CHRISTIANS: If you can give me a LEGITIMATE answer on all these questions, I WILL CONVERT!?

James

2009-09-02 07:58:31 UTC

Your questions are certainly not designed to give you an avenue which will lead you to conversion. However, it is interesting that the Christians that have responded to you have declined to engage any of them. The reason they don't is because they can't. I have respect for people of all faiths, but i realized long ago that no one religion is based upon fact. They are all based on ancient"scripture", yet they don't know who wrote it, when, or why. Your point about the creation of the bible is a fact that Christians are very uncomfortable with, but can't deny as fact. A Roman Emperor did commission the "bible" being created some 300 years after the time of Christ. It is a fact that the books that were included were selected out of many available works at the time and they were chosen for political, not religious reasons. It is a fact that the 4 gospels are all based on 1. Someone, no one knows who, wrote the original and the three others are copies with a few revisions. The Christian assumes it is 4 different eyewitness accounts, yet the first one was written at least 200 years after Christ and clearly the other 3 are copies of that account. Therefore, there is no eyewitness account. These are troubling facts that the Christian ignores just as the Jewish person ignores that there is no mention in the extensive Egyptian record of the exodus.

The bottom line is it is all based on faith and nothing more. I believe in freedom, so i don't criticize those who choose to believe this or that as long as they don't try to impose their will on me.

I am not arrogant or smart enough to tell others that what i believe is correct and those who disagree are wrong, especially since there is absolutely nothing to back it up. The fact is no one knows.

LiveLongAndProsper

2009-09-02 08:21:46 UTC

You want God to fit your agenda and the way you think things should be. Not all mankind was created in His Image. You are seeing upside down. He created His people to become Him in the flesh, since He does not have a body. Then He made one body(Jesus Christ). That one died so that His body would go on forever in His people. I don't know how you will ever get this, since it is so, all over the place, but it is like magnetism. A positive and a positive do not come together and neither does a negative and a negative. He made it so opposites attract. In other words:God created people in the negative, because He is the proton He created Christ the positive, who basically was all of God in the flesh, to die and become negative, so that we may become positive and be able to have God indwell in us. As for your other questions: stop blaming God for other peoples mistakes. The Gospels are the foundation of the Body of Christ the Spiritual church. Constantine did not write the Bible. He allowed parchment/scripture books to be canonized into two volumes, and kept manicheanism from becoming the main religion of the day. Christians are raising the dead, walking on the water, turning water into wine, healing the sick, leading the widow and the Fatherless, and the children to have Spiritual direction. Darkness is an element of your thinking. Satan, the devil(s) are messengers of darkness to those who are arrogant, unyeilding to the truth, and are carnaly minded. The Old Testament was harsh, because of the carnal law, which did not waver. It ws ridged and narrow. Everything that happened then was to show how things are if you choose to live by that law, which is fixed, instead of the law of the Spirit which Christ ushered in and perfected. You do not understand what God sees. He said He wishes that none should perish. But, His Word is going forth even after you leave the flesh. Death to God is someone who does not have the Life of Gods Spirit, which is why Jesus died. Nothing exists outside of God, and if your mind is continually turned away from Him then you are in total darkness until the day you recieve the truth. Perhaps, the Spirit will help you understand this if you truly want understanding.

Christian Sinner

2009-09-02 07:40:01 UTC

1. Because whatever sin is, God doesn't want it around. That's the reason why He sent Jesus Christ to save we who are chosen by Him. Sin is corruption, and we are corrupted. If we weren't, we wouldn't have wars, sicknesses and death. Sin did not come from God.

2. They go to the place which was made for those angels who rebelled. Jesus spoke about the children of the devil. And if there are some people who are the children of the devil, then it stands to reason where the devil's children will be, and who they will be with.

3. FAllible corrupt people who are saved still have that fallible corrupt nature in them. The ability to be wrong stays until the sin nature is removed.

4. God is not a man, and should not be judged on human standards. Also, death is not the end to anything. One thing God makes clear throughout the Bible: Death is not the point. Death is an end to those who think that way; they are convinced of this because they wont believe what God said about it so many times.

5. There is a lot going on with the ways God pronounced in the Old Testament. There are a lot of underlying issues involved. One of those is obedience, another God's reaction to sin; another is that God is never changing, he doesn't compromise. He might cause the conditions to change, but He does not change.

6. People in history and currently is no good way to measure God. God said there would be wars and worse coming in the future. So it isn't over yet.

7. I think this is the quiet before the storm. But even saying that, who says he is so quiet? I've been faith healed, so He is not so quiet. I think most people's problem is that they aren't believing God when He says something, a part of that problem is because they really don't know what He said, they aren't paying attention. Another thing is when someone does say God did something miraculous, they make fun of the person . . . yet how do people know that person is deluded? I think it is only assumed that they are deluded because people don't want to believe in miracles most of the time.

8. They were corruptible. The Bible actually goes into that a bit. They retained the ability to be corrupted, and so they fell for corruption. You can see a bit about that in 1 Corinthians 15:54.

9. Because we are accountable anyway. WE don't know, and that is the point to what you do and how you are accountable to what you do. You are. You have to. It's not because He sees anything except for what you do. Yes, He can see ahead, but that is not the point with how He will deal with you. Chose what is right and be thankful that you are chosen by Him . . . if you are.

10. That's almost what you asked in your first question. (I noticed)

Sin entered in.

11. I wouldn't assume God's mind is changed.

12. Religion means a lot of things, and Jesus never said to be religious. He said God was a particular way, and He told us what way that was. So it's not about "RELIGION", it's about trusting God through Jesus Christ which beings the Holy Spirit to live in you.

13. I don't.

14. The Bible wasn't written over 300 years after Jesus died. So please, now I'm thinking you aren't really being serious. It may have been gathered in the form we would recognize today, but those writings were around long before. Longer than the USA was in existence by comparison.

15. If you want to talk about Gnostic Gospel, I would suggest you refer to the Gnostics. I am not a Gnostic.

Mom of three A.R.T.

2009-09-02 07:48:26 UTC

1.& 2. Free will - God gives us a choice and how we use it is up to us.

3. Again free will and most Christians don't promote racism, homophobia, and sexism they are suppose to love one another and be respectful of each other but that is a person to person issue. You are suppose to but you have to make the decision to be that way.

4.Because He is God. I don't make the rules He does.

5. To see if His followers were faithful, again don't question God.

6. God made religion. Man tore it apart.

7. I do good works every day I support the poor, feed the hungry and comfort the sick. I don't think raising the dead, turning water to wine, and walking on water was suppose to be taken literately.

8. They made the decision to sin against God. Your Mom says you can't have a cookie you take one anyway. She doesn't know but you do and you disobeyed her.

9.Because He hopes that we will make the right decision based on His love for us.

10. Because we turn away from God. Again free will.

11. When we pray to God and we ask for something it is His decision how we need it and if it is truly what we need.

12. Again that is a human being things. People instituted the fear in the name of God.

13. Again that is a personal issue. I don't think that way and have some friends who aren't religious but are spiritual.

14. Yes the Bible was written after Jesus died but some books where written as letters to the believers who lived and witnessed Jesus teaching. Most people were not literate and did good to write their own name and accounts of Jesus where passed by word of mouth.

15. Because there were people taking advantage of others with the use of Jesus' name. Kinda like the tele- evangelist that says send us an $100.00 even if you don't have it and we will pray for you.

Ok so hoped that helped if you want some other info or more detailed holler at me. Have a great one and God bless you!

2009-09-02 07:45:45 UTC

1. We have a soul. We have a body. We have a spirit. We are created in God's image.

2. God died on the cross to keep us out of hell. He does not send us to hell. That is the law. All will die.

3. Not all people have a relationship with God. Not all people are bigots.

4. God didn't kill people. God is the truth.

5. God doesn't kill people. God is the truth.

6. Jesus said to beware of false religion.

7. They are. They do the work for Jesus, He gives the new life that is everlasting.

8. He said do not eat that. They chose to eat it.

9. He offers eternal life. There is no test that you do not test yourself with.

10. All are tempted. God provides strength for those that seek it.

11. God said if we would humble ourselves, seek His face, turn from our evil ways, and pray. Then He would hear from heaven and heal our land. More about what we do than what God does or can do.

12. God sent His Holy Spirit as our guide, not religion.

13. To be spiritual you need to know the Holy Spirit.

14. The Bible is the Word of God. Given by God to faithful men, to be given to faithful men.

15. Many will people say they know Jesus that do not. They will say " look, there is God, or here is God". False religion that He warned about.

God spoke first to Adam. God has spoken to all people. They had things to do, we have one thing to do. Accept Jesus as Savior and Lord.

The answers are easy. You accepting the answers will take a connection with God on your part.

jen

2009-09-02 07:32:28 UTC

How can mankind, if perfect, possibly be evil?

How can mankind, if perfect, possibly die?

How can mankind, if perfect, possibly kill? Gen.4:25, 5:3, Cain killed Abel, Seth was born, year 130, the population is not given.

Adam and Eve lost perfection before they had any offsprings, so when they did have offsprings, they are born in the imperfections of sin, any thing can happen to any one at any age, and all life ends in death, to convert is to believe that we will be brought back to perfection and given the life we were meant to have, if God had wiped it all out, we would not be here to believe that a Lord and Savior had ben provided by God, because a few good men like Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Job, Moses, Joshua, the Judges to Samuel and David, despite being born in sin wish to side with God, and Adam was perfect, he chose to side with Eve. So what is the plan of Jesus to bring all of the world of imperfect mankind back to life, 1Cor.15:22-28,51-53, and into perfection and the heavens and the earth that is a rage and can cause death of mankind as well, how will we all come to be in a position to have eternal life in a new heavens and in a new earth? Rev.21:1-5. The bible answers all these questions. God has given us the word of truth.

ForexBandit

2009-09-02 07:39:56 UTC

1.) God did not create evil, we humans are given free will, that is, God gave us the ability to do what we want. It is our own actions that cause evil.

2.) Again, God cannot make us believe in Him, He gave us free will.

3.) Christian's are not supposed to promote racism, sexism, homophobia. Christians are to follow the teachings of Christ, Christ never taught any of those things.

4.) The Christian bible says Thou Shall Not Kill, but the Christian bible has it mistranslated. If you read a Hebrew Bible, it says thou shall not MURDER. There is a difference between murder and kill. In Judaism it is okay to kill in self defense or war, law enforcement. But murder(read the story of Cain and Abel) is prohibited.

5.) God doesn't control us, we control ourselves.

6.) The world has been torn apart by religion because religion is man made. Again, it is man's own actions which are creating these violent wars.

If two men fight over a beautiful woman, is it her fault for being beautiful? Or the actions of the two men foolishly fighting each other over a woman?

7.) Ever see Criss Angel?

8.) I don't think you have a good understand of free will. It's like this, God created everything, and just let everything run it's course. It would be like someone who has an ant farm, and they place the ants in the little ant farm, then watch them run their course.

9.) Who says we are here because He is testing us? That would be like trying to answer the meaning of life, and that is something humans have been trying to figure out since the beginning of time.

10.) We WERE created in the image of God, now...due to our ability to make our own decisions, we failed to keep ourselves pure.

11.) Sovereign is defined in the dictionary as: "one that exercises supreme authority within a limited sphere, a monarch, a king, queen, or other supreme ruler/acknowledged leader"

That is what God is. It doesn't mean He can't change His mind.

12.) I don't recall reading how Jesus taught that humans are to use fear as a means of spreading the gospel. These are Christians that are wolves in sheep's clothing.

13.) Because of ignorance.

14.) The Bible wasn't written 300 years after Jesus died, it was canonized after 300 years. The gospel of Mark was written just shortly after Jesus' death.(60-70 C.E.)

15.) The Gospel of Mary Magdalene is apocryphal...is this referring to the three-in-one doctrine or false messiahs? This was also found in the gospel of Mark.

There was a reason why this gospel was not canonized.

sunnyannie

2009-09-02 07:38:06 UTC

1. He gave us free will, and allowed Satan to tempt us.

2. The idea of forcing us to believe and be saved was Satan's - Jesus wanted us to have free will, and choose for ourselves to follow Him. Those who outright reject good and choose evil will go to the place they will most be comfortable (Hell) but those who don't believe in him, or never hear the gospel during life, will have the opportunity in the spirit world to come to him.

3. True Christians don't. They love everyone and recognise that we are all brothers and sisters, children of God. However, they do shun sin, including sinful acts such as sex outside marriage, including homosexual sex.

4. If God makes the rules, then He is not bound by them.

5. I would have to know the contexct to answer this question.

6. Because of the great apostasy when people turned away from the true gospel and started adding their own ideas and teachings.

7. They are; you just have to know where to look.

8. Sin was brought into the world by Satan; they chose it. Who said God made us perfect? Our purpose here is to become perfected.

9. God knows all possiblities, but in my religion, the choice is always ours.

10. We are made in His physical image, and we are His children, but our spirits are guided by our own free will.

11. Praying doesn;t change God's mind; like any parent, he likes to be asked. He desires to bless us, but we need to do our part too.

12. See answer to 6. You'll notice here that people get very bigoted and petty about criticising other people's beliefs. True Saints don't attack others.

13. I'm not clear on the difference between the two. If you are spiritual, surely it means you believe in God? And if you believe in God, shouldn't you be doing all you can to find out what He wants you to do with your life, and how you can best worship and serve Him? I think that translates as finding His true Church, and His doctrine, and living according to it. Being "spiritual but not religious" means you accept that God exists, and then ignore Him. That's insulting Him.

14. I agree with you. The evidence shows that the Bible hasn;t changed much, but it has still been through numorous scribes and translators, each with their own agenda. That's why my church honours the Bible but teaches "We believe the Bible to be the word of God as far as it is translated correctly."

15. I haven't read this so can't comment.

Additional details - see my answer to point 2.

Some Christians reading my answer might be wondering at some of the things I have written. An apostasy? A second chance after death for those who never heard the gospel? The Bible not word-for-word infallible? Children of God in His physical image? These are unique teachings of my Church. I'm a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. www.mormon.org.

You have to convert now! I answered your questions!

!dragonfly!

2009-09-02 10:11:49 UTC

Ok, you have a lot of great questions here. They are difficult and sometimes the answers have led many people away from Christianity. Even after I give my answers for them I highly doubt you will convert because I highly doubt you will find my answers legitimate. The thing about religion is that it requires faith. If you don't feel it you can't fake it. And I truly believe that there is nothing wrong with that. Follow what feels right to you. Also, whatever answers anyone gives you, you must understand that they are coming from imperfect fallible humans. The absolute truth is that we don't know for sure even a quarter of the things we think we do. This is where faith comes in to play. Ok so here goes:

1. Humans turn to evil ways because we have freewill and the tempting promises of an evil life sometimes prove to be enough to lure people in. The fact that we are created in His image means that we are capable of living our lives in the purest way we can but that we are also capable of doing the opposite. Just like God is capable.

2. Again this question can be "answered" with freewill. God doesn't "make" his children turn away from Him, they simply choose that life for themselves. P.S Not everyone Christian believes in an eternal hell (I'll get to that later)

3. The problem with so-called christians being racists and sexists and so on, is that these people do not have a connection to God in prayer. They may think they do and they may pray often but they are not getting the big picture. Prayer is a two way road. You have to listen just as much if not more than you speak. These people don't listen to God, they only hear themselves. They are disconnected and disaffected.

4. This is definitely a tough one. First of all the commandments were given to the people, not God. Second of all the old testament contains the kind of God the people at that time needed. Basically, a vengeful and frightening God. The people needed direction and an iron fist. In this particular situation in Samuel the amalekites were wiped out because they were a tribe of raiders themselves and had, in the past, conducted unprovoked attacks on the israelites. They were just as deadly as the Israelites were when they eventually reciprocated. The amalekites killed without regard to age or gender and they stole everything of value so that any survivors would be doomed to a slow death. The old testament represents a time of an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. This is part of the reason why sending Jesus to earth and creating a new covenant with the people was such a monumental change in the people-God relationship. However, if you are not referring exclusively to this incident and are trying to bring up the question of Holy Wars the situation is quite different. We cannot compare any war of biblical times to any current national situation. Those who do are simply fooling themselves and using God as a scapegoat. Anyone who looks to the old testament for a rationalization of a holy war must also look ahead to Jesus. Time and again Jesus chose against violence and even lived through suffering and pain and ultimately chose death. Nothing in the new testament gives consolation to a holy warrior. (I got some of this information from my study bible)

5. Ok I this is going to sound silly, especially considering what we are ultimately talking about here but, even though you are perfectly capable of doing your child's homework... do you do it? Would your child learn anything? Would the child truly appreciate and be grateful of your work and not try to take advantage of you? God often asks us to do the things He is capable of doing. He does this so we can learn. So we can grow to understand His children and His creation. The situation is very similar to a parent raising up their child. You don't want to do everything for your child, you want to teach them how to do it for themselves. Now obviously God does not want anyone to kill other people anymore. Again, this is because of the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ and the renewal that He brought with Him.

6. OOPS I guess I answered this question as part of question #4 sorry about that. So I guess... see question #4 haha, I'm a goof!

7. Christians are doing great works in the way that God intended us to. True Christians are fighting to end world hunger, trying to put an end to violence, providing homes for the homeless, caring for the widow, etc. Our purpose is to make the world a better place and show everyone God's grace. That can be accomplished in many different ways through many different religions and ecumenical means. Turning water into wine and walking on water wouldn't really do much for us in that department. Sure it might give us a few more converts but only because they had to see the power in human terms before they would believe. Where is the choice in that situation? I'll send you the rest in an email! I ran out of space on here!

2009-09-02 07:40:35 UTC

It will take a long time to answer each of those, and I doubt that you would want to read an answer that long, so i will only answer the ones I can give good answers to...

1) Eve chose to disobey, then talked Adam into, and we inherit the sin. It is the spiritual equivalent to a persons eyes turning brown when they were green, then all their children also have brown eye.

2) HE does not make you burn in hell, you choose to by rejecting HIM

3) We do not promote racism, homophobia, and sexism. We obey GOD(YHVH) to the bet of our abilities. If HE says it is a sin, we fight it, if HE says it is not a sin, we accept it.

4) The land had to be purged of all pagan sins.

5) ? No idea.

6) Satan hate us because we are made in GOD(YHVH) image, and wants to destroy us because of that, and to try and show that he is stronger then GOD(YHVH) because he can stop the prophesies by killing all those that are involved in it.

7) They are, the media just does not tell about it.

8) They did not know that one could lie, and since GOD(YHVH) had told Adam not to eat from the tree, but never told Eve, Satan went to Eve and tricked her into eating.

9) HE created us to love HIM, but wants us to choose to do it.

10) When Adam sinned, his soul became corrupt, and now all soul born from him and his descendants are corrupt.

11) ? I can not pretend to understand HIS mind.

12) ? I do not understand this question.

13) The secular community at large, does not believe in a spirit, only in the physical.

14) It was written within one generation, by the people that walked with JESUS,(HIS disciples) or by people that had MAJOR encounters with HIM after HIS return to Heaven.(Saul of tarsus/Paul). It was not several hundred years.

15) The gospel of Mary Magdalene is not in the BIBLE.

I guess I could answer more then I thought I could. I hope you read them all.

discord71

2009-09-02 07:36:59 UTC

1. God allowed us a choice, to follow Him. Or to follow the other..

2. Hell is for Satan and his followers (unrepentant sinners), it was never God's will that we be condemned to hell. That's why He promised salvation. Whose fault is it if you reject it?

3. This is a sweeping generalization on your part. These things are not exclusive to Christians.

4. Thou shalt not kill is not for Him, that law was set for US. God is perfectly capable of restoring life..Can you? No, that's why you aren't allowed to take it.

5. Read the Old Testament, it clearly explains why Israel's enemies were destroyed.

6. Religious wars are the result of MAN, not God. His system works fine..Not everyone wants to follow His way, they prefer their own.

7. It was only given unto His disciples to do those things, as proof of His word as they proclaimed Him.

8. Would you prefer God forced you to worship Him, or would you rather decide for yourself that you WANT to?

9. see above answer.

10. By shutting God out of our lives. Again, who to follow is up to us.

11. Depends what is being prayed for..If it's not His will the answer is no.

12. The fact that SOME use religion for their own greed is not indicative of the truth of the original message. Nor did Christ ever mandate His followers to use force.

13. We don't, this is another assumption on your part.

14. The original teachings of Jesus? Sounds like you are parroting out something you've heard. Constatine did nothing but make Christianity the religion of the land. Christ's message was already set LONG before then..Many were killed in Rome for believing it before it came out into the open.

15. Read the proper passage, He is speaking about false prophets and false messiahs who claim to be Him. When Christ returns it will be like nothing we've ever seen. It's from the gospel of Mark..Not Mary Magdelene.

Mark 13 21 And then if any man shall say to you, Lo, here is Christ; or, lo, he is there; believe him not:

Suzanne

2016-05-19 09:00:33 UTC

I am not an expert in such matters, but I do know that I am not "entitled" to slay people who do not share my religion. Yeah, some random fool would say I am not a "true Muslim" if I am not doing that. But that is their decision. I know there my religion is used for a lot of propaganda (regardless if it is true or false, the intention is the same) by both devious Muslims and non-Muslims alike. Senseless violence can never be a solution to anything. Kind of like those fanatics in Tel-Aviv along with their religious/political lackeys in North America and those little Muslim militias supported by weak and corrupt regimes in the Middle East. Nor is senseless cussing as we see in the yahoo! commentary sections of just about any news article related to being "Muslim" in nature. As we see what the civil war in Afghanistan, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, etc, have brought in the lives of many people, we are the result of our intentions. And those intentions can affect other people, good and bad. All religions say that. Sadly, religion is so abused.

2009-09-02 07:33:24 UTC

You have many interesting questions, I would love to sit down and talk about all of them cause this would take quite a long time to explain. First of all, Satan the father of lies and evil has the power to turn anything pure and turn it into evil. For example, when babies are created, were they born murders, rapist, robbers, ect. No, they are babies and they have the purest thoughts, they do not have anthing evil in them and they are the sweetes things on this earth. But as they go along in life, they start changing their ways some good some bad. Evilness can start with just one bad act then it continues to become worse, that is how Satan is. He once was a good and honest angel. But he started building qualities far beyond his own imagination. He twisted everything that God wanted in a way that he used it for his own. He was jealous of God and wanted the rest of the angels to worship him. So you see, evilness comes from one, Satan. He used his power very wrong, not in a way that God intended. Even though God himself is Holy, evilness can exist, but that will all be taken care of pretty soon.

This is just my answer for question number one.

If you are not pulling my leg, I will answer the rest of them in a timely manner, just email me.

jefferyspringer57@sbcglobal.net

2009-09-02 08:09:59 UTC

Additional Details: Jesus was the light of the world and was 'created'on day 1 of Creation. I realize that not all 'christians' pass the tests, and thus there is a difference between scripture and Bible in USA currently.

1. Choice (to obey God or not).

2. Your assertion basically makes mankind robots (no brainers). Does that give you 'joy'?

3 People make choices; and too often bad (or short sighted) ones currently.

Can you make teh list shorter; or send them to me (gives me more time and flexibility). Converting you is not my objective here currently.

2009-09-02 10:16:28 UTC

*drink*

Your cut and paste question wall is little more than a rant. I am not a Christian, but I could give some answers to these questions if you asked them ONE AT A TIME like someone who actually wanted an answer rather than to just start a fight.

I do not see how this post is any better than some bible quote that a "Fundie" would post.

Saltgirl

2009-09-02 08:29:32 UTC

1. He created us, then gave us the freedom to choose our actions for ourselves (we thought it was a good idea too!)

2. This is a continuation from the first question...forcing someone to do good and go to heaven would defy reason. Without the option of choice we could simply not care. It's like the Little Red Hen. If we don't put in the work to get from seed to bread, how could we eat the bread and feel good about it?

3. Unfortunately, Christians are as human as any other religion. Being in a certain religion or school of thought doesn't automate you to perfection. There's still a lot of work involved in the process no matter what school of thought gets you closer to God and Christ.

4. I've wondered about this myself. Probably because I couldn't ever imagine being so evil that God would want to wipe me off the face of the earth. According to scripture God leaves people plenty of time for repentance and if they are wicked enough He waits until they are "fully ripe" before he unleashes His fury.

5. I wouldn't want to be led to kill. But, He is God. He knows every direction all people's agency can take. He knows everything all the time (which is really just as hard as astrophysics to wrap my mind around). I believe, though, that he chooses what he chooses with the idea of sparing the righteous as often as possible. This is a question that comes full circle so the only answer can be God knows best.

6. God is pure. Religions (unless they are led by God, Himself) are not.

7. God's servants are working miracles on a daily basis. Some are small and some are great. Miracles will never cease as long as there are God fearing people who will do His will.

8. Adam and Eve "transgressed" the law. But, once they took the fruit - thereafter they could commit sin. That's why "Cherubim and the flaming sword" was placed by the tree "so they wouldn't live forever in their sins". Taking the fruit again would have nullified the Savior's mission.

9. He knows all outcomes. This does not mean that he steers our agency. This only means that he is the omniscient predictor of every outcome.

The answer to this question is also wrapped up in the answer to question 2.

10. Back to agency...if we choose to become dark, we lose our Godly traits and bind ourselves further into darkness. Contrarily, if we choose light, we are further filled with light and knowledge. Honestly, the path to darkness has been described as a "flaxen cord". It starts small, until you don't recognize your wickedness anymore and you begin to have an abhorrence to things righteous.

11. Faith-filled prayer is the best way to connect with a loving "Father" in Heaven. If prayer affects God's actions that is only serving to support that God loves us even more than we think. If we can pray to Him and He answers - He hears us. If He hears us, then how thankful we must be for His tender mercies.

12. Again, a religion led by God Himself is of God. A religion led by men is bound to fall short of mercy.

13. Studying the word of God is a way to know Him. Participating in religion is an organized way for us to serve Him. Religion is a way to organize a mass of imperfect people and give them commandments, and love.

14. The Bible is a compilation of records. Man has gone through and made his own adjustments to some of the sacred text and taken out "plain and precious things". But, the jist is there. He created us, the world, sends us prophets, gives us miracles, shows us the way to Him, and blesses us always with abundance. If we knock it can be opened unto us. That is His promise. He's promised that if you ask Him these questions in faith - with full purpose of heart, He will give you answers. The Holy Ghost will testify of those truths.

AND ONE MORE THING: no nonbelievers are sent to hell. Whatever Christian religion teaches this does not understand Christ's teachings. We are judged according to our knowledge, diligence, and faithfulness. If someone does not receive the word, they cannot be judged upon it. All humankind will be judged on the measure with which they gained knowledge and truths. It is His work to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man. It is our work to hold to His teachings and gain light and truth.

Al

2009-09-05 23:45:40 UTC

hi...dear friend, it seems to me that you asks so many questions although relatively related to each other. On some part of your questions, you revealed that until now you are still under doubt who we are and how we are altogether? For some among few of my share regarding your subject..wherever you are now..try yourself to push on whatever you are doing and think how you came to exist, how you can be able to do things, how you can be able to respond to your environment..and all those that you can, by yourself, manage to accomplish in your day to day livings. who provided this to you? is it somebody from your family or from among your friends around you? JESUS....IS NOT GOD WHO CREATED YOU..JESUS CANNOT EVEN CREATED THE SMALLEST OF THE LICE...HE IS JUST A MAN ENDOWED WITH POWER. HE CANNOT SAVE YOU FROM THE RAGING FIRE IN THE HELL. Don''t ever forget that God is devine and is less from any creature on earth to have any perception of HIM, like images or any look-alike of HIM. He is the One and Only who have the power above men. Come to your senses and sake the TRUTH starting NOW.

Goethe's Ghostwriter

2009-09-02 07:39:54 UTC

1) Made in His image means we are like unto Him; not perfect copies nor robots, but intelligent beings.

2) He has not made us to burn in Hell, but to share Paradise with Him if we want it. We can walk the path of righteousness or choose not to.

3)What people call themselves is not as important as how they behave. Jesus recognized this and called out the Pharisees and Sadducees for just this type of behavior. He said people will know we are Christians by our Love. I'm sorry if you haven't met any true Christians yet.

4)G-d's judgment is final. Through Moses G-d freed the Israelites from bondage and offered the Egyptians many opportunities which Pharoadh and the people rejected, bringing righteous wrath down upon them. The lands of Canaan also were promised to the faithful Israelites, and those living there could have spared thesmelves much grief, if only they believed.

5) Don't understand this one? Wars were all too common back then; men fight still today.

6)Men have twisted G-d's meanings and excused killing in His name. After Jesus arrived, we have been told to lay down our weapons, yet we persist in fighting and killing. G-d has renounced war, yet we insist upon justifying it, in error.

7)None, apparently, have faith as great as the mustard seed. The dustmite of doubt limits us.

8)The story of creation is a morality fable, meant to show man's transgression against the Creator. I do not hold that two persons named Adam and Eve ever truly lived.

9)As the omniscient, G-d sees all possible outcomes, not simply one outcome. Our free will changes pending history by the second.

10)The devil is evil personified. We all have the power to choose good or bad. As flesh we are imperfect reflections of G-d and the spirit, which is perfect.

11)Our prayers oft times are selfish: we pray for gifts and outcomes instead of patience and forebearance. G-d is not an ATM. He is not here as a genie, fulfilling wishes. Would that we understood that bodies fail and mechanisms falter without blaming G-d.

12)Religion is a system; G-d is a constant. Faith is belief; religion is an organization to better serve human needs and (supposedly) reach out more effectively to the surrounding world [through charitable works].

13)Being religious takes into account man's essential social nature: we connect to the community and do better works together than we could apart. Faith-based actions and rituals also bond persons tighter for greater love and understanding minus political overtones.

14)The New Testament was largely oral tradition compiled by Constantine and early church councils, not written by them. The gospels were written approximately 30-70 years after Jesus' death and Resurrection. Constantine arranged for church leaders to organize the Old and New Testaments into a cohesive whole. The divine inspiration of bible writers is constant. Jesus message is highly visible: Love G-d with all your heart and love your neighbor as yourself.

15)Not clear if the gospel of MM is valid. Church fathers rejected this as extraneous and self serving. Jesus warned often of the charlatans who would take advantage of people using His name, for He knew there are many who simply look for quick money from the easily gulled. Stay true to yourself and accept Him in your heart: you can not fail.

2009-09-02 07:22:11 UTC

Woman, I just got out of class, I'm not going to answer all those question. However, I will answer one for you.

"If a loving, omnipotent, benevolent, pure god created beings IN HIS IMAGE, how could we ever possibly be evil?? "

God has the power to do as he wants in heaven and earth too since he created it. God created man to be the masters of the earth and all living things on it. God gave us the freedom to do what we want in this world. The person God created us to be, is not evil., but the sinful person we choose to be is. I am of course referring to our deeds. Jesus said to hate the sin, not the person. That tells me God does not see anybody as evil, but he does look at their deeds as evil or good.

Thus,

The person God created us to be is not evil, but the person we can choose to be is.

2009-09-02 07:21:33 UTC

The fallacy here is that you said give me a legitimate answer. Based on what? Dependent on your worldview, that is whether your starting point is God's Word or man's word, will define what you consider legitimate. So unless they agree with you there is no right answer. Your questions and statement already show you believe the bible to be illegitimate.

ACW

2009-09-02 09:06:44 UTC

1. God created us in his physically image not his perfection. God is a perfected being we are mortal and as such arre prone to weaknesses. "In his image" refers to our bodies of flesh and blood

2. The devils plan in the beginning WAS to FORCE all of us to follow God absolutely. God did not want that for his children he wanted us to have the ability to choose for ourselves who we would follow. He is loving but his is also perfectly JUST he will not force us to follow him but when we choose not to be will suffer the consequences of our decisions this is the only way we learn

3.We don't have a supernatural connection first of all we pray to God and we believe he answers are pryers and that when we are RIGHTEOUS we are able to have his spirit with us. When we make mistakes his spirit leaves us. God is perfect humanes are not.

4. God ordered ALL the people be destroyed not for them to be raped. And this was a people who were evil to the core. The Amalekites were at constant war with the Hebrews from the time of Moses. So God ordered they be wiped from the Earth. God's commandments are for man not for God and the word "kill" in the commandments does not refer to the killing which is a part of war.

5.It shows an obedience to God's commandments . For the same reason Abraham was commanded to kill his only son. It is a demonstaration of faith in God and a willingness to obey his commands.

6.Again God is perfect men are not. You cannot judge God by humans imperfections

7. Not every Christian has the faith that Christ needed to preform these miracles nor the close connection with God, but I have seen countless miracles and experienced many of them. Such as the healing of the sick even from illnesses that were going to kill them.

8. They were only pure because they had not YET sinned.. They lost that purity as soon as sin entered their lives. Adam and Eve were innocent but never perfect...

9. Yes he knows what we will choose but we need the oppurtunity to know what we would choose. Abraham's sacrifice again God knew Abraham would obey his commands, but Abraham needed to know it. If God never allowed us to come and make our own choices and instead just divided us up into those who he knew would be righteous and those he knew would not be. I think some of us would be pretty upset. Again God is perfectly just and fair. He will not punish us for something before we do it.

10.Again as stated in number 1, we are created in his physical image. We do not have his perfection or purity because of the fall of Adam.

11. Prayer does not change God's mind but he will often give us the things we desire if we are willing to ask him for them because he loves us. He wants us to pray to ask forgiveness of our sins and to allow us to draw closer to him. Prayer is an oppurtunity for us to learn Gods will more than for God to learn ours.

12. Again God is perfect men are not.

13. I don't. You can be spiritual without being religious we are all Gods children we cares for each of us. But religion teaches us about God and how we can draw close to him and to make him happy.

14. The bible is the only record we have of Christ and the teachings in it are consistant with what we know to be right. In my religion however we do believe that the bible in not sufficient to truely help us to know and eventually return to God for this reason we have recieved additional scripture through modern day revealation and the reason that we have a living prophet, seer, and revealator upon the earth today to give us further council and commandments from God.

15. This scripture means that belonging to any one religion is not enough to save you. In the end our relationship with God and our desire to follow him is a personal choice. No religion alone will save you. But it can be a path, a guide, a way to God to you as you strive to live your life righteously.

16. The atonement of Jesus Christ was infinite and eternal those who dies without a knowledge of Christ will have the choice after death to accept christ's sacrifiece on their behalf or to refuse it. If the accept they will inherit the kingdom of God if not then you know where they'll end up.

Email me if you have any more questions annelisewright@yahoo.com

fineimmune

2009-09-02 07:23:06 UTC

Just because there are many people who claim to be Christian and obvioulsy arent because they promote the above questions, doest mean there arent true christians.

The bible doesnt support a burning hell, so a TRUE christian would not teach that, or believe that.

elyon

2009-09-02 07:18:58 UTC

If you could give a legitamate reason for me to think it is even remotely possible that answering your questions would bring you to a point of total faith and submission to Christ, then I would consider putting the time and effort and study into providing information. However, since christians base their knowledge of God on scripture.....well, you get the point I'm sure.

2009-09-02 08:01:13 UTC

1)....God created man and gave him the freedom to choose...God did not want to Create uninteresting "robots" who could be commanded to love Him....God created man to have fellowship with him.

2) ...,God created everything for man's enjoyment...is it too much to ask not to eat of that particular tree....God did warn man of the consequence of disobeying Him....and still man chose to ignore God's warning

3) ....Can be answered if your question is more specific

4) ....God is a Sovereign God, God created every thing, God owns everything He has created, He is the Master ....the Ten Commandments is for man, to test his obedience ....God came in the flesh as Jesus Christ because He is full of love and mercy, and Jesus commanded only to "love God and love your neighbor" He made things easy for man to obey.

5) Jesus said that it is the theif (Satan) who comes to kill and He has come to give "life".

6) ...This is man's doing . It is man who makes the choice to believe or not to believe.

7) May be you have not witnessed such miracles....I consider the convertion of a drug addict, a womaniser and a rapist a more profound miracle.

8) Free will is free will....either you have it or not....God has given us the ability to make a decision ...and man chose to use such a precious gift to rebel against God....so why keep blaming God,

9) ...He gave us a rope (the knowledge of good and evil) either we can use it to climb to His heights or hang by it....man has the power to reason and gather much knowledge , but such gifts come with responsibility as how we are going to use them...man failed

10)...when man listened to the voice of temptation and gave credit to Satans reasoning , man forfeited his position of being God's son. Knowledge of good and evil came with a price.

11)...What is a prayer....prayer is -----1. Worshipping God , for He is our Creator ...... 2. Thanking Him for all favours received, for He is our loving Father in heaven ... ..3. asking His forgiveness for our sins, for He is our Redeemer....... 4. asking for His protection and sustanance , for He is our Provider..........shall we show God our gratitude.

12)...you question has to be more specific to be answered.

13) ..".to be spiritual" is called by man to be religious....it is all only words....One must love God and must love his neighbor....that's the two great commandments ...the essense of being spiritual and religious.

14)....you are mistaken friend New Testament was finished by 90 AD .....I have heard many times these statements , said just to confuse people, the history cannot be distorted, as some believe....now I know why I feel so confident in reading the Bible....I have madethe choice to believe in the Bible , God's word....word for word.

15) there is no "Gospel" apart from the Gospel of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.

Additional Details .....many who believed in the Creator God and remained faithful to Him, their "faith" has saved them

tjsgigante

2009-09-02 07:19:22 UTC

I'm curious to see how the Mormon Missionaries would do on answering some of those questions. Try chatting with them on the site below to see how they do.

2009-09-02 07:19:40 UTC

This is a rehash of the same content as the last question. If you don't like the answers, it is possible that the problem might not be with the answers.

2009-09-02 07:20:54 UTC

No matter how many answers you receive, unless your heart is willing then the words are just meaningless..

sunshine

2009-09-02 09:40:32 UTC

1. Man was created perfect, as a free will agent. Given a choice by God, not like other creatures created. Evil was satan who tempted Eve to disobey God.

2. Man was created to be a friend with God and had no sin. After they sinned, God could not be in the presence of sin, therefore man and Gods relationship was severed by their sin/ disobedience." free will to choose" Man is responsible for his actions.Man must now choose to return to God.

3. Again Man is sinful, not God.

Man is to answer for their actions in sin. Christians are forgiven of their sin the same as a non believer, as long as they bring that sin under the blood sacrifice of The Son of God " Jesus" sent for us as a perfect sacrifice for our sin. We are all born into sin, but for the grace of God and His Son, we would all be in Hell.

Yet God is not willing for any to perish, therefore He gave us Jesus.

Christians need also to be under the blood of Jesus and continue to repent of sin. We are none perfect, except God , Jesus, and the Holy Spirit.

4. God is a just God. He will deal with sin, the reason for the actions of God we can never know completely, as we are but human, and can't possibly know the mind of God.The servant is not greater than his master.

5. Again God is the master and we the servant.

6. God did not found religion. Religion is of man. God said I am the great I Am, the only God. We are to worship no other gods.

Man creates his own gods, again a sin against The God of the universe.

7. It is being done and has been done, you have not seen or heard of all Gods blessings, as you are in but a small place in this great world, and it has had many years before you arrived. We are all subject to our amount of faith. If we had that of the size of a mustard seed , we could move mountains. It is our lack of that level of faith. Again we are none perfect as God. Our faith in Jesus covers us and saves us from the Lake of fire.

8. Mans will, that's obvious, You know this.

9. We were not put here to be tested, but to walk and talk and be a friend to God. Man screwed that up with sin, Satan.

10.The image is as we appear, and the form of our creation, body soul and spirit, Like unto the God who created us.Mans nature is still sinful and subject to temptation from satan.

11. Prayers are sent to God as suplications of our needs and wants.

God answers prayer if we are in christ Jesus. The only prayer God will hear from a non believer, is the sinners prayer to receive Christ as their savior. No other prayer to God will be heard by a sinner.Once saved by belief in Jesus, all prayers reach Gods' ear.The mind of God was reasoned with only one time in the Bible , when Lot ask God to spare Sodom if he could find even one who was rightious,other than Lots family, and none was found. God changes not His mind. He is sovreign.

12. Again religion is not of God. It is mans creation. To believe in God is not religion. A wise man or woman should fear God, as He is all powerful, and holds all the elements in His hand, man included.

Fear is a sign of respect, and honor of a position of power.We are commanded to humble ourselves before God.For great is He and greatly to be praised.

God does not steal, He is Lord of all, everything is Gods to do with as He pleases.He is not pleased with the acts of Man, and these that you mention are acts of man against another man and culture, and religion all for their own gain and their own power. We are also told to worship no God other than the God of Abraham, the one true God. All other beliefs are false. God said " thou shalt have no other god before me."

13. Being religious or spiritual has nothing to do with worshiping God, as worshiping God is not a religion, but a faith in the only God.

Our spiritual person is what communicates with God, this is how many miss use spirituality. Man is incorrect in his ideas of worship and it causes confusion, and God is not a God of confusion.

Man has always gone his own way, and it is oposite of Gods' way, because of his sinful nature.

14. In as much as we set in motion the process of a last will and testament , God has set forth to give us His word through men who were inspired by God to write it down. God has placed a blessing and a curse to any who would add to or take away the writtings there in, of the Holy Bible. It is the true word to us of God. Who are you or I to question the will of God for His people and the writings of His word, because the one who does not lead and feed the sheep of God are held by God to pay for their misleading. God said all things will pass away, but My Word shall not pass away. This is a promise to us by God, and He keeps His promisses.

In as much as man thinks he knows of Gods doings, he knows nothing.We are not greater than our creator.

15 . The deceiver is Satan, The Bible tells us " Satan walks around

like a roaring Lion seeking who he may devoir."

Should you quote anything other than from the Bible, you have misquoted, and mi

2009-09-02 07:24:14 UTC

It seems you don't want to convert.

However my Faith has nothing to do with mercy so you can go to hell in peace...

Cher and Cher alike

2009-09-02 08:41:57 UTC

I'll add a bit of jewish answer, what the hey - there things you may not know - since some of these involve our texts.

0) You don't have a zero, but it applies for Judaism. No need to prostelyze since non-Jewish people can have a place in the world to come, have their purpose in this world (add their value), & can have a good relationship with God of their own.

1.) This answer is similiar to eastern religions, we don't know the bigger scheme of things what is resulting in evil & what isn't & what the purpose of everything is. In this world, we have free will & God gives this to us as a gift. Humans on the other hand aren't always so great about it.

2) No eternal hell in Judaism. No actual knowledge for sure what happens after death & no focus on it anyway. It's about living this life in better more moral way.

3) Judaism doesn't expect humans to be perfect. It's about giving them guidance on being better though.

4.) The commandment is not to murder. Reading the texts, you'll see each of these groups was pretty horrid in their actions & intents. Some had goals of wiping out the Israelites. So the actions are like commanding Jews to wipe out all the Nazis. Others were wanton towards other people (like doing child sacrifices). It's also read in Judaism as set in a time & place where each God proved it's power with conquest. So Israelites faced that from others & had to stand their ground (again against those who would wipe them out.)

Here too I caution you to read a Jewish Tanakh instead of OT. The changes are subtle but they can make a big difference in meaning or intent of the stories.

5.) The point wasn't to kill, it was to aid the Israelites in staying alive & settling in. In Judaism in general, there is a lot of emphasis on self-responsiblity & action. For instance, one doesn't usually pray to God to do things for you, but to help you figure out how to be the best you can be. God leads them out of Egypt, but they have to take action. Hence the mazta, to remember to be ready & to take responsiblity for our own changes (had to run when the time was right.)

6.) Same as #1. God gives us chances. The age of no more wars in Judiasm is the messianic age (that's how we know JC wasn't the messiah - this ain't peace.) In Judaism concepts, it's up to us to be working toward that age. As to why, there are many mysteries, the religion doesn't pretend to answer them but to give a collection of wisdoms on these hard answers to ponder over. It's better than starting from scratch with each generation?

7) NT doesn't apply to Judaism, so no answer.

8) In Judaism the story isn't about sin. That's a Christian focus. In Judaism they gain knowledge of right from wrong. The story parallels that of a child developing from innocent to knowledge of right & wrong. In general the book is the journey of the Jewish people as they grow spiritually throughout it. This was just the entry point (Adam wasn't Jewish - it starts before Judaism.)

9) God's not testing us. He does give us the ablity to create with is an element of Godliness which gives joy. As for why we are here & he decided this, Judaism has various answers but nothing is something to believe & just those pondering wisdoms through the ages.

10.) No devil in Judaism. No separate representation for evil.

11.) The Torah gives many examples of God changing his mind after being nudged or begged. Sometimes it's that people have changed their ways & repented. Sometimes it indicates a Jewish truth about the relationship with God - that it's a two way street. That we can talk & hear & matter. If I change my mind, I am still soverign over my actions. If it's because someone asks me, I have new info - that there is a sincere desire on their part.

12.) Not addressed to Jewish history. As for stealing land. Israel is accused of that, but a real look at the history will show that's not true but just a propaganda generated more recently because it "sells well" & is all a war to wipe out Israel & make sure Jews don't have any spot in the world to be safe. People saying it often believe it, but Germans honestly thought they were victims of "the Jews" too. The area was barren, barely populated, backwater of the Ottoman empire. Most Arabs moved in AFTER the Jews started developing it.

13.) What is spirituality that isn't from religion? You may not call it religion, but that is what the term religion refers to. What are you spiritual towards? A God or God energy or universal energy? That's religion. Spiritual as in feel warm fuzzy over nice rituals like candle burning? That's not spirituality or religion, that's warm fuzzy. I'm not following this question?

However, you can have spirituality without having belief in anything, while having complete doubt to the point of disbelief. They can definitely co-exit since I've seen it (it can be done in Judaism). Having a sense of connection as a way to guide you is a experiential thing. Having belief is a bit of a head thing or can be (it can come out of the experiential.) Two different concepts.

15) One doesn't have to have faith in Judaism. It's not focused on belief. Study Torah & you get lots of great concepts, wisdoms, ways of dealing with other better... It's studied for layers of meanings. Those meanings are useful in & of themselves whether you have faith in the book's origins or not. Some of Judaism believes the book to be given by God, others that it's inspired by God.

15.) Doesn't apply to Judaism. I don't know the context or purpose of the text.

So, hope you learned something of Judaism...just for fun. It's fine with me if you aren't anything religious. Is there a reason you are seeking?

...............

Collecting TDs. Did it bug someone that someone (me) treated Judaism with respect? This question could lead to misunderstandings of it because it references our texts - & there are plenty of Christian answers to represent those views of the texts.

howie

2009-09-02 07:19:23 UTC

Sorry, to much detail now if it was interesting i would go through the trouble. lost souls will never get it, till it's to late

hvnly11

2009-09-02 07:17:43 UTC

free will

Ray M

2009-09-02 09:37:08 UTC

I could not answer all of them because my answer was too long to post. YOu need to break your questions up. OTherwise, the response with any explanation won't fit on this site.

1) You are misinterpretting what it means by in his image. It means that we are part spirit and part boby. It means we have free will. It doesn't mean we are exactly like him. Otherwise, we'd all be gods.

2) We don't know that this is true. We know of one way to get to heaven, but this is for those who have accepted Jesus' church and are believers. For those who have never heard or who don't believe - it may be possible there are other ways. Some extreme Christians believe that anyone who hasn't accepted Jesus is going to hell, but what about all those who are born before God existed (as you ask in a question) or those who are born in countries where you couldn't possibly be a Christian (like Iran right now) So we believe it is possible for others to get to heaven. We don't know the method, because God hasn't given it. But we believe that it does involve Jesus in some way - perhaps he is just the guy who judges their behavior to see if they were good enough people. Or perhaps after they die, they are offered the information and given the choice? we don't know.

3) Only stupid idiots are using Christianity to promote racism. The bible does not promote racism. People twist it for their 'needs' however. Sexism? that depends on your view. If your view of sexism means that women and men can both be WHATEVER they want, then yeah, I guess it does promote sexism. Men can't be nuns. Women can't be priests. Additionally, the bible enforced certain behaviors that were cultural at the time. Or at least it appears to be that way. When women were asked to be silent in church, it was because AT THAT TIME AND PLACE, women were in back, men in front. The women couldn't hear and would talk to each other, making it harder for the men to hear. SO they were told to be quiet, then the men could relay the information to them at home. Sure, it wasn't a great system for church, but that was the culture. So Paul asked them to act in a way to allow the system to work better. It wasn't a "women, shut your holes because you're dumb" or something like that. It's a misunderstanding of the text based on a lack of knowledge of the culture of the time.

4) Thou shalt not kill is there to prevent us from killing based on our own decisions and sins. God, as the perfect all knowing person, has the ability to know when killing MUST occur. Imagine if we had a president or general who always KNEW when it was possible to make peace and when it wasn't. That would make fewer wars occur. It would let us waste less time trying to make peace with lying leaders of other countries. Additionally, God remembers what Amalek did hundreds of years ago. Also, don’t forget about 15:6 And Saul said unto the Kenites, Go, depart, get you down from among the Amalekites, lest I destroy you with them: for ye shewed kindness to all the children of Israel, when they came up out of Egypt. So the Kenites departed from among the Amalekites. It isn’t just an easy to read 2 verse thing. Read it, the surrounding stuff and then do a little history to see what else has happened with this person/group. While *I* would like God to let at least the children live, I hope/pray that God understands such things. And I would only believe such a thing would be anywhere close to OK if GOD told me to do it. And it would have to CLEARLY be God. A some people do things like that today,

5) I can think of a lot of reasons to have your people do it instead of yourself. They learn from it. In numerous ways. They see that you will punish those that hurt them, that you punish those that sin against you, that you support those who are on your side by giving them victory, etc… It is an extremely strong object lesson. And given how many times the people of the Old Testament seemed to turn from God, they NEEDED a strong object lesson about once a day. How many times did they turn from God after he led then from Egypt? And this is AFTER they have seen the plagues, the parting of the sea, the flaming pillar and cloud that symbolizes God. They see the mana, the water from the rock, etc… this is one hard headed people God has chosen.

6) Free will. Yes, I know this is something that non-religious roll their eyes at. But from our point of view, God makes ONE religion. The OTHERS are created by man because he didn’t want to follow God’s laws. So they create their own form – one of the best examples is perhaps forming your own church so you can divorce your wife and marry some young hotty. Wow… that sure is putting God’s will/law first! Oh yeah! But as we create our own religions, more and more of them will naturally come into conflict. Again, while *I* would like God to make it abundantly clear through miracles or whatever which one is the correct one, I’m not God and don’t know all that he knows. Additionally, one can usually get a clue about which churches are correct by how their holy texts read and how they actually follow them.

7) Great works are occurring. Healings happen, miracles occur. Lourdes, France. Fatima, Portugal. Other places as well. There are Eucharistic miracles that still exist. Part of the problem is that people don’t believe in things to some extent. Or they believe in stuff that really isn’t much. Just because someone starts mumbling random sounds, doesn’t mean that they have the gift of tongues. If they start to speak or understand a language they have NEVER studied before, THEN we have a miracle. But people tend to look at and for stuff which aren’t really there. Sure, I’d like more miracles. But again, I don’t know what God knows.

8) Free will means you can choose anything. There are LOTS of different ideas and concepts of what their sins in the garden of eden were. One of the more interesting ones I read was that Adam was the first to sin. The snake (or serpent or dragon depending on your translation/view) was in the garden, tempting his wife. HIS DUTY was to protest her and the garden. Why didn’t he chase our the snake? Eve didn’t have to go find him and give him the apple, so he must have been RIGHT THERE. So he allowed the temptation to occur, he allowed her to eat and THEN he ate also. God wanted him to fight against the snake, to protect his wife. He didn’t. Perhaps he was scared (if it was a dragon as some translations/opinions say), perhaps he was himself unsure. But he didn’t choose to do what he was told to. I guess your view of PERFECT means they would NEVER choose to do wrong. That would mean they didn’t have free will. It would mean that they could only choose good.

9) God knows all only because he exists in all timelines. He exists outside of time. So he can see it all. In some ways, he is like a Deist. He created the world and then let certain things roll along. He doesn’t sit there and pick and choose every single little thing. He IS still here, he IS still concerned for us. But does he choose how every single person will turn out? No. He weeps over those who turn against him, and he weeps when we (his followers and other good people) fail to help those who are in trouble. I often hear, “why doesn’t God send help?”. He has. US. We should do more than we do. Perhaps if we were more concerned with helping the world be better, it would be. Perhaps we would have less time for sin ourselves. I taught at-risk youth for years before staying home with my daughter. I hope to go back to work as she gets older. I try my best to help those who are in poor situations, making poor decisions see a better way to live. I try to teach them, give them opportunities. But they could use a lot more help than just I can provide. Where are all the other people? People SAY they want to support education. But they don’t REALLY. REALLY supporting education would involve having a class size of about 15 or lower in every class. But that would probably double the education budget. OH I don’t want to pay for that! Well, I guess you don’t REALLY support education. You just want to support it a LITTLE. I don’t need fancy books, calculators or computers to teach math. What I NEED is a smaller group so that I can give each person the individualized help they need. Why don’t we give it to the math teachers? Because we don’t want to pay for it. THAT is where we (as Christians, Atheists or whatever) FAIL to help our children. When people fail to graduate and end up with the equivalent of a fifth grade education, what do we expect to happen? Look where most criminals and terrorists come from. MOST (I know not all) come from poor areas where their poverty and difficulties are used as “proof” that the establishment is evil/Satan/whatever.

10) I assume by dark, you mean evil? (Otherwise, I don’t understand your question) See question 8 at first. Again – it is a free will thing. FREE WILL means that we CAN choose to be evil or good. We can choose anything. Would you want your children to be mentally coded so they had NO CHOICE but to love you? Then their love really wouldn’t mean much. Might as well have a robot (to some extent). Additionally, we should be doing all we can to prevent people from choosing evil. In a lot of situations, these choices are driven by situations and/or needs that could have been prevented if we were busy helping others as God calls us to do.

2009-09-02 07:15:39 UTC

They cannot!