Serious Questions

[razeontherock]

why do you censor the word God?

What makes you think I do?

Knowing Jesus does not offend me, I just do not understand how you can say that you do. Unless you refer to knowing Jesus as a metaphorical way of knowing the bible, seems to be the only logical explanation to that.

If you want to swim in deep water, you have to get in over your head. There are certain things we have to do to even be able to see the Kingdom, and others we have to do to enter. When you make this translation / teleportation, you can actually KNOW. With or without accompanying physical manifestation. In my case I am less Blessed, because I had to see to believe. G-d has steadily brought me up and away from that need.

 

[oi_antz]

Knowing Jesus does not offend me, I just do not understand how you can say that you do. Unless you refer to knowing Jesus as a metaphorical way of knowing the bible, seems to be the only logical explanation to that.

Additional to what Ray said, when we do invite Jesus into our lives, He becomes a very real presence that cannot be denied. We are literally able to speak with Him any time we need to, knowing that it is Him who answers. The reality of God will blow your socks off, so it is worthwhile taking Christianity seriously. As far as I know, there's no other religion who can claim their messiah is omnipresent and everlasting as is Jesus. Anyone have an answer to show me otherwise?

 

[aiki]

Aiki-

1. That is an educated nicely put explanation that although I do not know if I am ready to accept of believe as of now, it does make sense from the Christian perspective.

It sounds to me like you're saying my points about why Christianity is superior to all other religions are only legitimate within the Christian worldview. What I shared with you, however, are facts that are true whether or not one is a Christian. It is a fact that Christ fulfilled centuries-old prophecy; it is a fact that Christ died on a cross, was buried, and then rose from the dead some time later; it is a fact that the God revealed to us in the Bible is precisely the kind of God necessary to be the First Cause of all things. One doesn't have to be of the Christian faith to acknowledge the legitimacy of these facts.

2. I apologize for giving the perception that I meant my self, as I am surely am not as good as other people in this world. Am I to understand that you are still coming to the conclusion, that no matter how well of a life a person may leave, if they deny Jesus dying for our sins they will still face judgment?

Yes, that is what the Bible teaches. God's standard for what is morally acceptable is Himself. His perfect, holy righteousness is the standard by which He judges the quality of every person's life. To lower this standard would mean a compromise with sin, which a perfectly holy God cannot do.

3. Perhaps not as much in modern times, but throughout history, yes Christianity has most certainly been forced upon people coercively and violently. There should be no excuse for it back then as there is none for it today.

Well, the Crusades were more political than religious. History reveals pretty plainly that, in the Crusades, religion was merely a cloak for the usual political agenda: Power, wealth, and land. Mind you, the Crusades didn't just occur on a whim, but in large part in response to the violent spread of Islam into the Middle East, the Mediterranean, and Southern Europe. Only a successful military campaign lead by Charlemagne prevented the tide of Islamic aggression from overtaking all of Europe.

Although Christianity has been connected to such things as the Crusades and the Inquisition, one has only to compare what was done in these instances in the name of Christianity with the commands of Christ himself to see that what was done was utterly in contradiction to his commands and so not truly Christian. "By their fruit you shall know them," Christ said and one can see that the "fruit" of such things as the Crusades or the Inquisition was not of the sort Christ demonstrated in his own life and taught his followers to produce.

Matthew 5:38-46
38 "You have heard that it was said, 'An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.'
39 But I tell you not to resist an evil person. But whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other to him also.
40 If anyone wants to sue you and take away your tunic, let him have your cloak also.
41 And whoever compels you to go one mile, go with him two.
42 Give to him who asks you, and from him who wants to borrow from you do not turn away.
43 "You have heard that it was said, 'You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.'
44 But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you,
45 that you may be sons of your Father in heaven...

2 Timothy 2:24-26
24 And a servant of the Lord must not quarrel but be gentle to all, able to teach, patient,
25 in humility correcting those who are in opposition, if God perhaps will grant them repentance, so that they may know the truth,
26 and that they may come to their senses and escape the snare of the devil, having been taken captive by him to do his will.

You can see in the above quotations from Scripture that the violent, coercive spread of Christianity goes directly against the explicit commands of the Bible. Christianity disseminated in such a way is not truly Christian.

4. May I ask what “claiming divine inspiration” means? And is not a copy of the Old Testament the original version, not the newer modern “new testament” I may be wrong on that. Please clarify.

The writers of the Bible claim that God "breathed into" or inspired them in the writing of Scripture. In a sense, they were taking divine dictation, though they did impress their writings with the stamp of their own personality and perspective.

The New Testament isn't a copy of the Old Testament. The OT is the collection of sacred writings of the Jewish people comprised of the Torah, the Nevi'im and the Ketuvim. The New Testament is unique to Christianity and includes details of the life, death and resurrection of Christ in the four Gospels, letters written by various apostles to communities of early Christian believers, and an account of the growth of the early Christian church in Acts.

5. Good explanation.

Thanks. I'm glad it was clear.

6. There is no more evidence for “life elsewhere” than there is for a god however “life elsewhere can be looked at in a mathematical equation whereas “god” can not. I meant “Christianity’s” perspective

Oh, I don't know about that...I'd be curious to see the mathematical equation that proves life exists elsewhere in the universe. Mathematics can prove that an infinite exists in theory, but an actual infinite is completely impossible. I wonder if this isn't true of an equation that boasts of proving life truly exists elsewhere in the universe.

Really, it makes no difference to the Christian worldview if there is life elsewhere in the universe. God has never limited Himself in this respect.

As far as the Christian explanation for the existence of everything is concerned, it all boils down to "God did it." However, there are excellent arguments in support of this claim. Here is a summary of some of them:

1.) The Leibniz Argument from Contingency.
2). The Kalam Cosmological Argument.
3). The Moral Argument.
4.) The Teleological Argument or Argument from Design.

7. Another good explanation, however I disagree with the fact that “everybody” in someway has a way of learning about Jesus.

Not of learning of Jesus, but of knowing that God exists.

I heard of a missionary who was impressed by God to journey to Africa. As the boat he was on passed by a certain section of the coast of the African continent, the missionary told the captain to take him and all his belongings ashore. The captain initially refused saying that he would be leaving the missionary all alone in the middle of nowhere. The missionary insisted, however, so finally the captain relented and granted his request. The ship sailed off leaving the young man seated on his trunk on the sandy shore. Some time passed before an African native happened by. Neither spoke the other's language but when the missionary in an effort to explain why he was there showed the native his Bible, the native became very excited. In short order he hussled the missionary off to his village where he was shown a portion of the New Testament that the natives had been trying to puzzle out. They had enough knowledge of English to decipher the basic gist of the few pages they had, but couldn't figure out what it all meant. They knew the verses spoke of a God and His Son who was killed, but they could understand little else. To his great surprise, the natives revealed to the missionary that they had been praying to the God described in the few pages of Scripture that they had to send them someone who could explain it all to them. It had taken many months, but God had heard their prayer to know Him and had sent a man from halfway round the world to make introductions.

James 4:8
8 Draw near to God and He will draw near to you.

Jeremiah 29:13
13 And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart.

Thank you for your time and the obvious thought you put into your answers, I am in a bit of a hurry so please excuse any brief grammatical blemishes that may arise.

So long as I can understand you, I don't really care about grammar. I hope my answers help you to gain some clarity about the Christian faith. Thanks very much for the respectful way in which you have made your inquiries. It is a very pleasant change from the usual open animosity that characterizes those who post questions in this forum.

Selah.

 

[Bro_Sam]

1. Why is Christianity the right religion, I only state the macro religion and not any sects to be easier to answer. Out of all the other religions out there and the millions of people that follow other religions what makes this one right?

Because it most closely follows the Bible.

2. If I am generally a good person with good intentions through life but do not embrace the cross do I become damned in the afterlife? To me that doesn't seem right, as it probably isn't but please explain.

Are you really a good person? Have you ever told a lie? Have you ever stolen anything? Have you ever had a lustful thought? Have you ever taken God's name in vain?

3. Why is it such a big deal to "spread the gospel"

Because we don't want people to go to Hell.

wouldn't there be a lot more peace if that one single line would be eradicated from all religions and let everybody choose themselves.

Yes. However, "peace" doesn't necessarily mean the same thing as well being or happiness. For instance, North Korea is in a state of peace at the moment, but I doubt you'd say that people living in North Korea are well off.

4. Did not men write the bible, and is it not the nature of man to err.

Men wrote the Bible under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit and the fact that it is the nature of man to err only testifies to the supernatural inspiration of the Bible, since there are no errors in the Bible.

5. If there is a god, why does he allow brutal killings of innocent people everyday. Why has he allowed for society to evolve to the point where the justice system does not seem to be able to convict and punish evil violent crime convicts.

One could just as easily ask, "Why would an Holy God be obligated to save those who have rebelled against Him?"

But the reason the world is in the shape that it's in is because it's under a curse.

6. What are his explanations of space, the universe and the scientifically undoubtable fact that life does exist elsewhere.

What's to explain? If God could create life here, then why can't God create life on another planet?

7. If there truely was a monotheistic Christian god then why are other religions allowed.

Do you know what a non-sequiter is?

Especially when the majority of the other people in these religions have no exposure to christianity and thus are never even given the option to convert. Do they go to hell as well?

Yes.

 

[razeontherock]

Not answering Burt's stated questions, but directly addressing things that need to be, that we've all skirted around:

G-d wants a seamless unity between belief and behavior. This alone removes most of your stated problems! What any of us can do for you is limited, as none of us are saved by our own understanding. G-d doesn't want us to pilot our own plane. He doesn't even want to pilot us, as the plane! If we're maybe a gauge on the instrument panel or whatever our function, He wants us to be responsive to His input as pilot.

You don't just start out w/ G-d's own understanding being given to you, but that is what you want, and a key component of Salvation. Unfortunately most of us do have to start by wrestling with concepts, but do be aware it's not any one of our understandings that will "do it" for you. If you get a glimpse of something good here and there from any of us, well Bless G-d for that! If you see something different from someone else, realize it's not a contradiction but a refinement, a different angle; 'x marks the spot.'

It's good to know G-d's purposes in this whole thing, which He does not conceal but makes plain in your NT. The main thing we can do is point out if you're off-track somehow. While we may be able to answer some questions that come up in your reading, the real thing you want, is to keep reading! This can make a nice journal of questions and answers, especially if you have online access wherever it is you read. It seems you type fast enough it wouldn't slow you down much in your reading.

 

[ephraimanesti]

ephraimanesti- So to say you know the truth, means you know that there is a god? Is that correct? I seem to not understand that point please explain.

MY FRIEND,

Jesus Christ is God's Truth personified: "I am the Way and the Truth and the Life." (John14:6) His teachings and His Life/Death/Resurrection delineated and demonstrated this Truth so that even a child can understand and act effectively upon what Jesus taught and demonstrated. And, to seal the deal, as it were, Jesus sent God's Holy Spirit to indwell each believer and continue to process of leading us into all Truth: "But when He, the Spirit of Truth, comes, He will guide you into all Truth." (John 16:13)

However what If I was created with the inability to accept christ or any on monotheistic religion, if creation does exist the only person who created me would of been god, along with the mental personalities and beliefs that I have aquired. I have a different mind than many, and I do not feel at this current point of my life that I would be happy, or content accepting Christianity.

God gave the most precious Gift that could possibly be given--His only begotten Son--to make it possible for you to overcome your sinful nature and develop a Loving and Eternal relationship with Him. He stated in Scripture that He was not willing that ANY should perish. (II Peter 3:9)

If view of the above Truths, the idea that your were "created with the inability to accept Christ or any other monotheistic religion" is a ludicrous cop-out.

If you want what God offers, reach out for it. If not, at least be honest enough to admit your refusal and accept the eternal consequences, understanding and admitting that you are the one who is at fault, not God.

Personally, i have been around long enough to have tried everything the world has to offer in the way of "roads to happiness, " i have have found them to ALL be dead-ends. Hopefully time won't run out on you before you discover the same Truth and turn back to God.

It is most important that you stop playing these silly mind games--both with yourself and with others. Get serious, open your heart and mind, and Abba will lead you Home.

ABBA'S FOOL,
ephraim

 

[E.C.]

E.C Of course I would like to hear your story/examples of prayers being answered. However know that I will look at it in a logical scientific "open" mind. So if any of it can be attributed to science, or something that makes sense to me in my life I will point that out. I also appreciate true analysists, that break down something and attempt to see the cause and effect of every conceivable circumstance.

I'll send a private message to you sometime this week. When life happens, college students get busy with things outside the forums. :o

 

[food4thought]

Thankyou to the many of you that provided sincere un arrogant posts, and well no thankyou to the few passive aggressive old testament followers that do nothing but give your religion a bad name who posted.

After spending the last few days of doing research I came to a realization. That no matter what question I may ask, in someway you will be able to rationalize it to be associated with God and Christianity. No matter what scientifical fact I bring up, there is always an answer for it. "because god wanted it that way"

Perhaps someday I will see an error in my thinking, but science gives me solid calculated facts whereas in religion I am supposed to believe blindly out of "faith" and no the bible does not constitute as proof.

Christianity is just as guilty as brutal violence in the past as anyother religion is. Though if you still follow the text in a modern way without taking it too serious it can no doubt lead to a great life.

This one fact I had a big problem with. If christianity is the correct religion then you would assume that our prayers be answered more often than anyother religion, hence there being an anomaly that may be measured and used, however this most certainly is not the case.


So a rough Theory: Maybe, and I do say this loosely, just maybe there perhaps was a god who planted the seeds for life, and eventually the human was evolved out of it, but the best explanation for religion is that Man is at the top of the food chain, man fears nothing but the unknown. So we rationalize and seek comfort out of various theories aka religions. It is our carnal instinct. Because we are but animals. To think that we are any different than an ape or a dog in the big picture is self righteous. We are all created out of star dust at the molecular level. Atoms and elements. Which has been proven.

Im not saying that I do not believe that there is some spirtual being but I have a scientific, analytical mind. Part of that is natural, part of it is trained. I simply cannot base my whole life on a complete whim/faith.

There is just as much if not more evidence that there is no monotheistic christain god than there isn't.


You need to watch this, and if you are infact educated and have a realistic mind then I quite simply see no way that you can buy into this without at least DEMANDING the true answers from God himself.


YouTube - 10 questions that every intelligent Christian must answer

Hello Burt;
I noticed that nobody had responded to your youtube video post. I understnd that this may have seemed to be intentional, but most of us do not have the time to read thru several pages before responding.

the main question the guy has is a firly legitimate one I think, since I have never heard of an amputated limb being healed by God. Let me ask you, though... are you SURE this hasn't happened somewhere? I imagine if it happened anywhere in the developed world it would be headline news at least on christian news sites, so I must admit it has not happened that I am aware of. That said, I cannot think of a good answer to this right now other than the fact that healing requires faith; either by the vessel used by God to bring the healing, or by both the vessel used and the person being healed (one of these two is always the case in the scriptures). I myself have often asked God to increase my faith, yet acknowledge that my faith is weak in this respect.

The rest of the man's questions were actually much easier to answer, and contrary to his condescending "I'm smart and your delusional" spewing do not require strange, uncomfortble rationalizations to answer.
Question#2:
There are starving people in the world because man is greedy. God has given man enough food to feed everyone in the world right now, yet the greed of some (both here, where the food is plentifull but the giving is not), and in the areas where the food is needed (many shipments meant for starving people are waylayed by governments, rebels, etc in order to feed their armies. The fact of the matter is that if the entire world would follow God and do the things that He has commanded, there would be no starving children. This is not an issue of answered or unaswered prayer, as not all prayers are answered according to the wishes of mankind, as many times the innocent will suffer as God brings judgement on an area or a people for their sins (see OT, and also remember that God allowed Jerusalem to be completely raised to the ground in AD 70 due to the nation of Israel's rejection of their Messiah).

Question #3)

Innocent people? The verses listed are all part of the "penal code of God" that he gav to the nation of Israel as part of His covenant with them. These may seem like very harsh punishments for minor crimes in your mind, but to God sin is always serious, and even one sin is punishable by death.

Question #4)
Yes God did create the UNIVERSE, not just the world, in 6 days... and I find that no harder to accept by faith than "in the beginning nothing exploded into the universe we now see" (that is as far as the big bang model goes, since we cannot explain or understand where the "singularity" came from). I also find a six day creation not out of line when you consider God's perspectiv on time... he didn't need six days, he could have done it in a single moment but chose to take six days as an example to man on our need for rest from work at regular intervals.

Nowhere in the bible does it state that the world or the universe is only 6000 years old, that is a misunderstanding. The Bible records approximiately 6000 years of man's history (which is farther back than we have any direct records from), and the idea that the world is 6000 years old is taken by those who think that EVERYTHING was recorded in the Bible from the creation on... I find no trouble believing that the universe and the earth are far older than that.


There is ample evidence of massive flooding in the earth's history. I do not claim to be a geologist or archaeologist, but I have no trouble beliving that every living human but the 7 recorded in Genesis was eradicated by a flood in the distant past.

Who is to say that Jonah lived? There are some who understand the passages to indicate that Jonah died and God brought him back to life after 3 days. EVEN IF we say that Jonah did live, I have no problem believing that God is able to keep a person alive, even in the stomache of a big fish, for as long as it suits His purposes. God is not constrained by the natural laws of the universe, and can circumvent them at will.

Funny thing, if you follow the logic of evolution all the way back to the beginning, we all evolved from rocks that rains dissolved into chemicals, so your story is far more farfetched than God's

Question 5:

The slavery prescribed by God in the OT is not the same as the slavery we all came to know in the modern world. First, there was indentured servitude, where people who stole, defaulted on a debt, or thru some other circumstances came to servitude. These people were released from their servitude when the debt was paid (alot better than sending people to prison, don't you think?). Other people that became slaves were prisoners of war, and these people were commanded by God to be released after 70 years, not kept in perpetual slavery.

New Testament references to slavery was not proscribed by God, but simply part of God's command to obey the existing authorities. The slavery we came to know in the modern world has nothing to do with these things. People have perverted God's word to serve their own selfish purposes all throughout the Bible and in recorded history, and God has always condemned those who do so.


The rest of the questions in the youtube video were even weaker, and I am getting tired of this post for now. I'll get back to them another time. This post should provide you with plenty to digest. You may not agree with God's standards, but the simple fact is that He is God and you are not.

 

[oi_antz]

How are you going Burt? You must have been reading the Bible, haven't seen any responses from you the last few days. Well, hope it is going well for you, remember if there is anything confusing in what you are reading, bring it for discussion, as I said while you have to look to God to comprehend His truth, you can always look to your fellow man to help understand it God bless, I've been praying for you

 

[Key]

First off I do not post these questions with mal intention nor is any sarcasm intended to be percieved. They are serious questions that I hope somebody has an answer to. If you don't have a serious answer to it and instead intend on preaching to me how I should just "shut up, don't worry about it and accept christ" then I most assuredly will ignore you. Here Goes.

1. Why is Christianity the right religion, I only state the macro religion and not any sects to be easier to answer. Out of all the other religions out there and the millions of people that follow other religions what makes this one right?

The painful truth is, "You don't know," That is what this whole faith thing really is.

2. If I am generally a good person with good intentions through life but do not embrace the cross do I become damned in the afterlife? To me that doesn't seem right, as it probably isn't but please explain.

Ok... that's fair, good point and all that, but what have you done that would make a god being, this thing that can create an entire universe take pause and go, "Humm I want that human up here in heaven with me"

3. Why is it such a big deal to "spread the gospel", wouldn't there be a lot more peace if that one single line would be eradicated from all religions and let everybody choose themselves.

People have never been good at knowing what is good for them. End of discussion.

4. Did not men write the bible, and is it not the nature of man to err.

Meh.

5. If there is a god, why does he allow brutal killings of innocent people everyday. Why has he allowed for society to evolve to the point where the justice system does not seem to be able to convict and punish evil violent crime convicts.

a better question would be "Why do we as humans do these acts" God may allow us to do these things, but the blame falls squarely on us for doing them.

6. What are his explanations of space, the universe and the scientifically undoubtable fact that life does exist elsewhere.

Huh? We have made first contact? Must have missed that one.

7. If there truely was a monotheistic Christian god then why are other religions allowed. Especially when the majority of the other people in these religions have no exposure to christianity and thus are never even given the option to convert. Do they go to hell as well?

The truth is, God is Just and Fair, and while he will book no insolence, he will show mercy. There is no way to bypass Gods rule, no one falls though the cracks, and no one cheats the system. That is the way it is.

It is also not our place (our being Humans as a whole, in both the general sense and then individual sense) to say who goes to Haven and who goes to Hell, that is reserved for God and God alone who knows the entire situation, so if you are considering Christianity, you need to get that kind of thought process out of your head.

These are just a few I have and I want to see if anybody actually responds before I post more. Again I am not trying to appear offensive nor should it ever be taken like that. I simply want answers that I feel should be explained to me before I accept any religion as my own.

Thankyou,
Burt

Look, choose the religion or world view that works for you, but here is the skinny, if you chose a world view and then need to attack another world view, you chose the wrong one.

If you do not find peace in Christ, then all you have sought to find was for naught. Jesus offers us serenity in our afterlife, and a means on how to live a good life in our material world.

If you are looking for academia, Jesus was not a teacher of that, he taught about life, not how to read text books.

God Bless