTHING.

There's a lot of truth in that grasstains - well said. I'm not a knower, I'm a seeker.

Love your signature line.

rocket:
Twenty years since you were in Fullerton? Wow! Brea wouldn't be recognized anymore. They built something new on every inch of land there. It looks like a small modern downtown city compared to 20 - 25 yrs ago. I just returned from Fullerton an hour ago, in fact. I belong there!! Trying to figure out how to move back there. Currently, I live about 25 miles South of Fullerton. Again, in Fullerton, every sq. ft. has a new building on it or something. Cal State Fullerton has a ton of new structures on it, as well as Fullerton College. The old Fox Theater is still there, at the intersection of Harbor and Chapman, hoping to some day be fully renovated. It's one of those things no one is wanting to tear down. It's just the value of property is somewheres near the orbits of Neptune and Pluto. Twenty-five years ago you could buy a nice home there for $40,000. That EXACT home today would go for $750,000. I mean that SAME place. So it's insane out here.

Doug Spaulding:
See, you are playing with words. I mind as well say you don't really speak for a fellow named Sasser, since your name is Spaulding. I'm referring to your comment on ...don't believe the Bible, but the word of God. That's just plain silly talk! The Bible IS the word of God. How far do you want to go with this...translations? editions? original language? etc etc? Come on! You make people scratch their heads over things like that. ALSO, you know...that scripture was not authored by man. If so, it has the same theological value as a Bradbury book.

Life has existed on Earth for well over a hundred million years.
Man came along (in one form or another)within the last two million years or so...at most.
Civilized man has existed for less than 10,000 years...at most. In this time, he has managed to not only conquer the planet, but bring it to the edge of destruction, both by military and environmental means.

The above three items are facts.

This is conjecture: Perhaps man is the product of DNA seeding, or manipulation, from SOMEWHERE ELSE. I would not hold God responsible for what is happening now. If this were true, if mankind was the sole product of an omniscient God, don't you think He would have done a better job? Otherwise, you are saying that God created man within the last half-second of geological time and then let him wreck the entire planet in the next half-second? (on a scale of geo time)

It just doesn't add up. Doesn't mean I don't believe in God. I just think we assign him credit for things in which he was not responsible...

There's a bigger picture out there. Right now, we're still in the Stone Age. We only THINK we're advanced. If the human race survives the next hundred years, we will be looked upon by historians as having made key advances...but not fondly in other areas.

Before we accept that the Bible is the absolute version of man's religious record, we should also remember that more slaughter has occurred on Earth in His name than from any other source.
I think it's in the basic nature of man to believe in a Supreme Being, and in part, to explain what cannot be explained. There is nothing wrong in this, and in fact, we all hope there is Someone out there keeping an eye out. However, it's obvious that man's role as Conservator to the Planet has run into problems. In a reletively short time, we have created both beauty and horror, hope and despair, misery and plenty.
Unfortunately, I don't have all the answers. I just hope mankind will move forward and learn from their mistakes.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Robert M Blevins,

Better watch the comments, if the great and powerful 007 gets wind of this, I fear a rain of pestilence will befall us...

rocket: You got that right.

Okay, why do people insist that they can't figure out why the world is in such a mess and why God would allow that to happen? I say that to people who claim they read scripture, and they still can't figure it out. Well, you know what that actually means ? It means they didn't study the lesson; they didn't do their homework. They skimmed over all the parts that had an answer for all their questions. Naughty!

Had a lady come into the shop where I was working a few years back and in conversation said she definitely read her entire Bible, in fact several times, and then slipped in this little gem: "But no one ever came back from the dead." Of course, I mentioned to her about the ressurection of a crucified Christ, and you'd think I went and slapped her across the face. She blurted out that she never heard of that, and walked out of the shop with combination dazed and perplexed look. Now, I ask you, what was THAT?

Or the cab driver a few months back, a Muslim guy, who didn't have much to say about Christianity. And then I told him, well, did you know ALL of Christianity hangs by a single thread of one sole event: that a man came back from the dead? No ressurection of Christ, NO Christianity. Either Paul or the Apostle Peter even went further and write that if there is no ressurection, we are the biggest fools ever born. Well, anyway, the Muslim cabby never heard of that. In fact, he was amazed. I thought, Wow! This guy is actually amazed by that. Otherwise, I often get the same response from people who say they read scripture and people who say they don't read scripture. Go figure.

quote:

Originally posted by Nard Kordell:
See, you are playing with words.

Better than playing with fire!

quote:

The Bible IS the word of God.

Oh no, Friend Nard - Jesus is the Word of God, remember?

quote:

How far do you want to go with this?

No further.

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You make people scratch their heads over things like that.

Then my job is done!

quote:

Originally posted by rocket:
Better watch the comments, if the great and powerful 007 gets wind of this...

You just gave me a mighty good chuckle!