I've looked everywhere for a long time for a quote something to the effect, if something as important as an afterlife exists, it should be more obvious. I just found this quote and thought it was really funny: “I do not believe in any revealed religion. I will have nothing to do with your immortality; we are miserable enough in this life, without the absurdity of speculating upon another.” Lord Byron (1811)
Over the years questioning with no answers is why I am where I am at this stage of my life. My most recent. Do Muslims that want infidels to be subservient or murdered as in cutting off their heads get a place in heaven if they change religion & accept Jesus as their savior. No answer! What questions did you ask?
For me personally, no acceptance of a God is going to come from studying the Bible or participating in organized religion. I have tried that and found it lacking. Too much of the Bible seems literally absurd, and I'm not in agreement with some interpretation. I certainly don't agree with the subjugation of women, etc. In most churches I've attended, the amount of hypocrisy was beyond the pale. Too many "Sunday Christians", and ugly church politics as discussed by Ken in another thread. My brother, who wears his Christianity like a cape, recently stormed out of a church he had loved for years over some imagined slight after a shake-up in the church officers. (Yes, I am the heathen in the midst of a Southern Baptist family.) I have to admit that when I'm stressed or anxious, or even horrified... I'm likely to exclaim "Oh my God!" So I must hold on to something back in the recesses of my empty head. As I have said before, I envy true Christians who have solid faith. I just don't know how they got there. I believe in evolution, and I do not believe in any afterlife. Seems to me that when we die, we simply cease to exist... just as it was before we were born. I do not fear dying as it is inevitable. I don't have any expectation of heaven or hell... and honestly cannot imagine why anyone would want to live forever. I hope no one will take my comments in any way as a criticism. Just still searching for some personal truths.
Therefore is anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. Old things are passed away, behold, all things are made new. II Cor. 5:17 According to the verse, yup. But lest I be accused of attempting to take God’s job of judgement, let’s use the Hebrew axiom, “above all else, God is just.”
Like Beth I'm searching for truth. For me, remembering bible stories then having the luxury to ask questions in forumns that are about bible stories & writings where people of faith take the time to answer questions works for me. Bobby Cole took the time to reply to my wanting to know about if a muslim that was part of the kind having no problem wanting to make infidels subserviante or kill. No way to know if is true since no one has ever returned from the dead. But it does sound good. Then the answer ends with this. Quote let’s use the Hebrew axiom, “above all else, God is just. Way to much to extract from this. The 1st. two paragraphs set up the rest. God is recorded in the Bible as having personally killed a large number of people.[note 1] While the majority of the divine assassinations certainly took place during God's time as the notoriously vengeful deity in the Old Testament, a few instances are also recorded in the (just slightly) more peaceful New Testament. This page lists people personally assassinated by His hand or by His non-human minions; however, it is not entirely complete. It also does not include the vastly greater number of people which the Bible maintains were killed at His instruction, or in His name throughout recorded history, though those count towards his tally. https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Examples_of_God_personally_killing_people How is that just? I think it's safe to say children are innocent when leaving the womb. The Bible is clear that all people are God’s creation (Colossians 1:16), and that God loves the entire world (John 3:16) This list is about children born with defects. Anencephaly Anophthalmia / Microphthalmia Anotia/Microtia Cleft Lip / Cleft Palate Congenital Heart Defects Atrial Septal Defect Atrioventricular Septal Defect Coarctation of the Aorta D-Transposition of the Great Arteries Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome Pulmonary Atresia Tetralogy of Fallot Total Anomalous Pulmonary Venous Return Tricuspid Atresia Truncus Arteriosus Ventricular Septal Defect Craniosynostosis Diaphragmatic Hernia Down Syndrome Encephalocele Esophageal Atresia Gastroschisis Hypospadias Microcephaly Omphalocele Spina Bifida Upper and Lower Limb Reduction Defects How does that square with the bible & Jeremiah 29:11 11 For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.
Of course I do. In answer to the question (if it was a question), if I had to say which one I love the most, it would be raising Lazarus from the dead. For a Christian this is our greatest hope. After 4 days being dead, Jesus said "Lazarus, come forth". If He had not addressed him by name, I think all who had died in Christ would have come forth. But our belief is that before the end of the age, Jesus will call out "Come forth" and all who iare n the Lamb's Book of Life will come forth. That is called the rapture. For the bible states: If there is no resurrection of the dead, then... "Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. 19 If our hope in Christ is for this life alone, we are to be pitied more than all men. 20 But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep.…" Christ the first fruits implies that all believers will follow suit. Jesus proved this by showing us with Lazarus's resurrection that He is fully capable of fulfilling the promise. For no promise of Christ has failed to come true, so why would I not believe this one also?
It would be pointless to claim to be a Christian and yet believe that the Bible is a work of fiction. That would be about as meaningless as a Democrat swearing to protect the Constitution.
Care to provide a couple of examples of a Democrat violating the Constitution? Also, I might ask about using politicizing religion? Good idea?
Politics and religion is far too complicated to discuss in a forum. But just to clarify a few things, here is something to think about. While the U.S. Constitution does not mention God, every state constitution references either God or the divine. God also appears in the Declaration of Independence, the Pledge of Allegiance and on U.S. currency. Congress has always been overwhelmingly Christian, and roughly nine-in-ten representatives (88%) in the current Congress identify as Christian, according to a 2019 analysis. While the number of self-identified Christians in Congress ticked down in the last election, Christians as a whole – and especially Protestants and Catholics – are still overrepresented on Capitol Hill relative to their share of the U.S. population. Almost all U.S. presidents, including Donald Trump, have been Christian, and many have identified as either Episcopalian or Presbyterian. But two of the most famous presidents, Thomas Jefferson and Abraham Lincoln, had no formal religious affiliation. Most U.S. presidents have been sworn in with a Bible, and they traditionally seal their oath of office with “so help me God.” Roughly half of Americans feel it is either very (20%) or somewhat (32%) important for a president to have strong religious beliefs, according to a survey this past February. But only around four-in-ten (39%) say it is important for a president to share their religious beliefs. Republicans are more likely than Democrats to say it is at least somewhat important for a president to have strong religious beliefs (65% vs 41%). Americans are divided on the extent to which the country’s laws should reflect Bible teachings. Roughly half of U.S. adults say the Bible should influence U.S. laws either a great deal (23%) or some (26%), and more than a quarter (28%) say the Bible should prevail over the will of the people if the two are at odds, according to the February survey. Half of Americans, meanwhile, say the Bible shouldn’t influence U.S. laws much (19%) or at all (31%). More than six-in-ten Americans (63%) say churches and other houses of worship should stay out of politics. An even higher share (76%) say these houses of worship should not endorse political candidates during elections, according to a 2019 survey. Still, more than a third of Americans (36%) say churches and other houses of worship should express their views on social and political matters. (The Johnson Amendment, enacted in 1954, prohibits tax-exempt institutions like churches from involvement in political campaigns on behalf of any candidate.) Only about a third of Americans (32%) say government policies should support religious values. Two-thirds (65%) say religion should be kept out of government policies, a 2017 Pew Research Center survey found. Even though the Supreme Court ruled in 1962 that it is unconstitutional for a teacher to lead a class in prayer at a public school, 8% of public school students ages 13 to 17 say they have ever experienced this, according to a 2019 survey. (It is, however, possible that some teens who said they’ve experienced this could have previously attended religious private schools where teacher-led prayer is constitutional.) This experience is more common in the South (12%) than in the Northeast (2%). Four-in-ten U.S. teens in public schools (41%) feel it’s appropriate for a teacher to lead a class in prayer, including 29% of teens who know that this practice is banned but say that it is acceptable nevertheless. Church-State LawReligion and GovernmentReligion and U.S. Politics
I'm not sure of what you are seeking in this post. The Bible is true. Science of mankind is most often misleading (just like demonstrated all year with the covid debacle) . Everyone chooses what or who to serve.
It shouldn't matter if you abandon your faith in God...you can always transfer your beliefs to some other "Master of the Universe", just so you believe in something! Hal