Since God is entitled to take lives, how do Christians distinguish between God and mental illness?

InterestedAtheist said:

And no verifiable proof. Such encounters always seem to take place inside the believer's head, with no way of proving to anyone else that they weren't just made up.

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There’s always been proof when God wanted it to be known by others.

BigV said:

But God doesn't make it known to other people that he was the one who made himself known to an individual, right?

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He does sometimes. The apostles performed many miracles that resulted in many believing.

BNR32FAN said:

There’s always been proof when God wanted it to be known by others.

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No, you mean there's always been stories of there being proof.

InterestedAtheist said:

No, you mean there's always been stories of there being proof.

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Well that’s inconclusive either way. I can’t prove the Bible is true and you can’t prove it’s not. If I could prove the Bible was true then there wouldn’t be a need to have faith. God will only reveal Himself to those who seek Him. Those who seek to serve satan will not know God. God has proven Himself to me and countless of others.

BNR32FAN said:

Well that’s inconclusive either way.

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Ah, but both ways aren't needed.

BNR32FAN said:

I can’t prove the Bible is true and you can’t prove it’s not.

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But the burden of proof is on you. I don't need to prove the Bible, you're the one claiming it's true.

BNR32FAN said:

If I could prove the Bible was true then there wouldn’t be a need to have faith.

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Yes. And that would be a good thing. Because the Bible can't be proved, faith is necessary.

BNR32FAN said:

God will only reveal Himself to those who seek Him.

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Why?

BNR32FAN said:

Those who seek to serve satan will not know God.

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But I don't serve Satan. It's possible that my actions may help Satan's causes without me knowing or wishing them to, but to say that I serve Satan is demonstrably inaccurate.

BNR32FAN said:

God has proven Himself to me and countless of others.

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So you say.

BigV said:

It seems that you are trying to divorce your religion from the Old Testament, but Christ, according to the mainstream Christianity, is the God of the Old Testament!

And, according to the New Testament, God/Christ never changes, so an Old Testament event, of God telling Abraham to sacrifice his son is something God can do. Or God can test anyone's faith by whatever means he feels necessary, including asking one to kill their child.

As far as the commandment to not take an innocent life, your understanding is incorrect, I'm sorry to say.

Numbers 31: 17 Now therefore, kill every male among the little ones, and kill every woman who has known man intimately. 18 But all the girls who have not known man intimately, spare for yourselves.

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I'm not trying to divorce the Old from the New.. but there are major differences between the two Covanents..

First, national Israel was done away with, therefore, there are no borders for God's people and we have a different manner of living (live in the world without being of the world)

Second, in Jeremiah 31:29-30 we see the differences foretold in a main difference between the Old Covanent and New, namely, that God under the New Covenant no longer holds the sins of the father's against the children as we see in Numbers 14:18 as well as Exodus and I believe Deuteronomy as well.

Whenever God speaks of love and hate He is speaking of preferential position within God's covenant. Those God "hates" isn't emotional hatred, it's those God did not place inside the Covenant.

Under the Old Covenant, those outside the covenant were kept outside, until the covenant people brought forth the Messiah. After that anyone can be brought into Covanent with God, and men are judged upon their acceptance or rejection of God's covenant through the Messiah.

As such, we also see differences.

1.) Genocide is an effective war strategy, it leaves no further generations to wage blood feuds against you.

2.) When God asked national Israel to commit genocide it was for good reason and within that specific context

3.) This will never again be asked at man's hand again, under the New Covenant - because there's no nation wholly under covenant with God, and no people God is protecting (self defense) to bring forth the Messiah.

InterestedAtheist said:

But the burden of proof is on you. I don't need to prove the Bible, you're the one claiming it's true.

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And when men believed the Earth was flat and someone said it’s not, was he incorrect because he couldn’t prove it?

InterestedAtheist said:

But I don't serve Satan. It's possible that my actions may help Satan's causes without me knowing or wishing them to, but to say that I serve Satan is demonstrably inaccurate.

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Are you serving God? No your attacking God everyday. So yes you are serving satan. You may claim that your oblivious to it but I think we both know different. You know that anything that is against God is serving satan, I’m sure of that. You may not want to believe it but that’s irrelevant.

BigV said:

Amazing to see Christians justifying Genocide, while, in a separate context, arguing that Christian morality is so much superior to non-religious morality. But I digress.

1) Genocide also kills women and children, and other non-combatants. If this was so great, why didn't Jesus roll with this?

2) See above.

3) Since God is the same yesterday and today and forever, your assurance is unwarranted. Besides, traditional Christianity believes in the eternal Hell, which is, in my view, much worse than genocide.

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You don't have to "like" God.. and you don't have to understand Him either.

Isaiah 55:8-9
“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the Lord. “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts."

Yes, genocide seems evil to our modern ears, but again, it's effective in many ways. It prevents blood feuds, and prevents one nation from picking up the ways of other nations. Both were important under the Old Covenant.

You don't have to like it or understand it, but the same God is the God of both Old and New Covenants, and both Covenants have different mission statements....

You can like the mission statement of the New better, but I don't find myself of such a nature that I can judge God and I won't do it.

I do feel as if I understand God though (coming from a tribal society myself), and it pleases my soul to serve Him under the Covenant I'm invited.

There's no force, if you dont choose to serve Him no one is making you, this was the end purpose of all. To bring forth the means of salvation and give you the choice.

BigV said:

Amazing to see Christians justifying Genocide, while, in a separate context, arguing that Christian morality is so much superior to non-religious morality. But I digress.

1) Genocide also kills women and children, and other non-combatants. If this was so great, why didn't Jesus roll with this?

2) See above.

3) Since God is the same yesterday and today and forever, your assurance is unwarranted. Besides, traditional Christianity believes in the eternal Hell, which is, in my view, much worse than genocide.

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What’s amazing is that day after day you come here to argue over what you believe to be a fictional character. Do you argue this much about other fictional characters?

BigV said:

Amazing to see Christians justifying Genocide, while, in a separate context, arguing that Christian morality is so much superior to non-religious morality. But I digress.

1) Genocide also kills women and children, and other non-combatants. If this was so great, why didn't Jesus roll with this?

2) See above.

3) Since God is the same yesterday and today and forever, your assurance is unwarranted. Besides, traditional Christianity believes in the eternal Hell, which is, in my view, much worse than genocide.

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Were they good people? Can you say with any sense of certainty that these people didn’t deserve to be killed?

BNR32FAN said:

Are you serving God? No your attacking God everyday. So yes you are serving satan. You may claim that your oblivious to it but I think we both know different. You know that anything that is against God is serving satan, I’m sure of that. You may not want to believe it but that’s irrelevant.

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As an atheist, I don't believe that Satan exists.
As I said before, while my actions may unintentionally help Satan, that is not at all the same thing as my serving him.
And you're right - what you and I want to believe is irrelevant. Let's just deal in facts, shall we?

InterestedAtheist said:

As an atheist, I don't believe that Satan exists.
As I said before, while my actions may unintentionally help Satan, that is not at all the same thing as my serving him.
And you're right - what you and I want to believe is irrelevant. Let's just deal in facts, shall we?

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Still the FACT remains that you are serving satan whether you know it or not.

I find it so interesting that atheists feel they must attack God when they don’t believe He exists.

BigV said:

The man claiming the Earth was NOT flat and could not prove it was wrong for making claims without having evidence to back it up. He is right in his conclusion, but wrong in his methodology, assuming by NOT Flat he guessed the Earth is an oblong spheroid.

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Then a person claiming that God does not exist and cannot prove it is also making a similar mistake?

BigV said:

Who, in your view, deserves to be killed? There is a very good reason for not judging children who commit crimes the same way as adults are judged for same crimes. I can't imagine how a child could deserve a death penalty in a civilized world!

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But then again you can’t see that child’s future can you?