I quit the Christian church life for many reasons. Topping that list was the fact 99.99% of the world's population will burn in hell by the hand of a Loving God.
Where do the Christians stand on the fate of the unbelievers and the Jews (God's chosen people) all being sentenced to eternal damnation? What of the people who do not hear the Word? Why are they punished as well?
Apparently, the Jews don't beleive Jesus was the messiah but they are still "God's chosen people"
Wtf, Christian dogma is convoluted as hell.
Hardly. Consider this scripture, and if you have never heard of this scripture then I can understand why you turned away from your faith.Originally Posted by Babylon
Matthew 12:31 "Therefore I say to you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven men.
Anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man, it will be forgiven him; but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit, it will not be forgiven him, either in this age or in the age to come." ~Jesus Christ~
Of course, the key element of this scripture is that you must ask for forgiveness of your sins, and to enter Heaven you must also accept Christ as your personal Savior and establish a sincere belief in Him.
Considering that 80% of Americans consider themselves Christians, (now granted, that does not mean they truly are Christians) that 99.9% figure is just a wee bit exaggerated. Plus you have to factor in the many, many, more Christians around the world.
Can you give me some more of those reasons on your list?
I can't speak for all Christians, but I will say that I will not chase away or condemn unbelievers.Where do the Christians stand on the fate of the unbelievers and the Jews (God's chosen people) all being sentenced to eternal damnation? What of the people who do not hear the Word? Why are they punished as well?
These are not easy questions, as the answers tend to bring outrage from unbelievers or people of other faiths.
Let's break them down.
"Where do the Christians stand on the fate of the unbelievers and the Jews (God's chosen people) all being sentenced to eternal damnation?"
I'm not going to paint a rosie picture on this one; God allows us the free will to accept Christ or not as our Savior. No one, not even God can force you to accept Christ. In other words, you choose whether to face your sentence or not.
Christ is refered to as the Savior because He died for our sins on the cross, and because of His sacrifice we can seek the Kingdom of Heaven by asking forgiveness of our sins from Christ. Only through Christ can you avoid coming into judgment, and ultimately receive the sentence for sin, Hell.
Accepting Christ or not is like choosing whether you will be judged for your actions or not. You would think that the obvious choice would be to avoid judgement, as we're all sinners, but many people cannot stand to harbor any sort of spirituality in their heart, refuse to accept that there is a God, and/or will not conform to the moral standards of being a Christian.
I view it as an obvious choice to accept Christ, but others have more difficulty with that decision. So in effect, God is only the authority behind the sentencing, it is ultimately up to the person in question to decide whether they will humble themself and accept Christ or turn their back on the Lord and accept the the consquences of not accepting Christ, Hell.
"What of the people who do not hear the Word?"
That is a misnomer, as every person at one point in their life wonders if there is higher power than this world. Take a look at this scripture, another popular one.
Revelation 3:20 "Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me."
~Jesus Christ~
The Lord speaks to everyone; however, it is up to them to listen to Him or not.
"Why are they punished as well?"
Well, considering that Christ knocks at the door, and anyone who opens it will be saved, they are without an excuse for why they don't believe.
Scripture supports this . . .
Romans 1:20 "For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse."
So no man is ignorant of God, and although some people have never picked up a Bible or been preached to on the Christian gospel, they still know in their hearts that there is a God.
In reality, they choose not to follow their heart to God just as anyone who has been exposed to Christianity.
I think that people who don't believe in God and have been exposed to Christianity undermines your insistence that people know there's a God when they haven't even been exposed to any form of Christianity. For the longest time in Japan, Shintoism was thriving with its simplicity of believing in God through nature. Nothing about scripture or anything like that. Since this intrusion of Christianity, Shintoism has been diminishing in reputation, which may not be so much because of God, but because of the loss of nature and with it, the spirit of God. Not that any of it matters, at least not beyond its historical merits. There are probably hundreds of thousands of Africans hoping that there is a God, because much of their living conditions are hellish enough. Then again, it's much easier to believe in God while you're sitting in your air conditioned church and having everything in life work in your favor.
If there is a God, thank you for books and the ability to think. Then again, who knows why you would be reading something in Political Hotwire (it's hard to imagine him checking on Earth anyway, except maybe on his coffee break). And believe me, God works, else his brain would turn into mush during his state of retirement after those six days of arduous creativity (and yet he still rested on the Sabbath!)
Any inaccuracies presented above is a state of normalcy; humans have been making up stories ever since they were capable of it.
I'm a Christian, but I don't believe in organized religion. It is all about control, not truth.
In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them...2 Corinthians 4:4
And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him...Revelation 12:9
Satanic forces control the Earth, and they attempt to fulfill the prophecies in the Bible for their own benefit.
Quiting the Church, and rejecting God's plan of salvation are two different things. Have you rejected God?
There may very well be an intelligence under the layers of physical
reality (a God), but its clear as day he didn't write the rambling folk tales
of the Bible.
Would it be more accurate to say that Satanic forces, demonic spirits in the spiritual realm rail against prophecies in the Word of God but in the end to no avail mj?
And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him...Revelation 12:9
That is one of the reasons that I am an athiest, in that even if there is a God, believing in any single of the religions on Earth isn't the answer that we are looking for.
However, you can say that maybe most religions in their basic form are the same in that it is a belief in someone greater then what we see, and many of them preach kindness (regardless of how they are worshiped and followed today).
I was once told by a Christian who came to my door trying to save me (I was on his route that week) that everyone hears the word of Christ one time in his life. If they don't take it to heart, it's their fault. :dunno:
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