Hello Everyone,
Before I begin, let me say that I do accept the notion of God, and have been raised to believe in Jesus. However, there are a lot of things I do not understand or necessarily want to accept (though I don't have much of a choice if I want to be saved). I imagine that I will have lot to talk about during judgement day, if I get the chance!
P.S. I don't know if this is the right place for this topic - sorry if it's not.
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I. For the most part the Christian faith, encourages others to take part in worship and fellowship in light of the father - and by enlarge, seek forgiveness for your sins. Those that choose not to, well the bible is very clear when suggesting eternal damnation in a lake of fire. So called gnashing of the teeth, and torment beyond comprehension for all eternity (humans cannot comprehend eternity). This part in particular, though likely exacerbated by my Catholic upbringing did not sit well with me. Namely, what wrong doing is worthy of an eternity of suffering? Does the crime fit the punishment? Essentially, God is saying if you do not follow his way, which is your choice, you will suffer punishment beyond recompense. How is this different from a tyrant? Also there are a number of different religions worshiping a variety of deities, and these people by enlarge live subjectively "good" lives. However, because they may not accept the word of Christ they are doomed to eternal punishment?
II. Conversely, what action warrants eternal bliss? Does anyone deserve such a thing, no matter how good of a life you live?
III. I know this is a sensitive topic for many, and the good book is very clear on the matter (depending one's interpretation) that homosexuality is a sin. However, there are many sins the book speaks of, yet this one in particular beckons a lot of bigoted comments and animosity among members of the Christian faith. Whether or not it's sin, we are not here to judge others or damn them for it. It is their sin (if we are accepting it as sin) and it's there choice whether to abstain or participate in the practice. If there are consequences on the day of judgement, then it is theirs' to bare. Same as lying, wearing mixed fabric (old testament?), stealing, etc. On the point of marriage, which is more of a legal issue than a church issue - why waste energy in caring? Heretics will exist in all ages, but we're not targeting them (oh, there were the crusaders, yeah that was a thing). My point is, no one has a right to judge, yet Christians by enlarge seem to make a big deal of the matter.
IV. Christians refer to the bible for a lot of their scriptures, and practices. However, the bible is a heavily edited copy of scripture passed down by prophets. It doesn't even contain all of the scriptures as the book has a few that were taken out of it's contents. (Book of Esdras, Tobit, Judith, just to name a few.) Sure while we may accept that these prophets received their teachings and writings from God, are we going to attribute the same to the subjective action taken by the Vatican in 1684 when removing these other books?
Before I begin, let me say that I do accept the notion of God, and have been raised to believe in Jesus. However, there are a lot of things I do not understand or necessarily want to accept (though I don't have much of a choice if I want to be saved). I imagine that I will have lot to talk about during judgement day, if I get the chance!
P.S. I don't know if this is the right place for this topic - sorry if it's not.
-----
I. For the most part the Christian faith, encourages others to take part in worship and fellowship in light of the father - and by enlarge, seek forgiveness for your sins. Those that choose not to, well the bible is very clear when suggesting eternal damnation in a lake of fire. So called gnashing of the teeth, and torment beyond comprehension for all eternity (humans cannot comprehend eternity). This part in particular, though likely exacerbated by my Catholic upbringing did not sit well with me. Namely, what wrong doing is worthy of an eternity of suffering? Does the crime fit the punishment? Essentially, God is saying if you do not follow his way, which is your choice, you will suffer punishment beyond recompense. How is this different from a tyrant? Also there are a number of different religions worshiping a variety of deities, and these people by enlarge live subjectively "good" lives. However, because they may not accept the word of Christ they are doomed to eternal punishment?
II. Conversely, what action warrants eternal bliss? Does anyone deserve such a thing, no matter how good of a life you live?
III. I know this is a sensitive topic for many, and the good book is very clear on the matter (depending one's interpretation) that homosexuality is a sin. However, there are many sins the book speaks of, yet this one in particular beckons a lot of bigoted comments and animosity among members of the Christian faith. Whether or not it's sin, we are not here to judge others or damn them for it. It is their sin (if we are accepting it as sin) and it's there choice whether to abstain or participate in the practice. If there are consequences on the day of judgement, then it is theirs' to bare. Same as lying, wearing mixed fabric (old testament?), stealing, etc. On the point of marriage, which is more of a legal issue than a church issue - why waste energy in caring? Heretics will exist in all ages, but we're not targeting them (oh, there were the crusaders, yeah that was a thing). My point is, no one has a right to judge, yet Christians by enlarge seem to make a big deal of the matter.
IV. Christians refer to the bible for a lot of their scriptures, and practices. However, the bible is a heavily edited copy of scripture passed down by prophets. It doesn't even contain all of the scriptures as the book has a few that were taken out of it's contents. (Book of Esdras, Tobit, Judith, just to name a few.) Sure while we may accept that these prophets received their teachings and writings from God, are we going to attribute the same to the subjective action taken by the Vatican in 1684 when removing these other books?