Questions from an atheist

[hairettic]

Alright guys. Ive got some questions. Actually, i have quite a few questions. Ill ask one and when I feel it has either been answered or wont be, ill move on to a new one.
First up is:
If god is all powerful and all knowing, why cant he put a stop to "Satan" for good?

I believe he did!

(shut up heretic!)

 

[Gentle]

All is one, all is God and Satan is part of that One.

 

[Calminian]

hmmm. so its just to make it interesting then?
Ok, new question.
If he is only testing us, why is the punishment for following Satan (eternal torture) so harsh?

Eternal punishment is the appropriate response to eternal sin. God have his Son that we might be redeemed from our sin. To reject this is very serious. Most people who have trouble with the idea of Hell usually have a faulty understanding man's sinfulness and God's holiness. But I assure you hell is real.

Matt. 25:46 “Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.”

What exactly it is, we aren't told. But don't be comforted by the lie it doesn't exist or is somehow not eternal. Here's a concise article that may be helpful.

Is Annihilationism Biblical?

 

[BelindaP]

I expect you will get exactly what you hope for--eternal death. You won't be disappointed.

I don't expect to be disappointed either.

 

[JamesTheAtheist]

yep. Thats why Im getting cryofrozen when i die.

 

[BelindaP]

yep. Thats why Im getting cryofrozen when i die.

Now, that's funny. I'm getting cremated. lol!

 

[hairettic]

I'm getting cremated too!
If I go back to a question before prove hell,
You wanted to know why God didn't do away with Satan once and for all. Well, I still believe he did. The whole freewill thing comes into factor. So much of todays pain is caused by our own selfishness, greed and of course our need to be right! I don't believe the demon behind every bad thing is Satan, it is usually a big ugly human!
I do believe we are created beings. I am not all that smart, but i can tell intelligent design when I see it. An idiot can tell the difference between a chevette and a mercedes! Wanna argue that?
However, most of us have a twisted view of who GOD is. So humor me and answer me what you think God is...if of course there was one!
And please enjoy life....I believe we were created to do that too!

 

[calidog]

cremation for me. I'm a cheapskate.

 

[039]

The "Day of the wrath of our Lord" will bring an end to all accounts. Those living, those dead, those returned to dust and those popsicled. The Lord knows when someone won't be returning to conciousness, and I believe it is at this time that the spirit is taken away (and, about your earlier question, the soul can also be interpeted as the "psyche", one's mind and will. Body, soul and spirit were mentioned seperately in I think... Corinthians?) and the door is locked behind you.

"It is appointed unto man once to die, and then, judgement."

Hoping you become a brother,
039

 

[JamesTheAtheist]

uhhhh, riiiight. See, I also dont believe in an apocalypse.
At least not one that isnt survivable by young Mel Gibson and Kevin Costner.
OK. If there was a god, in my veiw he would be perfect in every way, understanding, above vengence, and loving EVERY thing he/she (gasp! a female god??)/it made. However, I dont. There is no proof, and i have no motivation to believe. Show me a miracle.
Anyway, my "warped veiw" of god, is made so only by Xtians.
So many acts of hate were claimed to be done as the will of god.
For example, the Ku Klux Klan claimed to be doing the will of god. They were insane and warped, and if there is a god they were interpeting his will in the worst way possible. Yet a good deal of them survived. They werent punished. Most of them went on to live their lives. And they died. And since nobody knows if anything happened to them when they died, it is impossible to say that they went to hell. My point is, god didnt do anything to stop these heinous acts. Maybe god just doesnt care.
New question: if god is perfect in every way, then why is he vengeful?

 

[swordofspirit]

my answer to you would be this: because he is perfect in every way. In other words, God must punish those who fall short of his perfect standards. I know this is a short answer, but I think it's at the heart of the issue.

 

[rocklife]

uhhhh, riiiight. See, I also dont believe in an apocalypse.
At least not one that isnt survivable by young Mel Gibson and Kevin Costner.
OK. If there was a god, in my veiw he would be perfect in every way, understanding, above vengence, and loving EVERY thing he/she (gasp! a female god??)/it made. However, I dont. There is no proof, and i have no motivation to believe. Show me a miracle.
Anyway, my "warped veiw" of god, is made so only by Xtians.
So many acts of hate were claimed to be done as the will of god.
For example, the Ku Klux Klan claimed to be doing the will of god. They were insane and warped, and if there is a god they were interpeting his will in the worst way possible. Yet a good deal of them survived. They werent punished. Most of them went on to live their lives. And they died. And since nobody knows if anything happened to them when they died, it is impossible to say that they went to hell. My point is, god didnt do anything to stop these heinous acts. Maybe god just doesnt care.
New question: if god is perfect in every way, then why is he vengeful?

God is more longsuffering than vengeful. He keeps giving us many chances.

and the KuKluxKan is one example of what Jesus warned about, many thinking they are doing God a favor but are actually doing the opposite of New Testament teaching. Jesus warns many leaders are evil, including church leaders. It is a shame so many religious people get God's message all wrong. But Jesus knows, the religious leaders are the ones who took him to a trial to get the death penalty when He didn't do anything wrong. He knows, and we need to be watching out against leaders, that is very repeated New Testament warning. Jesus says many will say "Lord, Lord" on judgment Day, and He will say "Away from me, you evildoers, I never knew you."

 

[BelindaP]

uhhhh, riiiight. See, I also dont believe in an apocalypse.
At least not one that isnt survivable by young Mel Gibson and Kevin Costner.
OK. If there was a god, in my veiw he would be perfect in every way, understanding, above vengence, and loving EVERY thing he/she (gasp! a female god??)/it made. However, I dont. There is no proof, and i have no motivation to believe. Show me a miracle.
Anyway, my "warped veiw" of god, is made so only by Xtians.
So many acts of hate were claimed to be done as the will of god.
For example, the Ku Klux Klan claimed to be doing the will of god. They were insane and warped, and if there is a god they were interpeting his will in the worst way possible. Yet a good deal of them survived. They werent punished. Most of them went on to live their lives. And they died. And since nobody knows if anything happened to them when they died, it is impossible to say that they went to hell. My point is, god didnt do anything to stop these heinous acts. Maybe god just doesnt care.
New question: if god is perfect in every way, then why is he vengeful?

What's imperfect about vengeance?

 

[hairettic]

OK. If there was a god, in my veiw he would be perfect in every way, understanding, above vengence, and loving EVERY thing he/she (gasp! a female god??)/it made. New question: if god is perfect in every way, then why is he vengeful?

Well James, your view of what God would be..if there was a God..... is what I believe God is! You want a miracle, life is a miracle. Other than that I don't do miracles. But if you really need one to believe his existence. ASK for one. I have found God to be a wonderful, loving, giving and personal God. Now don't try to manipulate this. Don't say...I want a miracle, if you are really God, I want to have 6 toes when I wake up. Or $1000000 in my bank account! Say God, I don't believe you are real. Show me. In a way that I will KNOW beyond a shadow of a doubt that you are real!

I believe he would do this for you James. YOU are very special. love ya
h

 

[JamesTheAtheist]

well it IS possible that a god exists (just as possible as bigfoot, but thats fairly possible), and you might call me an Atheistic-agnostic.
I cant prove that god doesnt exist, you cant prove that he does.
I disbeleive him as strongly as you beleive him. What I dont believe in is the god that the bible describes. I believe that if he/she/whatever exists, they are what I previously described.
But theres still no evidence. Whatever, Ill ask it.
And whats wrong with vengence?
Ill tell you. Has anything good ever come of vengent leaders? The Iraqi war? Oh wait.....bad example, people still think thats a good thing....
But thats another rant.

 

[JamesTheAtheist]

And homosexuals!
basically anybody.
I like the point deshadow makes.
a good deal of the aspects of Xtianity contradict eachother.

 

[Key]

And homosexuals!
basically anybody.
I like the point deshadow makes.
a good deal of the aspects of Xtianity contradict eachother.

No they do not, only to the ignorant and uninformed do they seem to do such.

The more you study and learn, the more they clear up.

It takes time, and lots of thought, not just surface scans.

God Bless

Key

 

[deshadow]

He is giving us the opportunity to either accept His will and embrace the truth. Or reject His will and embrace a lie. Those who embrace His will demonstrate that they love what is good. Those who embrace a lie demonstrate that they love evil. Those who Love Good will spend eternity with Him those who embrace evil will spend eternity in torment. You might ask why is it so harsh, But then again in the same breath why do you not ask why is it so good? Eternity with God is eternity in paradise. No one has earned that, but you do not see many people attacking Eternity with God as an unjustifiable reward do you?

God has His will and He has total wisdom. So while it is hard for us to understand why it is by trust in God that we come to the conclusion that God knows best and we trust in His will on the matter.


All Praise The Ancient Of Days

they arent demonstrating that they love evil. you think thomas jefferson and einstein love evil? the evidence is inconcusive and confusing. it doesnt allow us to make a clear cut distinction. i doubt anyone who doesnt think te gospel makes sense is tryig to love evil.

you are setting up new defenitions of words
there is nothing fantastic about the possiblity to be eternally saved or damned. its a really mesed up choice. no matter how good the good side is.

to an outside observer. or to me, i dont think that gods plan seems perfect.

dont tell me i dont nkow his plan, its in the bible.

infact christians often tell me to look at it from gods point of view. so we know what gods viewpoint is.

and my human compassion, that i presumably got from god, is telling me that its a screwed up choice, the whole thing is screwy, from having a chosen people, to having wants and desires, to testing us, to caring about what we beleive, to making a universe as complex as dna and protein synthesis with the ultimate reality being "join me or die with my enemy"

why this whole war between god and satan? why that? is that just "how it is" and too bad for us?

 

[JamesTheAtheist]

heres a novel idea: how about a set of moral codes and stories that you dont have to study for years?
It would encourage the religion and make it hard to misinterpret. The bible is anything but perfect.

 

[deshadow]

heres a novel idea: how about a set of moral codes and stories that you dont have to study for years?
It would encourage the religion and make it hard to misinterpret. The bible is anything but perfect.

wel lby defenition that god = perfection, it has to be perfect

the weird thing is that we have differnt sets of rules for words and ideas depending on the circle of reality we are dealing with.