A further thought on why I keep mentioning God . . .
"God as a working hypothesis in morals, politics, or science, has been surmounted and abolished, and the same thing has happened in philosophy and religion (Feuerbach!). For the sake of intellectual honesty, that working hypothesis should be dropped, or as far as possible eliminated. . . . Honesty demands that we recognise that we must live in the world as if there were no God. And this is just what we do recognise - before God! God himself drives us to this realisation. - God makes us know that we must live as men who can get along without Him. The God who is with us is the God who forsakes us (Mark 15:34)! We stand continually in the presence of God who makes us live in the world without the God-hypothesis" (Letters and Papers from Prison SCM, London 1971, p. 360).
Comments
It seems to me that for the sake of intellectual honesty, to say nothing of honesty more generally. . . one should not be using the word God unless one is talking about "The Supreme Being" aka "The Creator Of The Universe".
If I remember correctly the third commandment says -
"You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain, for the LORD will not hold him guiltless who takes His name in vain"
It seems to me that (mis)using the word "God" when, as an avowed atheist, you are not actually talking about God completely disregards this commandment.
Isaiah 29:13 echoes the third commandment saying -
The Lord says:
"These people come near to me with their mouth and honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. Their worship of me is based on merely human rules they have been taught."
You may not believe in God, but do you know with absolute certainty that God does not exist?
Presumably not. . .
In that, according to these and similar Biblical admonitions, God might be just a tad annoyed by your (mis)use of the word God might it not be more advisable to stop (mis)using the word God?
WVC = appin
Why, if you claim to be a Christian Atheist, do you keep mentioning God?
I read your follow-up comments and I am still digesting them. It did occur to me the other day, before reading your most recent comments, that you *could* with integrity describe yourself as a Christianity)-Positive Atheist or a Christianity-Friendly Atheist but perhaps neither of those two designations adequately describes your personal stance. I may chime in again later if I feel I have something worthwhile to add.
Best Regards,
Robin Edgar
Dear Robin, I've just posted a couple of related comments on my previous post that addresses some of these points:
Why, if you claim to be a Christian Atheist, do you keep mentioning God?
Robin replied as follows:
Thanks Andrew,
I read your follow-up comments and I am still digesting them. It did occur to me the other day, before reading your most recent comments, that you *could* with integrity describe yourself as a Christianity)-Positive Atheist or a Christianity-Friendly Atheist but perhaps neither of those two designations adequately describes your personal stance. I may chime in again later if I feel I have something worthwhile to add.
Best Regards,
Robin Edgar