Should God give preferential treatment to Christians on earth?

By that logic you should write me a check because I read your thread. It doesn't work that way.

Whatever He gave us, we would think it would be "just" for Him to give us more. Somewhere there has to be a level . . .. you know, if you gave me a Cadilac I'd be bummed you didn't give me a Bentley . . . if you gave me a Bentley, I'd be bummed you didn't give me a Rolls. On the otherhand, I could just be happy that you helped me jump start my nappy ole beater. All a matter of perspective.

Benefit is not the objective. Material is irrelevant. God being who He is, is worthy of praise simply by merit of being Him. It is great when He blesses us, but we deserve nothing except Hell and He even gave us a way out of that.

Autumnleaf said:

If I was God and had unlimited funds in my bank account I would spread the wealth around to my friends.

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Matthew 20

Autumnleaf said:

Should God give a little more blessings to the people who pray to him? This seems like it would be the moral thing to do. What do you think?

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Yes, God should spoil Christians. The rest of us will grow better than Christians by earning our way.


eudaimonia,

Mark

Autumnleaf said:

Should God give a little more blessings to the people who pray to him? This seems like it would be the moral thing to do. What do you think?

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This is already preached, look up prosperity doctrine.

Autumnleaf said:

Should God give a little more blessings to the people who pray to him? This seems like it would be the moral thing to do. What do you think?

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Oh, he definitely should. I mean, if all the christians had significant statistical advantages over nonchristians, there would probably be fewer nonchristians out there. Some people seem to follow a religion for fear of what will happen if they don't (Hell, misery, downfall of society) but that's not gonna work on me.

Bribery, on the other hand, is much more effective.

Jade Margery said:

Bribery, on the other hand, is much more effective.

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Yes, is that too much to ask? If I were to spend eternity in heaven, I'd want to spend it with people whose souls are easily bought.


eudaimonia,

Mark

Autumnleaf said:

Should God give a little more blessings to the people who pray to him? This seems like it would be the moral thing to do. What do you think?

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Who says HE doesn't?

I'd say yes. But that does not mean taking care of all their worries and providing for all their (lawfull) pleasures. Rather he should help by providing them the strength to persevere, or more likely just opening their eyes and helping them realize they already have the strength.

If he exists of course.

LittleNipper said:

Who says HE doesn't?

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Statistics.

I think it's more that when we pray, we are perhaps in more of a position to avail ourselves of His blessings...not that God will give us more blessings JUST because we've prayed - plus when we pray, we don't ask blessings just for ourselves, but for others as well...including nonbelievers.
Scripture says that God sends the rain etc on the righteous and unrighteous alike.
Anyhow, looked at another way, nearly anything could be looked at as a blessing potentially, or that blessing could come from it (though I'm not in a position to get into an argument about those who experience extreme suffering, not having experienced that myself).

Fin1234 said:

Statistics.

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I am going to go for this, depending on the persons definition of "blessings"*

I have seen the worst sinner imaginable garner great blessings, and the most devote of souls garner nothing but pain and debt. And it seems that the rationing (that seems wrong, but I am at a lose for a better term...help?) of blessings is rather regardless of religion.

Plus, he claims that being Christian will NOT be easy if you do as you are supposed to do. He all but promises it will not be easy. So...why expect anything else?


*I find that when many people say "why don't such people get more blessings?" they tend to mean in the form of worldly riches, pleasure, property. Not the blessings of life, love, and skill.

Given such a definition, it certainly seems the Christian often comes out anywhere but the top.

Fin1234 said:

Statistics.

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The only statistic I'm concerned about is my own. I have a nice place to live, transportation, a wide variety of food on the table, my son is healthy, my parents are still living and healthy, I have a job... And I'm not even the sharpest tool in the shed.

It would be an interesting selling point.

Autumnleaf said:

If there is no material benefit from being a Christian, then how can we hope to win converts? Shouldn't we at least offer toaster ovens?

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People should be Christians because they believe that Christianity is true and that following its principles is beneficial to themselves and/or to others, not because membership in the group offers the best ROI.

God should, and indeed does, treat everyone equally on Earth.