Culture & Lifestyle

Rant

10 Questions Every Intelligent Christian Can Answer

Posted 13 months ago|56 comments|779 views
Questioning your faith?
VIDEOS
Written by
After my slamming of the evolutionists in a previous rant, I thought it only fair that the Dawkinsians would have came back with something at least witty or even damaging to the Christian faith. NOT! ...SO instead I went looking on their behalf and found a good video that poses "10 questions that every intelligent Christian must answer" ...it is somewhat circular, but to be honest it is where many find themselves when considering the Christian faith. My thought is that these questions are not made to be answered, and they are posed in sarcastic fashion... and are only rhetorical in nature...
...my personal favorites !:] The video is below and in the VIDEO section to the left.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zDHJ4ztnl...

Q1: Why won't God heal amputees?

A1: Amputees can have a limb sewn back on and it could heal... yet, that is not really what is being questioned here. Amputation is not necessarily life threatening, and in itself can be life preserving in cases of gangrene. Everyone that was healed or raised from the dead in the Bible, eventually had to die... IF one understands the point of living in this world is to experience God, one would not be limited in any degree being and amputee. But for the serious, don't take my word for it take Nick Nick Vujicic's... God has answered Nick's prayers...
he may be limbless but he is limitless!
http://www.lifewithoutlimbs.org/

Q2: Why is there so many starving people in our world?

A2: God the Creator of life has given more than enough food on this planet, to feed it's population many times over. THE problem lies not in the ability to feed these starving masses, rather it lies in the greed of people that keep the necessary food from them. "Poverty" is the main reason people starve, meaning that if you don't have the money you die. It is this love of money that will stand back and watch little children starve... not the availability nor productivity... only greed!
http://www.worldhunger.org/articles/Lear...

Q3: Why does God demand the death of so many innocent people in the Bible?

A3: NO innocent person received the death penalty, every reference in the Bible demanding the death of an individual could have been avoided. NO one was entrapped into a death sentence. When God gave a law to the Jews He demanded that it was observed, the death penalty was easily avoided. Also these laws in the Old Testament were given to the Jews, and have never been in effect for the rest of the world (Gentiles)... we never have been under these laws, furthermore as Christians we are under grace, and no such laws apply nor have ever applied to us. Also, at any time the people of Israel could have left the commonwealth and joined themselves to other nations if they did not want to live by the laws. They were never prisoners of their nation nor their God!
http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?sea...

Q4: Why does the Bible contain so much anti-scientific nonsense?

A4: There is no proof that God couldn't or didn't create the world in 6 days 6000 years ago. As He created mankind in maturity with "age" built in (as man and woman, not children) ...so too He created their world mature with grown plants with seed in them. Consequently there is also more evidence than not of a global flood with soil layers and fossils put down by water all over the Earth. Science attests that tectonic plates have been pushed up and down... easily allowing for the highest of mountain peeks to be covered at one time with water. As to Jonah being in a fish's belly for 3 days, there is even a contemporary report of someone surviving like that. To merely assert that the facts that the Bible has stated is fictitious, would need slightly more than that to prove that indeed these were false... one would have had to be there. As to miracles, I don't need to explain them away... there are many things that we cannot explain... but to right them off as coincidence and "phenomenon" is equally speculative... however there are a few things that show that these Biblical accounts are more than plausible.
http://www.angelfire.com/mi/dinosaurs/jo...

Q5: Why is God such a huge proponent of slavery in the Bible?

A5: IF one even took the time to read the context and stories of such slavery in the Bible, one would find the reference to the slave's "retirement plan" ...how long they were only allowed to serve, or if they wanted to voluntarily serve longer... and so on. OTHER nations would brutalize slaves, and would never set them free... God's plan for slaves covered their treatment and their eventual release. The question is based on false assumptions. To assume that slavery does not exist today is to be blind... it is just off-shore, and conveniently entire nations are in slavery to the "developed" world.
http://www.christiananswers.net/q-aiia/a...

Q6: Why do bad things happen to good people?

A6: Since the fall of mankind their ceases to be a "good" person... that being said, God never promised that "good" people would have it better than everyone else, actually it says that God causes it to "rain' on the good and the bad. Jesus was the best that this world had, and His life was marked with suffering and pain. The question is based on false assumptions, however if one calls upon the Lord, one soon finds Him there to comfort and give strength to bear up under trials.
http://www.christiananswers.net/parentin...

Q7: Why didn't Jesus' miracles in the Bible leave behind any evidence?

A7: The best evidence of the miracles is the Bible it's self! With all that man has done to destroy and eliminate it's effects... the Bible stands a paramount achievement to the miraculous preserving power of Jesus Christ. This single book is the greatest Testament and testimony of the life and work of Jesus Christ... and those who live and believe today are the very living miraculous testimonies of His life changing power and message! Jesus said: "Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away." Mark 13:31

Q8: How do we explain the fact that Jesus has never appeared to you?

A8: Well, if you call on the Lord for salvation He will do more than appear... He will transform your life into a new and better you. AND He will communicate with you by His Spirit. This is a proven fact for the many millions that have taken Him at His word. "Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know."
(Jeremiah 33:3)

Q9: Why would Jesus want you to eat his body and drink his blood?

A9: This question shows the ignorance of the heart of these questions, Jesus explained when they couldn't understand His saying: "The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you—they are full of the Spirit and life." John 6:63

Q10: Why do Christians get divorced at the same rate as non-Christians?

A10: I am running out of space, so I will differ the details to an article I found on the topic. "More Divorce Among Believers?"
http://www.gty.org/Resources/Questions/Q...

Seek and you shall find... Jesus
UPDATE - 1 month ago
"Don't Waste Your Life" by John Piper
http://dwynrhh6bluza.cloudfront.net/reso...
EMAIL|FLAG THIS POST
COMMENTS
Coloranter Raver
Coloranter Raver
Denver, CO
13 months ago: Isn't is just as equally possible that God created the universe 5 billion years ago? If God wanted to that is?
13 months ago: Absolutely CR,

God could have created the world at anytime... and by any process. However it goes to His credibility, and ability to communicate as He has repeatedly states in His Word. If He wanted to he could have created everything by the process of evolution... it is just that He has stated otherwise... and that goes to whether His Word is trustworthy or not.
http://www.answersingenesis.org/articles...

As to whether God created the world 5 million years ago... the Biblical list of genealogies don't allow for it... and it may be vogue to rewrite history these days, but the one thing about the Bible is it is written... unchanging.

Coloranter Raver
Coloranter Raver
Denver, CO
13 months ago: Isn't it possible that humankind has misinterpreted just about everything it ever received in the way of information from God given our very limited intelligence?
13 months ago: Now wait just a minute CR,

IF you are claiming that we are too daft to comprehend history, even verified history by archeology... then the question can easily be reversed in direction and ask the same of evolutionists. Given our limited intelligence... couldn't the Bible be true, seeing as we have misinterpreted some "missing links" as being found? It is not the intelligence that is missing, rather the realization that if God did exist... we would then be accountable to Him.
Coloranter Raver
Coloranter Raver
Denver, CO
13 months ago: I guess I wasn't meaning to imply we were that unintelligent, just...well...

As far as we know, there is no being among we humans who could have created the universe, so a being that could would have to be great, and beyond, therefore, our comprehension and certainly, it would seem probable that we'd not be able to understand the information sent to us. And by that I don't mean God couldn't attenuate it for in formaitonal purposes to we lesser beings, more like an anthropological experiment that when a superior species meets up with a technologically less advanced, there is a lot of misinterpretation possible.
13 months ago: CR,

Here's the deal, God is so great that He made everything and then decided to communicate with His crowning achievement... mankind. It is a walk in the "garden" to communicate with His creation... after making such a magnificent universe! And if would even be a lessor stretch for Him to come and visit us as a human as He foretold.
Coloranter Raver
Coloranter Raver
Denver, CO
13 months ago: Given that so much is lost in translation between modern languages in today's highly sophisticate world, isn't it possible that amazing amounts of information, subtlety and nuance were lost in 1000 years of Biblical history?
13 months ago: CR,

NO, according to the very facts of what we have compared to what we had thousands of years ago, proves we have lost nothing... I will just post the link to a comprehensive study on this topic...
http://www.apologeticspress.org/apconten...
Coloranter Raver
Coloranter Raver
Denver, CO
Content Removed by Coloranter Raver
Coloranter Raver
Coloranter Raver
Denver, CO
13 months ago: I don't find the questions you posed as difficult to understand if we are working in the God Box (a hypothetical construct containing the earth, all it's matter, and God) as I do the following...

Why would an omniscient, all-knowing, supreme creator bother to endow His creations with vestigial organs?

Isn't it more likely that a supreme creator would have mixed together the ingredients and let them EVOLVE on their own?

One of the great mysteries of evolutionary theory is that of all the species of animals, one only one line evolved to the degree of human beings despite many lines being far, far, older say even older than 6,000 years. Why did only one branch of the primate line lead to human-level intelligence? Why not an insect line? Why not a fish line? Which then sponsors the hypothesis, what if earth was a charming planet teeming with life, and God just created people and put us here? Wouldn't that make a lot more sense since it really doesn't seem like we could have evolved on this planet?

13 months ago: CR,

"vestigial organs" ...is a concoction by "science" today, it has been found that these so-called vestigial appendages or organs are really necessary for the whole health of the body. Your total mindset comes from the evolutionary camp and can be equally rephrased to accommodate the creationist view. There simply isn't any verifiable evidence that proves that we evolved from another species like apes... the only evidence out there is that in a textbook. I have stated and will again, if you want to believe the evolution story, you can by FAITH... if you want to believe the creation story, you can too, by FAITH. Seeing that none of us were there at the time we need to except either story, theory, or what ever you want to call it.... by FAITH.
Coloranter Raver
Coloranter Raver
Denver, CO
13 months ago: I believe the Catholics (and correct me if I'm wrong on this part) believe there is a person who can communicate directly with God, and he's called the Pope. How do you reconcile the current and previous Pope embracing evolutionary theory and even the current one going so far as to say there need be no conflict between evolutionary theory and Christian faith?

13 months ago: CR,

Whatever a particular church believes or not matters little when discussing the Bible and the history or teachings within. Just because someone calls himself a Christian, their behavior has no bearing on the truth or the Bible they claim to represent. The evolution theory is in complete contradiction to the Bible, it's history and it's teachings... they are at irreconcilable differences, and no Pope nor pastor, or even George Bush can smooth over their odds.
http://www.creationists.org/irreconcilab...
sunny2
sunny2
13 months ago: You're wrong. That's rediculous.
For the vast majority of people who are not Catholic, the pope speaks only for himself. Protestant denominations hold the belief that God speaks through the Bible, and that any Christian who is properly disposed (e.g. by prayer) will be able to discern God's will by reading its contents. There is no need for a pope or religious leader to "speak for God".
Catholics also believe that the Bible is the word of God, and that it contains wisdom that may be discerned through prayerful reading. However, Catholicism also holds that it is Christ's will that the Church be led by a person who represents Him (i.e. Christ) on Earth, and that this person (the pope) is guided by the Holy Spirit in a special way.

When the pope speaks, it may be about several things, each with a different level of importance:
1. He may given an opinion on a particular situation in the world e.g. the Middle East or in the Catholic Church e.g. whether or not nuns should wear a religious habit. In such cases, this is his own opinion and it is not considered to be Church teaching. People are free to disagree, and Catholics do not believe the pope speaks for God.
2. The pope may speak on a matter of Church discipline such as whether or nor priests in the Latin branch of the Catholic Church must be celibate; in this case, he is re-emphasising an existing position of the Church. Catholics should listen, but are free to disagree whil still being Catholics in good stead as celibacy is a matter of discipline and not a divine law (dogma) or doctrine. Again, the pope is not considered to be speaking for God, though he may be speaking about something the Church considers to be important.
Read more: http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Does_the_pope_...
sunny2
sunny2
13 months ago: The Papal I will never forget is Pope John Paul II. He was revered by millions and has been referred to as Pope John Paul II, The Great. He had differences with Progressives and Traditionalists, but there was a spirit within him for all to see and honor. It went far beyond just a position in the Church. He reached out to all mankind. Here was a person who could speak many, many different languages and could reach out. I don't really see a vast difference between the faiths. Catholics disagree on certain aspects just like other faiths will. Changing climate in the church dictates people's perception of what should be changed or should not be in these times. As far as science, I can go into elaborate detail about my opinion on Galileo and the Church, but I hope that the Church mends its differences with this scientist. All I know is I believe in God. A person who is a Christian should believe in something and should choose which ever one they want. I remember, especially, on a visit to America the Pope got off the plane and knealt down and kissed the American ground. He was humble yet Great. You know anyone else who would do this.
13 months ago: O.K, I'll bite, Truthbrary. I'll just start with the first question "Why won't God heal amputees?", and see how we go.

The question is not sarcastic or merely rhetorical, in my view. It's a serious question.

Here are some premises that you might agree with.

1. People pray to Jehovah for healing.
2. When they are healed, they attribute that healing to God.
3. Some people think, for example, that recovering from cancer is "miraculous".
4. However, people who are atheists or Hindus or Buddhists or have the same types of miraculous recoveries without thinking Jehovah had anything to do with it.
5. You say that people can get along fine without a limb, so that God wouldn't bother healing them.
6. However, people can get by with bad backs, blindness, paralysis, or any of the things that God miraculously heals, can't they?

Disagree with any of that?
13 months ago: Stan,

I may be dodging your real question... but let's assume for the moment that God is real for the sake of the argument... does the mere asking God immediately constrain Him to answer yes? Could not this God answer no and have the answer be just as valid? IF we are asking should we not accept the answer no matter what it is?

Many are not healed... yet all who ask are answered. Yes, no, and wait a while... if one cannot accept that God may answer to the negative, one needs to consider a bit closer the reason for asking the one who does know best. However if one wants to know if God is indeed real and responsive to prayer... start by asking a prayer that He promises to answer to the affirmative... LIKE the prayer for salvation.
sunny2
sunny2
13 months ago: Truth............
My Mom said two significant prayers during WW11. One for my Dad to come home from the war alive and the other for her child not to die from a deadly disease after being told by the doctors that there was no hope. Both were answered and both were "Yes."
It the answer were different, it would have been accepted. How can anyone doubt after two miracles?
13 months ago: Sunny,

That is the difference between those of faith and not, like what we saw in Guatemala... they would say "Glory to God" if their prayers were answered Yes or No. That is faith. And it is not dependent on whether or not one gets their way.
sunny2
sunny2
13 months ago: True
13 months ago: Yes, Truthbrary. You are dodging the question. You don't win any points with that.
13 months ago: Stan,

Strait-out, Jesus said that His Kingdom was not of this world, as they were about to tear the flesh from His body... everyone will receive healing and limbs and brains and hearts in His Kingdom... in Heaven. I know that people want heaven now... their payment now, their answers now... Jesus said that this world is passing away... and people don't want to accept that.

THOSE who pray for trivial things... get trivial things... God may give you the desires of your heart... only to expose where your heart is. Jesus said that if people don't believe the testimony of Moses (Old Testament) ...they will not believe even if someone raises from the dead. Consequently, Jesus raised someone from the dead...an healed an "amputee" in the garden of Gethsemane, yet people still call that "fairy stories" ...we are not better than those back in those days... if we were there there would still be those who don't believe, even if they see.

Conclusion to this thought is... God doesn't have to answer our every whim, and obey us as a gene from a lamp... God is God, if you don't want Him in your life... be honest and say so... if you do then be honest and tell Him... those kinds of sincere prayers God never turns away!
13 months ago: You royally ridicule the crazy, illogical rationalists and scientists as having crazy illogical reasoning. But if you back that ridicule up with faith, not reasoned argument, that's not likely to butter any parsnips with such people.

If you dodge the point of their arguments, because your faith trumps whatever they have to say, I don't think you are going to win any reasoning person to your cause that way.

Rationalists aren't complaining that Jesus isn't obeying us enough, or healing as many people as he should.

Their thesis is, I think this: They observe that the healing allegedly provided by Jesus can't be distinguished from the vagaries of chance, or praying to any other God.

Accordingly, there the observable facts are consistent with no healing being provided by any God.


13 months ago: Stan,

IF you want to enter the God "box" then you must accept the realm to which it refers... eternity. In order for you to prove that God does not exist, you must have absolute knowledge of every possible place that He could exist... and being that you have millions of people who believe that they have an encounter with the God of the Universe... HE must exist to them. ALL THIS TO SAY... God will hear, answer and heal everyone who believes in Him in His time... in Heaven and Eternity. IF God states that it is true in His Word the Bible... tell me how do you suppose to prove Him a liar?
13 months ago: I could write in a book that I'm going to heal everyone in my own good time, too.

Even better, I could write that book myself.

13 months ago: And if you don't have faith in me, then you are damned.

Prove me wrong.

You can't. I win.
13 months ago: Stan,

If you call on Jesus as His Word says, out of a sincere humble request, He will not turn you away... after you do that, get back to us. IF God calls you to repentance and faith, and does not meet you there... you are off the hook... IF you fail to be sincere in your quest for truth and do not take Him at His offer, and He exists, He is off the hook to save you... see what I mean? IF He doesn't exist, you loose nothing, IF He does exist and you seek Him not, you loose everything.
YOUR proof either way is waiting for you...
13 months ago: I could dedicate my life to Krishna and lose the same nothing. And get a rabbit's foot, and deny all reason.

You can try it, too.

Don't think Allah won't punish you for your Jesus idolatry.
13 months ago: There are plenty of Gods to demand your unalloyed loyalty.
13 months ago: And the basis to believe in them can only be demonstrated when you are dead, apparently.
13 months ago: Stan,

What are you waiting for? Get back to us when you ask Jesus...

"...then know this, you and all the people of Israel: It is by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified but whom God raised from the dead, that this man stands before you healed. Jesus is

"'the stone you builders rejected,
which has become the cornerstone.'

Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved."
(Acts 4:10-12)
13 months ago: Get back when you get a rabbits foot, and dedicate your life to Allah and Krishna.
sunny2
sunny2
13 months ago: Truth and Stan Five We are given the ability to learn and educate ourselves. Medicine has come a long way as science, but there is still a long way to go to find the answers. Hasn't there been a discovery, Truth, on starting to grow new limbs with a boosting of production of proteins. Scientists have been working toward this for a while.
Of course stops are put on discovery because of funding, not enough money for research. I guess they rather build nuclear plants.
sunny2
sunny2
13 months ago: Another good Article Truth. Sunny
sunny2
sunny2
13 months ago: Truth you can talk until you are blue in the face, these people have one dimensional minds. I found certain people on this particular page to be rude, especially to woman. I don't care I don't see them as people. Thank God that you can see more than others, and of couse, they don't have the ability. Let them keep questioning. Everything they say is sarcastic. I wonder if they could get into a debate with the Pope and win any argument. That would be something to see. Sunny
13 months ago: Sunny,

I have notice a blueish tinge recently added to my complexion... but I agree that we need to show respect.... one can easily tell who has thriving relationships with the opposite sex and who doesn't, some times though guys like to act tough and independent... but they soon join the ranks of those who pine for lost love in loneliness. I may not be God's gift to women... but I sure don't want to be their curse either! I love my wife and she shows it !:]
sunny2
sunny2
13 months ago: You are one of the lucky ones. That's a blessing.
I wasn't including you. You are always a gentlemen.
sunny2
sunny2
13 months ago: I really believe these people are sarcastic because they can't put up a valid argument as they lack belief while knocking religion and want to be really reasured at the same time. I would hate to be floating around on a huge sea of questions with no faith for guidance. Believe in something.
markbyrn
markbyrn
 Moderator
13 months ago: Truth, you didn't get these answers from God - you got them from Christian apologists and they're only convincing to Christians that are trying to rationalize the irrational. To quote Robert Ingersoll,

"Why should men in the name of religion try to harmonize the contradictions that exist between Nature and a book?"

Let's try to examine just one of your points here as it appears you're trying to win the argument with broad questions and information overload.

"Why would Jesus want you to eat his body and drink his blood?
A9: This question shows the ignorance of the heart of these questions,"

That type of logical fallacy where you call out the questioner for ignorance shows inability to rationally debate.

In Roman Catholic theology, transubstantiation means the change of the substance of host bread and sacramental wine into the substance of the Body and Blood respectively of Jesus in the Eucharist. Considering that Roman Catholicism is perhaps the largest single sect of Christianity, the question is quite valid. Calling the question ignorant and quoting an unrelated Bible verse doesn't answer the mail.

Again, your using an approach that is only appropriate convince doubting Christians. Perhaps you're really trying to convince yourself and I'd urge you take the red pill.
13 months ago: Mark,

It is my hope not to win a debate... it is to win your heart. You say "That type of logical fallacy where you call out the questioner for ignorance shows inability to rationally debate." ...I also hope that you will fine tune my debating skills enough to logically present my case, so that others may be engaged in a meaningful topic discussion... you are an excellent "opponent" if you will, to help do just that.

The reason that I quote others may be for the lack of my own experience on a given subject, or it may be to give another's perspective that I agree with. But one thing I can say is my life has been first-hand transformed by God himself. ANYONE who knew me can attest to that... not only that but anyone who knows me now can see that I am still changed... I have not been a "convenient believer" ...when things go my way.

As to the matter at hand "Why would Jesus want you to eat his body and drink his blood? ...Jesus clearly stated that his words were Spirit (even metaphorical or "parableistic") ...but people ignore the logic in His statement and go on to take His Words out of context.
This is what I referred to as ignorant. I am not talking about transubstantiation, nor did Jesus.

"The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you—they are full of the Spirit and life." John 6:63
markbyrn
markbyrn
 Moderator
13 months ago: Winning the debate or proselytizing is pretty much the same thing and my hope is that you'll swallow the red pill and think rationally.

The question was, ""Why would Jesus want you to eat his body and drink his blood?" and you called it an ignorant question because you believe Jesus was clearly being metaphorical. It's rather odd that a fundamentalist who normally claims most everything in the Bible is literal won't accept that Jesus was being literal in this particular case.

Why is that? I'll tell you; it's because you're a part of the Protestant Evangelical sect and they have historically rejected the Catholic doctrine which suggests Jesus was being literal. In fact, here is a Catholic article that responds to your point and it's far from 'ignorant' or clear as you wish it be.

http://www.catholiceducation.org/article...

After you read that, I'm sure you'll want to retract or rephrase your question to eliminate the accusation of ignorance. Or do you believe you're doctrinally infallible?
13 months ago: Mark,

Here is the differences between us, while you are merely interested in winning an argument, I am interested in winning your soul for Jesus. The question before us is about what Jesus said and meant... not about what one Church or the other believes about it. That being said I will attempt to answer that question.

Jesus answers the grumbling that is still going on about what He said and meant... ultimately if the explanation from Christ is not enough then I cannot come close...

"Aware that his disciples were grumbling about this, Jesus said to them, "Does this offend you? Then what if you see the Son of Man ascend to where he was before! The Spirit gives life; THE FLESH COUNTS FOR NOTHING. The words I have spoken to you—they are full of the Spirit and life. Yet there are some of you who do not believe." For Jesus had known from the beginning which of them did not believe and who would betray him. He went on to say, "This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless the Father has enabled them."
(John 6:61-65)

Jesus is called may things in the New Testament, to give us a picture of who He is and how important He must be to us. Along the lines of "meat" ...Jesus calls Himself the "Lamb of God" ...to be sacrificed and eaten by those priests. He calls Himself the "Vine" and the "Water of Life" ...

The Light of men
The Way
The Truth
The Life
The Gate
The Door
The Bread of Life
The Word
The Rock and many other things...
...HE even compares Himself to that of a hen that would gather the chicks together under His wings... Jesus is NO chicken... but He as GOD ALMIGHTY humbles Himself to terms that we can understand, and that we can identify with Him... and hopefully reach out to Him... and find Him true.
markbyrn
markbyrn
 Moderator
13 months ago: And i'm trying to win you to rationalism and it appears that you didn't read the Catholic article.
13 months ago: Mark,

I did read it in it's entirety, I was raised Catholic, I just don't want to be taken off topic by waters muddied with commentaries; Churches that may have their own agendas and I may have mine... but the source for the topic should be the words of Christ alone.
13 months ago: Allegorical when you choose them to be so, literal when you choose them to be so?
13 months ago: Stan,

Read the Biblical text in question... the words are metaphorical by Jesus' own words not mine. When questioned on what Jesus said, He explained that it was Spiritual, and that they needed to trust Him.
13 months ago: All we are needing now is Perfect Horizon to make it an "unbelievable" reunion !:]
sunny2
sunny2
13 months ago: I'm a Roman Catholic and believe in my Church and its teachings. I believe in the Holy Spirit, but people have free will and can believe in whatever they want. I don't believe you can force anyone to change opinion about religion. I don't like sarcasm or mocking. I attended services at a non denominational Church up in the Rocky Mountains of Co. They gave out bread and wine, and I took it, and it meant the same to me as going to my own Church while away from home. The body and blood of Christ was all the same. Most of us have unshakable beliefs when it comes to religion. I still can realize in a logical sense to perceive that science and religion do go together to a big extent. Science has to do with discovery. I don't believe in Darwin's Theory of Evolution. I believe that God created man in his own image. If they every find out that answer, let me know. I respect the Bible, but I feel there are a lot of quotations that had to do with those times and written by man and past down over the centuries. Those were pretty violent times. The Bible holds wonderful teachings of Christ and faith which has to be respected and recognized because those words have to do with the forever after throughout eternity. Whatever my religion has given me, it has given me peace.
13 months ago: Sunny,

It is that peace the world is still looking for... some just try to see if "faith" can stand against anything they can throw at it. I have a friend that I have debated for a couple of years... he took up the challenge to see personally if Jesus existed... he is now an amazing Christian that puts me in my place. He is now dying... and it is amazing that now his faith is tested beyond words...and it is unmoving and unchanging in the very thing that you mentioned... PEACE.

"Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid."
(John 14:27)

sunny2
sunny2
13 months ago: Truth your fine with me. I would never criticize you. I just state what I have experienced. I've always had peace.
BadCyborg
BadCyborg
San Antonio, TX
13 months ago: Question #6 is also known as "The Problem of Pain". The short answer to the problem of pain is that stuff happens. The rain falls on the unjust as well as the just. Earthly prosperity - or lack thereof - bears no relation to a person's piety.

The longer and more difficult answer is that we are not equipped to understand the reason. The book of Job is all about the problem of pain. Job gets his life completely uprooted. He loses his family, his wealth and finally his health. His wife - sweet, nurturing thing that she was - told him to curse God and die. His 4 "friends" insisted that his reversal of fortune was due to some enormous sin that he needed to confess. All the time Job continues to proclaim his uprightness and wants to confront God. Finally God appeared in a whirlwind and asked "Where were you when I made the world?". Job had no idea what to say but ultimately he was restored with new wealth, a new family (don't recall if that included a new wife but it SHOULD have) and all ended well.

For years I considered God's question to be the biggest copout in history. Then I realized that God was testing Job to see how well he understood how the Universe operated. Job was asking a post-doc level question - albeit a simple one to frame. God asked Job a kindergarten-level question. The message was that Job was not equipped to understand the truth. Not even GOD can give a meaningful answer to Job's question that we would be able to understand. I have had my wife ask me a computer question that I simply could not frame an answer for that would not be gibberish. If that is possible for humans dealing with human knowledge and technology, how much more so for questions regarding ultimate reality?
sunny2
sunny2
13 months ago: Cyborg if I remember correctly wasn't Job's fortune restored when he prayed for others? Wouldn't that be an unselfish act by not thinking of personal loss and directing his thoughts to the concern of others? If someone said to me, Where were you when I.....I would think they needed someone like, in this case Job, to help them. At that moment I would suppose Job was recognized and valued.
13 months ago: BC,

Very good answer. This is why I tell people to ask their "hard questions" directly to God... first by submitting one's self to Him in respect... if we really don't want the answer, and would rather mock or accuse... what matters if we get the answer to the question? ON one hand like your wife and a computer question... we may be unable to comprehend... but more than likely we are unwilling to receive the answer and all that it implies to the rest of our lives. IF God did exist... we may not want that kind of information, considering the direction and destiny of our lives.
sunny2
sunny2
13 months ago: BC .... "He loses his family, his wealth and finally his health. His wife - sweet, nurturing thing that she was - told him to curse God and die. His 4 "friends" insisted that his reversal of fortune was due to some enormous sin that he needed to confess."
There are all different interpretations of that quotation regarding his wife. Those were pagan times and their beliefs were different. I could think of 10 different ways to interpret that.
sunny2
sunny2
13 months ago: From personal experience and enlightenment, I don't believe that there is one day that goes by that a person is not tested.
sunny2
sunny2
13 months ago: #6 I remember a Priest telling me that no one knows if they are good or bad. With that said I would think we are all equal.
sunny2
sunny2
13 months ago: My concept is, whether or not some of you are interested or not, is that it doesn't take a genius just to look up in the sky and see what is there. We didn't do it. When I was younger I thought of it as a big network of a computerized system with a superior mathmatical base, which a higher intelligence provided. When people say "I'll believe it when I see it", they must lie to themselves. It's right there in front of them all the time. Everything is in order and balance. Who did it is the question? Those may doubt, but they can't brush off the obvious and that goes for everything.

Post a Comment
Sign in or sign up to post a comment.