Can anyone explain to me why christianity and the christian god make any sense?

reply to post by Hydroman


i was thinking about that last night after watching this video



what happens when someone is born and lives their whole life and then dies without ever hearing of christianity? do they go to hell? and either way what would be the point?

and also would a christian say that it would be a good thing that we go in and teach these people the christian word of god?

i just think its gross that we live in a country that is dominated by christianity and we base almost all of our morals on the bible.

reply to post by Hydroman

What about those who are not raised that way? Is it too bad for them, that they will be punished forever?

I was trying to explain why I would feel a responsibility to contribute to discussions concerning religious things. It may be that what my background does is make me more likely to be punished, if I was to choose to remain silent.
Do you feel like you may be libel for punishment?
I'm not into the "burn forever" ideology and think there is something ahead that we do not know about, a kind of compensation for having to live on battlefield earth, so to speak, but not in the L. Ron Hubbard sort of way.
I can't say what that might be and don't think it is especially appropriate to speculate but I do know enough to not use stupid fear tactics to pound people with.

reply to post by bdb818888


Life has more meaning without an afterlife. Coming to the realization that this is the only life you have and it is limited does wonders for the way you view and live your life.

reply to post by JesusisTruthh


How can you believe in the story of Adam and Eve when it contradicts everything that we know as truth. Or is all the evidence we have that contradicts genesis put there by satan? Similar to the doctrine of diabolical mimicry that you spoke of in another thread? Do you seriously view genesis as a literal account of creation?

Originally posted by megabytz
reply to post by bdb818888

 

Life has more meaning without an afterlife. Coming to the realization that this is the only life you have and it is limited does wonders for the way you view and live your life.

I could say the same thing about living with the faith that I will meet a holy Creator who offers either eternal reward or punishment, and with the eternal life side the awarding or rewards or the loss thereof.

Just sayin. When a person is planning on college they care about what kind of grades they get in high school.

But on the flip side, what is to stop someone who doesn't belive in a God who will judge their actions be them good or evil? Or if that person doesn't mind murdering mass number of people to achieve their hopoes, dreams and asperations in the here and now?

*coughStalincough*

Do you think those previosly mentioned people would have acted differently had they belived they would stand before a holy, righteous God immediately after death?

reply to post by JesusisTruthh


That is your personal interpretation of god. It is the way you would like to view god but this view is not justified by the god of the bible. You can use apologetics all you want but the god of the bible was genocidal, unforgiving, demanding, advocated slavery, and extremely jealous. Interesting how his characteristics reflect the characteristics of man. It wouldn't be a stretch to say that the bible is one of the most immoral books ever written. Judaism come about as a result of all the different pagan gods being worshipped at the time. It was a polytheistic culture until Abraham. The bible reflects many attributes of the polytheistic religions except now they are united under one god. More than likely some of the stories were taken from the sumerians. The Epic of Gilgamesh was around long before the Torah and is probably the inspiration for the story of Noah's ark. Here is a comparison of the two stories.



This is by no means an exhaustive list of the similarities but it is more than apparent where the flood story came from. The polytheistic religion of the sumerians. Another interesting fact is that the sumerian civilization is in the general area where the bible places the garden of eden. The babylonian account of creation is also very similar to the account contained in genesis. The authors of the bible were clearly influenced by other mythologies. How do you explain this away? Please do not say diabolical mimicry.

Originally posted by jmdewey60
I was trying to explain why I would feel a responsibility to contribute to discussions concerning religious things. It may be that what my background does is make me more likely to be punished, if I was to choose to remain silent.
Do you feel like you may be libel for punishment?
I'm not into the "burn forever" ideology and think there is something ahead that we do not know about, a kind of compensation for having to live on battlefield earth, so to speak, but not in the L. Ron Hubbard sort of way.
I can't say what that might be and don't think it is especially appropriate to speculate but I do know enough to not use stupid fear tactics to pound people with.

You are different and I like the way you think.

Originally posted by NOTurTypical
But on the flip side, what is to stop someone who doesn't belive in a God who will judge their actions be them good or evil? Or if that person doesn't mind murdering mass number of people to achieve their hopoes, dreams and asperations in the here and now?
*coughStalincough*

Do you think those previosly mentioned people would have acted differently had they belived they would stand before a holy, righteous God immediately after death?

If the only thing keeping you from killing people is the idea that a god is watching you and may punish you, then please keep believing. I don't need that in order to keep me from being bad. I don't want to cause harm to people because I care. I don't need a god in my life to make me care for people. Who knows what was going through Stalin's mind? What about all the atrocities committed by believers in the biblical god? People sometimes just suck, know matter what they believe.

I remember one time when my father, who is an elder in a church, was so mad at my cousin for something he did that my father told him, "If I wasn't a christian I would rip you in half!" I guess it's a good thing he's a believer then.

reply to post by Hydroman

If the only thing keeping you from killing people is the idea that a god is watching you and may punish you, then please keep believing.

Ummm, if that's all that's keeping some poor sap from committing mass murder I'd consider that a win for society.

LOL

Originally posted by NOTurTypical
reply to post by Hydroman

 

If the only thing keeping you from killing people is the idea that a god is watching you and may punish you, then please keep believing.

Ummm, if that's all that's keeping some poor sap from committing mass murder I'd consider that a win for society.

LOL

and for another "poor sap" it's caused him to blow himself up. What a win. Woo-hoo martyrdom and jihad! Go Allah!

Sure that's an argument for it's usefulness; but what about truth? What about freedom of the mind?

Again, it's scary that people believe if God was proved wrong tommorow, then anything goes; that life without a lack of belief in the supernatural causes people to turn "evil".

Since there is free will, rebellion and disobedience might have been inevitable, and so far this is the best outcome to have both free will and salvation?

reply to post by 547000


Your will isn't free if you follow the will of a master.

Vicarious redemption is immoral preaching.

Originally posted by ExistentialNightmare
reply to post by 547000

 

Your will isn't free if you follow the will of a master.

Vicarious redemption is immoral preaching.

It is free because you have to choose to follow the will and choose a master.

reply to post by 547000


it's free to be slave? A serf?

reply to post by ExistentialNightmare


Heaven ain't no democracy.

reply to post by 547000


And you don't get a laywer on judgement day.

Originally posted by ExistentialNightmare
reply to post by 547000

 

And you don't get a laywer on judgement day.

The lawyer is Christ.

reply to post by 547000


No, there's no appeal; it's at the decision of the judge jury and executioner.

Originally posted by ExistentialNightmare
reply to post by 547000

 

No, there's no appeal; it's at the decision of the judge jury and executioner.

There is no jury of your peers.

It's a kingdom, you'll stand before the King as judge and you'll represent yourself.

reply to post by NOTurTypical


And that's why it's rediculous;

Create a man, make him unaware of sin (aboriginal tribes etc.) and then punish him (FOR ETERNITY) for not knowing. And you can babble on about "having it written on yor heart" but it certainly isn't any argument worth considering because it's all metaphysical claims.

That's why i think your God is a cruel, malevolent, caprious dictator; that people would be sent to hell, for being honest with their beliefs, pretty merciful?.

It's quite easy to understnand these are not your beliefs; they are the beliefs of earlier men, and priests who saw the power within religion; for community; for patriotism; and to justify holy wars. I'd rather enjoy the benefit of thinking for myself.

NOTUrTypical, if you'd been born is Islam you'd be preaching about Allah, it's all a case of happenstance; and no man or priest can claim to reveal the unknown, and especially what the cause of reality is (if any)