Is there a hole inside you?

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Paul
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I've seen and heard religious people talk about stuff like that. In terms of a hole or a space or a place inside them that they fill with Gods love, or something to that effect.

I'd like you guys to explain this to me and also to share your personal experiences of this phenomena.


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There is a place that only God can occupy,and that involves a different state of consciousness. Only God can bring you there.
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@Paul
I guess even my female god, Fiora, can wear a strapon to achieve this as well as basically solidifying the air at a certain length and diameter to penetrate our holes.

God is the holiest after all, God cannot be male but yeah I dig this humour.

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@janesix
There is a place that only God can occupy,and that involves a different state of consciousness. Only God can bring you there.

Will you tell us about it?

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@Paul
Billy Graham popularised the notion that non-Christians had a God sized hole in their heart that needs filling. The idea was that non-believers were always looking for something - even though they did not know what it was - but that they felt empty without it.  Graham suggested it was God that they were missing - so they should invite God into their heart to have this need satisfied. 

Although I understand where he is coming from, I personally think it can be misleading. In the first place - our hearts don't just have a hole - they are broken and sinful. They need to be totally replaced, not just repaired. the bible says God will give a new heart - he calls this regeneration. Jesus called it being born again. 

I also think it is not simply a matter of inviting Jesus into your heart. This implies that somehow we can do something - and that it is up to us to do the inviting. For me, this makes God rather pathetic. I think that when God moves - he moves and humans cant stop him. The example of Paul on the road to Damascus is a great example. Paul was intent on going to Damascus to put Christians into prison and possibly killed. Jesus confronted him on the road and essentially told him to stop resisting him. Paul was gobsmacked and immediately fell into line. Paul never invited Jesus into his heart - Jesus told him - and Paul cried out "yes Lord". 

Regeneration is the activity of God. He changes our heart - and leads us to repentance over our sins - He declares us justified - and fills us with his Spirit. Jesus death on the cross is the legal justification for this declaration. His resurrection from the grave proves it.  Pentecost - the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the church - evidenced his ascension to heaven. In other words, if Jesus did not ascend to heaven, the Pentecost could not have occurred - and the church would not have been born.  

The historical record - shows the exponential growth of the church was phenomenal. From a little over 12 disciples in or around 33 Ad to over half of the Roman kingdom some 300 years later - we are talking millions and millions of people - is staggering. And this was before Constantine declared the Roman nation Christian. In many ways the emperor had no choice - but to declare Rome Christian because Christians were everywhere and growing. He needed to legalise it - so he could control it. 

Yet, despite the debates over whether Constantine's conversion were good or bad for the church - one thing is sure - the church had grown to such an extent - in such a short time even prior to Constantine - that if it was not the work of a divine hand which grew it, then what other possible - and indeed plausible explanation could there be other than the fact that Jesus died and rose from the grave. 

This is one place where critics of the resurrection fall down. They pick on one thing - selectively but don't address the totality. The empty tomb. The eyewitnesses. The exponential growth of the church.

So Paul, my view would be get your bible out and start reading through the gospel of Mark. It is the shortest of the gospels and gets right into the ministry of Jesus fairly quickly. Reading the entire book in one sitting would be good - read it out loud too. when it was written it was written to be read out loud because most people could not read. And if you have any other questions - ask away. 

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@Paul
Sure. God put me into a different state of consciousness. He opened my chakras. He showed me the mistakes I've made in my life. He showed me that Revelation is an inner battle, not an outer one. 
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@janesix
Would you say that religion is an inwardly focused activity?

Is it all about your perception of God and your personal relationship with God?

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@Paul
Would you say that religion is an inwardly focused activity?


Is it all about your perception of God and your personal relationship with God?
I'm not sure. There may be some aspects that need to be outwardly focused. I think there may be reasons for certain things, such as where holy sites are built. Many churches and cathedrals have been built on top of "pagan" holy sites. I don't think this is just a matter of appropriation. I think some sites may have something to them that draws people to them. Not sure what it is, but I think something real is going on. 

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@janesix
There is a place that only God can occupy,and that involves a different state of consciousness. Only God can bring you there.
Many people in 60's claimed to see God after ingesting some substance and attaining "differrent states of consciousness"
...and now there is evidence that some shrooms will create growth of new brain cells WOW! ....

..."A 2013 study from the University of South Florida has found that psilocybin, the psychoactive component of magic mushrooms, is able to stimulate neurogenesis, which is the growth and repair of brain cells in the hippocampus.Dec 18, 2015"....

Fuller states that the Vector Equlibrium { VE } is closet we will come to knowing God.

..."440.01 Equilibrium between positive and negative is zero.

....The vector equilibrium isthe true zero reference of the energetic mathematics.Zero pulsation in the vectorequilibrium is the nearest approach we will ever knowto eternity and god: the zerophaseof conceptual integrity inherent in the positive andnegative asymmetries that propagatethe differentials of consciousness."...


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@mustardness
Some DO claim certain drugs can create religious experience. I have never tried that though. Probably never will. 
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@mustardness
Unless someone states their god experience is drug induced don't assume it is. 
Castin
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I don't pretend that I've never experienced spiritual emptiness or a feeling of seeking something I felt was missing or unanswered.
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@Tradesecret
I was raised in a non religious family. We didn't really talk about God or religion. Mostly at the dinner table we talked about academic and educational subjects as well as current events. Most of the shows we watched together on TV were documentaries and educational shows. This was probably due to the fact that my mom was a teacher.

The idea that I have a hole inside me is something I don't understand because I have never felt like I had a hole inside me that I needed to fill with anything. That being said do you think I should fill the hole inside me with God even though I don't have a hole inside me?

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Yes. There is. I put food in it.
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--> @drafterman
So that it can come out of another one.
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@drafterman
Yes. There is. I put food in it.

Thanks for the offer, but I’d rather do that myself.

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@RationalMadman
So that it can come out of another one.

That’s a tube not a hole.

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@Paul
all holes of the body lead to a tube, genius.
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@RationalMadman
Why thank you, it’s nice to be recognized.

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@Paul
It exits through the hole, stop thinking you're so clever.
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@Polytheist-Witch

Pretty good demonstration, I think I understand this hole business now.

Currently all my holes are all filed, life is good. This idea of creating a new hole inside me and filling it up with religion would give me another hole. I don't want another hole. What happens if the religion leaks out, what do I do then?

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@RationalMadman
I know that, apparently you have no sense of humor.

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@Paul
I do but more often than not I'm the brunt of this site's humour so over time it's eroded somewhat.
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@Paul
You mean the song video?
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@Tradesecret
This is one place where critics of the resurrection fall down. They pick on one thing - selectively but don't address the totality.

The one thing such as the fact that people don't come back from the dead? And, this one thing is irrelevant to you?

The empty tomb. The eyewitnesses. The exponential growth of the church.
Those can all easily be accounted for and have nothing to do with someone rising from the dead.

The Resurrection story hinges entirely on people coming back from the dead, which is crazy if anyone actually believes that.
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@Paul
I was raised in a non religious family. We didn't really talk about God or religion. Mostly at the dinner table we talked about academic and educational subjects as well as current events. Most of the shows we watched together on TV were documentaries and educational shows. This was probably due to the fact that my mom was a teacher.

The idea that I have a hole inside me is something I don't understand because I have never felt like I had a hole inside me that I needed to fill with anything. That being said do you think I should fill the hole inside me with God even though I don't have a hole inside me?
My mum was a teacher too. We used to watch lots of educational shows and documentaries as well. We just were not shielded from religion like it seems you were. My mother wanted us to have a wide and broad education. 

I don't know whether you have a hole in you or not. I don't think people have God sized holes inside them. Nor do I think that God is simply going to fill a hole. God wants more than a whole - he wants everything.  I think the entire notion of a hole is misleading and unhelpful. 

I never had a hole that needed filling. I did need God - but that is a different thing altogether. 
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@Goldtop
This is one place where critics of the resurrection fall down. They pick on one thing - selectively but don't address the totality.

The one thing such as the fact that people don't come back from the dead? And, this one thing is irrelevant to you?

The empty tomb. The eyewitnesses. The exponential growth of the church.
Those can all easily be accounted for and have nothing to do with someone rising from the dead.

The Resurrection story hinges entirely on people coming back from the dead, which is crazy if anyone actually believes that.

I never said people coming back from the dead was irrelevant. These things have not despite your suggestion been easy to explain. I said the totality is important - because one of these things by themselves is something people attack - but no one has ever successfully tackled the entire three. The facts are Jesus did die. Romans are very good at killing people. The fact is Jesus' tomb was empty. And his body was never found - something that both the Romans and the Jewish leaders had very good incentives to supply. Fact is the disciples were not educated persons so hardly likely to be able to conjure up a conspiracy which has been so persuasive. Even the usage of females as the first witnesses is significant evidence that Jesus' resurrection is not a conspiracy. Fact is over 500 people saw Jesus alive after his death. Many of these people were prepared to die for what they believed they saw. People might die for a belief - Muslims do it all the time - but how many would die for a lie that they knew about personally? What motivation is there in this? At the time the church did not have money - or power or respect in the community. The fact is - the church grew exponentially - this is demonstrated by non-Christian historians and authors who have studied it. They don't believe Jesus rose from the dead - but they acknowledge something significant happened - which they have not been able to explain - which clearly puts your suggestion that things are easily explained as implausible. 

Yes, people coming back from the dead is crazy. why? Because from our point of view it is impossible. This is why the story is amazing - and why it has plausibility. The facts - from an objective point of view - clearly show Jesus rose from the dead. The stumbling block most people have is - they don't believe in God. Hence, take God out of the picture and it must be a lie or a myth. There can be no other explanation. 
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All the nihilists running around here do seem to have a big truth sized hole in their heart.




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@Tradesecret
Fact is over 500 people saw Jesus alive after his death.
Prove it.