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CHRISTIANS – An Atheist Is Seeking Answers. Can You Supply Any?
CHRISTIANS – An Atheist Is Seeking Answers. Can You Supply Any?
To all who visit this page and attempt to offer an explanation: Thank You. In your comment please refer to which question you are addressing (#). If you wish, most of these questions can be found listed individually under the QUESTIONS FOR GOD AND HIS BELIEVERS category. Also, and this is important, please do not answer with 'faith' or by using scripture. Remember, I may have once been a die-hard Christian and may have studied the bible extensively in its many forms, but I am now an Atheist and the bible no longer holds any authority for me. I am merely trying to understand how people still believe the way I once did. How do you personally justify your beliefs, NOT how others justify them for you. If you visit my main page you can get a clearer understanding of where I'm coming from.
- 1) Will the saved in heaven miss their skeptical friends and family who are doomed to eternal torment in hell? The bible says there will be no sorrow. Are you the same age in heaven as you were when you died? Child, old man? Or in your 'prime'? Who decides? You? Will they have bodily functions? The bible mentions feasts in heaven? If you eat in heaven will the resulting bodily functions occur? Will they always be 'pleasant'? Is there sex? How will we recognize each other if we don't have a recognizable form? Will we have wrinkles? Gray hair? Be bald? Fat? Male or female (if no sex then why different sexes? Why genitals at all?)? Teeth (if no eating, no teeth)? Noses (nothing smells, no need)? Will lost appendages be restored? Infirmities erased? What about birth defects? Will a born cripple still be a cripple in heaven? If you're beautiful in life will you be beautiful in heaven? The same with ugly? In other words, will anybody stand out? Will we all look alike? Same race? If not there will be certain discrimination in heaven as there always is with those that aren't alike. Luke 22:29, 30 – "And I appoint unto you a kingdom … that ye may eat & drink at my table in my kingdom and sit on thrones judging the 12 tribes of Israel."
- 2) God is so zealous in his obsession that man be circumcised that one wonders why he created such a flawed body that requires such an operation in all of mankind in order to be worthy of God's acceptance. And long before these operations were safe or sanitary. God tells Abraham to circumcise boys at age 8 days but Abraham himself wasn't circumcised until he was 99 years old. Gen 17:24 Because Moses' child with a Midianite woman isn't circumcised, God loses it and nearly kills Moses. Moses is only saved because Moses' wife chops off the child's offending foreskin with a sharp stone, casting it at Moses' feet. In order to purchase Saul's daughter, Michal, for a wife, David kills 200 Philistines in order to obtain their foreskins to present as a gift to King Saul, and Saul only asked for 100. Why is this wee bit of skin so damn offensive? Could it be that it so closely resembles an ape's (animal's) penis and this reality frightens believers?
- 3) It is a statistical fact that the more inteligent, highly educated a person, the less likely they are to belive in a god. In other words, the less educated, or more ignorant a person is, the more likely they are to believe in a god. If it was proven that the less educated, or more ignorant a person was the more likely they were to drive a Ford or wear Addidas sneakers, and you realized you drove a Ford or wore Addidas, wouldn't you reconsider the car you drove or the sneaker you wore?
- 4) So, say a married man dies (car crash or something) and goes to heaven. His wife remarries and lives a long happy life with her new wonderful husband. Many years later the wife dies but her second husband goes on to live quite a few years longer. When the wife arrives in heaven are the original married couple reunited in bliss? And what happens when the second husband dies and arrives in heaven? In heaven is one marriage more legitimate than the other? Is the first always more legitimate than any marriage that follows? What if the first was miserable (abusive spouse)? Or the second? Or the third? The answer seems to be that arrival in heaven results in an immediate divorce. In Mark 12:25 Jesus states that there will be no marriage in heaven. Husbands and wives will be no longer. So why the requirement for marriage in the first place if it's just going to be voided upon death? Be fruitful and multiply was the command. God didn't mention anything about first signing some unrealistic, legally-binding contract and having a silly ceremony. How can a person look forward to arriving in heaven if it means losing the love of their life?
- 5) Why do so few of God's creation (humanity) believe in him? Isn't that a terrible failure on God's part considering that all the non-believers are doomed to burn in eternal hellfire? Why has God allowed so many thousands of gods to be invented and worshiped by his creation? Why aren't we all naturally inclined to know of and believe in our 'creator'? How do Christians justify dismissing all gods mankind has invented over countless generations as fictitious and yet, lacking any evidence more legitimate than the worshipers of these other gods had, claim that their god is absolutely, undeniably genuine?
- 6) None of the Gospels claim that more than a few besides the disciples saw Jesus after the resurrection, but in I Cor. 15:6 Paul claims there were 500. Where did this number come from? Why is Paul the only one to report a number anywhere that large? And if that number is accurate, few seemed to be impressed, for at the first meeting after Jesus' ascension, only 120 people showed up (including the disciples and Jesus' relatives) Acts 1:15. Why did Jesus' time on earth, his miracles preformed, his resurrection and ascension into heaven impress so few people. The Jews were longing for the Messiah's arrival and yet very few followed Jesus. Strange how only after a great many years have passed and the stories can no longer be proven/disproven, that so many now choose to believe. But still not the Jews! Why did God do so little to ensure that his chosen people (the Jews) accepted Jesus as the Messiah? Why did God bother to send Jesus down to earth, have him be born from a virgin, do all that he did, being the self proclaimed Messiah and savior King of the Jews, destined to die for them, be resurrected and rise into heaven, only to be rejected by God's chosen people (the Jews)? What a waste. But then there is always Jews for Jesus.
- 7) The writers of the bible clearly believed there was more than one god, more than one deity who could grant powers to those who followed/worshiped him just like the Christian god. If God is the only true/real God, then who granted the Pharaoh's sorcerers the ability to match Moses' magic with their own special 'rods'? Ex. 7:11, 12, 22. If you try and suggest it was Satan, then please clarify; are you stating that Satan is a god? Are you saying the Pharaoh and all the others were Satan worshipers? Knowingly or through deception? Are you saying that the writers of the bible didn't know it was Satan who was standing in for all of these deities? God didn't think to let them in on this little fact? And, most importantly, what are you basing this opinion on?
- 8 ) How is this not child abuse? It seems that in order for religion to really stick (last a lifetime) it must be introduced (indoctrinated) as a child. A child's untried mind, peopled with fanciful characters as real as any (Santa Claus, Tooth Fairy, etc.) represents just the level of thought processes necessary for acceptance of a religious system so rooted in superstition and mythology. An adult tells the child of Santa Claus and the child believes, whole heartedly that he exists. If that child was protected and isolated from those that would tell him otherwise and surrounded by those that would continue to encourage his belief in Santa, would said child ever stop believing in Santa? How is this different than belief in God (Jesus)? If you believe that the parents who taught their naïve children that David Koresh was in fact the second coming of Christ were doing something wrong, how do you differentiate that from teaching a naïve child about your particular religion and god?
- 9) Rev 17:8 – "And they that dwell on the earth shall wonder, whose names were not written in the book of life from the foundation of the world." Rev 20:15 – "And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire." Wow! What a Revelation! Where did this 'book of life' come from? Why did no one ever mention such an important book before Revelations? And if the names of those that will be allowed into heaven are written in it 'from the foundation of the world' then why, according to the bible, aren't those that were born before Jesus allowed to have everlasting life?
- 10)Why do non-Jews follow the Bible? Specifically the Old Testament? The bible is a book about the Jews, their history, customs, lifestyle, superstitions and religion. Gentiles (non Jews) should have no interest in it. Their treatment by Israelite armies at the direction of their God is so vindictive it should horrify any non Jew. Remember, Jesus called Gentiles (non Jews) "dogs". Joseph Smith was so put off by how little the bible had to do with his people (Americans) that he actually rewrote it to suit him and started his own religion (Mormonism).
- 11) What happened to thou shalt not kill? "If thy brother … or thy son, or thy daughter, or the wife of thy bosom, or thy friend which is as thine own soul, entice thee secretly, saying Let us go and serve other gods … Thou shalt surely kill him … and thou shalt stone him with stones that he die." Deut 13:6, 9, 10. So if someone you love wants to be another religion and asks you to consider joining their religion, you should disobey the Ten Commandments, and righteously kill him, condemning their soul to eternal torment in hell? This is the command of a god you want me to worship and love and dedicate my life to? Really?
- 12) How many children has your god doomed to burn in eternal hellfire? At what age are children judged to be responsible for making their own decisions about religion? They are born sinners according to the bible. If an atheist if guaranteed a place in hell, then how about that atheist's 5 year old child? How about their 6 month old infant? Do they get a free pass? If so how about a ten year old? What is the cut off age? What about Mormons? According to Christianity, all Mormons are doomed to hell. What about their children? The children of a Mormon are being raised in their religion. They believe what their parents are teaching them (Santa!). They aren't being given a choice. Will they be punished for innocently believing in their parents teachings by being sent to hell? Are the kids who died in the Waco, Texas compound fire with David Koresh in hell?
- 13) What happens to people who have physical and mental infirmities that prevent them from hearing, or reading, or understanding? Is God a devil who would doom them to eternal hellfire OR is he a tender and merciful God who grants them free access into heaven? And what level of retardation is required to acquire this free pass? Is a person with downs syndrome exempt because they can conceivably make decisions for themselves? What about a person who was once 'normal' but as a result of a brain injury became mentally retarded? What if they were an Atheist before the accident? A Scientologist? A Serial Killer? Will they be judged for who they were before or after the accident?
- 14) On the topic of free will; how does your god judge those who don't have free will? Such as a person suffering from a mental disorder such as schizophrenia or bi-polar disorder? How about someone with a major dependency issue, such as an alcoholic or meth addict? How about someone with some sort of mental retardation? How about a child whose decisions are made for them?
- 15) Are all who are naïve of Jesus' existence (Amazonian Tribes) doomed to burn in eternal hellfire? If yes, then God is a devil and unworthy of worship by anyone who would call themselves good. HOWEVER, if God is indeed a merciful God, then those that are naïve of Jesus' existence will not be punished for their innocent ignorance and will be granted entrance into heaven. If the later is the case, however, then wouldn't the people of the world be better served by missionaries not coming to their lands? One minute the tribesman has a free pass to heaven from a good and merciful God, the next a missionary arrives and tells him to stop worshiping his god and worship Christ. The tribesman, not understanding, or not trusting this pale faced foreigner decides to continue worshiping as he and his people have for countless generations. The next day a jaguar attacks the tribesman and kills him. Fastpass to HELL for the tribesman. The very introduction of the missionary into their tribe dooms them. Thanks God! Thanks do-gooder Christians!
- 16) How does God decide who he is going to have casual conversations with? In Gen. 25:23 Rebekah asks God about her pregnancy symptoms and God apparently isn't busy so he replies, "Two manner of people shall be separated from thy bowels." Another fine example is in Acts 10 – Peter is fasting on a rooftop and God decides Peter can be done fasting and sends down a sheet full of four-footed beasts and wild beasts and creeping things and foul and speaks to Peter, saying "Rise, kill and eat." God the Almighty has just preformed a bit of magic and spoken directly with Peter, commanded him really, but does Peter obey his Lord? No, he refuses! Is God so unimpressive? God actually repeats his command three times but still Peter refuses. Finally, God gives up! Don't these examples strike anyone as odd? And why are such pedestrian conversations unfathomable now? Even a Christian would think someone claiming to have such informal conversations with God is mad or a liar.
- 17) During the God mandated wandering the Jews did before being allowed to enter the Promised Land, God provided manna, which was sweet and like coriander and could be made into cakes (using no other ingredients?). Just what sort of nutritional value could manna have had? What would happen to the human body if forced to eat nothing but manna for forty years? And if you answer with the typical pat, 'God would make it so they wouldn't get ill', then you are required to answer the follow up question as well. If God is going to actively interfere with the bodies of these people, why not just make it so they don't need to eat at all?
- 18) How many people have died as a result of a single passage in the book of James? "And the prayer of faith shall heal the sick." James 5:15
- 19) Why do female televangelist clearly defy God's commands about appearance? I Tim. 2:9 – "In like manner also, that women adorn themselves in modest apparel, with shamefacedness and sobriety; not with broided hair, or gold, or pearls, or costly array…"
- 20) What existed outside of the Garden of Eden? God created the Garden of Eden and inhabited it with all the creatures in existence (silly and mathematically impossible) and created a man to name and oversee everything and a woman to serve him. But what existed outside of the boundaries of the Garden? Was it a barren wasteland? Considering how many millions of years old the beautiful natural wonders of the Grand Canyon, Niagara Falls and Yosemite are, to name just a few local sites, it seems unlikely. When Adam and Eve were cast out of the Garden, what were they cast out into? And why were all the animals cast out of paradise as well? Why were they punished for man's sins? In the Garden the Lion and the Lamb were bros., outside they were the predator and the prey, the eater and the eaten, the fed and the food. And how long would man and animal have needed to remain vegans outside of the Garden? Obviously many generations of animals would have needed to be born before they could be killed for their flesh (and coats), otherwise they would have quickly been rendered extinct. And were blood sacrifices really prudent at this point? And how did all these animals that are currently native only to a few very specific regions of the earth manage to get there? Would you argue that all the continents of the earth were one single land mass just a few thousand years ago? And finally, where the hell is the Garden of Eden now? Where did it go?
- 21) If Public Schools require the teaching of creationism alongside evolution, would you require your Private Christian School or church to teach evolutionary science? If not, why not?
- 22)Do Angels really have wings? Do they really need wings to fly? If not, then why do they have wings?
- 23)Which came first; Dinosaurs or Adam and Eve?
- 24)Do you believe in Jack and the Beanstalk as well? In Num. 13:33 the scouts for the Israelites advise against entering Canaan because they claim to have seen giants there. Giants appear a number of times in the bible, most notably in the tale of David and Goliath. David and his servants slay a number of other giants as well, including one with six fingers on each hand and six toes on each foot. Why is it in the most archeological excavated locations in the world (those mentioned in the bible), that no evidence of these giants have ever been found? Could it be because giants are creatures of Myth, just like Dragons, which are also repeatedly mentioned in the Bible as if they were real? Neither Dragons nor Giants exist. Never have.
- 25)In Luke 24:37 when Jesus rises from the dead and appears to the eleven apostles, they are terrified. Didn't they know he would be returning? How little faith did they have in their own Messiah? Why so little preparation for his return? Most of Jesus' followers just went back to life as normal or went into hiding. Lazarus' return from the dead was met with more enthusiasm. Why do the disciples have such an insignificant reaction to Jesus' resurrection and ascension? They seem relatively unimpressed by these incredible feats. They don't tell anyone and aren't tempted to tell anyone. Nobody gloats to the scribes and Pharisees. Nobody tells Jesus' mother (!). Nobody celebrates. Nobody says, "I told you so!" They don't assemble a crowd for the ascension. And if they really believe what Jesus said about his second coming is true and that it will happen in their lifetimes, why weren't they hotfooting it to try and 'save' as many Jews from hell as they can? Don't they have any friends, family or loved ones they would like to see get into heaven?
- 26)Can God make a rock so heavy he can't lift it?
- 27) Every religion–Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Mormonism, Scientology, Buddhism, etc. claims to have religious experiences. If EVERY supernatural belief system boasts religious experiences, then doesn't that pretty well devalue religious experiences as an indicator of actual truth?
- 28)Why won't any religious person pray that an amputee's limb grows back? Is it because you know that it is impossible and praying for the impossible is foolish? Why can't an all powerful god heal an amputee? Why don't parents who wanted a baby boy but got a baby girl pray for the baby to change genders? Why do Christians so rarely pray for anything that is completely impossible?
- 29)A simple scientific test for the validity of prayer. Gather up the religeous leaders of your particular religion and put them and 200 of their most loyal and feverent followers on an airplane. At 35,000 feet, the pilot and co-pilot will exit the plane via parachute. Autopilot can not be used. At this point every person remaining on board will begin to pray for the plane's safe landing and every passenger's survival. If God's hands guide the aircraft to a safe and smooth landing, prayer's efficacy will be proven. If the plane crashes, the power of prayer will have been disproven. Would even one of these believers step foot on that plane to participate in this test? Any volunteers?
- 30) Aren't you an Atheist almost exactly like me? Do you believe in Baal? Do you believe in Ammon Ra? How about Zeus? Or Wotan? Or Poseidon? Or Apollo? Guess what? Me neither! If I made a list of every god ever worshiped by man I bet you would check them all off as being false just like me. The only difference between you and I seems to be the one god you would leave unchecked that I would include with the others. Not much of a difference between us after all is there? You exclude your god from your atheistic beliefs whereas I include him. That's all.
- 31) Should the church be able to prevent someone from donating a kidney to their dying sister? Does the kidney belong to the person whoes body it resides in? Is it theirs to do with as they please? How about a tumor? A tumor is a living, growing mass of cells. A tumor doesn't necessarily cause any harm to the human whoes body it is growing in. Does a person have the right to have it removed, even if it's not currently causing them harm? What about if it might kill them to do so? Does the tumor belong to them? How is a fetus (a living, growing mass of cells) any different? Because it is human? Fine, then is the fetus capable of making the decision? No? Then who should the decision logically fall to? How can it be anyone other than the person whoes body the fetus/tumor/kidney resides in?
- 32)If an ancient Aztec text was discovered and in this text it was reported that their leader commanded an offensive tree to uproot itself and march away into the jungle, would you believe that this actually occurred? If not, why not? There is no evidence that the events depicted in the Bible actually occurred, in fact quite the contrary, so why would you blindly believe those stories but not the one depicted in the Aztec text?
- 33)If a Christian does not spend every waking moment of their lives trying to 'save' people in order for those people to go to heaven when they die, can they truly call themselves a real Christian? How can a real Christian just sit idley by knowing that, according to the Bible, of the thousands of people who die every day, the majority of them are going straight to hell?
- 34)Why isn't knowledge of God a natural part of our existence? Why aren't we born knowing him? In other words, why if a man is born and left alone, and he never encounters a Christian or reads a bible, he would live his whole life never knowing or believing in God? If God is real and deserving of our love, why has he stacked the deck so highly in favor of mankind eventually finding themselves in hell rather than heaven?
- 35)Did Adam and Eve have sex in the Garden of Eden? If so, did they do it purely for procreation purposes? Who taught them how to have intercourse? God?
- 36)Did pain exist before Eve ate from the Tree of Knowledge? If so, why? If part of the punishment for eating the fruit was pain during childbirth, does this mean pain receptors didn't exist in the female body before this? How else would childbirth have been free from pain?
- 37) If God intended for his religion to be (embraced) for all (not just the Jews) why did he make it so restrictive and exclusive? Invading, attacking, and slaughtering all who weren't his chosen people hardly seems like an invitation.
- 38)
71 Responses to "CHRISTIANS – An Atheist Is Seeking Answers. Can You Supply Any?"
Wow, that's quite an impressive list. Its a bit late for me tonight to tackle the whole thing but I wanted to let you know that I'm gonna give you a little help on your quest for answers. I mean, you do want answers right? I'm a little concerned that you tilt the field a bit when you ask me to leave my Bible behind since it is the lens that this former atheist uses to interpret reality. I guess I'll pick…8 yeah, the one with the smiley face, 8.
1. Santa is quite universally agreed upon as a fable to persons of a certain age. This majority appears to function in their lives as rational beings in areas besides the Santa question. One can extrapolate therefore that these folks might have a clue about Santa (Santa – Satan, Hmm). Santa can therefore be reasonably disproved. David Koresh (is that the spelling?) was clearly a mad-man based upon the rational person standard delineated above and his demise and resultant carnage proved him unworthy of worship.
Now, with regards to my God. Hmm, you've banned the Bible – like so many of your compadres:) – so I can't use that…Hey wait, I was raised a secularist and then converted to Christianity- was that child abuse? I mean we've not really finished the great debate about our opposing worldviews so neither of us can claim the upper hand of truth because we can't be certain. Hmm it would seem by the standard implied by your question, all transmission of knowledge (if there can be knowledge at all) would be abuse. If something can not be completely proven in all cases (regardless of the impact of the belief in said thing) then it can not be taught without becoming abuse. If you don't know it perfectly – Don't teach it. Right? But who can know all things except God?
Your questions seem to beg a certain morality – a person such as yourself has certainly considered the issue of defining morality without a lawgiver – How do you do it? Is it by your determination, majority, or by power based fiat? I'd love to keep up this discussion.
Feel free to drop by my blog as well: http://www.offensivechristians.com/blog
If you seriously want answers and really want to exchange ideas, I'd love to have you over on my site – Your the first Atheist I've invited over. Oh yeah, if anybody else wants to come over you're welcome as well. I do need to mention that I won't tolerate attacks aimed a people vice their ideas and neither will I approve posts with language I deem offensive. Not the ideas – just the language.
May God bless you:)
– Will the saved in heaven miss their skeptical friends and family who are doomed to eternal torment in hell? The bible says there will be no sorrow.
No, I don't think so. Those who die in unbelief will not be tormented forever, but they will be dead forever. Will there be sorrow over that fact? Maybe initially, but not eternally. Once it's done it's done, and we move on in life in eternity with God. What God does is right, and though we may not understand it now, we will when Jesus Christ returns in glory.
– But God Are you the same age in heaven as you were when you died? Child, old man? Or in your 'prime'? Who decides? You? Will they have bodily functions? The bible mentions feasts in heaven? If you eat in heaven will the resulting bodily functions occur? Will they always be 'pleasant'? Is there sex? How will we recognize each other if we don't have a recognizable form? Will we have wrinkles? Gray hair? Be bald? Fat? Male or female (if no sex then why different sexes? Why genitals at all?)? Teeth (if no eating, no teeth)? Noses (nothing smells, no need)? Will lost appendages be restored? Infirmities erased? What about birth defects? Will a born cripple still be a cripple in heaven? If you're beautiful in life will you be beautiful in heaven? The same with ugly? In other words, will anybody stand out? Will we all look alike? Same race? If not there will be certain discrimination in heaven as there always is with those that aren't alike. Luke 22:29, 30 – "And I appoint unto you a kingdom … that ye may eat & drink at my table in my kingdom and sit on thrones judging the 12 tribes of Israel."
I believe God makes everyone with their own distinct qualities; that's why were are each given our own name in heaven. We are God's creation, and He created each of us with unique characteristics. To answer what our bodies will be like in heaven, I think the best answer is to see what Jesus was like in His ressurrected body. He could eat and drink, be recognized or unrecognized, walk through walls, disappear. I think we will have freedom similar to that. Will there be sex? Maybe. There might be no marriage, but it doesn't say anything about sex. And by the way, our inheritance is earth, not heaven as we think of it. Jesus Christ will be here with us on earth, and in that sense, because we are with him, we will also be in heaven. However, the Bible is pretty obscure about our eternal state, but there are clues.
On questions 12, 13 and 14 you ask about what happens to children who are too young to make their own decisions about religion. You also asked about adults without the mental aptitude to make those same decisions. I've been Protestant all my life, and though it's not specifically mentioned in the Bible, many believe in an "age of accountability" , the point at which a person knows good from evil, as Adam and Eve did when they took the forbidden fruit. Some people put the age at around 12 or 13 because that's the time when Jesus taught in the temple. (Also the age of mitzvahs). But I (and others I know) tend to believe that the age of accountability is flexible. Meaning that different people may come to that knowledge at different ages and some people, due to mental defect may grow old and still NEVER reach an age where they can make those decisions for themselves. I do not believe such persons would be "damned to hell" as it were
18) How many people have died as a result of a single passage in the book of James? "And the prayer of faith shall heal the sick." James 5:15
How many have died because of that? I don't know. I wonder if you're thinking about the mother of James Hetfield when you ask that? Most Christians I know don't rule out a doctor's help but rely on prayer AND medicine. So let me turn the question around. How many hospitals have been built by the Catholic Church? What about the Baptists? Methodists? Ever heard of Jewish hospitals? I know a couple. If religious people don't believe in medicine, why do they call it Red Cross? I go to church with an M. D., a hospital administrator, a physicians assistant, and a Christian friend of mine is a nurse. I'm an EMT. And oh, St. Luke was a physician
In regards to questions 12 and 13, one of the questions I've been asking myself since I started questioning religion years ago was this: Jesus said that no one gets to heaven except by him, what happens to everyone that has never heard of Jesus? Im sure many other atheists and probably agnostics have asked themselves the same question but I'm not sure many theists have. This is one of the questions that had the biggest impact on my refusal of christianity.
When jesus said this, presumably he was speaking to at most a couple hundred people, so what about everyone that died 5 minutes later in the rest of the world? Or even in the rest of the city. Quite possibly someone died the moment jesus stopped speaking, did that person go to hell for not believing in jesus? Even today there are people that have never heard of jesus or christianity. Does god punish people who has never heard of his son? And if the answer is no, why not? Doesnt that prove that no one has to believe in jesus to go to heaven?
I believe if Christians actually pondered these questions here they would understand the absolute impossibility of the basis of their religion and it would absolutely crumble.
Brilliant! Brilliant, funny, sad and all too true.
Perhaps…..just perhaps–there is a middle ground?
Including your blog on my blogroll. Keep writing!
Rev Jesse
after reading through these posts i really wish i could answer your all of your questions… but alas i can't. i am a christian but not because i know the answer to all of my (and your) questions… and there are a lot of your questions that i would love to know the answers to… but i am a christian not because of what i know with my head but what i know through experience. i used to live a life that most people by today's standards would say was exciting, fun, glamorous, rich, and full but it was a miserable empty existance constantly searching for the next high in one way or another. then when i got pregnant with my first child something in me longed for so much more for that child. i would say that God seeked me out, i can't explain that or even prove that but i have no other explanation for this desire in me to know my Creator. i began to seek Him and the more i knew about Jesus and God the more satisfied and fulfilled i became. slowly that old life seemed to fall away like a shell i had been trapped in and i was transformed into the person that i am today…that is statement is way oversimplified. i can say that life is not easier but without more concrete explanation i can say that i am more complete… like a void in me has been filled that gives me hope of an eternal existance. perhaps this makes me naive but you couldn't pay me enough to go back to a life without God, and essentially that is what i believe hell is. in what context that exists i don't know, that is to say i don't know if you physically burn or are tortured but i do know that it is an existance without God and that is all i need to know. i'm sorry that you need to know all of the answers to these questions in order to be satisfied that God does exist and i'd be curious to know about the events that precluded your fall away from Him… might i suggest reading any of the books by Lee Strobel ("A Case for Faith," "A Case for a Creator," and "A Case for Christ") to help fill in the blanks of your questions. maybe you already have read thoe books, it seems to me that you are honestly seeking answers… i can promise you though that all of our questions will be answered someday (either with a greeting from God or a final end,) it's just a matter of when… if that gives you any satisfaction at all. i can honestly say that i am eagerly awaiting the day when all of my questions are answered, either the day that i die or the day of Christs return whichever comes first. I do know that the Bible says that every single person on earth is God's creation and that He longs for every one of them to know Him and that it breaks His heart that not everyone will… it will break His heart if you don't know Him but that is entirely up to you. thanks for your time in reading this, for whatever it is worth i am making it a priority to pray that God answers your questions in whatever way possible, and to pray for all of His lost children.
Apologies for the tangent, but another question for the Christians:
How does one explain the mechanism for 'miracles'?
I find the biggest 'miracle' leap to be the resurrection.
It's always struck me as pure unsubstantiated myth despite all the people he is purported to have appeared to…
I would also be interested in hearing DT's take on miracles and the resurrection – perhaps a future post?
Many thanks,
thank you for your response to my post! i did say that i lived an exciting, fun life "to the outside world" but i distinctly remember feeling empty during that time, it was not a "realization" once i turned to God– i had always felt it. and you are right… i did return to the God of my youth. i had religion shoved down my throat since i was a little girl– i was completely turned off of religion and turned to my own gratification, seeking myself as my own god. i almost destroyed myself with my destructive behavior–severe drug and alcohol abuse, sexual activity with whoever would give me attention, disrespectful to any adult in my life, doing as i pleased when i pleased no matter who i hurt. and that was all before the age of 18…it is amazing that i survived it… i can't explain why some people have "ears to hear" and why some don't. i will never understand why God chose to bring me back to Him nor can i give you proof of "my" God but i do know He exist and merely saying He doesn't because you don't have proof is (excuse me if this sounds rude) foolishness. i agree that there are so many people who are behind the "cause of Christianity" but show no proof in their lives that they are Christ followers. that is unfortunate because it's those kinds of people who turn others away from God. when you say "These (pregnant/new mothers) women NEVER, EVER have an unfamiliar god enter their lives." i have to say never say never because it's simply not true, you cannnot possible know for sure that they "never, ever" anything– you who put so much value on proof should know this! i explored further on your site all the questions you have– you must have really put a lot of time and effort into coming up with all of these questions. i started to answer some of them simply on the fact that you have distorted meaning in so many of the scriptures because you don't fully comprehend in context the original meaning of the greek/hebrew words. i stopped myself because i don't have the time to sit down and fully explain them (i have three little ones under the age of 5 to keep up with :)….) but surely if you looked up a lot of those words you would have some sort of understanding. i have to admit that there were a few questions that had me really thinking for days. thanks to you, i have a new found appreciation for my blind faith… a new appreciation that i can completely and wholeheartedly believe in God– you call Him unseen but i see Him in everyday life– not a face but a manifestion of His presence and it's amazing. these words are most assuredly falling on deaf ears but you are definately an answer to my prayers– my prayer that i ask God daily to strengthen my faith! may i have child-like faith until i'm in heaven. i will still continue to pray that God will provide answers to your questions because i'm pretty certain that no man will be able to answer them. maybe your problem is your intellect overriding what you know in soul to be true– that happens so often… God is someone you seek with your heart not with your mind because He is beyond comprehension. i still would encourage you to read any of Lee Strobel's "Case for…" books, in case you aren't familiar with them he started out as an atheist looking to disprove God but ended up becoming a Christ follower. it's very interesting… thanks again for your time, i hope you find your answers!
oh and one more question(okay, a few more questions)…. why do you have an entire blog dedicated to questioning about a god you don't believe in? are you really so concerned about others lives that you can't bear to just let people believe in God? do you feel a responsibility to question God so that you can prove He doesn't exist? people have been trying for centuries to disprove God and so far no one has been able to do it…i'm truly asking these questions out of curiosity and not out of arrogance. why are you so troubled by people loving and worshipping a God who brings joy to their lives? maybe by turning from the God that you once believe in you are left with an emptiness that needs to be filled and you are trying to fill it with these questions… just wondering… you don't necessarily need to answer these questions for me, maybe just for yourself if you care to do so.
thanks again, jenn
oh sorry one more thing… He did send a way to save everyone, His name is Jesus and He was fully God and fully man and all you have to do is confess you're a sinner and believe that God sent Jesus to save you and you will save yourself from eternal separation from God. to you that may seem crazy but you can't use the excuse anymore that God doesn't have a plan for salvation and that He doesn't care to save the lost because Jesus is that solution and it really is quiet easy to simply believe. didn't you once?
you are absolutely right on a lot of those points…. i can only go on what i have seen in my own life whether or not God is real. i just had the conversation about "bad Christians" with my sister this afternoon. it really is so unfortunate that there are people out there who claim to be Christians but don't model a Christ-like life. Satan preys on people like that to prove his case (like when he used Peter to try to distract Christ from his purpose– and Jesus said, "get thee behind me Satan"… He wasn't calling Peter Satan He was directly talking to the spirit of Satan that was trying to distract Christ from his purpose. Satan tries to destroy all of Christ's followers because they are a threat to his mission of eternally separating God's creation from their creator. while he is not all powerfull like God, he does use deception by observing our behavior and tempting us in our weak spots.) i don't believe that God would condone violence today as the muslim's "god" does (and we certainly do not believe in the same god.) blowing up people in the name of "god" doesn't fit with my belief system. the God i believe in has called us not to change our society for the better but to bring the gospel to the world and this doesn't set well with a lot of people– therefore it brings about some conflict. i'm not a believer in "forcing religion," i simply state my belief and i let others find God themselves. their salvation is not up to me i'm only suppose to carry a message. when other people start bringing in their own laws and their own rules to the gospel, that's when trouble starts. my belief is simply this: i am a sinner (even though i consider myself to be a good person i still fall short) and i am in need of forgiveness by a Savior in order to spend eternity with God. it's pretty much that simple. i use the Bible as a guide to follow (the NIV version) and it works for me and my family. i fully intend on teaching this to my children however the difference between how i intend to do that and the way i was raised will be this: i will still give them a choice. i won't fear monger my children nor will i beat them over the head with the Bible. i believe it is the Holy Spirit that does the work in a persons life and i don't stand in the way of that. i believe strongly in natural consequences, i will teach them Biblical principles and who Jesus is and what He came to do, that God is the creator of all things and that He has a love for us that we cannot comprehend, that there is a heaven and a hell but it is our choice whether or not to except that and either to spend eternity with Him in heaven or spend eternity separated from Him. will i be disappointed if they choose not to believe, yes, will i love them any less, no, will i still continue to share God's Word with them, you bet. I believe in a loving God and there are countless times that i have known that love, that is why i believe He exists. when i said that you had taken some of the Biblical references out of context i meant that for example that when Jesus said in Luke 21:32 that this generation will certainly not pass away until all of these things have happened the word "generation" is actually "race" meaning the human race. it's just little things like that that can be taken out of context. another example is when the Bible refers to something being more than number "10,000×10,000" 10,000 was actually as high as they could count at that time therefore to them it meant "infinitely." i'm not a Bible scholar but i do know it is the most accurate and oldest historical piece of liturature that has ever existed. that's hard to refute. and if you don't believe it's true why try to rationalize it? i have thoroughly enjoyed these back and forth conversations with you… when i have some more time i fully intend to check out those sites on Lee Strobel but i highly doubt they will change my mind. there will always be someone or something out there trying to disprove anything that points to God as the One and Only. i am a believer for life… and while i can't always say that i'm happy, i can definitely say that i have hope in a God who brings me great joy.
oh yeah, i forgot…i am a skeptic of just about everything… evironmentalists, doctors, insurance, media… you name it, i'm skeptical for sure. it drives my husband crazy. so yes, God is the only thing that i blindly follow… only because i have experienced the proof that i need to do so. not to say that i don't have doubts every once in awhile especially when it has to do with a tragedy or bad experiences (i kind of just went through one and i definitely started to question…) but God has been faithful in confirming to me that He is with me, call it peace, call it unexplained answers to prayer (like you were), but until He is no longer faithful i will continue to believe. i use those opportunities of doubt to seek Biblical knowledge and to seek answers, while i try to on a consistant basis sometimes it's not always possible considering that i have 3 little ones who need my constant attention. i'm grateful for those times of doubt and trial because it is usually getting through those times that makes my faith stronger… it saddens me to know that it didn't turn out that way for you, that your doubt pushed you further away. i have no explanation for that and i won't even pretend to know…
i'm sorry, i didn't mean that you weren't using the correct "version" of the Bible… i was just saying that translations from the original text written in Greek/Hebrew/Aramaic can be misunderstood in any version. just like when you translate from any other language (Spanish, French, Italian etc.) you have to study it directly from the original words in the context of that language to understand what the meaning is. as i understand it, great implicit care was taken when copying the text in the greek language, it was a high honor to be able to copy text and it was done letter by letter so as not to have any mistakes. yes, men wrote the Bible but you have to admit that it is accurate, the Bible has yet to be proven fallible by any historian. i don't believe that it was copied off of any other "bible" but that is just my opinion. i'm not in a position to argue any points with you at the moment because i'm not a biblical scholar, i just know that when i have done in depth word studies with scripture between different versions and the original text it was made so much clearer to me and it wasn't always in a way that made me "comfortable" so to speak. i don't appreciate the "emergent" movement in today's Christians that holds to the "feel warm and fuzzy" religion. God was and is a just God and while i don't always understand the harshness of the punishment in the OT, i do understand that Jesus Christ paid the price and took all of punishment for us so that that punishment was no longer necessary (there were no more mass extinctions in the New Testament right?) as understand it, everyone that was "punished" in the Bible in the OT deserved it. i can't explain how or why the women and children had to be punished so harshly as well but i still believe that the babies and children went to heaven and that God knows what He's doing. i'm quite certain that you absolutely don't believe that or agree with me but it's okay, we obviously have different view points. and i guess because i love God and still fear Him and i have reverence for Him, i trust His Word and how He has shown Himself to me that i'm comfortable with a little bit of mystery to Him. i guess we'll know for sure when we die huh? i appreciate your questioning and i'm intrigued by your knowledge. thanks for humoring me and my attempts to explain myself to you.
Greetings All,
I know it has been some weeks since my initial post in this particular forum. Although I have been lurking around and replying here and there as the opportunities rose, I have wanted to come back to my original post. And, as I have seen a lot of discussion about whether babies go to hell or not, this seems to be a good time to jump in.
DT, in my original post I tried to honor your guidelines that we not use the Bible or "faith" as an answer. Well, I didn't use the Bible and inadvertantly committed the other faux pas. But when I said "I. . . believe", I meant what I believe based on what I've deduced from what I know (the Bible says). However, I know of no other way to address a theological question that with a theological answer. Which brings me to another point.
MAZZ said: " When jesus said this, presumably he was speaking to at most a couple hundred people, so what about everyone that died 5 minutes later in the rest of the world? Or even in the rest of the city. Quite possibly someone died the moment jesus stopped speaking, did that person go to hell for not believing in jesus? Even today there are people that have never heard of jesus or christianity. Does god punish people who has never heard of his son? And if the answer is no, why not? Doesnt that prove that no one has to believe in jesus to go to heaven?
I believe if Christians actually pondered these questions here they would understand the absolute impossibility of the basis of their religion and it would absolutely crumble." To which you agreed. But, let me ask why? Why is this the golden question? Do we presume that the Bible writers left these questions unanswered and hoped no one would notice? I submit that the answers are there. And that the true question is "did Jesus rise from the dead?" Paul said that that was the lynchpin of our faith and if Christ has not risen then we believe in vain. I bring that up because of what Jesus himself said concerning these questions. If he did rise, then, I believe his comments warrant study. If he did not, then his comments are moot and so are the questions.
Now—-What about those who died before Christ or while he was speaking
John 5:25; 28-29 "I tell you the truth, a time is coming and has now come when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live". " Do not be amazed at this, for a time is coming when all who are in their graves will hear his voice and come out–those who have done good will rise to live, and those who have done evil will rise to be condemned".
What about those who have not heard of Jesus (Amazon tribes etc)
First, Jesus said in Matt 8:10 that people would come from the east and west (all over the world) to sit at the table with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
Also, consider Rev 7:9 a great multitude of every nation, tribe, people and language (NIV) In my mind the language part would consider temporality as nations and regions change languages over time and consider many languages that are dead and were dead in Jesus time (Sumerian, Aramaic)
Also consider 2Kings Ch5 Naaman, (a pagan) goes to the prophet of God for healing and asks to take back some of Israel's dirt so he can worship God. Also consider Acts 8:26-40 the account of Philip and an Ethiopian eucnuch.
What about children too young to make a decision
Jeremiah 1:5 "Before thou camest fourth out of the womb, I sanctified thee" (KJV) (Does God play favorites?)
1 John 2:12 "I write to you dear children, because your sins have been forgiven on account of his name" (Some translations use "little" in place of "dear", but 2:13 goes on to address fathers and 14 addresse young men so, these would seem to lend credence to John addressing "little ones".
And Don't forget Matt 19:13; Mark 10:13; Luke 18:15 about Jesus saying "let the little children come to me for such is the kingdom of Heaven" (DT, I am aware of the qualms you have with that statement)
Finally the hard one what about those (adults) who are mentally unable to decide. Well, I was disappointed not to find what I was looking for. Lev 4 talks about unintentional sin and becoming ceremonially unclean. Those who were unaware of their uncleanness were to be cleansed AS SOON AS they became aware. They were not struck down beforehand, they were not penalized for the time in which they were unclean. In my memory I had thought I had read before that they were not considered guilty until they became AWARE of their sin. Alas, I did not find that. But I surmise that if we are not aware of our condition, we can do nothing about it.
Until Next Time
John 5:25; 28-29 "I tell you the truth, a time is coming and has now come when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live". " Do not be amazed at this, for a time is coming when all who are in their graves will hear his voice and come out–those who have done good will rise to live, and those who have done evil will rise to be condemned".
Does that mean that the sins of "those who have done good" will be forgiven? The bible says that no man is perfect and without sin so the passage from john seems to suggest that people that died before jesus came to earth will get an auto pass without actually having to have the same faith that todays christians do. Since they are already dead they arent bound by the same circumstances of even contemporary jews at the time of jesus. Those jews and gentiles that were alive to see jesus had to take on faith that he was actually the son of god and/or god himself but those that are already dead doesnt have to take it on faith because who else could it be that is talking to them while they are dead?
"What about those who have not heard of Jesus (Amazon tribes etc)
First, Jesus said in Matt 8:10 that people would come from the east and west (all over the world) to sit at the table with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
Also, consider Rev 7:9 a great multitude of every nation, tribe, people and language (NIV) In my mind the language part would consider temporality as nations and regions change languages over time and consider many languages that are dead and were dead in Jesus time (Sumerian, Aramaic)"
These passages at first glance may be appealing as an answer but in fact are not an answer to the question. Today there are people in all parts of the world, thanks mostly do to colonialization and missionairies so if we take the bible as literal truth there ARE people of different nations, tribes etc. that are christians but still does not account for people that are remote enough to not have heard of jesus. Also, am I to believe that those quotes suggest that people all over the planet immediately heard jesus' voice as he was preaching? If that is the case then why wasnt it noted anywhere by any other civilizations?
What about children too young to make a decision
Jeremiah 1:5 "Before thou camest fourth out of the womb, I sanctified thee" (KJV) (Does God play favorites?)
1 John 2:12 "I write to you dear children, because your sins have been forgiven on account of his name" (Some translations use "little" in place of "dear", but 2:13 goes on to address fathers and 14 addresse young men so, these would seem to lend credence to John addressing "little ones".
And Don't forget Matt 19:13; Mark 10:13; Luke 18:15 about Jesus saying "let the little children come to me for such is the kingdom of Heaven" (DT, I am aware of the qualms you have with that statement)
Does "sanctified before you came out the womb" mean that people are born sinless? That statement seems to fly in the face of christianity. It would suggest that people dont actually need christianity as long as they lead a "good" life. The quote "let the little children come to me" doesnt answer the question at all. That quote says that children has to go to jesus to be saved. The question is, what happens to children too young to make the decision to go to jesus.
The problem with using the bible to answer questions is that it never actually answers anything. In some cases it just leads to more questions. The bible is incredibly flawed and usually self-contradicting which makes it not a good place to seek answers. Due to the fact that there are many authors of the bible ideas not lining up very well is almost inevitable. Id go so far as to say that actual works of fiction written by one author will answer some of lifes questions much better than the bible.
"It is a statistical fact that the more inteligent, highly educated a person, the less likely they are to belive in a god. In other words, the less educated, or more ignorant a person is, the more likely they are to believe in a god."
What is your source for this statistic? What is the definition, according to the stats, of education. Education can take on many forms.
Question 24 – Giants and dragons.
What version of the Bible are you reading? The word for dragons is sometimes translated as serpent, sea monster, sea creature, whale, etc. This seems more like a translation problem than the Bible saying there were actual dragons as we think of them today.
As for giants, well Goliath measured about 9 1/2 feet tall. The tallest recorded man in modern history was 8ft 11 inches. So Goliath is hardly out of the realm of possibility.
"Why isn't knowledge of God a natural part of our existence? Why aren't we born knowing him? In other words, why if a man is born and left alone, and he never encounters a Christian or reads a bible, he would live his whole life never knowing or believing in God? If God is real and deserving of our love, why has he stacked the deck so highly in favor of mankind eventually finding themselves in hell rather than heaven?"
You assume much here. 1. You assume that the knowledge of God is not a natural part of our existence. Before science explained a lot of the stuff that occurs (sunrises, earthquakes, etc.) humans came to the conclusion that God or gods caused these things. The Bible (sorry for using it, but it seems relevant) also states that God is known through his creation.
2.You assume that someone who never encounters a Christian or reads a Bible will have no knowledge of God. Read Eternity in Their Hearts by Don Richardson, for ways God has shown himself to many cultures.
3. You assume that God needs to prove himself deserving of our love and that if he does not act in a way that you think is proper he has failed.
Why should God have to prove anything to you?
Question 16
Seriously, get a version of the Bible that uses modern English.
Anyhoo, again your question is filled with assumptions.
1. You assume that God did not talk to others like he did Rebekah.
2. You assume that what Peter saw was in the physical world. The Bible says it was a vision (i.e., not occurring in the natural world).
3. You assume God does not have conversations with people today. See Brad Jersak's Can You Hear me.
4. You assume Christians would think people were mad or lying if they heard them say they were having conversations with God. Maybe some would, but many Christians believe they hear from God regularly. Myself included. Just 2 days ago God told me to pray for a friend. I later found out she was having emergency heart surgery around the time I was praying for her. Coincidence? Insanity?
Question 35
yes they had sex. Do you really think they needed to be taught how? I mean, isn't it fairly obvious?
Question 36
How else would childbirth have been free from pain?
Do a search of hypnobirthing. Or hypnosis used instead of anesthesia in surgeries.
A lot to respond to here.
Thanks for supplying the references where you got your stats info. You are correct that I could have done a search myself, but then there would be no guarantee that I was looking at the same information you were. Stats are tricky things and can be misrepresented and interpreted, so seeing the same info is helpful. I have not had a chance to look at the links thoroughly, so maybe I'll address this later.
Dragons: My point is you have to look at what the original writers meant. The KJV translators interpreted certain things because of the beliefs of their day. In so doing they sometimes translated incorrectly. To attribute their misunderstandings to the original writers is sloppy. Now, id the original writers had described the beasts as fire breathing, or having magical powers, you would have a case. As it is all you have is a mistranslation.
Giants, my point in mentioning these modern "giants" and the height of the "giant" Goliath is that when the Bible speaks of giants it is not speaking of the creatures of myth. It is speaking of very tall people. Some have even argued that Goliath did have gigantism. Could a whole people group have had it? Or could a whole people group have been abnormally tall? Perhaps, after all there are whole tribes of abnormally short people (in comparison with most people), the Pygmies.
Question 34
What I am saying is that humans' normal response to nature is believing in a god or gods. I do believe that God has revealed himself, but I also believe in sin, demons, and other influences that muddle and confuse and deceive. I'm not going to recount all of Eternity In Their Hearts, if you want a more thorough argument, you can read it.
#16 My complaint in this case had more to do with, "separated from thy bowels" I mean who talks that way? I too grew up with the KJV and it helped me immensely when I had to read Shakespeare, but why not read something in modern English? The New KJV keeps the basic translation, but uses modern English. Your unwillingness to use a modern translation because it "manipulates the words of the bible to suit his own purposes" shows how little you know of proper Bible translation or the politics of the KJV. If you are truly seeking answers and if you have truly studied the Bible you would want to know how and why biblical scholars have translated the Bible. To cling to one translation because it serves YOUR purpose, is disingenuous.
Your question "How does God choose who to have a conversation with" implies you believe he chooses to have them with some people and not with others. As to the vision part, it does matter if you believe that it was happening in the physical then you can legitimately wonder why Peter did not eat. If you understand that it was a vision, then him not eating becomes a matter of practicality. But as it is a tangential point to your question, you are right in that it does not matter to your question. No, I do not roll my eyes. As I stated before, I believe in demons. They can speak to people and even perform miracles. I'm curious as to why you did not address my personal example. I can give you many more conversations that have similar results. Are they all coincidences? Am I insane (my psychologist wife doesn't think so). Maybe I have ESP? or maybe God really is speaking to me.
#35 OK, I admit it I was being cavalier, but I find the question a bit on the "so what" side. What does it matter? And how is the question unique to the Bible? And I'll admit I have heard of clueless adults not knowing what to do with their genitals. But if even if their are a few clueless people, I think most people can figure it out. Also, if you believe in evolution (which I assume due to the whole atheism thing) how did the first humans learn to have sex if they did not figure it out themselves?
My reason for believing they had sex is because God told them to. I assume they obeyed him. But what if they did not have sex before "the fall" so what? Or are you one of those people who think "eating the fruit" is a metaphor for sex?
The pain question
My point in mentioning hypnosis is that there are ways to experience birth without pain. So, there could have been pain receptors and no pain. Or pain receptors could have been a direct result of the fall. "Hypnosis is quackery" really? Why? It obviously works for some people. That it does not work for everyone does not make it quackery. Not even all medicines always work for everyone. But that is beside the point, the point is there is a way for pain free childbirth.
Also, why the departure from the KJV on this one? It does not mention pain, but sorrow, "I will greatly multiply thy SORROW and thy conception; in SORROW thou shalt bring forth children" (Gen 3:16) and even if you use the word pain, it does not say pain did not exist before hand, but that the pain would multiply. Again, this shows your lack of Biblical knowledge (despite your claims otherwise) or your deliberate misrepresentation of what the Bible actually says.
But lets say that Eve, Adam and the animals did have pain receptors. One possible reason would have been to prevent them from harming themselves. For example, doing something that would result in the loss of a limb. Here's a question, why does it matter either way? I mean how does either choice prove of disprove the Bible?
Let me restate a point that I have made throughout. If you are truly seeking answers as you claim, then do some research. This would include: reading writers that address some of your questions, looking at different translations (to get a better sense of how others view the intent of the writers), and learning the history of the times (to see how the particular verse or passage was taken at the time). There is a lot that the Biblical writers assumed their audiences knew, but have been forgotten to many. This effects our interpretation of the scripture. I have suggested some books, let me suggest some more. Everything Must Change by Brian McLaren, the Christians for Biblical Equality website (www.cbeinternational.org), Beyond Sex roles by Gilbert Bilezikian, I Suffer Not a Woman by Richard and Catherine Kroeger, reasons to believe (www.reasons.org). These all deal with some of your questions and/or translation issues and historical context issues.
1. John 5:25; 28-29 "I tell you the truth, a time is coming and has now come when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live". " Do not be amazed at this, for a time is coming when all who are in their graves will hear his voice and come out–those who have done good will rise to live, and those who have done evil will rise to be condemned".
Does that mean that the sins of "those who have done good" will be forgiven? The bible says that no man is perfect and without sin so the passage from john seems to suggest that people that died before jesus came to earth will get an auto pass without actually having to have the same faith that todays christians do. Since they are already dead they arent bound by the same circumstances of even contemporary jews at the time of jesus. Those jews and gentiles that were alive to see jesus had to take on faith that he was actually the son of god and/or god himself but those that are already dead doesnt have to take it on faith because who else could it be that is talking to them while they are dead?
You're right in that all have sinned and have fallen short of the glory. But Jesus also said that he did not come to do away with the law but to fulfill the law. It is Jesus' blood sacrifice that allows us to come to God. But salvation ultimately comes from repentance, not an easy belief. In the book of Jonah, Jonah preaches to the Ninevites and they repent and God does not bring calamity on them. So, it shows that God accepted their repentance Matt 3:8 Bring forth the fruits meet for repentance. Faith is not just "a belief" but it leads to action (See Hebrews 11). Paul said "To those who through persistence seek glory, honor and immortality he will give eternal life.But for those who are self-seeking and who reject the good and follow evil there will be wrath and anger…first for the Jew and then for the gentile; but glory honor and peace for everyone who does good. For God does not show favoritism. All who sin apart from the law will perish apart form the law and all who sin under the law will be judged by the law. For it is not those who hear the law who are righteous in God's sight, it is those who obey the law who will be declared righteous.(Romans 2:7-13) And if you're going to say that Now "okay I don't need Jesus after all", the difference is that you HAVE heard and if you deny him before men, he will deny you before his Father and the angels.
"What about those who have not heard of Jesus (Amazon tribes etc)
First, Jesus said in Matt 8:10 that people would come from the east and west (all over the world) to sit at the table with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
Also, consider Rev 7:9 a great multitude of every nation, tribe, people and language (NIV) In my mind the language part would consider temporality as nations and regions change languages over time and consider many languages that are dead and were dead in Jesus time (Sumerian, Aramaic)"
These passages at first glance may be appealing as an answer but in fact are not an answer to the question. Today there are people in all parts of the world, thanks mostly do to colonialization and missionairies so if we take the bible as literal truth there ARE people of different nations, tribes etc. that are christians but still does not account for people that are remote enough to not have heard of jesus. Also, am I to believe that those quotes suggest that people all over the planet immediately heard jesus' voice as he was preaching? If that is the case then why wasnt it noted anywhere by any other civilizations?
Immediately heard his voice. It wasn't necessary. In all the cases that we have, it starts with ONE PERSON. Jonah preaching to Nineveh, Naaman from the 2 Kings story (someone else told him) The Ethiopian Eunuch and Philip. All it takes is for one person to know and start the process of change. Also, I'm going to go out on a limb here and I'm sure I'll stir up some historians/philosophers in the group. But in 399 BC Socrates was put on trial for being an atheist and trying to start a new religion as he referred to the Greek "gods of this city" as false gods. And he speaks of "the God" that spoke to him at the Oracle of Delphi. Could this be? Just asking.
What about children too young to make a decision
Jeremiah 1:5 "Before thou camest fourth out of the womb, I sanctified thee" (KJV) (Does God play favorites?)
1 John 2:12 "I write to you dear children, because your sins have been forgiven on account of his name" (Some translations use "little" in place of "dear", but 2:13 goes on to address fathers and 14 addresse young men so, these would seem to lend credence to John addressing "little ones".
And Don't forget Matt 19:13; Mark 10:13; Luke 18:15 about Jesus saying "let the little children come to me for such is the kingdom of Heaven" (DT, I am aware of the qualms you have with that statement)
Does "sanctified before you came out the womb" mean that people are born sinless? That statement seems to fly in the face of christianity. It would suggest that people dont actually need christianity as long as they lead a "good" life. You're right in that many people believe (mistakenly) that we are born sinners. That comes from Psalm 51:5 where David is confessing his guilt. Notice that David said first notice that David said "I was brought forth in iniquity", not "all men are". Also, we are "born into" a sinful world. Not born with sin in us. But rather we acquire it from our environment
The quote "let the little children come to me" doesnt answer the question at all. That quote says that children has to go to jesus to be saved. The question is, what happens to children too young to make the decision to go to jesus.
Matt 18:3 "Except ye be converted and become as little children ye shall not enter the kingdom of heaven" Luke 18:16 Suffer the little children to come unto me and forbid them not for such is the kingdom of heaven" Sounds to me that these little children are going to heaven.
"Does that mean that the sins of "those who have done good" will be forgiven?"
"You're right in that all have sinned and have fallen short of the glory. But Jesus also said that he did not come to do away with the law but to fulfill the law. It is Jesus' blood sacrifice that allows us to come to God. But salvation ultimately comes from repentance, not an easy belief."
Your answer does not prove your point. The question is what happened to the people who died before jesus came to earth and the people that could not have known about jesus. Beyond repenting people MUST accept jesus as their savior to get to heaven. As far as I know that is a hallmark of every popular sect of christianity. Saying "im sorry" just doesnt cut it to get to heaven according to christians.
"Matt 18:3"Except ye be converted and become as little children ye shall not enter the kingdom of heaven" Luke 18:16 Suffer the little children to come unto me and forbid them not for such is the kingdom of heaven" Sounds to me that these little children are going to heaven."
Is this passage meant to say that all children are going to heaven? That raises the question which has been mentioned before of age of accountability. At what age is it that people make the move from child to adult? At what age does the bible decide that people are able to make their choice? Also the passage there by Luke looks like it says to me that those "little children" have to be indoctrinated into christianty before going to heaven. If im wrong could you kindly explain what "suffer the little children to come unto me" means. Doesnt look like a pass for the kiddies.
What does "suffer the little children to come unto me" mean?
In the English of the 17thc KJV, "suffer" would mean "to let " or "allow".
In this passage (Luke 18:15-17) And they brought unto him also infants, that he would touch them. But when his disciples saw it, THEY REBUKED THEM. But Jesus called them unto him, and said, "suffer the little children to come unto me and FORBID THEM NOT for of such is the Kingdom of God".
(I hope it is ok if I answer them all, this is pretty simple stuff. Whomever you are, these questions
are the typical questions asked at sunday school by very
active children–you should have went, as then you would now be on far more interesting questions,
which is to say, you are still in your infancy as a born again Christian; You do ask the questions, so
you have been reached by the Spirit. So believe already.)
1. There is no sorrow in heaven, so there will be no missing of loved ones that "did not make it."
Age should not be a question, as time is associated with earth, where God is eternal; Therefore,
eternity in heaven is timeless, where age is based upon time. Bodily functions are a function of
waste, where in heaven things would be perfect, no waste. Sex is a facet of the fallen man, there is no
hint of sex in the text before the fall, possibly God had another system in Mind, besides our manliness
that gives women pain, in sex, and then in birth. The form of our bodies, this is not knowable, yet,
the Bible does hint at some sort of personal-ness, as we would be worshiping God, giving thanks, and
all that, so what would we be thankful for? For surviving this evil riddled world, and we would have
some sort of reckoning of this world to be thankful. The smells seem heavenly as God smells the incents
burned, and smells the meat and lamb sacrificed on the altar.
Many of these refer to concepts in the Scriptures, but one can grasp the totality of our concept of
heaven: It will be perfect, is this not the heart of our Godly ideas? Is some imperfection of our wives
or husbands not the source of our momentary grief in a relationship? We instinctively want perfection,
and we grasp at it and fail without some extra-earthly power, as the atheist does.
(This is why we do not cast perils before swine; When I speak of perfection you will only see again
your atheist prejudices, my words will, most likely, not sway you to belief either, and as rude as this
may seem, you are a swine until you believe and are delivered from the evil of this world.)
As far as teeth, lost limbs, infirmities, birth defects, crippling accidents, the perception of ugly,
these are all failings of this world, where there is no perfection as we righly imagine of heaven. Your
question concerning identity ("will anybody stand out?") is interesting, but what reason would you have
that would establish this as a valid concept? The difficulty here is in associating all of your
identity with this flesh in this world, where associating your identity in heaven is far more productive
to the spirit living here on earth. Is this not better sounding than the death march atheists rely
(And, yes, some people are ugly; I know I can look terrible after two or three days of no sleep, when
I get too busy.)
The Apostles were given to judge the twelve tribes of Israel, not the rest of us. Some say that the
wedding feast and the table to eat and drink at is figurative, but I say it is literal.
2.The circumcision was an act of the flesh. What part of the flesh does not result in pain? Blood?
Grotesque? The flesh is fallen, this is the only logical conclusion. For example, the atheist/feminist
enjoys making films of birth deliveries, and they get put on A&E or Discovery, or some other network.
But these are absolutely disgusting moments, for those of use that are sane and are not the father!
I saw my own child birthed, and with a c-cection no less, and I faint and throw up in hospitals, but
not when it was my own flesh being born, that was somehow different, either my love for the child's
mother, or my love for the child, or both. Yet, to see someone else is disgusting, I can not stop for
a second on one of those programs. Of course, circumcision is a bloody and gory act, it is an act of
this fallen flesh.
There is nothing in this world which is, ultimately, good. Yet, we do have moments of goodness.
3. Education plus this fact of not believing in God started in the late 1800's, and reached critical mass
in the 1900's. Why is it that people considered educated before where more likely to believe in God?
Your answer, I suspect, would be simple: Because God was at the center of education before the twentieth
century. Atheists teach the children, its really quite simple, and your simpleton question prooves my
4. Marriages are a pain, some of the time. So, marriage being done away with would be a good thing, right?
Trying to get married, especially today with atheism ruling the world and most young men and women being
womanizers and sluts, the task of picking a wife or husband is really a chore; And then comes the
marriage in this bizarro-world culture we live in. Some really crazy and unproductive ideas are floating
around and men and women both pick these up and try to implement them in their own marriages. Add to
that the do-nothing life style of the vast majority of people in the industrialized world (i.e.
socialism, working for governments, and all that) and you have a really difficult situation. As much
joy as I get from a woman I love I would not mind doing away with the stress of worrying if she will
be the next to go over to feminism and screw the whole thing up in my own life. Again, these are all
questions concerning the flesh, and you yourself point out all their failings and idiosyncracies, which
are all degress of misery. Heaven is perfect.
As far as the wedding ceremony thing, you are absolutely correct, today's marriage thingy is very much
absurd. To begin to understand how it is incorrect today, think of all the crap that each marriage is
now covering up: God said marry as virgins (both male and female) yet who is still a virgin these days?
Not many, not many at all. So, the world needs a lot of pomp and circumstance to cover up their sure
destiny in hell, so they can feel good presently.
5. The entire world used to believe in God, it is only recenly that this has changed. (Yes, I know all the
arguments concerning the Inca's, the Druid's, the American-Indians…) The rest of the your question is
simply questioning free will, and this is undeniable, we all exibit free will.
6. Many of the Jews did not believe in Jesus, that is why He was hung on the Cross and put to death.
With that in mind, just what difference does it make now? People believe for a spiritual reason, and
that is the only logical explanation. There would be no reason to follow after Jesus, even if we all
believe that He is the Messiah, there must be some sort of spiritual effect. For example, I know full
well that there are very intelligent people in the world, yet I do not follow their advice. On the other
hand, I always feel it when I go against God. Never fails. There is a Holy Spirit with me, and He guides
my heart.
As far as any discrepencies you may think exist, there are only two that actually are quantitative
discrepencies, the rest, which are what you cite, these are qualitative ideas, and they all reconcile
if you first insist that God need be Perfect, and so His Scriptures Perfect. It is in this facet of
theological discipline that the greatest insights to Christian life are found. Assume that the
Scriptures are correct, in order to begin to understand them. You do the same when you study
mathematics, you assume that your teacher is telling you the truth, and that the school books are
written well, and you even overlook the odd typeo or two that are found each year in new books, so as
to preserve mathematics in general. Why do you treat the Bible so differently? Because you are
spiritually motivate against God; You are a pawn in the hands of the evil one.
Consider the constant battle between the ultra conservative american and the rest of america: The
ultra conservative insists that government should not pry at all in to the privacy of any citizen,
where the rest say sometimes it is ok, for some greater good. Why not have faith in each citizen? This
is the same as faith in God. You must let go of this world to find heaven, and only then will you be
able to grasp this world.
7. "What are you basing this opinion on" is another trick of the atheist, to try and remove the Scriptures
from the conversation. The fact is, the atheist would know nothing of the past if it were not for the
Scriptures. Where do the Israelies look when they look for the cisterns beneath the temple? They look
where the Scriptures tell them to look, and they find what the Scriptures describe.
So, as Pharaoh was not a believer (not being of one of the twelve tribes) and the age of the Gentiles
had not yet come (the rest of the world did not believe in the God of the Hebrews until Jesus died)
then it is impossible that Pharaoh could have relied upon powers from anyone except not-God. Not-God is
satan, and is always satan. God is Perfect, Perfect is good; Imperfection leads to all pains, and pain
is not good, satan is not good.
(Those political and legal theories relying upon pain and pleasure, those are yours, right atheist?)
8. Remove Santa Claus and the Tooth Fairy and all the other pagan (i.e. atheist) mythologies. Not true
Christian is dealing in these. (No, I am not a Jehovah's Witness.) These things in their present form
parallel what else in our society? The rise of atheism, the emptying of the churches, no-fault divorce,
abortion, et cetera. This is all evil.
As far as children are concerned, you assert that religious schooling is child abuse, as it infuses a
child without his knowing, as he is a child. Yet, you seek only another similar thing, in that you
desire to intercept religious schooling, that is, you too want to control that same child's development.
At the same time, you appeal to a very lofty, very etheral idea: You imply that the child will develop
without religious instruction. We have the present day, very atheist society, which does follow your
advice very much, and we have child rapes, rapes of all kinds, murders and more murders, pornography,
child pornography, divorce, abortion, teen pregnancy, teens giving up their babies to strangers, broken
families on every block, political corruption, political incompitence, and all due to your hypothesis
that children should not be morally educated, should not be told what to do nor when to do it, should
not be held to any standard whatsoever, except for whatever is fashionable. You have already gotten
your wish to remove religious education from the children of this nation, and for the whole world, so
what are you complaining about? Just what is your question anyway?
As far as Santa different from God, or Jesus, or the Holy Spirit, that is a question I should be asking
of you! Everyone knows that Santa is make believe, yet still almost all people, when pressed, or when
in a desperate situation admits that there is a God, somewhere, somehow.
So why not be educated as to Whom He Is?
9. This question is a bunch of typical ignorance, as far as I can tell at face value.
On the other hand, your omission of the entire passage in 17:8 is non-sensical. You seem to assert that
someone on earth will wonder just what happened to those people not found in the book of life. The
passage is a mystery to us so far: 'A beast that was, but is not,' seemingly a contradiction, and it
ascended out of the bottomless pit, and goes in to perdition. Then, you leave out the end of the passage
and place a period where you have omitted even more text. You do the typical satanic thing, you cause
one to look away from their own possible fate in hell. This is what the passage is describing, those
that go after the beast, and then find themselves not written in the book of life, and then are lost
trying to find that beast again, 'that was, and is not, and yet is.'
The passage is not, actually, a mystery. People will worship the beast, they will not be in the book
of life because they worship the beast, and then they will loose even the worship of this beast, that
is, their earthly god will disappear on them, and they will be left to wonder. This is the absense of
God, and how it is, and how it will be.
As far as the book of Revelation revealing something not heretofore known, well it is a book of
revelation, right?
10. Trying to create hatred for Jews is a bad thing. Why would you, a supposedly enlightened atheist, want
to foster hatred?
Shit on you as far as the rest of the question is concerned, you need to stop the hatred first, little
11. "Thou shalt surely kill him" is not in "The Ten Commandments" it is within the statutes. So, maybe you
should, actually, read the Bible, as if you were, actually, literate.
Jesus died on the Cross, therefore, there is no more need for killing. Either believe or go to hell.
As far as your usual atheist rambling on at the end of this question, why sink to that childish level
if you are so sure of your atheist ideals?
12. The same-ol, same-ol appeal to children and their safety. No Christian believes that relatively
innocent children are put in to hell, that is, if they die before they are aware enough to believe.
You know this, so you mention a question as to when, exactly, is awareness established? You also know
that this is a difficult question, and you do your best to be difficult (much like the five year old
child you are so concerned with.) Some are aware at one age, some another, anyone knows that, including
As far as the children of Mormons, simply consider the children of any one, it is no different. If you
raise your child an atheist, he will, most likely, remain an atheist until he dies, and this will doom
him to hell.
This is not fair you say! It is fair, as you have access to a Bible, and you have heard enough of
Christianity in your years that you try to fight against it. You have been given your chance to believe,
though, a lot of criminals in prison have this same excuse, so you are in good company.
13. Umm…soup is good food.
Most of this is already asked in previous questions.
You at least provide a new scenario (though, all scenarios are covered in the Bible, so ho-hum.) Some
guy is an atheist, and he gets knocked stupid in a car wreck. He had his chance. (There are no death
bed gurantees, aye?)
14. (It so cute how you capitalize atheist, and lower case God. You really do show all the signs of an
immature child.)
These are already answered in previous question, you only come up with more scenarios.
On this point, do you not see how obviously retarded your intellect is? You simply create more and more
scenarios concerning the same central thesis. And, worst of all, this is how all children are taught
in the atheist controlled schools, so I have to live with a world full of idiots that are swayed,
again and again, to follow after bad ideas.
Nevertheless, mental disorders are interesting in that they are caused by our fallen nature, we are not
perfect since the fall in the Garden of Eden. I am only 99% sure that such defects are met with the
same mercy as I assume God will show to children of innocence. Maybe there is a catch there, that some
one takes drugs, or some other thing, and dooms a child to an inability to be saved.
I say, however, that God will show His Mercy to these unfortunate individuals.
15. You really need to read the Bible. You are such a child!
A central concept to Christianity is the law written on the heart; Thusly, it is said that one that has
the law written on his heart is the same as one whom hears the Gospel and believes.
Now, those Amzonians were not necessarily the nicest people the world has ever seen. They had murderers,
rapists, child molesters, theives, corrupt leaders, and every other sin we know of that causes someone
pain. They did not have the law of God written on their hearts, and those people will surely be in hell.
HOWEVER, if some of them did have the decency and kindness and charity of Jesus Christ, then they are
already in heaven.
Oh, and just another bunch of scenarios. Hey monkey, how about a new trick?
16. More bad Bible reading…
I was once driving down the road, in a strange place, and a little voice said to me, go right. So I
did. The other road had a terrible accident where I would have been. (And that ain't the only time that
has happend.)
Think I am mad? That's ok, I'm going to heaven, one way or another.
17. Why anything. Really, these are juvenile questions.
You give your own answer, nutritional value. If one has water and the necessary minerals (magnesium,
iron, b-complex, et cetera) then one will survive quite well. Manna from heaven was surely perfect.
I tried coriander and I didn't like it. Hmm…
I was sitting on a porch, having a cigrette, after working all day, when I noticed all this stuff
blowing around the concrete, collecting in the corners of the porch…
18. Typical atheist association. If someone twists around the Gospel and the Way of God it is not God's
fault, it is the fault of those individuals that do this, and the fault of those around them that should
have been able to preach the Gospel, but did not. Some people refuse the Gospel, even though it is
preached to them well, I call these people atheists, and as such, I associate people that do not seek
medical attention with atheism.
19. Same as last question.
20. Everything you ask here is pre-loaded opposite of the Scriptures. I suspect you are not only an atheist,
but a satanist (as this is their way, to be opposite.)
Adam and Eve were sent out to the world you and I see every day. Maybe you have tried to garden, as I
have in the desert in southern california: Lots of rocks, lots of pointed plants to stick you. In other
words, lots of sweat and blood, just like it says in the Bible. So, Adam and Eve were not brought out
of a world bigger than ours, necessarily, but were brought out of a slice of paradise, and put here in
this unruly scene we all live in today.
Everything else you ask is about the evil in this fallen world. Hey, it hurts when you fall down, huh?
(Or is that too obvious for you?)
21. You are stuck in a battle with your adversary.
22. Where did you hear that angels have wings?
That should answer your question.
23. Creation verses evolution question. Quasi Creation/evolution theories are on both sides. Evolution says
dinosaurs first. Creation says first Adam, then the rest of history. I believe in Creation.
Why? Materially, it is the only logical conclusion. There must be a Creator, and He must want something
to do with His Creation, therefore, He has give us His Word. Spiritually, I have had contact with God's
Spirit, having believed, I now have signs to believe (that is, to believe even more.)
24. The beanstalk was in Minnesota. Or maybe it was Iowa.
Interesting that no evidence of these "giants" were never found. Could it be because their bones were
used in pagan rituals? (You know how you atheists are when you start getting religious.)
25. With this question I am now convinced that you are a satanist, and not just another atheist.
They were impressed. (Read the Bible.)
They did not know when Jesus would ascend, as in knowing when to tell people to gather and watch.
(Pray to God for understanding.)
They told you about Jesus. (And you have not even read the Bible.)
I was once ripped off a few hundred dollars by some piece of junk dude; When I made enough money to
consider that regained, I did not gloat to the thief, I really did not care if I ever saw him again.
I was much happier to have my money back, and was busy with the business of that money regained, too
busy to go looking for a thief. Besides that, I did not want to get ripped off again!
Jesus' mother was told. (Read the Bible.)
Ask Stephen about trying to Save as many Jews as possible. And ask James. And ask John. And ask…..
All you do in this question is outright lie. Satanist.
26. Sure, but why would He?
Could it be that God would make a rock so heavy He can't lift it because you smoked too much pot?
27. Actually, only Christianity seems to have legitimate claims of miracles. The claims of the rest all
fall apart upon inspection.
28. I am not sure why an amputee miracle is not high on the list of miracles. But it is a good sign that
you try and find something like this, as the other miracles must be doing well. Yet, I too now wonder
why this miracle has not happend, or does not happen more often. Perhaps there is a reason that I do
not yet know.
Baby boy, baby girl, they are all my children, why would I care which it is? Only you atheists hate
children so much as to choose one over the other.
29. Another simple scientific test: Place a male and female monkey in a cage, and see if an evolved state
emerges. Any volunteers? (I will arrange the other monkey, and provide for an entire weekend if want to
say evolution took a long time.)
You are most certainly with satan: You provoke God. (Read the Bible.)
As you do not, have not, will not read the Bible, if you provoke God He will not answer your prayer.
(The same thing happens when you provoke a friend, even your best friend. Abraham was a friend to God.)
30. Today's pagan, often called neo-pagans, or as you call yourself, the atheists, are of a more subtle
paganism: They worship their selves. (That swine thing might really hurt you here.)
31. So, you equivocate a tumor which will never be a human being with a fetus, which can only ever be a
human being. Is this reasonable? Not according to Aristotle. (And he was a pagan just like you.)
32. If there was evidence that the tree uprooted itself and marched away I would surely *have* to believe
it. Yet, there is such evidence that Jesus died upon the Cross and you fight against it, and within
your own mind you fight against it.
33. I agree entirely. The world today calls itself Christian, and most often is nothing more than a rotten
34. As soon as a child learns the words to say, the child begins to ask "From where?" and "How come?" and
"Why?" so, knowledge of God is a part of our natural existence, and a Christian has His Word in his
35. Great question for an atheist to answer. It would be very educational for the atheist that honestly
tries to find the answer.
Consider the Way of God, that two virgins be married, and stay married forever. How did a child ever
get born at all? The Christians, Puritans that is, did not give a lot of sexual education to their
children; Neither does any Christian parent, its just not done, its just not necessary. All the goods
are packaged for enjoyment, which is packaging for procreation.
To be terribly graphic, as soon as knowledge was attained by Adam, we can be sure he began to have
feelings for Eve. She did hide her nakedness, right? The guy was probably all over her!
So, just where do we get the ideas to accomplish the act? Spirit.
Bah! You say. Where did you get the ideas to accomplish the act of feeding when you were first born?
Its actually quite a complex process.
36. Are these the questions you give to your children when you raise them to be satanists? They are so
meaningfully opposite…
There was no pain before knowledge, there was perfection.
Damn it, boy! At least see the obvious! You dunce! If Eve had not had children, how could she have ever
known any pain of child birth? Pain receptors? What an idiot you are.
37. If God destroyed the world with a flood, why did He save the Jews? Mercy. And a longing to be worshiped
by His Creation. And He gets what He Wants, except from you.
38. It seems you finally tired yourself out asking the same question over and over again. Night, night,
little boy.
I wonder if you simply follow after a mere habit, and continually try to disprove God. Much of this conversation is beyond a survey, trying to describe a logic that models God is not finding God, or even trying to find God.
Yet, I like your survey, as the descripancies between Christians on sometimes key topics is absurd, and gives the impression that there is doubt within Perfect God, where there is only doubt within our own imperfect selves. Putting Christians to these atheist/scientific demands over the last 150 years has been fantastic for those that still believe.
Poor FOOL to believe that in the essense of a soul that you have no likeness within may you come to understand what it is.You are definately the maker of your own life you are a reversable fool to think that times up and your out, may you die with your disease,get out of the grace of god for you have no purpose to believe in anything.Do you believe in yourself ? for you are an illlusion then and nothing will separate you from the inside you are a lie you have no worth to god as any person can tell you, take in what you give out stand among the evil that you live, I pray that the god you dont believe in rip the life from your soul and fill you with the dread of hopelessness that you are attracted too, the very spirit of god is within your soul but you fail to realize this, So get out of yourself you perishable fool ! GOD
I really have not read all the comments above, I am from a pagan kind of religion and the whole concept of belief here puzzles me.
People who do not believe are doomed to go to hell, why?
Belief is something that you can not voluntarily have or not have. I can not get myself to believe that there is god just because someone wrote about it. And just because I can not get myself to believe it, God will punish me to hell, to burn in hell fire.
This is emotional blackmail that God is resorting to.
Its like in some of the movies here, there are guys who threaten to jump off the roof until the girl also professes love for him. Love, like belief can not be voluntarily generated.
This sort of a unforgiving, absolutist God is the very antithesis of what God should be in modern times. God is a concept that we look up to, but with this sort of philosophy, I am most motivated to look for God else where, like in the Sun or the Moon, even if symbolically.
check this out…
this is mine…
Evening, colored colored, specially from the major news corperations with the big slants to the left or right. Did you see last nights O'Rielly factor? haha, that was rediculous! Sorry, I am rambling on again. Have a Great day!
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