/lit/ - Literature

>>16771540
No. I met him. He's fake.

>>16771540
More so about experiencing the sublime through you everyday interactions with the world than reading some sterile book. Find the subtleties which arise in the multi-faceted wavelength of reality to pick up the trail of esotericism.

On the Origin of Species

>>16771712
Darwin wasn't an atheist.

Corpus Hermeticum

>>16771540
>Is God real?
yes
>What're some books that'll make or break my belief?
none, go to a church and talk to priest

>>16771816
He may be an american, the churches their are god awful

>>16771540
Nope sorry.

Books to read. The Bible. Then read The Odyssey. Then read the Tractatus Logico Philosiphicus. Then compare religion to quantum physics.

Ask >>>/x/

>>16771540
Ask yourself why does it matter if God is real or not and why do you want to know if he's real or not. Try to do so without repeating something you heard

>>16771540
>Is God real?
God is the only thing that is real.
>What're some books that'll make or break my belief?
Why would you want to believe when you can *know*?

>>16771540
Thomas Aquinas, Aristotle, and Plato to know that God must exist. Augustine is very solid after this. Then read literature which has a full Christian understanding of reality, such as Dostoevsky.

The collective unconscious is real, and God lives there, as a projection of the totality of your potential self, so, that's real enough for me.

>>16771540
Start with the Gathas.

>>16771540
any more photos like this?

>>16771540
of course not. he's no different than zeus or atum or kepri or hermes. the fact that there is more than one religion immediately invalidates christianity anyway. bunch of fool's acting like their religion is the only true one.

>>16771540
That all depends on what you mean by "god".

>>16771540
Yes

And read the King James Version of the Bible. Read the New Testament first, then the Old Testament also watch this video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xUO5o4YmTbA

>>16771816
The strongest proof of the inexistence of God is his priests.

surprised our resident troon hasnt shown up and derailed the thread yet

>>16772752
Who that? The guy thats always screaming?

>>16772747
The strongest proof of your stupidity is your post.

>>16771540
God is a chad

The monadology

hey its me god sorry I'm late, ask me anything

>>16772833
Do I have permission to kms?

>>16772980
kms is botnet, install gentoo

>>16771540
God is real and he's my enemy.

>>16771540
if youre looking for a god that has any human qualities at all (will, personality, intention, intelligence, judgement, existance within time/logic) than no. its obvious projection by humans.

>>16772999
Trips command it.

>>16771849
>Tractatus Logico Philosiphicus
wittgenstein? why?

A hint of Light in the dark...
Enough to keep from giving up
If I could go back to the Start
and break the pattern forming between us.

>>16773191
I dont even know u

>>16773005

>>16771816
>Of course god is real, it says so in the Bible
Yeah, that's sure to answer OP's question. I bet he never heard that before.

>>16772737

Of course I am real

>>16771540

>>16771540
is the world real are there things you dont know cant explain or quantify? then yea god is real but org. religion is total shit

>>>/x/

>>16772813
He was paraphrasing St. Catherine of Siena. Do as they say but not as they do.

>>16771849
More compelling is CS Lewis

>>16771826
Yup. Our priests are babbling Indians cause all the cool Irish ones died, and our god is Coca Cola

>>16771540
Personally, I was set on my path to conversion when I studied Aristotle's Metaphysics, and then Aquinas expansion on that. https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL_kd4Kgq4tP8e1BBGrC-eFlp86fqyvGex is a good introduction for the Aquinas part, but some things might be lost if you don't understand Aristotle

If you're looking more for apologetic stuff, then
>>16773967 is great, also Chesterton (not as good)

Listen to Bach to convince yourself there must be a God and read the New Testament with an open heart to confirm it

>>16774053
won't listening to Bach make you a Calvinist though? careful

>>16771540
No he isn't. It's a cope. A lot of the religious people here are converts because they were depressed and wanted to believe. That's it.

>>16772828
Who is this cute boy?

>>16771712
Retard

>>16771540
> Is God real?
He is, and you know it. (Or you wouldn't be asking this question.)
> What're some books that'll make or break my belief?
'Belief' doesn't matter. Trust does.

>>16774063
You utter fucking dolt he was a lutheran he owned three copies of the lutheran bible and wrote chorales for the lutheran church
Bach is still my favorite musician and God is still real, but hes lutheran my guy so dont slander him
>>16774115
This is a cope actually

>>16774135
>He is, and you know it.
This, its an unbearable question that people either embrace or revolt against, but never are unconscious of. From the very first ritual evidence half a million years ago men have been pulled and changed by the experience of the divine upon them. Its the basis of existential crisis, the wrongness of being both in the natural world and outside of it. There have been many many errors in response and prophecy (from the temples of moloch, the aztecs, etc), but the best and truest understanding of The Word was proclaimed during the Sermon on the Mount and in John 1:1-5.

>>16774150
How is that a cope? When did you become religious? After a depressive episode?

>>16771849
>Then compare religion to quantum physics.
The only religion that stands a chance against QM is Islam

>>16774191
>>16771849

I know it sounds like new agey reddit trash, but scientists being confused by finely tuned universe or the holographic principle or contemplating Boltzmann brains seems to be awkward cope for coming to grips with obvious deism or theism.

>>16771816
>>16771982
>>16772737
>>16774053
Daily reminder that the only reason you're Christians is because you were raised as Christians.
If you'd been born in another country you'd be evangelising Islam, Buddhism or Shinto with equal zeal and ideological blindness.

>>16774191
6th century warlordism with huge gaps in theology that have to be plugged with threats of death against those are anathematized cant deal with basic metaphysics.

>>16774221
Thats why Jehovah's Witnesses and Mormons have exploding numbers and Koreans immigrants become absolutely nutter christians.

This is the best book of 2020. Not only does it address your ever-urgent question, it does so in a way no other could—by contextualizing it in the cesspool we really live in right now and in years to come.

>>16774225
>6th century warlordism with huge gaps in theology that have to be plugged with threats of death against those are anathematized cant deal with basic metaphysics.
That's where you're wrong.
"In the Name of Allah—the Most Compassionate, Most Merciful."[1:1]
All praise is for Allah—Lord of all worlds,"[1:2]
Clearly compatible with the many-worlds interpretation of quantum mechanics, where it mentions that Allah is the Lord, ie., ruler and creator, of all worlds, not just this one, but infinitely many

>>16774217
Why don't you go explain it to them then?

>>16774221
Based and truthpilled

>>16774225
>Jehovah's Witnesses and Mormons
Cults prosper in the internet age. You should see how those Scientologists are doing.

>>16771540
>Is God real?
The issue is that the term God is kinda ambiguous.
Are any of the God(s) of the worlds religions real? No.
Could some other conception of God be real? Maybe, but I don't care for it since it would lack all the things that people really want out of God. A clean distinction between good and evil, a purpose and of course an afterlife. These things are all either not real or unknowable until we die.

>>16771540
If you can understand the concept of 'God' without anyone explicitly explaining it to you or catechizing you, and then can imagine a being or force that corresponds to that concept, then it could only mean that God exists (for you)

>>16774430
>then it could only mean that God exists (for you)
it might be extremely painful

>>16774430
>If you can understand the concept of 'God' without anyone explicitly explaining it to you or catechizing you
>Schizophrenia is a serious mental disorder in which people interpret reality abnormally. Schizophrenia may result in some combination of hallucinations, delusions, and extremely disordered thinking and behavior that impairs daily functioning, and can be disabling.
All around me.....

>>16774449
You're a big guy

>>16771725
>Implying the book didn't make me believe in an omnipotent God that uses a violent struggle to create order

>>16771540
Read Mere Christianity

>>16771540
Who's winning?
What lvls are Ezekiel's demons?
What kind of skill is YHWH using against Ezekiel?
What path Ezekiel chose?

Who gives a shit either way?

I read a lot of shit, now I don’t even care
Let the universe reveal itself to you, you’ll get it

>>16771540
unironically pic related
people only hate on it because it's popular, it's a damn compelling little novel with a mature viewpoint of the church

>>16774168
I became religious and than i had my depressive episode
Take a good hard look at life and you realize its not great
Religion hates ignorance its about knowing as much as possible
Go ahead try and disprove it with more knowledge, at the bottom of science you find God waiting for you. I paraphrased louis pasteur? Or maybe it was heisenberg

>>16776199
I legit thought it was Pasteur too, weird. It was Heisenberg.
>The first gulp from the glass of natural sciences will turn you into an atheist, but at the bottom of the glass God is waiting for you.

>>16776024
I remember as a kid when everybody in church was talking about this book and they all read it and discussed how it was misrepresenting Christianity. In hindsight it was a hilarious marketing angle, props to Brown.

everything that is shares the quality of being. so whoever, whichever source, is the master of being must be behind everything that is

So many christfags in this thread.Mudslimes, kikes where are you?

>>16772737

>>16772737
the 40 year old SIINER

>>16771540
Yes, He is. Check out the Spiritual Writings of Soren Kierkegaard harper perennial edition

>>16771826
I'm danish, here a lot of priests are "cultural christans" so agnostics who find importance in the bible

>>16776631 here
>>16776613
What texts do you recommend? i can read it in the original

>>16772737
>prot rant

>>16771540
>God exists?
It's personal. If you feel him and feel his call/presence, then yes, of course(maybe you would call it energy, or anything else, it doesn't necessarily is the christian God. It depends of your culture/civilization).

If not, you doubt. Maybe yes, maybe not. That's part of life. For me the question is t if there is something or not. It is why some people feel it and others not.

>Books that create faith or destroy it
"Small Gods" from Terry pratchett and Scott Adams "God's debris".

>>16771540
The Bible and my diary desu

>>16774221
Daily reminder that the only "arguments" you soulless convictionless clumps of cells can come up with is fantasy scenarios that are not founded in reality, retard atheist.

Yes, but it is not an Abrahamic demon that is God. Look to Nature, it will all make sense

>>16771540
>Is God real?
Yes, as an interpretation.

>>16774221
>what is conversion

>>16771712
>evolution disproves God

>>16771540
>Is God real?
Yes
>is Yhwh real
No, lmao, kys cryptojew.

>>16778111
It doesn't disprove it, but it makes the idea pretty ridiculous.

>>16778119
Evolution has nothing to do with a creator, brainlet

>>16778129
Not on its own, but you can easily extrapolate from evolution the idea that your reality is set up this way because you were evolved into interpreting it as such, which means the idea of creation is just that... an idea.

>>16773142
Because he believed in God

>>16778119
No it doesn’t, and people who say it does have an autistically limited conception of what God is that betrays their only exposure to the divine as being the dogma of Semitic desert cults. It absolutely does nothing to damage the concepts of The One, the Logos, Natura Naturans etc.
Evolution doesn’t even truly impact anything but religious literalism any more than any natural process because those natural processes by any theistic logic would be beholden to the ultimate power.
Study some philosophy rather than limiting yourself to the dogma of Christians and militant atheists.

>>16778170
>Study some philosophy
Already did, see >>16778144

>>16778035
Daily reminder that you belong to one of 10000 existing religions that claim to serve the "one true god".Get you head out of your ass christcuck

>>16778035
Literally so braindead that you can't handle abstraction

>>16778035
You’re right, anon. Don’t worry, high intellects are often misunderstood. But here I am, and here you are; at least not everybody is stupid.

>>16778170
>the age old "You cant prove that it doesnt exist" """argument"""
Classic keep it up

>>16771540
Read "The Great Divorce" and then "Mere Christianity," and then you will believe in God (maybe not forever though but for a bit)

>>16771540
I hope this thread is a joke, but in case even 1 underaged poster hasn't figure that out yet: no one knows, and it doesn't really matter all that much. Never focus on if he is real or fake, focus instead on all the different things and ways of being god could be. It is a much more interesting question that will take you much further. Personally, I don't think the question even can be answered, because it is really a hundred questions each with a hundred answers. What God? Which God? Who's God? What is "real?" are we real? etc

>>16771546
>>16771907
>>16772602
>>16773131
>>16774325
>>16774430
>>16776613
>>16778088
Based

>>16771816
>>16771849
>>16772737
>>16774020
>>16774115
>>16774135
>>16774695
>>16776024
Cringe

>>16771915
>>16773904
>>16773911
Can't tell

>>16771982
Based AND Cringe

>>16772321
Doesn't-know-what-religion/spirituality/abstract thought-is-tier

>consciousness cannot be reduced to matter
>the interaction problem proves dualism is false
>the combination problem proves panpsychism is false
>therefore consciousness is all there is
>therefore idealism is true
>therefore the universe is a cosmic mind
>that cosmic mind is God

>>16778183
That proves that you haven’t studied any metaphysics pertaining to the concept of a God that isn’t just demiurge dogma, the idea of God in the examples I gave you does not figure some stern watchful man in the sky, it figures an ultimate truth and fundamental property of reality.
>>16778368
>the age old “nuh uh you can’t point out that what I said didn’t demonstrate what I said it did” childish sophistry
I’m not a Christian and I don’t believe in that kind of superstitious “god” but the point of the argument was that evolution does not disprove those beliefs, when it had been argued by a retard that it could and he gave no explanation as to how. Evolution does not demonstrate the non-existence of a god even if there isn’t one.

>>16778119
HAHAHAHAH

>>16771540
Yes. This is a relatively easy read on Aquinas' Five Ways.

>>16778576
>it figures an ultimate truth and fundamental property of reality
Yes, that's what I addressed. I didn't address the idea of "some stern watchful man in the sky" even remotely.

>>16774221
Cringe genetic fallacy "You're only religious because you were born into it"

>>16778576
Well I guess if you interpret god as some great collective mind/abstract concept or whatever and not as a singular human like entity, it cant really be disproven

>>16771540
God is a nourishing reality of life (read the Bible).

>>16771540

A couple of anons suggested Mere Christianity. I second that; it's good.

My suggestion is to couple that A Severe Mercy by Sheldon Vanauken. Vanauken was a student of C.S. Lewis's at around the time Lewis wrote Mere Christianity. Vanauken was a staunch atheist (as Lewis had been as a young man). This memoir chronicles his gradual conversion. It's a very fine and charming book. Highly recommended.

I also recommend The Seven-Story Mountain by Thomas Merton. This is another conversion story, by a young skeptic who is gradually won over to belief in God, then Christianity, then the Chuch. Merton eventually became a monk, and he wrote most of his books while living a monastic life. He was a very gifted writer. This book surprised everyone by becoming a worldwide bestseller. It remains a wonderful book.

Last but not least, a short conversion story by Jean-Rodolphe Kars, a French pianist of Austrian Jewish origin, who became Catholic priest. Attached. Source: https://www.hebrewcatholic.net/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/THC90.pdf (p. 11 ff.)

>>16778591
Aquinas actually refutes Christianity if you pay close attention to the arguments he employs.
All cosmological arguments for the God of Classical Theism completely destroy the idea that the universe is finite, for the simple reason that they are incompatible with the divine attribute of immutability, which is central in Classical Theism.
Basically, if God is the cause of the universe, he gains a new property when he freely decides to create the world. Before God made the universe he was not a creator, but he became so after the act. But God cannot gain any new properties (otherwise he wouldn't be Immutable).
You have to drop either Christianity or Classical Theism. Choose.

>>16771540
God is not an idea
real things are ideas
therefore God is not real

>>16771540
This is such a retarded interpretation of Ezekiel's encounter. I'm impressed someone could fuck up God's throne that bad.

The Bible, it worked for me.

>>16779324
How is God not an idea? Are you retarded or just pretending to be?

God Delusion :DDDDDDD

>>16773847
Nice reading comprehension, I like your selfie too.

>>16772321
I want to know what caused a human intelligence to write these words. Like how does one collect the knowledge required to name these terms without ANY adjacent information about any of them?

>>16771540
Enneads by Plotinus and the Elements of Theology by Proclus. I've never met a person who has done a deep dive into Neoplatonism and wants to retain their materialistic, atheistic beliefs.

>>16771540
Yes. Read the Bible, try talking to God, you'll see

>>16771816
>none, go to a church and talk to priest
Typical. Read the Bible anon. Please, read it

>>16771540
>Is God real?
Yes
>What're some books that'll make or break my belief?
None

Fucking hell so many bible thumpers.Really gives credence to the >>>16774221

>>16774191
Hinduism says hi

>>16779004
>implying human concepts of time apply to god

I had a mystic experience on psychedelics that eventually led to me converting to Christianity from atheism. God is most definitely real and alive in everything.

>>16771540
Faith is a gift from God, if you lack it you'll get to know him in Hell. Be thankful for that.

>>16781587
I personally don't believe in Hell as place, but rather a state of being. A total separation from the Light.

>>16781592
i see it a little differently, because one of the aspects of light is heat. in other words, some people can only learn the hard way.

>>16781567
Based and redpilled

>>16781592
>>16781609
You’re both right. Heaven and Hell are both the light of God. His presence is a blessing, but remember that it was also the light which dealt with Sodom and Gomorrah. If you love and accept God, then His presence is a heavenly gift. If you hate and resent God, only loving yourself, then the light is torture.

>>16782104
>eternal torture for refusing him
Fucking hell, the christcuck god really is absolute.An absolute narcissist psychopath

>>16782201
it's you torturing yourself though

>>16782235
Is this type of gaslighting also part of the eternal torture, or just something done to everyone?

>>16782611
>gaslighting
the meme word of the week has no theological significance lmao

>>16782235
Damn nigga this is the type of excuses you hear in a Saw movie from the antagonist
Also, victimblaming

I dont really think a book can do much more than break the dogmatic, cramped hypocrisy of secular thought which are heads are crammed with nowerdays. Everyone has the ability to become a friend of God, but theres no easy and quick way to do this. Try to be conscious of when your ego is leading you to be dishonest with yourself or hurt the feelings of others. Admit, and bravely admit, your worst vices and what they imply about you. Always look for a chance to be kind. Spend time in contemplation and pray sincerely and not self consciously, try to have genuine communication. Dont shy away in prayer from criticising God or questioning him. Ask and you will find that eventually he will answer. Love is a two way street, open your heart to God and he will pour open his to you.

>>16783624
> break the dogmatic, cramped hypocrisy of secular thought
Ayy lmao the irony is palpable
Also, I will spare you one reply and mention that Im not an atheist.There is a "god" if you can call it that but the sand nigger version is not it

>>16783717
The irony is all yours. The entire foundation myth of todays world is breaking from opressive, constrictive religious dogma- and now secularism has done the exact same shit.

>>16783758
Yeah both extremes are cancerous desu, thats why I added the not atheist part.Religion is not bad if it is applied correctly to a community, but the abrahamic way does more harm than good

>>16783843
my mistake then, I shouldnt have gotten so defensive

>>16774221
>>16778208
The one true God is the same in all religions.
Why do internet atheists lack vision to such a depressing extent? You people are incapable of seeing past appearances, of grasping meaning beyond what is immediately apparent.

>>16771540
>What're some books that'll make or break my belief?
How could creations of mere men make or break your belief on something like God?

>>16784037
>The one true God is the same in all religions
I guess all the religious wars ,discrimination etc. were all for naught.Thank you enlighten one
All memes aside, if there is only a singular "god" entity and he decided to introduce itself as different being to different people all over the globe, it is either ignorant/retarded or a full blown psycho.Either way, good look worshiping(and pleasing) that

>>16771875
based
literally more than half of /lit schitzo posters and schitzo threads should be moved there

>>16784157
>incapable of seeing past appearances, of grasping meaning beyond what is immediately apparent
Thanks for proving my point, dull one.

>>16784223
>incapable of seeing past appearances, of grasping meaning beyond what is immediately apparent
Thank you for repeating yourself like an idiot without saying anything meaningful.Always appreciated
Also, you are acting as if atheists are the only ones who made this mistake.Not all the important religious leaders and their following masses
I accept this thinking from a new agey type of spiritualism, not from fucking christcucks and abrahamshits

>>16784310
>you are acting as if atheists are the only ones who made this mistake
Nope.

>>16784321
> atheists lack vision to such a depressing extent
Well......

>>16784339
Yes. This doesn't imply that they're the only ones who do.
However, being devoid of vision is obviously more common in people who reject spirituality

>>16774221
My ex-Buddhist friend moved to the US and became an evangelical Christian despite being raised Buddhist. Several of my close friends are ex-Atheists and ex-convicts turned Christian as well. Speak for yourself fampai.

>>16785202
You can trade up as most people do. From the lower (non)religions like Buddhism and atheism to higher such as Christianity, but the reverse doesn't happen often. The only other way you can trade up is Islam - being a step higher than Christianity.

>>16785388
what metric is this list built on

>>16772828
>>16780465
This

>>16785202
>ex-convicts
God damn I didnt know you cant be religious if you are/were in prison lmao
>>16785638
>handrub.exe

>>16785388
>The only other way you can trade up is Islam
Based.Christfags will be wiped out in a few generations anyway

>>16785673
I was responding to the guy who said people are only religious if they were raised religious. I was referencing my friend who came from an awful background and converted in prison as an example of how this isn't the case.

>>16785673
>Neoplatonism is pozzed
wat

>>16785684
>The only other way you can trade up is Islam
Based

>>16771540
>Where is the proof of God?
John 20:29
20:29 Then Jesus told him, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”

There isn't any proof.

>>16785686
People gravitate towards hope,even if its fake or not.Color me surprised

>>16785388
>The only other way you can trade up is Islam
Based

>>16785743
el seethe

>>16786386
Not really.Not yet

no

just use ur brain for like 2 minutes, dude come on

>>16785673
>>16785686
They 'convert' in prison because it's useful for getting parole

>>16787211
cynical