Because thats what they've been told every Sunday for a good portion of their life. I stopped going to church before I made my confirmation. Guess I can't get married in a church, wedding on a beach sounds much nicer anyway.
we can't begin to understand the "totality" of his reasoning. so some aspects of god's reasoning is hidden in the "infinite dimension" and is far too reasonable and powerful for our "finite minds" to process. People who strive to think logical are still no match to god's "total" way of reasoning when creating this earth.
poor christian....my sarcastic post probably came off as pretty logical to him, thats the saddest part
I knew what you were trying to convey and I liked it for a reason. If you don't have the same faith in that form thought, then that is your reality and I cannot change it. I will love you regardless.
I am indeed affected by religion. I was brought up in it without choice, and it has forever shaped my mind in a way that i am now displeased with. edit: to stay on topic with thread. I think this brings up a much larger issue. If god created everything, why did he even create anything to begin with? He doesn't need to "see what happens" since he is allegedly all powerful, and the only other argument i can think of off the top of my head is that "he would rather see us go through life on our own and make the voluntary choice to accept him," but then that goes back to him already knowing what would happen.
i resent this so much, i in fact HATE it along with all religious beliefs. I mean really, that had to hurt even if they gave me pk's. God damn them for that. So Glad someone mentioned this.
Just because God knows what will happen does not matter. What matters is that it actually HAPPENS. You know that if you drop a ball, it will bounce. Just because you know that it will bounce does not mean its meaningless to bounce a ball.
Why anyone reads a bible/quaran/torah and takes it literally rather than metaphorically is beyond me. Why can't the "Jefferson" bible be enough? Do we really need the stories of magic/miracles to keep us interested/faithful? A good christian IMO, reads the bible as if it's the Jefferson version, and understands the devil as a metaphor for the inherent evil in all humans that stems from our lower reptilian brain(serpent). I'm not even christian and can see a wonderful "echo" of god in the bible that most Christians don't see because of them being so invested into it for so many years which has caused a tunnel-vision. If you are too literal in your interpretation of any "holy scripture", then I'm sorry, but your a fucking idiot.
I'm having a hard time understanding what any of you are talking about. The universe appears to be slowly decaying and heading toward a thermal heat death which they call maximum entropy. We can only surmise what dimension, frequency or what reality man lived in before the fall of man. Perhaps not this one exactly but no one knows for sure. Scripture says that just after the sanctification of the 7th day God proclaimed... there was not a man to till the ground. Gen 2:5 Then God creates man out of the ground. And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul. Gen 2:7 Out of the ground comes life, good things and knowledge of evil things And out of the ground made the LORD God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil. Gen 2:9 God had commanded man to listen to him only but man broke that commandment by listening to the woman who had listened to the serpent that lied. Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife... cursed is the ground for thy sake; Gen 3:17 Then God sent man out to till the ground; as if this was his plan all along. Therefore the LORD God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken. Gen 3:23 I think that there is much more here than meets the eye. The message being conveyed is that man should listen only to God. When man fails to listen to God and follows anyone else then man is condemning himself. Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man. Ecc 12:13 There are millions of lies but only one truth therefore good is greater than evil and light greater than dark. The truth is the truth even if no one believes it and a lie is a lie even if everyone believes it. Many falsely believe that God's word is a counterfeit of the ancient occult but actually it is the other way around. Perhaps God sent his only begotten son Yeshua to be the one and only sacrifice for many just as many would become an unholy sacrifice for a few. Yeshua is of the Father and will listen only to the Father because only his heart is pure. Others are still following the old lie of the serpent from the garden and seeking their own path or 'way' to immortality. I speak that which I have seen with my Father: and ye do that which ye have seen with your father. Jhn 8:38 The serpent represents a tangible evil. Although not an equal force to good it is opposed to all that is good. It is a lie that seeks to overcome the truth. This is your answer right here Op: Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it. Jhn 8:44 What were the lusts of their father who lies? Lucifer's five point plan from Isa 14:12-14 How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations! For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north: I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High. Yeshua was speaking to none other than the ancient keepers of the Kabbalah, the occult, illuminaists who stand with their backs to temple of the Lord and worship the sun towards the east. In other words they follow Lucifer and not YHWH the Father. They seek to demote God and promote themselves above God. They seek to grant themselves immortality by mystically, metaphysically, alchemically and scientifically guiding man's "evolution". Is this not what the kabbalah teaches? Is this not what the New Age Movement teaches? Is this not what the occult secret societies and the Illuminati believe? Absolutely it is!!! Illumination, the third eye; a"new dawn" for mankind is what the 2012 "transformation" propaganda and the New World Order is all about. Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Yeshua (Jesus). Rev 14:12 I doubt that Almighty God is so concerned with your smoking habits as he is your love of the truth and your willingness to follow God's word only. And Yeshua (Jesus) said, Are ye also yet without understanding? Do not ye yet understand, that whatsoever entereth in at the mouth goeth into the belly, and is cast out into the draught? But those things which proceed out of the mouth come forth from the heart; and they defile the man. For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies: These are the things which defile a man: but to eat with unwashen hands defileth not a man. Mat 15:16-20 The father of lies and those who follow him will do all these things in order to bring about the kingdom of anti-christ on earth; other wise known as the New World Order. The ends justify the means. Revelation 9:11 (Nine Eleven) Apollyon My number is 11, as all their numbers who are of us. Aleister Crowley, Book of the Law 911 was a ritual human sacrifice to Satan 911 from an occult perspective; be ye therefore as wise as serpents [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DLzEOp2ndW8"]Appledoor the 911 ritual pt 1 of 32..wmv - YouTube[/ame] [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q7gSuwqXxBU"]Appledoor the 911 ritual pt 2 of 32..wmv - YouTube[/ame] [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=asyfxUVUeMw"]Appledoor the 911 ritual pt 3 of 32..wmv - YouTube[/ame]
I don't really understand how the devil is a scapegoat.. God created truths, and the two bodies of good and evil. Everything of God is good, everything that is not of God is evil, so is it not the devil that is the scapegoat, but the actual evil itself? And a side note, according to the logic and truths created by this god, good and evil are opposites, and without each other are meaningless. So respect, loyalty, and faithfulness to God would be absolutely meaningless in a universe lacking good/evil
I agree. Hosea 6:6 "For I delight in loyalty rather than sacrifice, And in the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings."
In the context of the Bible and Judeo-Christian faith, I view the 'devil'...and references of that nature... as the absorption of ego/Self. Jesus' teachings are supposed to teach how to overcome the Self....and look outward to help others. The Bible is metaphor and allegory on an individual personal level...to me...lol. More power to teh Jesus...and God bless Himself.