Questions for fellow Christians to answer

I've been thinking a lot lately about creation. I think about the world just being created from nothing, and I am completely unconscious of my surroundings. I drift away into this thought. I was once an athiest but recently I've commited myself to christianity, but lately I've been haveing doubts about god existence.
I feel guilty, almost like I shouldn't be talking like this, but I need intellectual clarity. I have a number of things id like christians to try to explain to me. Let me get started with my list. ( NOTE: I know this is long, if someone could give an explanation of their own for even one question id be very thankful ).

1. If God created earth, how can other objects in the universes creations be explained? I don't go to church so im not really familiar with many bible verses that might help me with this.

2. If Humans started with the knowledge god exists, why are there religeons such as bhudism and hinduism that have absolutely nothing to do with Christianity? How could someone whos ancestory started with adam and eve, who knew god exists, ancestors somehow stop practiceing christianity and create this completely dif way of life? I bring up those two religeons because islam and judasim are both related to christianity.

3. If the worlds only about 5000 years old why do scientists say the world is 4 billion years old and has had life for millions of years. Are they just wack jobs who try to convince us of this crap? Could someone not want us to believe in god so they just created this belief that no intelligent creation exists?

 

Please observe the following caveat from one of the fellow Christians you've directed your questions to:

 

That's a pathetic thing to say ( Directed towards the wrong forum for science comment )
This isn't a church its a forum. People here should try to explain these things and enlighten me

 

Er..... I am not Christian, however I feel a need to comment. I was a creationist until about 16 or so when I realized that the creationist "science" was half cooked silliness.

You will not find those verses because those structures in the universe were unknown at the time of writing the bible. Stars were known, however they make up was a mystery and their distance was unthinkable. Things like galaxies, quasars, black holes, neutron stars, blue giants, brown dwarfs, or even asteroids or planets were unknown and largely unimaginable.

These people were isolated from Christianity, hence their own faith. Some of these faiths predate Christianity. They follow their faith as they do yours, and probably wonder the same things about you.

Science does not care if you believe in god or not. They measure the half-lives of radioactive isotopes to measure the age of the age. The difference between what sciences observes to be true and what creationists say is true is massive, essentially somewhere around the same notion of saying that the distance between LA and Chicago is two yards. There is not a vast conspiracy on the part of scientists, all of their work is verifiable and peer reviewed.

No offense, however I am at a loss as to how you considered yourself an atheist once, but are asking these questions. It doesn't make sense.

 

I fully agree.

 

Im young, which would explain my inadvanced grammar and vocabulary. I see christianity as a model for societys that has seemingly worked well in history. I see possible prophecies and near death experiences that are compelling, but maybe im just a young kid who wants god to be real more so than he believes he is.... I understand why it might be incomprehensible to think that someone could be an athiest at a very young age and actually become religious in time rather than begin to think about more ways to support his athiest belief. I am obviously keeping my mind open based apon my inquiries.

 

Because the scientists all agreed upon the imaginative findings of another scientist regarding the relative amount of time the earth has been around. In other words, their number system is not a true representation of what reality is.

"Albert Einstein Quotes on Mathematics / Mathematical Physics

As far as the laws of mathematics refer to reality, they are not certain; as far as they are certain, they do not refer to reality. (Albert Einstein)

The eternal mystery of the world is its comprehensibility. (Albert Einstein)

The skeptic will say: "It may well be true that this system of equations is reasonable from a logical standpoint. But this does not prove that it corresponds to nature." You are right, dear skeptic. Experience alone can decide on truth. ... Pure logical thinking cannot yield us any knowledge of the empirical world: all knowledge of reality starts from experience and ends in it.
(Albert Einstein, 1954)

I don't believe in mathematics. (Albert Einstein, quoted by Carl Seelig, in 'Albert Einstein')

 

Which "caveat" you nor anyone else has attempted to refute. Ridiculing the 'caveat' only shows your limited capacity of intellect and your own inability to refute the 'caveat'.

 

You are not being entirely honest, the age of the earth is based largely on the half lives of isotopes. Not off of the imaginative finding of another scientist.

Also, you are cherry picking your quotes.

 

Well, being where you are I understand where you are coming from, however I disagree with the destination.

However, your question show this. What you should do is ask "how is the age of the earth determined?" rather than asking if it is a scientific conspiracy. If the age of the earth is measured at X by the half lives of radioactive elements, then you would need a method of disproving this fact. To look at a book, that was written when the earth was flat and in the center of the universe, is not the best means of determining the age of the earth. Especially when the bible does not actually state the age of the earth.

I have found that science answers far many more questions for me than faith ever did, that is basically where I am coming from.

 

Like I said,,,, arbitrary numbers generated by the imagination of a scientist and accepted as truth by the other scientists. What are the half lives of those radioactive elements? Provide a detailed listing of all that are used in determining age of another substance.

 

You're intriguing me, please awnser my other two questions.

 

So, basically, conspiracy. Is that really your strongest argument?

 

"Conspiracy" is your choice of words, not mine. I see it more over as a collaboration of interested parties working toward a common goal wherein all of the interested parties will benefit by way of their collaboration. The benefits in this particular case,, is the funding by government to support their continued research at the expense of all tax payers.

Does one need a stronger argument? Besides, my comments were not brought to the forum as a proposed argument, but rather, as an explanation to at least one of the questions posed in the OP. So go dry your tears elsewhere.

 

Uranium is the first that comes to mind.

They are not arbitrary numbers, as much as you may want to believe they are, they are measurable.

 

You failed to provide a complete list and you also failed to provide the half-life of the one that you did mention. What is the half life of uranium?

Let me help: "The half-life of uranium-238 is about 4.47 billion years and that of uranium-235 is 704 million years,[4] making them useful in dating the age of the Earth." Now, with no scientific equipment available at the big bang or the creation of newly formed uranium, how and where did the numbers come from? Do you have records dating back to the creation or the big bang which provides a scientific tabulation of what the readings were of that freshly formed uranium? No? Then where did the numbers come from..????? Out of the air????

 

I am not going to waste my time posting a full list, you obviously know more on the subject than anyone else.

Uranium-238 is the most stable isotope of uranium, with a half-life of about 4.468×109 years, roughly the age of the Earth. Uranium-235 has a half-life of about 7.13×108 years, and uranium-234 has a half-life of about 2.48×105 years.[68] For natural uranium, about 49% of its alpha rays are emitted by each of 238U atom, and also 49% by 234U (since the latter is formed from the former) and about 2.0% of them by the 235U. When the Earth was young, probably about one-fifth of its uranium was uranium-235, but the percentage of 234U was probably much lower than this.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uranium

 

So Baseballboy. Why don't you just pick up a bible and start reading? Why do you need these opinions when you have God's own letter to you.

 

Well, I appreciate your vote of confidence on my level of knowledge, but I must remind you once again, that you are in error. If I knew more than anyone else, I would not be asking 'where did the numbers come from?'

Uranium-238 is the most stable isotope of uranium, with a half-life of about 4.468×109 years, roughly the age of the Earth. Uranium-235 has a half-life of about 7.13×108 years, and uranium-234 has a half-life of about 2.48×105 years.[68] For natural uranium, about 49% of its alpha rays are emitted by each of 238U atom, and also 49% by 234U (since the latter is formed from the former) and about 2.0% of them by the 235U. When the Earth was young, probably about one-fifth of its uranium was uranium-235, but the percentage of 234U was probably much lower than this.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uranium[/QUOTE]


So where did all of those numbers come from? "..roughly the age of the Earth..."... Geee... that sounds like guess-work. "roughly"??????

 

Be careful of simply being intrigued.
Science is what it is because it is based on experimentation that can be repeated and verified by independent parties. It is not a conspiracy or an agreement amongst people with a unified goal (which is simply another description of conspiracy anyway).
I am not trying to disuade you from faith, but if you follow scripture you must love God with all your heart, all your strength, all your soul and all your MIND. Don't leave out the last part. Test and verify everything yourself. Embrace knowledge of all kinds, wherever you find it. Facts are not the enemy. They are a doorway.
When Paul was preaching to spread the Gospels, he came upon some people called the Bereans. They politely listened to him, but told him they would commit to nothing until they studied upon it themselves. All preachers, on the internet or in person, think they possess the truth, and few of them agree with each other.
If you are going to find a faith that is true to you, you will have to do the hard work of finding it for yourself. No one will hand you the truth. That will be your job.
This ordained minister would warn you against taking the Bible literally. Soon after me someone will call me a heretic and a liar. You will be no closer to the truth when we are all done.

 

Peace, love, joy, patience, goodness, kindness, faithfulness, gentleness and self control. The Fruits of the Spirit according to Paul in Galatians.

How many does this violate?

 

:/
Are you seriously asking where the number came from? How do you think they measure radioactivity?

 

None. Giving a piece of advice is not in violation of any of those tenets of the Bible.

 

Yes I am seriously asking. What standard do they use from a newly formed sample of uranium? Where did that newly formed sample come from? What you are suggesting is that an electronic device is constructed that can count particles that are emitted from that uranium and then they set an arbitrary scale to read a set of numbers.... so where did they get the numbers from in which to calibrate their piece of equipment? What relevance do those numbers have with the ACTUAL age of the specimen? Guess it looks like there is a 'god of the gaps' within the framework of science... using numbers that have no relevance (other than arbitrary) to the actual item being tested....

 

"So go dry your tears elsewhere."

This was your "advice"?
I think not bearing false witness applies to lying to yourself.
What do you think?