Christianity, really?

a few months ago, my 14 year old cousin was biking, didn't look both ways, got hit by a car, and was killed.

Not that god should prevent heroin addicts from overdosing, but it seems weird that he would see the car hurtling twords my cousin and say, "didn't look both ways? Well you get to die"

God could have prevented sin, he could have not put the tree in the garden, he could have not let an evil talking snake into it, he could appear the everyone in the world every 50 years or so and tell us what were doing wrong. He could save kids from getting hit by cars, save kids from freezing/drowning/starving. But for whatever reason, he doesn't.

The Lord works in strange ways (most of those ways can be easily explained by an atheist)

 

I don't like Kool-aid and I own rifles or guns and from our previous discussions, I would think you would know I don't engage in fleshly warfare.

 

Other than the contention of the tongue?

 

Okay, lets say there is no God for the sake of argument. Why did your cousin die? Where is he now? How satisfying are your answers to you?


You see with God death is not a problem, quite simply your cousin will be resurrected, to live for as long as he likes on a paradise Earth.

Why is God allowing all this getting hit by cars/freezing/drowning/starving?

Adam and Eve already knew what was good and bad, God had told them.

So, what was the tree of the knowledge of good and bad, all about.

God chose one tree and said this is my tree, my property, please do not eat from it. I have given you life and this planet and all the trees on it and all I ask in return is do not eat of this tree.

After all God had given them, was it not his right to make such a request? Was his asking this an imposition on Adam and Eve?

Eating of the tree would then be saying to God, you have no right to decide for us what is right or wrong and we will decide for ourselves what is right or wrong.

Thus the tree of the knowledge of good and bad was about who was best able to decide what is good and bad for mankind.

So mankind has embarked on a mission to prove God wrong, to show God that mankind can do a better job of deciding what is right and wrong.

Well, honestly how well is mankind doing? Some say mankind is on the verge of extinction.

While for the most part God has allowed mankind to do as it pleases, God has been diligently been preparing for mankind's salvation in case mankind should fail.

But remember God has given us free will and he will not take that away from us, he will not make us do what is right, he will not take away our free will even though the improper use of that free will has caused untold pain and suffering. God has made provision for those who wish to do what is right to live forever but for those want continue doing what is wrong, they will die in their sin.

Much like two drowning men, God has thrown both, a life vest and a rope. One accepts them and continues living and the other says I don't want your help and drowns. So, what if God saves him anyway and he turns and jumps back into the water, I said I don't want your help. Then the only way to save him would be to take away his free will, but God will not do that.

 

Christians are not pacifists, Christians are to engage in spiritual warfare but our weapons are spiritual not fleshly. (Matthew 26:52; 2 Corinthians 10:3-5; Ephesians 6:12)

 

Only if he cares. If I cared, and I could( effortlessly!), I would. The word for someone who wouldn't is "sociopath".

No, it's certainly not. But if there's a God, it's him who made the universe work this way, and he could change it. People could be made impervious to alchohol, drugs, and fast-approaching vehicles.

And don't say that he didn't MEAN for things to be this way. That he created Man in paradise, and this wasn't supposed to happen. Well, even though you told your child to stay away from the pool, your ass would go to prison if you just stood there beside it and told the rest of the party "Well, he should have listened to me" while he went under for the third time.

And do you realize that you believe God created man in a paradise where he coudln't be hurt (unless this is another issue on which you're a precious unique snowflake), and you just got kind of snarky, talking about how lame it would be if God had done what he originally did done?

Regardless, you're useless to talk to on most issues because you don't believe a ton of what 99% of the other people calling themselves Christians believe.

This Christian belief is fucked up.
"Er... Well, I don't believe that."
So fuck off then. I'm not talking to you.

I was going to say that I respect your individualist approach over that of the followers and group-thinkers. Then you said that.

 

spir·it

spir·it [spírrət]
n (plural spir·its)
1. life force of person: the vital force that characterizes a human being as being alive
2. will: will or sense of self
He retained an indomitable spirit.

3. enthusiasm: enthusiasm and energy
Alice responded with spirit.

4. disposition: somebody's personality or temperament
She has a generous spirit.

5. attitude: a person's attitude or state of mind
in the spirit of compromise

6. group loyalty: the enthusiasm and loyalty that somebody feels through belonging to a group
school spirit

7. important influence: somebody or something that is a divine, inspiring, or animating influence
one of the guiding spirits of the Peace Movement

8. real meaning: the intention behind something such as a rule or decree, rather than its literal interpretation
9. shared outlook: the prevailing mood or outlook characteristic of a place or time
10. person: somebody who displays a particular quality
11. soul: in some beliefs, somebody's soul, especially that of a dead person
12. paranormal supernatural entity: a supernatural being that does not have a physical body, e.g. a ghost, angel, or demon
13. beverages alcoholic drink: a strong alcoholic liquor made by distillation (often used in the plural)
She never drank spirits.

14. chemistry distilled liquid: any liquid produced by distillation, especially a distilled solution of ethanol and water (often used in the plural)
15. chemistry alcoholic solution: a solution of an essence or volatile substance in alcohol (often used in the plural)


or spir·its, npl
mood: a particular frame of mind or mood
The group was in high spirits, talking and laughing.



vt (past and past participle spir·it·ed, present participle spir·it·ing, 3rd person present singular spir·its)
remove somebody or something secretly: to take somebody or something away quickly in a secret or mysterious way
spirited him out of the room



[13th century. Via Anglo-Norman < Latin spiritus "breath" < spirare "breathe"]

in high spirits elated and happy
in poor spirits sad or dejected

The Latin word spirare "to breathe," from which spirit is derived, is also the source ofEnglishaspire,conspire,expire,inspire,perspire,respire, andtranspire.

 

My dad is a long time pastor of a Southern Baptist Church and could school alot of people on the bible and true christian faith and Im sure your correct about Christmas not being the actual birthdate but we actually celebrate Christmas most true Christians do but its more then just a holiday. Almost all true Christian churches even put on Christmas programs at their church on Christmas eve. So your wrong about not celebrating. And how is Christmas a pagan belief in any way? Alot of the people in this thread have some seriously skewed ideas of the Bible. Yall need to get a Bible and actually really read it and get the real messages.

 

Atheist are idiots. Idiots who in my opinion are only athiests because truly deep down inside decide to be that way because they fear that there is a power higher then themselves and dont want to admit and accept that there is a higher power (God) so they shut it out and ignore it so that they can feel powerful and in control to themselves. And they they die and have to stand before the Angel that reads from the Book of the Lamb to see if they have truly been saved or not and find out God isnt just a bunch of non sense and think "Oh shit im screwed" and BAM! They landed themselves in Hell.

 

It is believed that they want to infiltrate the handling of our fellow opinions. Thus they can show grace is for justice in the world. Is there justice in the World? Was life worth living?

What would happen if there suddenly was no God?
Life could never be worth living without the first question being answered in the affirmative. If there is no justice in the World, then life is at best a fool's paradise.:coffee:

 

Now there are many intelligent atheists and Christians but through my own study, I have found many Christians and atheists to be nearsighted to the point where I feel baffled on how seemingly intelligent people could state for fact, matters that are untrue.

Honestly, I don't believe that these atheists will go to hell because many are very caring and loving people; Once resurrected, those that have figuratively pierced Jesus would look at the Kingdom of Jesus and love it and I doubt that many of them would rebel against something so peaceful and loving; only a truly evil person would do that imo. It's just that many of them find the supernatural aspects of Christianity hard to believe; That's not really a reason for them to go to hell, but their lack of understanding of the advice on how to survive the ending days may end up getting them killed.

 

No, God cares and is fixing the problem and it's not effortlessly.

Have you ever thought that the the universe can't be changed in the ways you want it to. Yes, maybe God could change it but have you noticed that the universe is a delicate balance and perhaps if God were to change the universe you wouldn't exist. God knows how the universe works completely, perhaps he knows the best way to fix things and you have no clue.

Adam and Eve were not children but full grown adults. They were fully informed and they as adults with perfect thinking capacity, chose to drown themselves and take the rest of us with them. And you think God had nothing better to do than follow around his adult children with bubble wrap making sure they didn't bump into anything sharp. Is that your plan for your adult children? Please.

Where does the Bible say no one gets hurt in paradise?

Well, I can't do any thing about what others believe. If someone calls themselves a "Christian" a follower of Christ and then ignores his teachings is that person a "Christian" just because he says so? If someone says they are your friend and then never acts like your friend are they indeed your friend? No.

If you wish to talk to 99% of the other "Christians" that believe the way you want them to, fine go ahead and do so.

But if you want to discuss the the teachings of the Bible with me then you'll just have to deal with what I believe, not what you want be to believe.

Abusive speech so becomes you.

I just follow what the Bible says and there are millions who likewise do so, make of that what you will.

 

Okay, you say Christmas is a "Christian" holiday and I need to really read the Bible. Perhaps you can help me out.

Please show me from the Bible:
Dec. 25
Santa Claus, flying reindeer and elves
The Christmas tree
Mistletoe
The yule log
And what are yuletide carols?
I could go on but you get the picture. When you are done with those I have a whole bunch more.

 

Well, you have access to a nice dictionary.

 

You have just said the exact reason Christianity doesn't work. So if atheists are fucked, what about buhdists, who strive their whole life for perfection but guess the wrong religion. Or Muslims, muslims follow their moral code in a much stricter way than most Christians, and their moral are very similar to ours.

Ask yourself, what if you died and ended up in an Islamic hell? Would a loving god send you to to burn for simply guessing wrong? If so, this is the position you are saying most of the world will be in.

Thank you for proving my point

 

Looks like you've found a "true Christian" to talk to, one that believes what you think "Christians" should believe. Have fun.

 

I have nothing against your beliefs, they make more sense to me than normal Christianity. But yeah, he's what I was talking about

 

Back to the death cult fallback aye?

Why would he punish the rest of his supposed "creation" vicariously for others misteppings, youu sound like a sadomasochists.

Why does your god take on such amorphic properties such as coveting a tree, could it be that he was fashioned by humans and not vice versa?

God apparently creates us sick and commands us to be well, don't eat from the tree of knowledge, again your beliefs show a hostility to free inquiry right from there begginings...

Who says the human race is on the verge of extintion?

Free will, how is commanding people to obey rules on the punishment of as you say eternal oblivion or eternal punishement not taking away from free will?

He also supposedly put the water there and took away there oxygen to be fair...

Where does this drowning metaphore even come from, who has drowned without god?

What is so special about free will to god, he seems to trespass on every other human emotion and not much seem to care, by saying your god is responsiable for free will you simply give yourself a reason to not expect anything from him, a good tool when worshipping an invisable man.

 

The Copenhagen talks didn't go so well. To get together to figure out our environmental crisis and how to deal with it, we couldn't even come together on a common ground of survival.

Innovation is useless if it isn't used.

 

A death cult is one that advocates death, I don't.

God didn't punish "the rest of his supposed "creation" vicariously for others misteppings". At the time of Satan's "change of heart" none of the other angels, part of the rest of God's creation, were punished at that time.

And as we've discussed before the condition of mankind is not a result of punishment from God but a result of sin inherited from Adam and Eve and God is in the process of fixing that problem.

I won't go into what you sound like.

Coveted? You can only covet something that is not yours, it's his tree he can do with it what he wants.

How do you figure?

http://www.hipforums.com/newforums/showthread.php?t=377470&f=88

It's not free will if you are not free to make bad choices as well as good choices but you are not free from the results from those choices.

Say what? Yes, God made the water but he didn't put the men in it and took away what oxygen? What are you talking about?

Again what are you talking about?

How so? Oh, and by the way, free will and emotion are two different things entirely.

How do you figure? God has already done much more than we have any right to expect of him and will continue to do more.

God is not a Man.