Question for christians

[Classicblast]

You need not be religious to say that wasn't very friendly. hahaha.

[Peon]

hahaha

[Classicblast]

There's ways to respond to that video. If I am less tired tomorrow maybe I will. It's just as easy to make excuses that are "God is not real." or "that's made up." to rationalize or justify non belief. Its a standoff once again.

[Peon]

right, but as far as the christian god is concerned, or for that matter the god of any major religion, there is no need for justification.

i'm not ruling out the possibility that something beyond our scientific knowledge set the workings of the universe into motion. evolution is a fact and we've pretty much nailed down what began life over 3 billion years ago, but as far as the creation of the universe itself and how the fundamental properties of physics are concerned, I am definitely open to the idea of some sort of a prior creator. the only problem with accepting that our universe may have been set into motion by some creator is that we still must account for how the creator itself was made.

what I DON'T agree with, however, is the idea of any sort of a benevolent, omnipotent, and omniscient creator, which is basically the "God" of any mainstream religion. and I don't agree with that idea for many of the same reasons the maker of that video put forth, i.e. why a benevolent God would not respond to amputee patients' prayers, why good things happen to bad people, or why God would punish a nonbeliever who was nonetheless a good person. none of these are rational conclusions, and THIS is the part of the God debate that I need absolutely no rationalization or justification for. God as presented by the christian faith simply cannot exist.

[Peon]

i don't like how this board filters the lowercase "i" to I.

[Phil]

I suppose if there's a gun pointed at you in a robbery and the gunman's hammer locks, or the chamber was empty or he misses, you have a choice, God heard my prayer or I got lucky.

You can explain it either way but for every story that is said that God doesn't hear prayers denied the prayer or doesn't exist, there's a story that defies scientific explanation that can be luck or divine intervention.

The 2 sides can battle for eternity and probably will.

[Peon]

if you're going to take that route, phil, then you've got to admit that god is very selective in choosing whose prayers to answer. there have been thousands of devout christian amputees whose limbs never spontaneously regenerated through prayer. why not?

[Blastgirl]

Belief in Christianity or at least in God does not necessarily mean not believing in some scientific evolution. Volcanoes, floods, fires and other acts of nature, can be acts brought upon by God or just a storm within the Earth, can change the content of the Earth. There's at least three kinds of rocks, Igneous, Metamorphic and Sedimentary. I have learned that is is possible to change their makeup through various acts. Now days there are even man made ways.

So evolution is not hard for Catholics to accept. It does not replace belief in God and his Son Jesus.

There are unanswered prayers, its easy enough to say "God had a plan," Perhaps its true we also believe that the ultimate reward is in God's Kingdom not necessarily on Earth. Some people do not live right at all and we don't seem to understand why God allows that too.

A guy can be a thief, a womanizer, an addict and still be a huge financial success and socially loved.

Sometimes it ends badly for them, sometimes the rest of us just never do find out why.

[Peon]

right, but christians tend to attribute every good thing that has happened to them to god answering their prayers. doesn't it seem a little odd that god has answered so many prayers to make our lives better, but has ignored every single prayer to give limbs back to amputees?

[Phil]

I think its a misconception to think that Christians attribute all good to God and all bad to evil.

There's plenty of people I work with that are poop chuteish but that's not to say they're evil. I've had unlucky things happen I don't look to the sky and wonder how God can let such a thing happen.

I think ways God works are not to appear and perform miracles but to in round about ways let us receive help and solutions.

A Wal Mart worker comes out of work the last person to leave and their battery is dead. Its they may pray for the car to start. God didn't miraculously put 1 more start in the battery.

So maybe I notice I have forgotten my cell phone so I pull into Wal Mart to use the outdoor payphone. The Wal Mart worker says 'Sir do you have jumper cables by any chance?' And I do.

There's the 1 more start and the answer to a prayer.

Things like that happen all the time. Not all prayers are answered and Philip Ostrotkiewicz of noth Bradford, Pa might not be able to answer the question why.

[Nitro God]

If possible I'd try and high five Peon. Some quality posts.

A lot of people ask the question, why doesn't God answer all prayers and why does God not prevent suffering. If we look at a God like Peon addresses before, that started the universe but isn't necessarily one of any religion, is it fair to give him (or she, I'll say he, gently caress women) a theological description of omnscience, omnipotence and omni-benevolence? I've argue no because assuming God is the creator then he is outside of time and space (transcendent) and a transcendent being is indescribable.

It's a philosophical wonder in itself whether the action of making a car disappear spontaneously is as power as making a man destroy the car till it no longer exists. The point being that God can't be all power, because that's just a quality we cannot possibly measure. Accepting that in itself actually beats the "problem of evil" I believe.

There's also that segment they give somewhere in a book I've forgotten where a boy is being hung in one of the concentration camps of Nazi Germany and the people watching on ask, "where is God?" and a voice whispers, "He is there, he is suffering with the boy."

Some argue that God's lack of prevention in the world is that because free will is such a gift, that its worth the horrible sufferings that people have been forced to endure.

[Phil]

Christians also believe in life everlasting too. We also believe that a greater reward is in store if we live a ritious life. Knowing of course we all do some things we're not supposed to. And judgment is God's. We're not entirely sure whether or not we have done enough to go to that ultimate reward. Or have been forgiven for our wrongs. Whether or not you believe I think one still has to realize it's a good measuring method to prevent anarchy, and total chaos.

Whether you believe in God or not, isn't another man's property still his belongings?
Isn't another man's wife off limits to everybody else?
Do two wrongs really make a right? *I know we all think so sometimes on that last 1*

Religion has set the tone for a stable society through throughout time and most civic laws are based on biblical rules.

[Kimm]

There are some people who believe in a God like Peon seems to. A creator but not a being that gets involved with everyday people and everyday things.

I have heard a lot of discussion from that view. I feel differently but I have heard the discussion of it.

I cant mention in a few sentences all that is involved with scriptures. Theres some people who wonder why Jesus woudlnt save himself. The scriptures had explained that he died for our sins and that God took human form in the presence of Jesus for that reason. Its also explained in that Jesus would rebuild the temple in 3 days. The Scribes said "It took 46 years to build this temple how can you restore it in 3 days?"

That meant he would die on the cross and rise from the dead to enter his kingdom on the 3rd day. Good Friday to Easter Sunday.

This means nothing to those who do not believe but thats the fast explanation of Jesus the son of God.