Does God Want a Better World?

[Question.Everything]

Then why would he create a religion with such a strict set of rules that creates massive conflict (ie.ONE rule, total belief in Jesus)?

God is the source for religion. God knows what would, will, and does happen with world religions. It seems to me that monotheism has resulted in much more bad conflict than good throughout history. It's a battle between the multiple Gods that all say "I am the ONLY God"...this creates prejudice, hatred, bad-blood, etc. (Islam vs. Christianity for the past thousand years) Many good things come from Christianity, but that's only because of loving and compassionate humans...not self-sacrifice and redemption.

Why couldn't Jesus have preached the same message he did (love unto others, treat your neighbor as yourself, etc) without the human-sacrifice part and without requiring absolute belief in a monotheistic God? If the thought is "Because we are sinners and we must be cleansed of our sin", it's God that invented the concept of needing redemption in the first place. God invented sinning because God invented free will...he makes ALL of the rules.

This is why I think if there is a God up there, he would not do things the way Christian God has.

 

[Faulty]

Why do you feel there needs to be another way to be reconciled to God?

You only have two ways to go. The first is accept you are inadequate to stand before God as you are and receive the finished work Jesus did fully on your behalf. The second is to attempt to contribute in your redemption in any measure, great or small, wrapped in 'religion' or 'good works', or whatever other packaging you want to put it in.

"Working" your way into God's good graces is nothing but an act of sinful pride, and sinful behavior in the sight of a righteous God will not benefit you in any way.

The cross is an offense, and those who preach it suffer persecutions by, and cause conflicts with, those who reject it, just like you point out in your post. It's not unexpected or new, because the Word of God already said it to be true.

Gal 5:11
But if I, brothers, still preach circumcision, why am I still being persecuted? In that case the offense of the cross has been removed

Romans 9:33
As it is written: "See, I lay in Zion a stone that causes men to stumble and a rock that makes them fall, and the one who trusts in him will never be put to shame."

1 Corinthians 1:23
but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles,

Galatians 3:1
You foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? Before your very eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed as crucified.

Galatians 4:29
At that time the son born in the ordinary way persecuted the son born by the power of the Spirit. It is the same now.

Galatians 6:12
Those who want to make a good impression outwardly are trying to compel you to be circumcised. The only reason they do this is to avoid being persecuted for the cross of Christ.

1 Peter 2:8
"A stone that causes men to stumble and a rock that makes them fall." They stumble because they disobey the message--which is also what they were destined for.
​

 

[AlexBP]

Then why would he create a religion with such a strict set of rules that creates massive conflict (ie.ONE rule, total belief in Jesus)?

Christianity has the most lenient set of rules of any religion I know of, and its rules are far more lenient than any secular dogma that I know of. You said Christianity has one rule; actually it's two. "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments." [Matthew 22:37-40, NIV]

God is the source for religion. God knows what would, will, and does happen with world religions. It seems to me that monotheism has resulted in much more bad conflict than good throughout history. It's a battle between the multiple Gods that all say "I am the ONLY God"...this creates prejudice, hatred, bad-blood, etc. (Islam vs. Christianity for the past thousand years) Many good things come from Christianity, but that's only because of loving and compassionate humans...not self-sacrifice and redemption.

Why couldn't Jesus have preached the same message he did (love unto others, treat your neighbor as yourself, etc) without the human-sacrifice part and without requiring absolute belief in a monotheistic God?

Jesus could not have preached the same message he did without sacrifice and without requiring belief. It would be logically impossible. If Jesus preached a message that didn't include such things, it would have been a different message. The world is full of people who theoretically think that they have a good attitude towards their fellow human beings but rarely or never act on it. Love only becomes meaningful when one is willing to put it at the center of one's life and make it the basis for actions, including actions that minimize the self. Individuals such as Saint Francis of Assisi, John Wesley, Mahatma Gandhi, and Mother Teresa would not have accomplished what they accomplished in the absence of Jesus' demands concerning belief and sacrifice.

If the thought is "Because we are sinners and we must be cleansed of our sin", it's God that invented the concept of needing redemption in the first place. God invented sinning because God invented free will...he makes ALL of the rules.

God did not invent the concept of sinning any more than Thomas Edison invented broken light bulbs or the Wright brothers invented plane crashes. It is true that God created us, and obviously without that we would obviously have no opportunities for sin.

This is why I think if there is a God up there, he would not do things the way Christian God has.

Many of us begin in intellectual life by thinking that we have everything figured out and that the universe would be a better place if we were in charge; I certainly did. But wise men and women throughout the ages have eventually figured out that they are not good enough to pass judgment on God.

 

[bling]

You are very much on the right path with trying to understand :What is the objective, why am I here, what is God trying to do, and how does this all come together!


Everything can be understood from the objectives:

Man’s objective seems to be to obtain and grow this Godly type Love to fulfill the mission (statement) of Love God and secondly others with all our heart, soul, mind, and energy.

Our “objective” while here on earth is to just accept God’s gift as it was given as pure charity.

God is not trying to get you to do something, but is trying to give you something.

That “something” is the most powerful force in all universes since it is the force that compels God to do all He does.

God’s Love compelled God to create beings that could Love like He Loves and did it for the sake of those few that would accept His Love.

The problem is not sin (unforgiven sin is a huge problem), because God will forgive our sins which helps us to Love (…he that is forgiven much will Love much….) God hates sin, but does allow it so we can more easily accept His Love (in the form of forgiveness the easiest way for us to accept His charity). The problem is not knowing that God exists, since a very small amount of faith is needed to help humans and knowledge of there being a God would only upset those that do not want the Christian God. The problem is our fulfilling our objective.

There are some things that God just cannot do like create a being that was never created and the one important to us is instinctively create us with Godly type Love since that would be robotic type Love. God will also not force his love on us since that would be unloving on God’s part (there has to be reasonable alternatives to make it a choice [the perceived pleasures of sin]). The easiest way for us to get this Love is through accepting it as a pure charitable gift. The problem being humans (due in part to the needed survival instinct) do not like accepting Charity from a Giver that paid a huge price for the gift.

The easiest way for humans to accept God’s charity (Love) is out of a huge need and that need is the relief from the burden of hurting others in the past (sin). By accepting God’s forgiveness we accept God’s Love (mercy/grace/charity) and thus we will Love much since Jesus has taught us (we also see this in our own lives) “…he that is forgiven much will Love much…”

Once we accept Godly type Love, we can truly Love and have the privilege and honor of Loving God (the forgiver) and others (God’s children) with all our heart, soul, mind, and energy.


This Godly type Love is defined by Jesus’ words and deeds (you can also use 1 Cor 13 and 1 John 4).


Since God is “Love” and part of the definition of Godly type Love is unselfishness God is totally unselfish? If God is totally unselfish, He will do and allow all He can to help those that are just willing to accept His help fulfill their objective (Love). That “all” includes: Christ to go to the cross, satan to roam the earth, tragedies of all kind, hell, evil, and even sin.

Will we know people do not like to accept charity especially from a giver that paid a huge price? People will try to earn the gift, pay back the gift, be more deserving of the gift than the next person or just say they got the gift without having to accept it. The easiest way to accept the gift is through accepting God’s forgiveness (this is after you have sinned) since forgiveness is charity, grace, mercy Love. AND Jesus has taught us “…he that is forgiven much will Love much…”

The problem is God wants us to be like He is (God’s Love is compelling Him to create beings that can Love like He Loves and made these beings for the sake of those that will accept His Love).

If we continue to refuse God’s Love and really do not want to Love unselfishly, where is there for us to go? Heaven is one huge Love feast so we would not be happy there and God wants us to be happy.

 

[drich0150]

Then why would he create a religion with such a strict set of rules that creates massive conflict (ie.ONE rule, total belief in Jesus)?

The "rules" or rather the Law of God has one purpose. To show us that we all fall short of righteousness. In that we can not earn true righteousness. we must seek the atonement that is offered through Christ.

God is the source for religion.

No. Man is the source of religion. Just like "morality" Religion is mans attempt to worship or water down God's intended standard..

God knows what would, will, and does happen with world religions. It seems to me that monotheism has resulted in much more bad conflict than good throughout history. It's a battle between the multiple Gods that all say "I am the ONLY God"...this creates prejudice, hatred, bad-blood, etc. (Islam vs. Christianity for the past thousand years) Many good things come from Christianity, but that's only because of loving and compassionate humans...not self-sacrifice and redemption.

This is a series of Incorrect observations. If you want a complete dissection just ask.

Why couldn't Jesus have preached the same message he did (love unto others, treat your neighbor as yourself, etc) without the human-sacrifice part and without requiring absolute belief in a monotheistic God?

He answers your question in Mt 26:42. (Because it is the Father's will that he wants done.)

If the thought is "Because we are sinners and we must be cleansed of our sin", it's God that invented the concept of needing redemption in the first place. God invented sinning because God invented free will...he makes ALL of the rules.

This is why I think if there is a God up there, he would not do things the way Christian God has.

Why? Because you are having trouble fathoming the concept of sin and redemption? What if God doesn't have that problem? Would He still be bound to your interpretation of this precept, or is the Master and Commander of the universe free to do as He wills?

Remember when you're "questioning everything" always start with your own understandings and definitions. You/We are seldomly the bench marks we believe ourselves to be.

 

[solarwave]

Then why would he create a religion with such a strict set of rules that creates massive conflict (ie.ONE rule, total belief in Jesus)?

Christianity isn't just about belief in Jesus. You could say that any Muslim, Hindu or Buddhist that loves others and has a spiritual relation to the universe is a good Christian. Jesus highly emphasised living a good life as important. You appear to be talking about a more conservative understanding of Christianity which doesn't represent the whole thing.

God is the source for religion. God knows what would, will, and does happen with world religions. It seems to me that monotheism has resulted in much more bad conflict than good throughout history. It's a battle between the multiple Gods that all say "I am the ONLY God"...this creates prejudice, hatred, bad-blood, etc. (Islam vs. Christianity for the past thousand years) Many good things come from Christianity, but that's only because of loving and compassionate humans...not self-sacrifice and redemption.

Good and bad have happened because of religion. Claims to exclusive truth do that. We should be much more accepting of others. Jesus said to love our enemies, don't you think this goes against most bad things Christians have done? If so then those Christians doesn't represent their Christ.

Why couldn't Jesus have preached the same message he did (love unto others, treat your neighbor as yourself, etc) without the human-sacrifice part and without requiring absolute belief in a monotheistic God?

Maybe His death is also an important part of His message. Jesus willingly gave up His life and didn't try to spare it. It is one of the greatest demonstrations of the concept of 'dying to self', which is perhaps something humans need to learn too, to stop being so concerned about the self.

"Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends."

 

[leftrightleftrightleft]

Then why would he create a religion with such a strict set of rules that creates massive conflict (ie.ONE rule, total belief in Jesus)?

There's actually almost no rules. Love Jesus. Accept his sacrifice. Strive to center your life on Jesus and his message. That's about it. No Five Pillars. No Eightfold Path. No Mosaic Law. No convoluted legalism.

God is the source for religion. God knows what would, will, and does happen with world religions. It seems to me that monotheism has resulted in much more bad conflict than good throughout history. It's a battle between the multiple Gods that all say "I am the ONLY God"...this creates prejudice, hatred, bad-blood, etc. (Islam vs. Christianity for the past thousand years)

I am not sure that God created religion. Jesus certainly didn't create a religion. There's a good book called The End of Religion by Bruxy Cavey which highlights this. Religion is a human institution and, as such, it is subject to all of humanity's faults such as lust, greed, megalomania and self-centeredness. As such, religion's bad-blood has no bearing on God's truth.

Many good things come from Christianity, but that's only because of loving and compassionate humans...not self-sacrifice and redemption.

This is a faith statement if I ever saw one. You must believe humans are inherently good judging from this comment? Perhaps the blank slate approach?

Why couldn't Jesus have preached the same message he did (love unto others, treat your neighbor as yourself, etc) without the human-sacrifice part and without requiring absolute belief in a monotheistic God? If the thought is "Because we are sinners and we must be cleansed of our sin", it's God that invented the concept of needing redemption in the first place. God invented sinning because God invented free will...he makes ALL of the rules.

Possibly the most perplexing question about Christianity which I think modern theologians and philosophers need to address because I have yet to find any of the great theologians of the past address the directly.

But uncertainty about the reasons for something does not immediately demolish faith. Resting in the fact that you don't know everything is one of the most spiritually-enlivening experiences I've had.

 

[razeontherock]

Many good things come from Christianity, but that's only because of loving and compassionate humans...not self-sacrifice and redemption.

False dichotomy

 

[Emmy]

Dear Question.Everything. God made us in His image, and He made us Good. Until the Garden of Eden proved that Adam and Eve, ( our proto-types) did not love God more than they believed the lies of a tempting serpent. God wants loving children/sons and daughters to live with Him for eternity. We have to be " born again" to change from being selfish and unloving, to love God with all our hearts, with all our souls, and with all our minds, And to love our neighbour as ourselves. Jesus died that we might live, He paid for all our sins and wrong-doings, which we could not pay for, we were sin-laden, and God`s Law of Justice could only accept Blood completely free from any sin. Jesus paid our debt, and Jesus reconciled us to God. Witout His loving Sacrifice I dare not even imagine what would have happened to us, and what would happen to all of us, now living??? Jesus also vanquished Satan on Golgotha, and it is only by pretence, that Satan can still prowl around like a hungry lion, looking for those he could devour. God is our loving Heavenly Father, and there are thousands upon thousands Christian men and women worldwide, who will testify that Jesus saved us and is waiting to help and guide us back to where we came from: God our Heavenly Father. The world is only our place to learn to become as God wants us to be: worthy sons and daughters of our Great and Worthy God. I say this with love, Question. Everything. Greeting from Emmy, sister in Christ.