Showing posts with label Dialogue. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Dialogue. Show all posts

18 Jan 2013

Dialogue with an atheist - Part 10 - The Invisible hand


Dialogue with an atheist - Part 10 - The Invisible hand.
by P.K.Odendaal - January 2013
 
Our Protagonist's acronym GLC stands for God Loving Creature.

GLC:        Hi Atheist, care for a curved ball from me?
Atheist:   Why not?
GLC:        Have you heard of the Invisible Hand?
Atheist:   Why, no.
GLC:        It is quite a well known and basic principle in Economics.
Atheist:   Why do you want to tell me? I don't like economics.
GLC:        Because it demonstrates quite clearly the presence of God in inanimate things, of which Economics is an excellent example. We can then also extrapolate this phenomenon throughout the Universe.

10 Jan 2013

Dialogue with an atheist - Part 9 - Talking to God


Dialogue with an atheist - Part 9 - Talking to God

GLC         Do you think that inanimate things have souls - or can feel emotion - or can understand something?
Atheists:  Of course, I believe in it. That is what Darwinism is all about. Darwinism posits that the tiny cells, even in inanimate things, steers the course of evolution in a random way. And if you did not know, electrons which are totally inanimate know their way around an atom's nucleus. This has been determined by our brilliant scientists. In fact, we do not believe in any external meta-physical influences on such an electron. It knows by itself and the nuclear forces acting on it, what it should do, and it does it every-time without fail.


5 Jan 2013

Dialogue with an atheist - Part 8 - Tree of death


Dialogue with an atheist - Part 8 - The tree of death - by P.K.Odendaal
January 2013
 
Note added by the narrator 13 March 2013.

Our Protagonist's acronym GLC stands for God Loving Creature. 

GLC:        Hi Atheist, why do you look so intoxicated today - have you had some drink or drugs?
Atheist:   I will have you know that I do not drink and I don't do drugs - and I am very sober as I stand here. My behaviour conforms to the highest moral standards of society - much higher than most of you Christians.
GLC:        I was talking of your intoxication with the drugs which come from the fruit of the tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, because I see  that you have had too much it. It intoxicates the soul with temporary pleasure and vainglory, takes away hope and faith, sells you as a slave and in the end kills you - like all other drugs. It burns you from the inside until there are only ashes left in your soul.

20 Dec 2012

Dialogue with an atheist - Part 7 - Spirits

Dialogue with an atheist - Part 7 - Spirits - by P.K.Odendaal - December 2012

Our Protagonist's acronym GLC stands for God Loving Creature. 

GLC:        Hi Atheist, why are you coming back time and again. I thought you would have shunned my company many moons ago.
Atheist:   I don't know. I do not like Christians, but somehow you give me something to think about now and then. You sometimes have a point - a weak one, but still. And you do not shun or force Christianity down my throat immediately, like other Christians do. I am so fed up with them about that. But ... what are we talking about today.
GLC:        We are going to jump directly into the spiritual world - the one you are so sure does not exist. You must have gathered from the subject of our previous dialogue, called 'Evil', that I would now follow with Spirits, because spirits are the abode of evil. Evil does not exist anywhere else, despite this humorous poem by Lewis Carroll (from Phantasmagoria):

12 Dec 2012

Dialogue with an atheist - Part 6 - Evil

Dialogue with an atheist - Part 6 - Evil - by P.K.Odendaal - December 2012.

Our Protagonist's acronym GLC stands for God Loving Creature.

Atheist:   Last time you talked about evil, and I wish to take you up on that. Why do you say Dawkins and company are evil and the Israelites are not? I thought the latter were indeed the worst - if one can believe the Bible.
GLC:        Sorry for the ambiguity. I meant that I regard Dawkins and company as evil, but they cannot be described as evil to an atheist, because there is no concept of evil for an atheist. Evil, Satan, Hell, Perdition and the Last Judgement are words defined and created in the Bible - by God and the writers of Scripture. Of course, if you do not believe in God, then Evil, Satan, Hell and the Devil are also non-existent concepts.
Atheist:   That is an insult to me - of course I know what evil is and means. I see it around me every day.

7 Dec 2012

Dialogue with an atheist - Part 5 - War and peace

Dialogue with an atheist - part 5 - War and Peace -  by P.K.Odendaal - December 2012

Our Protagonist's acronym GLC stands for God Loving Creature.

Scripture

Atheist:   Hi GLC, I have been looking for you everywhere after you insulted my heroes or revered writers last time. You got very uptight, and I thought that you were so clinically rational.
GLC:        Hi Atheist. I am not only rational - I am also passionate and a lot of other things. You however are the strictly rational one. So what are you up to today?
Atheist:   I am throwing you a curved ball today, and I cannot wait to see you being caught out on first base.

2 Dec 2012

Dialogue with an atheist - Part 4 - by P.K.Odendaal - Determinism and Agnosticism - December 2012

Dialogue with an atheist - Part 4 - Determinism and Agnosticism -by P.K.Odendaal - December 2012

Our Protagonist's acronym GLC stands for God Loving Creature. 

What is an atheist really

GLC:        Hi Atheist, interested in another session with me, about things material and immaterial? Or shall I say physical and meta-physical? Or what about this one ... carnal and spiritual?
Atheist:   You have this funny effect on me - I detest you, but still I cannot help but listening to you - the same effect as people like Dawkins and hitchens have on Christians.
GLC:        I do not mean it to be a sort of punishment, but rather an excursion into realms and domains where you would feel ill at ease, but still domains which exist. I know you are a materialist, and that you only believe in physical things, but leading a life of bondage in only one domain must cramp your lifestyle immensely.
Atheist:   Ok, go ahead, what do you have in store today?

17 Nov 2012

Dialogue with an Atheist - Part 3 - Gravity of the situation

Dialogue with and atheist - Part 1 - by P.K.Odendaal - October 2012

Our Protagonist's acronym GLC stands for God Loving Creature.

Gravity of the situation.

GLC:        Hi Atheist, I did not know that you would come back for another session of our dialogue. You looked very perplexed last time.
Atheist:   You left you too much to think about, although I cannot get myself to think where you got it wrong - but wrong you surely got it. So I might redeem myself today with some fresh new arguments.
GLC:        And speaking of redemption. Why would you want to redeem yourself. Where did you get lost or lost your faith or your self-composure. I thought that only Christians looked for redemption.

14 Nov 2012

Dialogue with an Atheist - Part 2

Dialogue with an Atheist - Part 2 - by P.K.Odendaal - November 2012

Our Protagonist's acronym GLC stands for God Loving Creature.

Less tangible objects.

GLC:        Hi there, Atheist, where are you hurrying to?
Atheist:   I am off to some business at the bank.
GLC:        Why did you all of a sudden remember to rush off to the bank just when you saw me?
Atheist:   I do not like you Christians. You think the world belongs to you. Everywhere you have people in high places trying to dictate policy along Christian principles, which the rest of us do not like.
GLC:        You are not perhaps talking of some church going people who wish to force their church dogma onto you?
Atheist:   Yes, exactly.

27 Jul 2012

A dialogue between Moses and Aristotle - Part 3

A dialogue between Moses (1392 - 1272 B.C.) and Aristotle (384 - 322 B.C.) - from Transcripts of their debate.
Written by P.K.Odendaal - 16 Feb. 2011

PART 3: Is there a proof for the existence of God ?

Moses:    Now that we know your logical system, can you help us to make a logical conclusion between free will and a knowledge of the existence of  God.

Aristotle: Yes, here it is (if I understand you correclty):

                A : God wanted to make man like himself to be friends with, and to converse with him and to appoint him to reign over the universe as a king and priest.

                B : If man had to be like God, he had to have free will.

                C : If man knew for sure, by scientific analysis, rational thought or deduction, that there was a God, who was righteous and who punished sin, then man would have been under duress and fear of punishment and eternal damnation, thereby inhibiting his free will.

                Z : QED - it easily follows that God cannot reveal himself in any scientific or rational way, if He wants people to exercise their Free Will unhindered

23 Jul 2012

A Dialogue between Pope Leo X and Thomas Paine

A dialogue between Pope Leo X (1475 - 1521 A.D.) and Thomas Paine (1737 - 1809 A.D.) - from Transcripts of their debate.

Written by P.K.Odendaal - March 2011

Foreword for all my Dialogues
Note by the Scribe (writer) : This piece was compiled with the latest facts and interpretations of History and the Bible. It is, after all, an unfinished work as the dialogue will only be conducted after the rapture when everyone will know everything, but it is also conceivable that it has already taken place, because there is no clear scripture that says one first has to go to a place of detention before inheriting your prize - be that eternal life or eternal damnation.

In any case, chances are that this would be a very accurate transcription of that dialogue. Part of this is of course speculation.

11 Sept 2011

A Dialogue between Moses and Aristotle - Part 1


A dialogue between Moses (1392 - 1272 B.C.) and Aristotle (384 - 322 B.C.) - from Transcripts of their debate.

Written by P.K.Odendaal - 16 Feb. 2011

Note by the Scribe (writer) : This piece was compiled with the latest facts and interpretations of History and the Bible. It is, after all, an unfinished work as the dialogue will only be conducted after the rapture when everyone will know everything, but it is also conceivable that it has already taken place, because there is no clear scripture that says one first has to go to a place of detention before inheriting your prize - be that eternal life or eternal damnation.

In any case, chances are that this would be a very accurate transcription of that dialogue. Part of this is of course conjecture.

The intent of this dialogue is to bring the false theories, false statements, frailties and errors of humans to light, whilst confirming the events of the Bible which has stayed true for 3 300 years.

The reason that I have chosen these two characters is that both are the best mankind had to offer in these fields - Moses as an exemplary example of a man of God and Aristotle as an exemplary example of human excellence and human failure.

Although I have tried to interpret the Bible and History as accurately as  possible, I have had to use my poetic license to fill in the gaps, but I have not stretched that license unduly. If I have unduly criticised someone, due to my ignorance, I beg their pardon beforehand. I do, however, give them the benefit of the doubt as I am writing this with hindsight which is 20/20 vision, whilst they did this in uncertain times, in doubt, with partial knowledge, in the heat of the moment and some under pressure and duress.
 

PART 1

Introduction and background.

Moses:    Hi there Ari, and how are you today ?

A Dialogue between Sir Thomas More and William Tyndale


A dialogue between Sir Thomas More (A man for all Seasons 1478 - 1535 A.D.) and William Tyndale (1494 - 1536 A.D.) - from Transcripts of their debate.
Written by P.K.Odendaal - February 2011

Foreword for all my Dialogues
Note by the Scribe (writer) : This piece was compiled with the latest facts and interpretations of History and the Bible. It is, after all, an unfinished work as the dialogue will only be conducted after the rapture when everyone will know everything, but it is also conceivable that it has already taken place, because there is no clear scripture that says one first has to go to a place of detention before inheriting your prize - be that eternal life or eternal damnation.

In any case, chances are that this would be a very accurate transcription of that dialogue. Part of this is of course speculation.

The intent of this dialogue is to bring the false theories, false statements, frailties and errors of humans to light, whilst confirming the events of the Bible which has stayed true for 3 300 years.
The reason that I have chosen these two characters is that both are the best mankind had to offer in these fields - Sir Thomas More as a man for all seasons and his triumph and failure as a man of the Church and William Tyndale as an exemplary example of a Man of God and of human excellence, resilience and tenacity.

17 Feb 2011

A dialogue between Moses and Aristotle - Part 2



A dialogue between Moses (1392 - 1272 B.C.) and Aristotle (384 - 322 B.C.) - from Transcripts of their debate.
Written by P.K.Odendaal - 16 Feb. 2011


PART 2
The Logical proof system.
Moses :   And what are your theories and observations ?
Aristotle: Man is the crown and centre piece of the universe and thus his position must be in the middle. And what is more - anybody can see that the stars,sun and moon moves around the earth.
Moses:    Wow !! You invented Logic, which was used for the next 2 200 years, and you tell me that you made these important and wild statements without the scientific and mathematical process of your own Logic. Your notions for the centrality of earth will not cut the mustard in any intellectual argument being, as you term it, an irrelevant conclusion.
Aristotle: No, the system is quite easy, although I did not apply it to my 'wild statements' as you allege. I did use one of my irrelevant conclusions to prove that one. But the Logical process is like this :