Would you like to know the benefits of being a Christian?

Okay, question:

I understand the concept of hell (not the "Dante's Inferno" style, but the whole "eternity away from God" thing).

Alright. Fair enough.

So if death isn't the end, most of our existence is on a spiritual level for eternity, and God allows us to choose our own path... why are our actions in life the only determining factor in whether we go to heaven or hell? What if, after death, we decide that we really do want to spend eternity with God and we want to accept Jesus as our savior?

It seems to me that if God is all forgiving, he would allow people to atone for their sins in life after life. Instead he says "the choices you made in the first 70 years of your existence determine where you're going to spend the rest of eternity, and if you decide to come around later, too bad."

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Originally Posted by IronPlant

is it really that simple? I don't think anyone who believes in jesus chooses to not fallow him. People that don't belive have simply not been given enough reason to do so. And since they do not belive, they won't have faith in, and fallow jesus.

You say they were offered, but how can they be offered something they don't believe exist?

Can you accept something you don't consider real in the first place?

How can people make a choice, when they don't believe in the things the choice is about?

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Yes it really is that simple. if a person does not beleive in Jesus, the question is why? what about them makes a pacifist who tells you to love your neighbor and not to worry so much about physical things so difficult to beleive in? Humans have the capability to belive in anything that they learn and feel is correct, if they dont feel that jesus' teachings are correct, why dont they? these are really questions for the individual to ask themselves in this case, but yes, in the end you and you alone decide what you belive is true.

I want someone to answer me this:

Noah had the Arc, yes? Well the Earth floods, him and his wife along with their children and their childrens spouses collect two of every animal on Earth and board the Arc to survive the flood. If what I understand is true, they are the only survivors. Now, ignoring the impossibility of loading all of the billions of types of animals into one ship, I want to target the fact that all man kind would have to be decendants of Noah and his family. Now how, exactly, did Noah's family produce Black, Asain, Caucasian and Hispanic people? Where did all these different races come from?

I'm listening.

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Originally Posted by sethsez

Okay, question:

I understand the concept of hell (not the "Dante's Inferno" style, but the whole "eternity away from God" thing).

Alright. Fair enough.

So if death isn't the end, most of our existence is on a spiritual level for eternity, and God allows us to choose our own path... why are our actions in life the only determining factor in whether we go to heaven or hell? What if, after death, we decide that we really do want to spend eternity with God and we want to accept Jesus as our savior?

It seems to me that if God is all forgiving, he would allow people to atone for their sins in life after life. Instead he says "the choices you made in the first 70 years of your existence determine where you're going to spend the rest of eternity, and if you decide to come around later, too bad."

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very good question, dont have any answer for that. it could very well be that way, or it coudl not, again ti comes back to what was going on in the 70 or so years of your waking life that precluded you from beleiving then? as i have said countless times here, i dont beleive that God sends you to either heaven or hell, if you follow the path that jesus taught, you are reorienting yourself, away from physical things and toward spiritual concerns. and to a degree if you turn away from his teachings and embrace the physical only, then could you ever truely find peace in heaven? Its something to think about, but there is really no answer for it (nor really is there for any of the topics discussed here, you beleive what you beleive,and nothing said here will change anyone who did not already wish to change anyhow, its just an exchange of ideals).

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Originally Posted by frostwolf ex

Yes it really is that simple. if a person does not beleive in Jesus, the question is why? what about them makes a pacifist who tells you to love your neighbor and not to worry so much about physical things so difficult to beleive in? Humans have the capability to belive in anything that they learn and feel is correct, if they dont feel that jesus' teachings are correct, why dont they? these are really questions for the individual to ask themselves in this case, but yes, in the end you and you alone decide what you belive is true.

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His teachings are irrelvant to my statement. If you tell me a purple bunny with horns told you it was wrong to rape dogs, I can accept that is wrong to rape dogs without believeing you really saw a purple bunny with horns that can talk.

Other than faith in one's family and past society, no one really has any reason to believe in the biblical God. There are no magical wonderious things done in this day and age that have Jesus's John Handcock written on them.

Yeah, weird shit happens, but there is no calling card, nothing saying "hey yo, its me, your buddy jesus, lets go play street fighter and eat cookies."

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Originally Posted by Opaque

I want someone to answer me this:

Noah had the Arc, yes? Well the Earth floods, him and his wife along with their children and their childrens spouses collect two of every animal on Earth and board the Arc to survive the flood. If what I understand is true, they are the only survivors. Now, ignoring the impossibility of loading all of the billions of types of animals into one ship, I want to target the fact that all man kind would have to be decendants of Noah and his family. Now how, exactly, did Noah's family produce Black, Asain, Caucasian and Hispanic people? Where did all these different races come from?

I'm listening.

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a localised flood could have seemed like the entire world was flooded if there was no land seen, the scope of the flood only needed to be as large as could be observed,kind of overkill to flood china to teach a lesson in the middle east.
next?

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Originally Posted by frostwolf ex

a localised flood could have seemed like the entire world was flooded if there was no land seen, the scope of the flood only needed to be as large as could be observed,kind of overkill to flood china to teach a lesson in the middle east.

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So what you're saying is, the people who wrote the Bible wrote about a worldwide flood when it wasn't a world wide flood? They were wrong? They wrote something that was in fact not true, but to them seemed like reality?

And anyone is supposed to believe anything else in that book?

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Originally Posted by IronPlant

His teachings are irrelvant to my statement. If you tell me a purple bunny with horns told you it was wrong to rape dogs, I can accept that is wrong to rape dogs without believeing you really saw a purple bunny with horns that can talk.

Other than faith in one's family and past society, no one really has any reason to believe in the biblical God. There are no magical wonderious things done in this day and age that have Jesus's John Handcock written on them.

Yeah, weird shit happens, but there is no calling card, nothing saying "hey yo, its me, your buddy jesus, lets go play street fighter and eat cookies."

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then thats how you choose to see it. part of following jesus is having faith, if a person dosent have that, than thats something they have chosen not to have.

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Originally Posted by sethsez

It seems to me that if God is all forgiving, he would allow people to atone for their sins in life after life. Instead he says "the choices you made in the first 70 years of your existence determine where you're going to spend the rest of eternity, and if you decide to come around later, too bad."

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I always took this theory as a way for the Churches to bring order over the people. Warning them that not behaving will send them to Hell was a white lie that everyone just seemed to believe. Kind of like how you tell a kid he won't get any presents from Santa if he stays up all night, when Santa's got nothing to do with it.

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Originally Posted by Opaque

So what you're saying is, the people who wrote the Bible wrote about a worldwide flood when it wasn't a world wide flood? They were wrong? They wrote something that was in fact not true, but to them seemed like reality?

And anyone is supposed to believe anything else in that book?

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it was a flood as wide as their world, its not incorrect as far as it went. It was in fact as true as it needed to be, what point would there have been of flooding new zealand for the sins of people in the middle east?