What is the purpose of life?

[Shorty]

The human mind, and our ability to argue over what we perceive to be truth in an abstract manner. Pretty miraculous and different than anything else on this planet.

How are they more miraculous than the digestive system of a cow or the optic nerve of a cat?

We await proof of the talking snakes, dead men walking and virgin mothers.

[rkim291968]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Vinsk

Seriously? You want to discuss how much torture and death occurred and STILL occurs in the name of religion?

I would love to.

You are correct by saying much torture and death has occurred in the name of religion, specifically the religion of Islam. That doesn't negate the FACT that approximately 250,000,000 were tortured and brutally murdered or starved to death by atheist led regimes of Lenin, Stalin, Mao, Zedong, Pol Pot, etc, just in the 20th century alone. But it seems if you prefer to ignore all those atrocities committed by atheists.

All you are doing is lowering "believers" to the same level of Stalin, Pol Pot.

Muslims will disagree with you the bold above.

BTW, Mao does not belong in your above list.  Billions of Chinese will disagree with you.

[Shorty]

I have found most atheists I have dealt with to be capable of meaningful dialogue about this, unfortunately you are not one of them.

I am trying to have a dialogue, but you refuse to engage.

Again - why are you so offended that people ask for extraordinary evidence to support extraordinary claims?

Pleas - I am more than happy to be convinced.

Do you not think it strange that a "belief" held by millions can not be justified by ANY of them?

[Duff McGee]

The human mind, and our ability to argue over what we perceive to be truth in an abstract manner. Pretty miraculous and different than anything else on this planet. ;-)

Thanks Lihu. 1) this is all clearly explained by evolution, as is our plant's formation and the way all living things came to be. 2) that does nothing to show that your or anyone's specific god created us. Might as well have been the unicorn king or anything else I can just make up without any evidence 3) even if our ability to reason abstractly was unexplained, that doesn't automatically mean "god did it." That is a common "God of the Gaps" logical fallacy. Throughout time it was "god does everything." That included earthquakes, rain, drought, possessions, etc." Now we know what causes all of those things. So theists just keep pushing things out further and moving the goalposts. Now god is everything we can't fully explain, like existence in general. So god had millions of things being credited to him, yet year after year theists keep moving the goalposts every time scientists show how something naturally occurs. Now it's just "how do you explain love" or "how do you explain existence" when it used to be "how do you explain the wind or the sun?"

[Mr. Desmond]

I am trying to have a dialogue, but you refuse to engage.

Again - why are you so offended that people ask for extraordinary evidence to support extraordinary claims?

Pleas - I am more than happy to be convinced.

Do you not think it strange that a "belief" held by millions can not be justified by ANY of them?

Shorty -- it comes down to faith; either that or a literal interpretation of the Bible. I was once married to someone who had that literal belief ...

[phillyk]

Evolution explains the change in traits in a population over time. Origin of life describes how life first started on earth. They are separate. Evolution wont occur without multiple organisms. Origin of life must come first. Evolution doesnt need a beginning, it just is. Also vent research is a possibility on origin of life with the mixture of extremely high temperatures in water mixed with rock at the bottom the ocean. As vents first arrive diatoms and other single celled organisms will form on the inside of the vent. They can take the energy from sulfides and convert it to organic energy that surrounding ecosystems can use. How is this relevant? Bc it doesnt need sunlight to exist. Its a possible explanation, but only that so far.

[Duff McGee]

So far Lihu is the only one that has tried to give evidence for his god. I respect that he is attempting it whereas others are hiding behind a child like intellectual trickery where they try to move the goalposts and talk about how atheists have done bad things. Strangely enough, showing that atheists have done bad things actually strengthens the atheist's argument because we know that humans are human and have an animalistic instinct of self preservation and greed regardless of religion or no religion. People are generally selfish. Many take it to the ultimate end of doing evil for their own gain. It's an evolutionary trait. Edit to add: it doesn't matter if we can explain anything to believers! That is the funniest part of all of this. You guys claim there is a loving, omniscient, omnipresent god that intervenes in our lives and based on our commitment to them we will either be thrown into hell or living a great life in heaven for eternity. The burden is on you to at least provide a tiny piece of evidence for that assertion. Now that the bible has been thoroughly evaluated and shown to be unreliable, theists can't even point to their holy books as evidence anymore, which was already shaky evidence to start with but at least made more since before we learned the answers to questions the bible was supposed to answer.

[cipher]

I am trying to have a dialogue, but you refuse to engage. Again - why are you so offended that people ask for extraordinary evidence to support extraordinary claims? Pleas - I am more than happy to be convinced. Do you not think it strange that a "belief" held by millions can not be justified by ANY of them?

I just did engage, as much as I cared for or was worth my time. I won't get overly involved with a nameless person as I stated. Such a conversation would require your definition of satisfactory "justification" anyway as it relates to creationism. I don't care to convince you either. That has not been my goal in these posts. Only to show that it goes a little deeper for some of us than infantile like thoughts and brainwashing. My only source of discontent is the over simplification of my theology. The "because the bible says so" characters don't represent all of us. The reality is either you believe in design and a miraculous creator has always been or you believe that the cosmos has always been which mixed the miraculous soup of life. Either one takes a reasonable leap of faith. And if I die and you're right, it won't bother me one bit. ;-)

[Duff McGee]

I just did engage, as much as I cared for or was worth my time. I won't get overly involved with a nameless person as I stated. Such a conversation would require your definition of satisfactory "justification" anyway as it relates to creationism. I don't care to convince you either. That has not been my goal in these posts. Only to show that it goes a little deeper for some of us than infantile like thoughts and brainwashing. My only source of discontent is the over simplification of my theology. The "because the bible says so" characters don't represent all of us. The reality is either you believe in design and a miraculous creator has always been or you believe that the cosmos has always been which mixed the miraculous soup of life. Either one takes a reasonable leap of faith. And if I die and you're right, it won't bother me one bit. ;-)

I used to think this way too but it is not compatible with honest consideration. It's not just "fundies" that don't get it and your theology is not sound, no matter which way you slice it. I can say this with great confidence because I spent the majority of my adult life looking into the very things you are speaking about and I realized I was being intellectually dishonest. Your beliefs are no more valid that a creationists. That may sound harsh, but hear me out. In order for your beliefs to carry more weight than a fundamentalist, you would have to show more evidence for your claims than they have. It is not enough to simply say "well, my theology is more sophisticated than young earth creationists because I don't believe in a literal flood story or Adam and Eve." You have to provide affirmative evidence. And a "God of the gaps" fallacy does nothing to help provide evidence for your specific theology. If you are simply a deist that just assumes there had to be an ultimate "first starter" and that it is incomprehensible and doesn't involve itself in our existence, that is one thing. But the second you believe in a specific creator that intervenes in our existence, you have to provide evidence or it is not any better than fundamentalist Christianity or Islam or even the king leprechaun religion.

[cipher]

I used to think this way too but it is not compatible with honest consideration. It's not just "fundies" that don't get it and your theology is not sound, no matter which way you slice it. I can say this with great confidence because I spent the majority of my adult life looking into the very things you are speaking about and I realized I was being intellectually dishonest. Your beliefs are no more valid that a creationists. That may sound harsh, but hear me out. In order for your beliefs to carry more weight than a fundamentalist, you would have to show more evidence for your claims than they have. It is not enough to simply say "well, my theology is more sophisticated than young earth creationists because I don't believe in a literal flood story or Adam and Eve." You have to provide affirmative evidence. And a "God of the gaps" fallacy does nothing to help provide evidence for your specific theology. If you are simply a deist that just assumes there had to be an ultimate "first starter" and that it is incomprehensible and doesn't involve itself in our existence, that is one thing. But the second you believe in a specific creator that intervenes in our existence, you have to provide evidence or it is not any better than fundamentalist Christianity or Islam or even the king leprechaun religion.

I am fishing with my kids right now. I don't have time to read all of your post right at the moment. I will try to read it later. However, if you want to have this discussion I will. I just want it to be worth my time. PM me and introduce yourself. I will as well even though my contact info and full name is easy enough to get here. I will also require the affirmative proof of your theory just the same, even though neither of us can do it.

[Duff McGee]

I am fishing with my kids right now. I don't have time to read all of your post right at the moment. I will try to read it later. However, if you want to have this discussion I will. I just want it to be worth my time. PM me and introduce yourself. I will as well even though my contact info and full name is easy enough to get here. I will also require the affirmative proof of your theory just the same, even though neither of us can do it.

What theory am I putting forward?

[Lihu]

[QUOTE name="Lihu" url="/t/84340/what-is-the-purpose-of-life/162#post_1198977"] The human mind, and our ability to argue over what we perceive to be truth in an abstract manner. Pretty miraculous and different than anything else on this planet. ;-) [/QUOTE] How are they more miraculous than the digestive system of a cow or the optic nerve of a cat?

It's very easy to understand how they were developed, the cow to digest available food and the optic nerve to help a cat catch prey. The fact that we can abstract things goes well beyond that needed for simple evolutionary survival. BTW, in response to Duff. God is not a benevolent all loving being who watches us like caring parents, his son was. . .

[Duff McGee]

It's very easy to understand how they were developed, the cow to digest available food and the optic nerve to help a cat catch prey. The fact that we can abstract things goes well beyond that needed for simple evolutionary survival. BTW, in response to Duff. God is not a benevolent all loving being who watches us like caring parents, his son was. . .

That's an interesting take on Christianity Lihu. What denomination are you, if you don't mind me asking? But still, we would ask you to provide evidence that any God exists or that any god's son actually exists too.

[bunkerputt]

That's an interesting take on Christianity Lihu. What denomination are you, if you don't mind me asking?

But still, we would ask you to provide evidence that any God exists or that any god's son actually exists too.

The evidence for you is the Bible.  But this isn't going to be enough for you, because, like most people who demand evidence over and over and over, the real problem is not the lack of evidence but an unwillingness to honestly investigate and then believe the evidence that is clearly there because it doesn't happen to fit your presuppositions.  Namely, you would have to declare that Jesus Christ is Lord and Judge of the living and the dead.  Just take one fulfilled prophecy whose predating it's fulfillment is not under question:  Micah 5:2, which says the messiah would be born in Bethlehem.  Where is the next president going to have been born?  What about the next one?  This prophecy was written 400 years before Christ was born.  That's just one.  There are hundreds.  Add them up and you have what statistically amounts to a zero probability that it wasn't written by God.  By the way, the bible has over 40 authors over the span of 1500 years, so the Nostradamus argument doesn't work to explain explain it away.  " You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart."  -- Jeremiah 29:13

10 Reasons the Bible is the Word of God:


1. Historic prophecy. The Bible is full of tons of predictions of historical events that had not yet come to pass when the words were recorded, but later in the future, even hundreds of years later, were fulfilled. These were not just vague predictions, but very specific and detailed prophecies, detailing such major historical events as the rise and fall of major world empires (Dan. 2 & 7), such as Babylon, Persia, Greece and Rome, the military conquests of certain prominent leaders such as Cryus of Persia (Isa. 45:1-3) and Alexander the Great (Dan. 8), the destruction of certain cities and peoples such as the Edomites (Obad.), and much more. No man on earth could have known such information hundreds of years before such things occurred.


2. Messianic prophecy. There are over 70 predictions in the Old Testament Scriptures about the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ, including His Deity (Isa. 9:6), virgin birth (Gen. 3:15, Isa. 7:14), miracles (Isa. 35:5-6), rejection by men (Isa. 53:3), crucifixion (Psa. 22, Isa. 53), and resurrection (Psa. 16:10). All the prophecies detailing His life and ministry at the time of His First Coming were fulfilled to the detail. God has not only predicted such events, but He actively orchestrates world history through His divine providence to ensure that every detail He has spoken will be fulfilled (see Isa. 34:16).


3. End Time prophecy. The Bible makes stunning and clear predictions about the “last days”. Many of them have already come true, such as the rise of false prophets and false Christs (Mat. 24:24), the increase in wars and natural disasters (Mat. 24:6-7), the growing corruption of men (Mat. 24:12, 2 Tim. 3:1-5), the coming of great apostasy (2 Thes. 2:3), and even the re-gathering of the Jews to their land in the Middle East (Eze. 36:24). The fulfillment of such prophecies gives us assurance that God Himself was foretelling future events, and that the remaining prophecies not yet fulfilled will come to pass speedily.


4. Scientific facts and discoveries.[1] The Bible is full of amazing scientific statements that were recorded many centuries before men discovered them. For example, the Bible said the earth was round when men said it was flat (Isa. 40:22); man wouldn’t discover this until 2,600 years later! In an age when men thought the earth sat on the back of a large animal, the Bible recorded that the earth floated in empty space (Job. 26:7). The Bible describes the cycle of air currents a couple thousand years before men discovered them (Ecc. 1:6). Jesus said His Second Coming would occur when some are awake working in a field and others are asleep in their beds, describing the rotation of the earth before it was ever discovered by men (Luke 17:34-36). There are many more amazing scientific facts in the Bible.


5. Historical facts and archeological discoveries. The historical accuracy of the Bible’s events has been abundantly proven among historians. The fact that such characters as are named in the Bible existed have been confirmed by innumerable archeological discoveries, and even by the historical records of pagan kings and empires outside of the Jewish people. There is no reliable historical evidence contrary to what the Bible claims. Even persons such as John the Baptist, Jesus of Nazareth, and James the leader of the Jerusalem church, have been mentioned in Jewish and secular history as having actually existed as real persons.


6. Diversity of the messengers yet unity of the message. The Bible, being written over a period of over 1,500 years by over 40 different authors, has a tremendous diversity amongst themselves. Yet, even so, the Bible has a perfect and wonderful unity of thought and message and doesn’t contradict itself in anything. Unanimously, the authors of Scripture testify of the truth of God and they all point to the central themes of the Supremacy of God, the Person and work of Jesus Christ, and the redemption of fallen man.


7. The conscience of man. The Words of Scripture pierce the heart of man like no others words. The God-given conscience that God has given to each man confirms the Bible’s commendation of good and condemnation of evil. The way the words of Scripture expose the secrets of men’s hearts and sins proves that there’s a great and just God behind those words who concerns Himself with right and wrong. The character of those who truly follow the teachings of the Bible is of such superior character compared to those who don’t that the testimony and fruit of the Bible proves it comes from a good and holy God. Each man in his heart, whether he admits it or not, knows it’s wrong to blaspheme, lie, cheat, steal, murder, commit adultery, etc. while at the same time knowing that it is favorable to do good, love and help others, etc. and thus confirms the testimony of Scripture.


8. The Bible’s tremendous influence. Though there is no other book on earth that has been as hated, as attacked, as resisted, as the Bible, there yet remains no other book that has been read, published, and distributed more than the Bible. Its’ tremendous success in the face of all opposition proves that the hand of God is behind it. Many of those who have historically sought out to discredit the Bible and prove it to be false, after much study, have come to the opposite conclusion than that which they sought out to come to, and have converted to Christianity. What other book compares with the Bible in terms of historical influence upon men and nations?


9. The spiritual power of the Bible. No other book on earth has transformed so many lives as the Bible. Innumerable persons all throughout history have testified to finding deliverance from sin and peace with God through reading the words of Scripture. Men have been so changed, transformed, and convinced that the words of the Bible are true that untold hundreds of thousands have shed their blood in martyrdom defending the truths contained in it. Countless men who had no education in Biblical literature, no upbringing in Christian beliefs, and no prior influence of religious things have picked up a Bible, and upon reading it, have found their lives utterly changed forever. Some of these men have turned into passionate preachers and devoted their lives to the propagation of Biblical truth. What other book on earth has such power within its pages?


10. Jesus Christ Himself believed in the Bible. He quoted frequently from the Old Testament Scriptures all throughout His ministry. He claimed that they were more important than physical bread (Mat. 4:4). He believed that the Law and the Prophets were more sure than the heavens and earth (Mat. 5:17-18). He believed in the historical events of Lot with Sodom and Gomorrah (Luk. 17:28-32), of Noah and the flood (Mat. 24:37-38), of Jonah and the great fish (Mat. 12:40-41), and of Daniel (Mat. 24:15). Jesus also believed that His chosen apostles would declare His Word and teachings to the world after His departure, thus recording the Canon of New Testament Scripture (John 14:26).

[Lihu]

Well written bunkerputt.

[Duff McGee]

The evidence for you is the Bible.  But this isn't going to be enough for you, because, like most people who demand evidence over and over and over, the real problem is not the lack of evidence but an unwillingness to honestly investigate and then believe the evidence that is clearly there because it doesn't happen to fit your presuppositions.  Namely, you would have to declare that Jesus Christ is Lord and Judge of the living and the dead.  Just take one fulfilled prophecy whose predating it's fulfillment is not under question:  Micah 5:2, which says the messiah would be born in Bethlehem.  Where is the next president going to have been born?  What about the next one?  This prophecy was written 400 years before Christ was born.  That's just one.  There are hundreds.  Add them up and you have what statistically amounts to a zero probability that it wasn't written by God.  By the way, the bible has over 40 authors over the span of 1500 years, so the Nostradamus argument doesn't work to explain explain it away.  "[COLOR=001320]You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart."  -- Jeremiah 29:13[/COLOR] [COLOR=333333]10 Reasons the Bible is the Word of God:[/COLOR][COLOR=333333] [/COLOR][COLOR=333333] [/COLOR][COLOR=333333] [/COLOR][COLOR=333333]1. Historic prophecy. The Bible is full of tons of predictions of historical events that had not yet come to pass when the words were recorded, but later in the future, even hundreds of years later, were fulfilled. These were not just vague predictions, but very specific and detailed prophecies, detailing such major historical events as the rise and fall of major world empires (Dan. 2 & 7), such as Babylon, Persia, Greece and Rome, the military conquests of certain prominent leaders such as Cryus of Persia (Isa. 45:1-3) and Alexander the Great (Dan. 8), the destruction of certain cities and peoples such as the Edomites (Obad.), and much more. No man on earth could have known such information hundreds of years before such things occurred.[/COLOR][COLOR=333333] [/COLOR][COLOR=333333] [/COLOR][COLOR=333333] [/COLOR][COLOR=333333]2. Messianic prophecy. There are over 70 predictions in the Old Testament Scriptures about the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ, including His Deity (Isa. 9:6), virgin birth (Gen. 3:15, Isa. 7:14), miracles (Isa. 35:5-6), rejection by men (Isa. 53:3), crucifixion (Psa. 22, Isa. 53), and resurrection (Psa. 16:10). All the prophecies detailing His life and ministry at the time of His First Coming were fulfilled to the detail. God has not only predicted such events, but He actively orchestrates world history through His divine providence to ensure that every detail He has spoken will be fulfilled (see Isa. 34:16).[/COLOR][COLOR=333333] [/COLOR][COLOR=333333] [/COLOR][COLOR=333333] [/COLOR][COLOR=333333]3. End Time prophecy. The Bible makes stunning and clear predictions about the “last days”. Many of them have already come true, such as the rise of false prophets and false Christs (Mat. 24:24), the increase in wars and natural disasters (Mat. 24:6-7), the growing corruption of men (Mat. 24:12, 2 Tim. 3:1-5), the coming of great apostasy (2 Thes. 2:3), and even the re-gathering of the Jews to their land in the Middle East (Eze. 36:24). The fulfillment of such prophecies gives us assurance that God Himself was foretelling future events, and that the remaining prophecies not yet fulfilled will come to pass speedily.[/COLOR][COLOR=333333] [/COLOR][COLOR=333333] [/COLOR][COLOR=333333] [/COLOR][COLOR=333333]4. Scientific facts and discoveries.[1] The Bible is full of amazing scientific statements that were recorded many centuries before men discovered them. For example, the Bible said the earth was round when men said it was flat (Isa. 40:22); man wouldn’t discover this until 2,600 years later! In an age when men thought the earth sat on the back of a large animal, the Bible recorded that the earth floated in empty space (Job. 26:7). The Bible describes the cycle of air currents a couple thousand years before men discovered them (Ecc. 1:6). Jesus said His Second Coming would occur when some are awake working in a field and others are asleep in their beds, describing the rotation of the earth before it was ever discovered by men (Luke 17:34-36). There are many more amazing scientific facts in the Bible.[/COLOR][COLOR=333333] [/COLOR][COLOR=333333] [/COLOR][COLOR=333333] [/COLOR][COLOR=333333]5. Historical facts and archeological discoveries. The historical accuracy of the Bible’s events has been abundantly proven among historians. The fact that such characters as are named in the Bible existed have been confirmed by innumerable archeological discoveries, and even by the historical records of pagan kings and empires outside of the Jewish people. There is no reliable historical evidence contrary to what the Bible claims. Even persons such as John the Baptist, Jesus of Nazareth, and James the leader of the Jerusalem church, have been mentioned in Jewish and secular history as having actually existed as real persons.[/COLOR][COLOR=333333] [/COLOR][COLOR=333333] [/COLOR][COLOR=333333] [/COLOR][COLOR=333333]6. Diversity of the messengers yet unity of the message. The Bible, being written over a period of over 1,500 years by over 40 different authors, has a tremendous diversity amongst themselves. Yet, even so, the Bible has a perfect and wonderful unity of thought and message and doesn’t contradict itself in anything. Unanimously, the authors of Scripture testify of the truth of God and they all point to the central themes of the Supremacy of God, the Person and work of Jesus Christ, and the redemption of fallen man.[/COLOR][COLOR=333333] [/COLOR][COLOR=333333] [/COLOR][COLOR=333333] [/COLOR][COLOR=333333]7. The conscience of man. The Words of Scripture pierce the heart of man like no others words. The God-given conscience that God has given to each man confirms the Bible’s commendation of good and condemnation of evil. The way the words of Scripture expose the secrets of men’s hearts and sins proves that there’s a great and just God behind those words who concerns Himself with right and wrong. The character of those who truly follow the teachings of the Bible is of such superior character compared to those who don’t that the testimony and fruit of the Bible proves it comes from a good and holy God. Each man in his heart, whether he admits it or not, knows it’s wrong to blaspheme, lie, cheat, steal, murder, commit adultery, etc. while at the same time knowing that it is favorable to do good, love and help others, etc. and thus confirms the testimony of Scripture.[/COLOR][COLOR=333333] [/COLOR][COLOR=333333] [/COLOR][COLOR=333333] [/COLOR][COLOR=333333]8. The Bible’s tremendous influence. Though there is no other book on earth that has been as hated, as attacked, as resisted, as the Bible, there yet remains no other book that has been read, published, and distributed more than the Bible. Its’ tremendous success in the face of all opposition proves that the hand of God is behind it. Many of those who have historically sought out to discredit the Bible and prove it to be false, after much study, have come to the opposite conclusion than that which they sought out to come to, and have converted to Christianity. What other book compares with the Bible in terms of historical influence upon men and nations?[/COLOR][COLOR=333333] [/COLOR][COLOR=333333] [/COLOR][COLOR=333333] [/COLOR][COLOR=333333]9. The spiritual power of the Bible. No other book on earth has transformed so many lives as the Bible. Innumerable persons all throughout history have testified to finding deliverance from sin and peace with God through reading the words of Scripture. Men have been so changed, transformed, and convinced that the words of the Bible are true that untold hundreds of thousands have shed their blood in martyrdom defending the truths contained in it. Countless men who had no education in Biblical literature, no upbringing in Christian beliefs, and no prior influence of religious things have picked up a Bible, and upon reading it, have found their lives utterly changed forever. Some of these men have turned into passionate preachers and devoted their lives to the propagation of Biblical truth. What other book on earth has such power within its pages?[/COLOR][COLOR=333333] [/COLOR][COLOR=333333] [/COLOR][COLOR=333333] [/COLOR][COLOR=333333]10. Jesus Christ Himself believed in the Bible. He quoted frequently from the Old Testament Scriptures all throughout His ministry. He claimed that they were more important than physical bread (Mat. 4:4). He believed that the Law and the Prophets were more sure than the heavens and earth (Mat. 5:17-18). He believed in the historical events of Lot with Sodom and Gomorrah (Luk. 17:28-32), of Noah and the flood (Mat. 24:37-38), of Jonah and the great fish (Mat. 12:40-41), and of Daniel (Mat. 24:15). Jesus also believed that His chosen apostles would declare His Word and teachings to the world after His departure, thus recording the Canon of New Testament Scripture (John 14:26).[/COLOR]

So yes I have researched allow the claims you just made above. Actually, I read all of that while I was a Christian trying to prove atheists wrong lol. Guess what started my journey towards atheism? All of the lies and misrepresentations you just posted. I'm not going to post a rebuttal to each of those things above that you copied and pasted from a place like reasons.org or whatever sham website you got it from. But I will ask you this: yes I have researched everything you just posted and all claims are false. Yet have you out as much energy reading rebuttals to those shaky claims you just posted? I didn't think so.

[cipher]

What theory am I putting forward?

The one where amino acids formed in a system without oxygen and then somehow survived when they cannot without it.  Then micro and macro after macro evolution continuing to evolve well past what @Lihu mentions below and that is "simple evolutionary survival".  Such a conversation for us to have will take a considerable amount of time, more time than I have to quickly respond to posts that tend to be buried in threads like this, and would be off topic.

It's very easy to understand how they were developed, the cow to digest available food and the optic nerve to help a cat catch prey. The fact that we can abstract things goes well beyond that needed for simple evolutionary survival.

BTW, in response to Duff. God is not a benevolent all loving being who watches us like caring parents, his son was. . .

I agree Lihu. Well said.

[SavvySwede]

Well written bunkerputt.

Any other religion could make a similar case. No reasonably intelligent person has converted to another religion because of a post they read on the internet. Let's leave it at that.