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How can our finite knowledge understand a divine purpose? Do you not appreciate the good more after receiving the bad?
You just said it. You prefer a universe that was not an accident, so it must be uncomfortable for you to contemplate that a God was not behind the universe. So, you are religious, because it allows you to cope with the apparent question in a way that brings you comfort.
Nothing wrong with that and that is why it is called faith. As long as people of faith can respect that some people will disagree with them, and the faith does not require them to deny obvious well evidenced realities, go for it.
Unfortunately that's untrue, I was highlighting principles seen in persons through all ages. Do I believe it now? yes, it is comfort in the sense that there is a driving force behind creation, not chaos. But I did not, and am not a believer for comfort. Being a believer means a lot of sacrifices, a complete change of life, you stop living for yourself. The hardest part for me personally is not knowing if those I love would be unsaved, there is no comfort in that I assure you. That's where trust comes into play, if there is no benevolent God, then we are all truly doomed.
I respect that others have different views, but as you know, people will clash over them. Physical and spiritual discernment mean different things to both parties.
I've never done an "evil" thing my entire life. With that all said, would I go to hell?
Well, it is your opinion that we are doomed without a God and I simply disagree.
People do clash over differing beliefs and some of the best clashes on this board, are amongst Christians themselves, that come from different denominations and battle over who has the right interpretation of scripture.
The serial killer: yes, because that evil nature he has dies with Christ if he accepts Him.No matter what type of life a person leads?
Do you believe that the serial killer who gets saved on death row and repents his sins, will be allowed heaven? How about the Hindu who leads a terrific life helping others, but does not believe in Christianity? Do they get to heaven?
The point I meant with doomed is, if the world is governed by chaos and not order, what chance does mankind have?
Religion, politics etc, any strong opinions always breed disputes.
The serial killer: yes, because that evil nature he has dies with Christ if he accepts Him.
The Hindu, my pastor says if people never heard the gospel they get a chance to choose for Him and that's what Sadhu Sundhar Singh saw too if they didn't live really evil.
Humans have evolved to be social beings and for this reason, there are benefits to getting along with your fellow man. We have laws made by man to protect society, to keep chaos from reigning and assuring people have equal rights.
Can mankind govern the celestial forces, this is what I was referring to as doomed, sorry I should have said.
I don't think there will ever be equal rights. The filthy rich waste millions in frivolous lifestyles while children die of starvation every day; evil persists always. Many humans are inherently evil, corruption can be found in any country.
He didn't build flaws into His creation. He saved us from sin and the devil who you have to obey if you want to serve him by sinning and loving sin. He didn't save us from Himself. Someone saw Him in heaven and He was crying, saying if He could save one soul He'd die again. Indifferent? His followers maybe sometimes, but not God. I accused Him of being indifferent too and He said: Hey how much do you pray for souls to get saved? There was a man who prayed every day the whole day long for unsaved people, in Wales and almost whole Wales got saved.Yes I have closed myself off from the idea. The idea that an infinitely powerful and infinitely resourceful and infinitely benevolent being, created the universe then had no other way to change his own rules to ease our suffering because of the flaws that he himself built into his own creation, had no other choice than to turn himself into a human and live a perfect life and to be tortured and then executed to save us from himself. Yeah, I closed myself off from accepting that as a reality. If you want to claim that is reality then I await the proof, and I will change my mind, but if you can't prove it then I am under no obligation to accept it. If this is the system this being created then I have to take from that, that I was never meant to go to heaven. If I was never meant to go to heaven then why should I even care about trying to get there?
Which celestial forces are you referring to?
Chaos to me means; a civilization that is ripe with crime, does poorly in regards to human rights and education. Many of the nations of the world that have the highest quality of life (low crime, human rights, good education, good jobs), are also the lowest in regards to belief in a God.
The forces that govern the universe as we know it.
Those who have, choose not to share, equality should be about standard of life. Crime is often the only means some of these people can survive, education is an afterthought from food and water. Human rights should be globally, not a nation.
And how would you propose we govern the forces that control the universe?
Why can't the universe have order though it's natural forces? Do you have evidence that it can't? Do you have evidence that a creator is required for this order?
I can assure you, in this day and age, very few people are not aware of Christianity and understand the theology of the same. In fact, in a recent study done by Pew, the people with the highest amount of general religious knowledge were; atheists and muslims.
The universe being governed independently seems foreign to me. What is it that sustains the very atoms of the universe, that keeps all things in order?
It sounds like you're on the same road I used to be on, which is actually the opposite of what is based in Christianity.It mystifies me how anyone can actually believe it
A few years back an Anglican priest, working in America although he is English, remarked that America is both the most religious country in the western world, and the most theologically illiterate country in the western world.
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