Guest, that's completely uncalled for.
I get annoyed as much as anyone when they go on tangents but that's a terrible thing to say just because they have bad opinions.
Uncalled for? No, nope. I've had it with these motherfucking religion on this motherfucking site! Now hold on and strap up, because I'm taking em down!
Guest if you're even thinking of trying to take someone, a person who has the right to have their opinions no matter how much you disagree, down then you should at least make an account first. It's tough talk for someone who only uses an anonymous way of communicating.
And you should be held accountable for anything you end up doing.
Guys, this is nothing new. People have hated Christians from the beginning, and it'll continue to be that way. People who condone sin, as well as practice it, are both going to Hell (unless you repent like God wants you to). We aren't going away though. :) We're going to continue to preach the gospel of Christ no matter what. It's quite sad how SO MANY are so full of hate towards people who love others and only want what's best for them. I'm sorry you feel the way you do, Guest. :(
Lol, "the thing". Force? I'm not forcing anything on anyone. It's YOUR choice to be a Christian or not. :) I wish that all would be become christian. There's some pretty awful eternal consequences that every sinner will receive... unless you become a christian and all your sins are washed away. It's your choice, folks; Heaven or Hell? Where do you wanna go? There's only one way to get to Heaven, through Christ Jesus! :)
I'm not the first guest but seriously I'm going to hell because I don't follow your religion? Yeah, you are so loving. I usually come into many religious people defense due to them being randomly bashed by atheist but the ones like you on the other hand just pisses me off. No matter how much you word yourself, you are still basically telling me and anybody that is not part of your beliefs to go burn in hell.
Guest is right
You're basically forcing your religion on people by telling them they have to believe in Jesus otherwise there is no other way to get into heaven. What if your heaven is different from theirs?
Please. Stop talking about it
Correct. It's entirely factual. Acts 4:12. Very sad for those who choose not to believe, but very real and accurate. God is the authority on all things that are right and wrong. Unless you conform to trying to be like Christ, God's perfect son, you'll receive the due penalty for the sins you've committed - eternal separation from God in Hell. God loved ALL of us SO much that He sent His Son, Christ, who did NOTHING wrong, to die for US! So we don't have to die (second death) if we believe in Him, are baptized properly, and conform our lives to be like Christ. God loved you, He loves you now, but if you reject Him you'll receive the condemnation for your sins. :( There's ONLY one way, folks. We aren't going to force anything on you - it's your choice where you want to spend eternity.
I never saw him forcing his religion on anyone. Seems like you guys are overreacting. Stop acting like he's not allowed to have an opinion, dear god. You people are fucking brutal when you don't agree with an opinion. This site is becoming more and more like tumblr where you're only allowed to have an opinion if it's what everyone else agrees with. Damn people. Lighten the fuck up.
C3, I'll support you. It's good to see what you're doing. Don't take these people seriously.
I'm sorry but it's not just that. It's basically how everything c3 said is contracdicting to this "loving Christian". No matter how much you sugar coat and word it out, all c3 saying is either become one or you deserve to burn in hell (some people really take this in context and actually burn living humans). How loving am I if I tell you to go burn in hell just because you don't match my beliefs? Not only that, I'm actually assumed as a bad man (sinner) because I don't follow some organized religion.
Either way, let's call it off. I got my side of the story and you got yours and c3. We're in a stalement and nobody is going to change here. I already made a mistake of replying to this comment post.
Me? A hateful person? Lol, you obviously haven't met me. :p I'm actually quite tame, very laid back, and very nice. :) Also, it's not me that would ever condemn anyone; God will. All I CAN say is that sin has consequence, and that consequence is the epitome of severe. God loved you SO much that He sent His ONLY son, who was perfect mind you, to DIE so that YOU can live eternally in Heaven, the epitome of the word 'gift'. I'm told (from scripture) to love my enemies, and I do. :) You don't have to go to Hell - I don't want ANYONE to go to Hell. I can say that radical Islam is a false religion because it's based upon hate and violence, rather than love and compassion like REAL christianity is. I do apologize if I've judged anyone - something else I'm told not to do. Just know that like when you're a child and you misbehave, you're punished. If you misbehave by rejecting God and/or Christ, the punishment is extreme, and eternal. :(
Ok, so I die. And much to my surprise, I find myself standing before the God of Christianity. What do I do? How do I feel about this? What should I think? What should I say? What if I’m wrong?
And when I think about this question I think about the fact that there are two very interesting characteristics that have always been attributed to this God and one is Omni-benevolence. Optimal love…Optimal compassion…Optimal mercy…Optimal concern for the well being of others. And the other, is omniscience, knowing everything that could possibly be known about anything, from any point of view, at any time, in any context. And one inescapable conclusion that follows from this is that if this being exists, it knows me, I mean really knows me, understands me as well as I can possibly be understood. This is not a mystery. He is not sitting up in heaven wracking his brain trying to figure out why Scott can’t seem to believe in him.
This God would be acutely aware of my history, of the causal chain of events and experiences that cumulatively contributed to the development of my entire personality and psyche and outlook on life. This being would understand impeccably that I am nothing more and nothing less than a product of that which I’ve experienced. Every interaction that I’ve ever had that changed me or forced me to think differently, down to the exact moment in my life that caused me to care about philosophy, and religion, and theology, and the afterlife. This being would have a perfect appreciation for that. God would understand intimately my reasoning and my thought process, and how I arrived at the conclusions I did. Even if Christians don’t, he would know my views on morality, and ethics, and understand specifically why I think it more virtuous to approach religious claims critically and prudently than to accept them at face value on faith.
He would understand why I think that I’ve lived a good life, why I think that I’ve made good choices, even if Christians don’t.
He would be aware of all the actions and all the characteristics that I’ve seen attributed to him, by Christians, as well as scripture, and why those actions and characteristics seem undeniably incompatible to me, not just with one another, but to the observable world. He would know about the time in my life when I actually picked up a bible and made it a point to read the whole thing. And he would know the hundreds of verses which I came upon which I found horrifying or absurd or completely incompatible with the notion that this was inspired by a just and loving being concerned and loving being concerned with ensuring our salvation, even if Christians don’t.
So if I found myself standing before this being, my immediate reaction would be one of complete shock, complete and utter shock.
I would be absolutely floored, if I found out, with certainty that the Christian God specifically, exists. And the first question, the first thought that would enter into my mind I know is, “what was wrong with my reasoning.” I would beg, I would plead, regardless of whether I was on my way to heaven or hell, just to know, what the flaw was in my thinking. Where along the way were the mistakes I made that led me to the wrong conclusion? I would give anything to know that. I would give anything to know the answers.
Of course, this God would know all too well, I took truth very seriously in my life. I never believed anything because I wanted it to be true or because I thought it would be beneficial in some way to assume it was true. And likewise, I never doubted any claim, simply because I preferred it not to be true.
But I would take comfort in knowing that the being responsible for judging me, for evaluating me, and ultimately deciding my fate, knows me so perfectly that I don’t need to make any excuses for myself. The omniscience of this being would allow me to feel perfectly represented. I don’t have to plead a case, I don’t have to persuade anyone that my intentions were pure. These things are already known to this being. It would be known that I never doubted God’s existence out of rebellion, or spite, or of disregard for authority. It would be know that I would have preferred the existence of a loving God all along and would have no problem obeying the commands of this loving God, but I just found too many problems inherent in the concept. Too many contradictions…too many holes.
Too many propositions that require Special Pleading, or Circular Reasoning, or ad-hoc speculation, and that I didn’t simply observe anything about reality that couldn’t have been the result of natural cumulative processes.
It would be know that my cognitive faculties do not allow me to choose what I am and am not convinced is true about reality. That my disbelief is an involuntarily reaction to what I perceived as a deficit of evidence for God’s existence. And most importantly, it would be known that I thought it insufficient, and even immoral, to pretend to believe in this being simply because I feared punishment or sought reward.
And when I take into consideration what follows naturally from the knowledge attributed to this being and I combine that with what follows naturally from the compassion attribute to this being, it’s difficult for me to conceive that this being wouldn’t be in some sense proud of me, and pleased with the way that I’ve employed the intellect and the moral sense with which he would have endowed me, even if it turns out that I was wrong.
I have a hard time imagining that this God would be offended by me, and my thought process. Offended enough to allow for me to endure unbearable torment for all of eternity, and not as a form of discipline or correction or redemption, since it never ends, there’s nothing constructive about hell. You don’t come out of hell a better person, you don’t come out at all. And so the only reason for the existence of such a thing, would be vengeance.
Of course according to the bible and according to most Christians, hell is exactly where I’m headed, no matter the life that I lead or the choices that I make, or the intentions that I have, if I don’t at least think that a god exists, well…sucks for me. And in the mean time, you know, extreme rapists, and murders, and child molesters are welcomed into heaven with open arms so long as they accepted Jesus Christ as their personal savior before their demise. And if it turns out that this is the case…then that’s ok too. Because I don’t know how I would be able to handle spending eternity alongside a being whose idea of compassion and fairness makes me sick to my stomach, A being whose empathy would be so easily trumped by his vanity. So that’s my answer...
Good thing I’m not wrong. :-)
I mean no disrespect at all, but "xxanonymousxx", you have absolutely NO understanding of the things you've quoted. Your arrogance, ignorance, and error are a danger to not only yourself, but to those who listen to you. Consider yourself lucky to be on this half of the Bible, the New Testament, a time where God's wrath was appeased by the death of His Son that sinners have the opportunity to be vindicated through the NEW Law, and not the Old.
Wait a sec...
Hebrews 13:8
God is the same yesterday and today and forever.
Meaning that God is still the vengeful, angry, cruel, and vindictive god that he was then.
Also you can't just through out the majority of your holy book because its inconvenient
Matthew 5:17
Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets. I have come not to abolish but to fulfill. Amen, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest part or the smallest part of a letter will pass from the law, until all things have taken place.
He specifically says that you must keep the old laws and that he is no here to change them.
For those of you who think that the Old Testament has been replaced by the new:
“For truly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass the law until all is accomplished. Whoever then relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but he who does them and teaches them shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.” — Matthew 5:18-19
“It is easier for Heaven and Earth to pass away than for the smallest part of the letter of the law to become invalid.” (Luke 16:17)
“Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets. I have come not to abolish but to fulfill. Amen, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest part or the smallest part of a letter will pass from the law, until all things have taken place.” (Matthew 5:17)
“Did not Moses give you the law, and yet none of you keepeth the law” (John7:19)
Here are some laws Christians must follow:
Blasphemy is Punishable by Death
One who blasphemes the name of the LORD shall be put to death; the whole congregation shall stone the blasphemer. Aliens as well as citizens, when they blaspheme the Name, shall be put to death. (NRSV) — Leviticus 24:16
Cheaters Must Die
If a man commits adultery with another man’s wife—with the wife of his neighbor—both the adulterer and the adulteress must be put to death. (NIV) — Leviticus 20:10
Dishonoring Your Mother or Father is Punishable by Death
Anyone who dishonors father or mother must be put to death. Such a person is guilty of a capital offense. (NLT) — Leviticus 20:9
People Who Work on Sunday Should be Killed
You have six days each week for your ordinary work, but the seventh day must be a Sabbath day of complete rest, a holy day dedicated to the LORD. Anyone who works on that day must be put to death. (NLT) — Exodus 35:2
And some more
a Woman is Not a Virgin When She Gets Married, She Has to Die
“If any man takes a wife, and goes in to her, and detests her, and charges her with shameful conduct, and brings a bad name on her, and says, ‘I took this woman, and when I came to her I found she was not a virgin,’ … and evidences of virginity are not found for the young woman, then they shall bring out the young woman to the door of her father’s house, and the men of her city shall stone her to death with stones … (NKJV) — Deuteronomy 22:13-14,20-21
There’s Nothing Wrong With Slavery
Your male and female slaves are to come from the nations around you; from them you may buy slaves. (NIV) — Leviticus 25:44
Gays Should be Put to Death
If a man lies with a male as with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination; they shall be put to death; their blood is upon them. (NRSV) — Leviticus 20:13
Christ was still alive to literally say all of those things pertaining to the Old and New Laws, thus the Old Law was still in effect. The New Law, which Christ accomplishes, or fulfills the OLD Law is then done away with. All of the things you keep quoting are in error, for you don't have the proper understanding, nor context to fully understand the meaning of what's said.
It doesn't mean God changed. It means his laws changed. Again, c3 and I know what we believe. You really need to research more before you throw accusations and say how it isn't realy because if your reasonings. Seriously. And let me tell you that you just made yourself look like a complete dumbfuck by bringing up shit that you don't know about. You keep rambling on and on. "He is unchanging, so the laws cant change either." Where the fuck did you get that. He sent his son to put a new law in effect, end of story. God himself did not change. His laws did. As for all those stupid laws ypu brought up, every one of those is in the old testament. I hear those all the damn time and it pisses me off because it PROVES TO ME that you have absolutely no idea about Christianity because you are too narrow minded to research a little about it, therefore you are deemed to be someone to not be taken seriously.
so I shall reply here instead of the other thread. I have no idea what happens after death. I believe you don't have to be Christian to be saved; there's far too little Christians relative to the world to make heaven worth it to God IMO.
He wins life
I get annoyed as much as anyone when they go on tangents but that's a terrible thing to say just because they have bad opinions.
And you should be held accountable for anything you end up doing.
You're basically forcing your religion on people by telling them they have to believe in Jesus otherwise there is no other way to get into heaven. What if your heaven is different from theirs?
Please. Stop talking about it
Please. Shut up about religion and stop forcing it on people.
Thank you.
C3, I'll support you. It's good to see what you're doing. Don't take these people seriously.
And when I think about this question I think about the fact that there are two very interesting characteristics that have always been attributed to this God and one is Omni-benevolence. Optimal love…Optimal compassion…Optimal mercy…Optimal concern for the well being of others. And the other, is omniscience, knowing everything that could possibly be known about anything, from any point of view, at any time, in any context. And one inescapable conclusion that follows from this is that if this being exists, it knows me, I mean really knows me, understands me as well as I can possibly be understood. This is not a mystery. He is not sitting up in heaven wracking his brain trying to figure out why Scott can’t seem to believe in him.
He would be aware of all the actions and all the characteristics that I’ve seen attributed to him, by Christians, as well as scripture, and why those actions and characteristics seem undeniably incompatible to me, not just with one another, but to the observable world. He would know about the time in my life when I actually picked up a bible and made it a point to read the whole thing. And he would know the hundreds of verses which I came upon which I found horrifying or absurd or completely incompatible with the notion that this was inspired by a just and loving being concerned and loving being concerned with ensuring our salvation, even if Christians don’t.
So if I found myself standing before this being, my immediate reaction would be one of complete shock, complete and utter shock.
Of course, this God would know all too well, I took truth very seriously in my life. I never believed anything because I wanted it to be true or because I thought it would be beneficial in some way to assume it was true. And likewise, I never doubted any claim, simply because I preferred it not to be true.
It would be know that my cognitive faculties do not allow me to choose what I am and am not convinced is true about reality. That my disbelief is an involuntarily reaction to what I perceived as a deficit of evidence for God’s existence. And most importantly, it would be known that I thought it insufficient, and even immoral, to pretend to believe in this being simply because I feared punishment or sought reward.
I have a hard time imagining that this God would be offended by me, and my thought process. Offended enough to allow for me to endure unbearable torment for all of eternity, and not as a form of discipline or correction or redemption, since it never ends, there’s nothing constructive about hell. You don’t come out of hell a better person, you don’t come out at all. And so the only reason for the existence of such a thing, would be vengeance.
Good thing I’m not wrong. :-)
Slavery in the bible:
http://www.evilbible.com/Slavery.htm
Atrocities in the bible: http://skepticsannotatedbible.com/cruelty/long.html
God's Killings in the Bible: http://dwindlinginunbelief.blogspot.com/2010/04/drunk-with-blood-gods-killings-in-bible.html
Death toll - God vs Satan: http://dwindlinginunbelief.blogspot.com/2006/08/who-has-killed-more-satan-or-god.html
Contradictions in the bible: http://skepticsannotatedbible.com/contra/by_name.html
Bad design (Neil Degrasse Tyson): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YCnGf37iiKU
More examples of "bad design": http://oolon.awardspace.com/SMOGGM.htm
The gospel accounts in the New Testament were written by anonymous non eye-witnesses: http://www.amazon.com/Jesus-Interrupted-Revealing-Hidden-Contradictions/dp/0061173932/ref=pd_sim_b_1
And btw, tl;dr.
Hebrews 13:8
God is the same yesterday and today and forever.
Meaning that God is still the vengeful, angry, cruel, and vindictive god that he was then.
Also you can't just through out the majority of your holy book because its inconvenient
Matthew 5:17
Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets. I have come not to abolish but to fulfill. Amen, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest part or the smallest part of a letter will pass from the law, until all things have taken place.
He specifically says that you must keep the old laws and that he is no here to change them.
“For truly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass the law until all is accomplished. Whoever then relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but he who does them and teaches them shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.” — Matthew 5:18-19
“It is easier for Heaven and Earth to pass away than for the smallest part of the letter of the law to become invalid.” (Luke 16:17)
“Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets. I have come not to abolish but to fulfill. Amen, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest part or the smallest part of a letter will pass from the law, until all things have taken place.” (Matthew 5:17)
“Did not Moses give you the law, and yet none of you keepeth the law” (John7:19)
Blasphemy is Punishable by Death
One who blasphemes the name of the LORD shall be put to death; the whole congregation shall stone the blasphemer. Aliens as well as citizens, when they blaspheme the Name, shall be put to death. (NRSV) — Leviticus 24:16
Cheaters Must Die
If a man commits adultery with another man’s wife—with the wife of his neighbor—both the adulterer and the adulteress must be put to death. (NIV) — Leviticus 20:10
Dishonoring Your Mother or Father is Punishable by Death
Anyone who dishonors father or mother must be put to death. Such a person is guilty of a capital offense. (NLT) — Leviticus 20:9
People Who Work on Sunday Should be Killed
You have six days each week for your ordinary work, but the seventh day must be a Sabbath day of complete rest, a holy day dedicated to the LORD. Anyone who works on that day must be put to death. (NLT) — Exodus 35:2
a Woman is Not a Virgin When She Gets Married, She Has to Die
“If any man takes a wife, and goes in to her, and detests her, and charges her with shameful conduct, and brings a bad name on her, and says, ‘I took this woman, and when I came to her I found she was not a virgin,’ … and evidences of virginity are not found for the young woman, then they shall bring out the young woman to the door of her father’s house, and the men of her city shall stone her to death with stones … (NKJV) — Deuteronomy 22:13-14,20-21
There’s Nothing Wrong With Slavery
Your male and female slaves are to come from the nations around you; from them you may buy slaves. (NIV) — Leviticus 25:44
Gays Should be Put to Death
If a man lies with a male as with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination; they shall be put to death; their blood is upon them. (NRSV) — Leviticus 20:13
God is the same yesterday and today and forever.
He is unchanging, so the laws that applied then still apply today