lol I posted my post while you were posted this, seems we are thinking along the same lines.
Netanyahu: Iran a threat to the world.
- Thread starter Danthus
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lol I posted my post while you were posted this, seems we are thinking along the same lines.
The Bible however is expressly intended to be a collection of texts to enable the reader to connect with God...it isn't a book, it is more like a library. To express wnhy it should not be used as the basis for the existence of God is never going to be as simplistic as finding an analogie to compare it to..you could address the content and message within the Bible against other holy texts or beliefs and attempt to reconcile one with the other...if you cannot then you then need to make a decision on the validity of the message within each and how it sits with your own experience and world view.
There is no simple, effective analogy, many have been tried, but they all are flawed in one way or another...hence why we have millennia of thought and philosophy on this very subject.
The Bible doesn't. The Bible even contains widely accepted myths, such as the Flood Myth and Language Myth. The mistake is that people treat The Bible like a single book, when in reality it is a collection of books,histories, letters, parables, stories, poems and biographies attempting to express a universal message of truth...whether we accept that truth or not is something else entirely.
If god gives us free will and I use it to decide I'm an atheist, then why send me to hell for eternity ? Seems like a sick joke. Then there's repentance. Evil people lead evil lives, repent on their death bed and they go to heaven. Atheists like me lead good lives and go to hell. However, I did read that this new pope says atheists can enter heaven. Result. Maybe I should become a catholic. But no, I'm not gonna.
Then who would he throw in hell
I can't be a good Christian for laughing at that can I?
If god gives us free will and I use it to decide I'm an atheist, then why send me to hell for eternity ? Seems like a sick joke. Then there's repentance. Evil people lead evil lives, repent on their death bed and they go to heaven. Atheists like me lead good lives and go to hell. However, I did read that this new pope says atheists can enter heaven. Result. Maybe I should become a catholic. But no, I'm not gonna.
Many Christians don't believe the bible says that. That is really down to the way individuals or groups interpret the message rather than what the bible actually says.
What can I ask for and what would he give me?
If god gives us free will and I use it to decide I'm an atheist, then why send me to hell for eternity ? Seems like a sick joke. Then there's repentance. Evil people lead evil lives, repent on their death bed and they go to heaven. Atheists like me lead good lives and go to hell. However, I did read that this new pope says atheists can enter heaven. Result. Maybe I should become a catholic. But no, I'm not gonna.
Who says just because they repent on their death beds they go to heaven? No man can grant that.
Though if God did bring them to repentence, who knows? Rentance does mean change though, not sure what you can change on your deathbed. Though again it's obviously up to the one who we all will stand before.
When you say the bible doesn't get a free pass, I would say it depends on who you talk to. There are many biblical literalists out there who claim the Bible is true from start to finish. If you look at America and creationism, Intelligent Design etc., they clearly think it's all true. Trying to teach creationism in schools instead of science, creation museums showing dinosaurs alongside humans. Denying the fossil record, the age of the earth etc. These are pernicious memes that need to be addressed.
Having said all that, I accept these people are not a majority, but they are a problem.
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Salvation. You have to wait until you die though.
Everything depends on who you talk to.
Fair enough.
Whatever you ask for and more, here comes the kicker, has to be inline with his will.
Reminds me of part of the sermon I heard today, how Solomon when he became king what did he pray for? Mountains of Gold? Honor?
He prayed for a discerning heart to be able to lead the people. God said because he had asked for that and not riches e.t.c. He would give him what he asked for and he gave him the riches too.
Whatever you ask for and more, here comes the kicker, has to be inline with his will.
Reminds me of part of the sermon I heard today, how Solomon when he became king what did he pray for? Mountains of Gold? Honor?
He prayed for a discerning heart to be able to lead the people. God said because he had asked for that and not riches e.t.c. He would give him what he asked for and he gave him the riches too.
I want a cure for cancer.
Is that inline with his will?
Why wouldn't God want to end suffering, is that to much to ask?
Whatever you ask for and more, here comes the kicker, has to be inline with his will.
Reminds me of part of the sermon I heard today, how Solomon when he became king what did he pray for? Mountains of Gold? Honor?
He prayed for a discerning heart to be able to lead the people. God said because he had asked for that and not riches e.t.c. He would give him what he asked for and he gave him the riches too.
What about the millions who pray for world peace or an end to famine, why are these prayers never answered ?
Here is one big part of the New Testament around the "Ask and it shall be given" so you can read it in some context.
Just read it with God in mind for once.
Matthew.
7 Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you:
8 For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.
9 Or what man is there of you, whom if his son ask bread, will he give him a stone?
10 Or if he ask a fish, will he give him a serpent?
11 If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him?
12 Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them: for this is the law and the prophets.
13 Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat:
14 Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.
Just read it with God in mind for once.
Matthew.
7 Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you:
8 For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.
9 Or what man is there of you, whom if his son ask bread, will he give him a stone?
10 Or if he ask a fish, will he give him a serpent?
11 If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him?
12 Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them: for this is the law and the prophets.
13 Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat:
14 Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.
Are you working on one?
There are people who profess to have been cured of cancer, medically documented no doubt too.
Why He does not heal all I don't know.(*Edit. Here.)
Suffering I do not fully understand, even partially really, though I believe it will not be so much that we can not bear it. It may even be necessary.
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Here are the get out clauses that explain why none of your prayers ever get answered.
1. “If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer.” (Matthew 21:22)
2.James wrote:
“But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That man should not think he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all he does” (James 1:6-8).
Believing is perhaps the best known condition for prayer. But there are other reasons prayer is not answered.
3.We ask with wrong motives.
“When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures” (James 4:3).
4.Unconfessed sin separates us from God, so that He will not hear.
“Surely the arm of the Lord is not too short to save, nor His ear too dull to hear. But your iniquities (sins) have separated you from God; your sins have hidden his face from you so that He will not hear” (Isaiah 59:1-2).
5.We set up idols in our hearts that come between us and God.
“Son of man, these men have set up idols in their hearts and put wicked stumbling blocks before their faces. Should I let them inquire of me at all?” (Ezekiel 14:3).
6.We don't answer those who cry to us for help.
“If a man shuts his ears to the cry of the poor, he too will cry out and not be answered” (Proverbs 21:13).
7.We don't remain in God/God's Word doesn't remain in us.
“If you remain in me and my word remains in you, ask whatever you wish and it will be given to you” (John 15:7).
2.James wrote:
“But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That man should not think he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all he does” (James 1:6-8).
Believing is perhaps the best known condition for prayer. But there are other reasons prayer is not answered.
3.We ask with wrong motives.
“When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures” (James 4:3).
4.Unconfessed sin separates us from God, so that He will not hear.
“Surely the arm of the Lord is not too short to save, nor His ear too dull to hear. But your iniquities (sins) have separated you from God; your sins have hidden his face from you so that He will not hear” (Isaiah 59:1-2).
5.We set up idols in our hearts that come between us and God.
“Son of man, these men have set up idols in their hearts and put wicked stumbling blocks before their faces. Should I let them inquire of me at all?” (Ezekiel 14:3).
6.We don't answer those who cry to us for help.
“If a man shuts his ears to the cry of the poor, he too will cry out and not be answered” (Proverbs 21:13).
7.We don't remain in God/God's Word doesn't remain in us.
“If you remain in me and my word remains in you, ask whatever you wish and it will be given to you” (John 15:7).