Introduction to Belief and Reality
Thank you for coming and welcome to Belief and Reality! This site’s goal is to be a platform which fellow Christians of all backgrounds can come together and help each other understand the struggles they face on a daily basis, pooling resources together to track down the answers that many of us may have given up on. Our aim is to step away from the canned traditional answers and cut deeply into the logic and evidence for our positions, as well as putting in time and effort to support each other with life’s challenges.
We look at theological questions such as:
- How do you reconcile the genocidal God of the Old Testament Vs the love of Jesus in the New Testament?
- Why would God create the possibility of a Hell when He already knew many people would choose it over His offer of salvation?
- How is God still meaningfully loving when He sentences people to eternal torment if they choose wrongly?
And apologetic questions like:
- How can we be sure the New Testament Gospel is historically accurate if the earliest writings we have are dated to much after Christ’s death?
- Doesn’t radiometric dating and carbon dating show empirically that the earth is approximately 4.5 billion years old and therefore creationism is false?
- If evolution is scientifically verifiable, doesn’t this obviously mean Christianity is false?
(And many other kinds of questions as well!)
For more details on how to use the site, just keep scrolling down!
How Things Work on the Site
This site offers the following tools to support the users:
The 3 Step Peer Review System
Step 1: The ‘Discussion Page’ –Generate discussion on a particular issue, nailing down what specifically we’re trying to answer and pursue opposing sides to the argument. Once the arguments are reduced to a fairly concise form, the messages are compiled into a rough essay.
Step2: The ‘Reviews Page’ –Continue perfecting the essay, tracking down sources and citing them, correcting any grammatical errors, adjusting the wording for the arguments as needed. After the document is proofed and tidied, it is then turned into a page inside the ‘Topics Guide.’
Step3: The ‘Topics Guide’ –This page acts as a directory to the issues that have made it past the first two steps. Once the issue has been turned into a Topic, user may still comment on the piece and suggest minor changes or slightly clarify existing content. Periodically, the piece will be modified to reflect these changes.
Opinion Pieces Page
This page will contain single author documents which relay the ideas (or questions) a user wishes to convey to the rest of the group without having to go through a chat system or slog through the reviewing system. It’s meant to allow people to ask or talk about truly difficult questions which are not typically bible-study friendly.
Support Group Page
This section is meant to be a convenient way for users to get advice, prayer, comfort, or just a listening ear for the situations life throws at us sometimes. This page is also password protected to keep the privacy of its participants safe.
Events/Announcements Page
This area is meant for users to post their announcements or upcoming events that they want the other user to be aware of. whether it’s a camping trip, or dance, or a travel declaration, we’re happy to hear from you and join in the fun!
Contact an Admin:
Thanks for reading, we hope this site will be a tool for you to use in your life’s journey.
You can contact the Admin via this email address:
Verses:
Hebrews 11:6
“And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who seek him. ”
Acts 17:11
“Now the Berean Jews were of more noble character than those in Thessalonica, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true.”
1 Peter 3:15
“But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect,”
Quotes:
“Christianity, if false, is of no importance, and if true, of infinite importance, the only thing it cannot be is moderately important.”
― C.S. Lewis
“When you think of it, really there are four fundamental questions of life… ‘How did I come into being? What brings life meaning? How do I know right from wrong? Where am I headed after I die?'”
-Ravi Zacharias
“Faith is not a leap in the dark; it’s the exact opposite. It’s a commitment based on evidence… It is irrational to reduce all faith to blind faith and then subject it to ridicule. That provides a very anti-intellectual and convenient way of avoiding intelligent discussion.”
― John C. Lennox
“My argument against God was that the universe seemed so cruel and unjust. But how had I got this idea of just and unjust? A man does not call a line crooked unless he has some idea of a straight line. What was I comparing this universe with when I called it unjust?”
― C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity
“So evil can’t exist unless good exists. But good can’t exist unless God exists. In other words, there can be no objective evil unless there is objective good, and there can be no objective good unless God exists. If evil is real—and we all know it is—then God exists.”
― Frank Turek