If...

[alexiscurious]

If the brain God gave me truly and sincerely believes he doesn't exist and there is no amount of persuasive evidence that could convince it otherwise can I still be punished for not accepting him?

If so, why?

 

[Sketcher]

If the brain God gave me truly and sincerely believes he doesn't exist and there is no amount of persuasive evidence that could convince it otherwise can I still be punished for not accepting him?

If so, why?

If that were the case, it would be a matter of willful ignorance. So yes.

 

[rstrats]

alexiscurious,

re: "If the brain God gave me truly and sincerely believes he doesn't exist..."


I would add: "or simply doesn't have a belief in His existence" to your sentence.

 

[ebia]

If the brain God gave me truly and sincerely believes he doesn't exist and there is no amount of persuasive evidence that could convince it otherwise can I still be punished for not accepting him? If so, why?

What if it's not about arbitrary punishment for failing an arbitrary condition?

 

[graceandpeace]

What if it's not about arbitrary punishment for failing an arbitrary condition?

That is a great response, would love to hear the OP's answer.

 

[KWCrazy]

So God is to blame for your rejection of Him?
Because He gave you free will, He is to blame for you choosing evil over good?
Are rape victims guilty of making themselves look irresistible to the rapist?
Should Muslim women cover themselves completely because Muslim men are wild dogs who can't look at a woman without lusting after her?
Perhaps it's the mouse's fault for attracting the interest of the cat who ate him.

 

[razzelflabben]

Romans 10:9 If you declare with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.

Romans 10:10
For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved.


Acts 8:37
And Philip said, If you believe with all your heart, you may. And he answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.


Belief unto salvation is belief of the heart not the mind. That is why it is of faith not evidence. IOW's the heart is where determination resides, it is where our desires rest. Evidence can influence the belief of the heart, but it does NOT inform it.

 

[pdudgeon]

If the brain God gave me truly and sincerely believes he doesn't exist and there is no amount of persuasive evidence that could convince it otherwise can I still be punished for not accepting him?

If so, why?

If you accept that God gave you a brain the you have to accept that He exists in order to create and then give.

the brain is an ordered and very complex organ--and so is the body. Something that ordered and complex demands the existance of a higher being to conceive the idea and execute the organization of forming it.

to not accept that would be a deliberate act of the will that flies in the face of all the the evidence to the contrary.

the will of man which leads him to act is not a separate entity. neither is it apart from the brain nor from the heart of man. But the three working together form a concensus for all the actions of which a man will be judged by God.

 

[Steeno7]

If the brain God gave me truly and sincerely believes he doesn't exist and there is no amount of persuasive evidence that could convince it otherwise can I still be punished for not accepting him?

If so, why?

You mean as if your 'brain' is somehow separate from 'you'?

Your 'mind' is your own, and you are responsible for the choices you make. As a man thinks.

You're already spiritually dead in your sins and trespasses. To now die physically while in that condition of spiritual death, is to die apart from the eternal presence of the life of God. That is to be perpetually identified with the spirit of death and his destiny in that "eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels" (Matt. 25:41), the "eternal punishment" (Matt. 25:46) of "darkness forever" (Jude 1:13) in everlasting death.

 

[razzelflabben]

the will of man which leads him to act is not a separate entity. neither is it apart from the brain nor from the heart of man. But the three working together form a concensus for all the actions of which a man will be judged by God.

Just a quick point of clarification, the heart of man is where the will resides...that is to say will being our determination. Think in terms of the scriptures that say, they set their hearts to...this is a discussion of the will of man.

Now, that being said, all of man will be judged, this is very true, especially given that when we believe with our hearts, we become new creations, that involves the whole man. That is to say, a renewed mind, a circumcised heart, a crucified flesh, an alive soul/spirit are all part of the new creation we are given upon belief with the heart.

 

[bling]

If you are programmed to not believe than you cannot believe, but if, God gave you a miraculous free will to accept or reject His Love (like God has given everyone else) than you can believe.

 

[South Bound]

If the brain God gave me truly and sincerely believes he doesn't exist and there is no amount of persuasive evidence that could convince it otherwise can I still be punished for not accepting him?

If so, why?

I don't know what "accepting him (sic)" means, because "accepting him" isn't a Biblical concept.

But, yes, you can still be punished for your sin.

 

[South Bound]

dp

 

[rstrats]

South Bound,

re: "dp"

What does "dp" mean?

 

[Abandoned Barns]

If the brain God gave me truly and sincerely believes he doesn't exist and there is no amount of persuasive evidence that could convince it otherwise can I still be punished for not accepting him?

If so, why?

If you're wondering if he is able to punish you then it would seem clear that there would be some amount of persuasive evidence that could convince you that he does exist. I mean, I've never gotten my butt handed to me and then wondered if the person handing it existed. So what I think your asking is; if he does exist as we believe him to, then how could we, as believers, see you, as a non-believer, as being accountable for not believing what you have been constitutionally created unable to believe? But what you're asking is for us to assume as fact, that which is contrary to our faith - that is that there is a mind that is incapable of believing:

20For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse.

we can accept that you don't believe, but not that you cannot.

There probably was no one in the history who thought that they were less capable of being persuaded then Saul of Tarsus. His job was to kill Christians. His mission, to eradicate Christianity. His heart could not have been more hardened. In Acts, we read about Saul's conversion on the road to Damascus :

[3]As he was traveling, it happened that he was approaching Damascus, and suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him; [4]and he fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?” [5]And he said, “Who are You, Lord?” And He said, “I am Jesus whom you are persecuting, [6]but get up and enter the city, and it will be told you what you must do.” [7]The men who traveled with him stood speechless, hearing the voice but seeing no one. [8]Saul got up from the ground, and though his eyes were open, he could see nothing; and leading him by the hand, they brought him into Damascus. [9]And he was three days without sight, and neither ate nor drank.

he became one of God's greatest servants.

To me it's very significant that It was necessary for Saul to become blind in order for him to see the truth. It's as if we are told that in order to understand the truth in what Jesus offers to us, we must be willing to question everything else we think we know. For some that's easier than other - I didn't really know all that much. But for others it becomes the greatest obstacle to faith.

So I guess what I'm saying is that in order for me to answer your question, you'd have to convince me that the second part of your condition is (or could be) true; that is that there is in fact no amount of evidence that could ever convince you. Do you believe, for some reason, that your disbelief is greater or more permanent than mine was? Than Saul's was? Faith is not really about evidence, but even if it were then your's to me would seem a fairly unscientific position.

 

[Abandoned Barns]

South Bound,

re: "dp"

What does "dp" mean?

I think "dp" means that he accidentally "Double Posted" his comment twice and then couldn't delete it without being an admin. So he just edited the body to "dp" so as not to take up space in the thread.