Part 38 of Post Your Tough Questions Regarding Christianity

Luke 10:18 is too funny! An unknown writer puts dialogue in a fictional character's mouth about what he saw an imaginary character did. Cinderella is missing her slipper.

 

Well yes indeed they all fled out of fear for their own lives a common/natural/instinctive human response/reaction when facing a perilous situation regarding one's own well-being. Scripture prophesied this would happen in the Old Testament which was about 480 years before Our Lord Savior Jesus Christ came into the world...."the sheep will be scattered."

We Read in Scripture:

The Scattering of the Sheep

7 “Awake, O sword, against my shepherd, the man who is my partner,” says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies. “Strike down the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered, and I will turn against the lambs. Zechariah 13:7 NLT

And so of course Our Lord Savior Jesus Christ knew beforehand this would happen...they would all desert Him, He even told them He would be raised from the dead and go ahead to Galilee to meet them there. He knew that Peter would deny Him 3 times before the rooster crowed (all of this displaying His omniscience). Peter declared even if everyone deserted the Lord he would never desert Him.

We Read in Scripture:

Jesus Predicts Peter’s Denial

31 On the way, Jesus told them, “Tonight all of you will desert me. For the Scriptures say,‘ God will strike the Shepherd, and the sheep of the flock will be scattered.’ 32 But after I have been raised from the dead, I will go ahead of you to Galilee and meet you there.” 33 Peter declared, “Even if everyone else deserts you, I will never desert you.”34 Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth, Peter—this very night, before the rooster crows, you will deny three times that you even know me.” 35 “No!” Peter insisted. “Even if I have to die with you, I will never deny you!” And all the other disciples vowed the same. Matthew 26:31-35 NLT

Peter Denies Jesus

69 Meanwhile, Peter was sitting outside in the courtyard. A servant girl came over and said to him, “You were one of those with Jesus the Galilean.”70 But Peter denied it in front of everyone. “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he said. 71 Later, out by the gate, another servant girl noticed him and said to those standing around, “This man was with Jesus of Nazareth.” 72 Again Peter denied it, this time with an oath. “I don’t even know the man,” he said. 73 A little later some of the other bystanders came over to Peter and said, “You must be one of them; we can tell by your Galilean accent.” 74 Peter swore, “A curse on me if I’m lying—I don’t know the man!” And immediately the rooster crowed. 75 Suddenly, Jesus’ words flashed through Peter’s mind: “Before the rooster crows, you will deny three times that you even know me.” And he went away, weeping bitterly. Matthew 26:69-75 NLT

 

DairyAir. You been to a dairy and smelled the air?...lol

I thought that was hilarious when I first saw Poohbear ask you that question on this thread a while back exactly as I've written it here...and it is still hilarious now...lol

Ok enough with the laughter, now down to serious business. I honestly believe the Christian religion above all others is the right religion to believe in...well it is for me anyway.

Aside from the biblical arguments for God's existence we also have logical arguments which consists of ontological, teleological, cosmological, and moral arguments.

But what is so compelling, so convincing to me of why the Christian religion is the right religion above all is because of the story about the birth, the life, the teachings from His ministry, the miracles He performed, the death by crucifixion and the resurrection of Our Lord Savior Jesus Christ.

There is no one else like Him. Can you name anyone that could top Him?...there really isn't anyone I can come up with.

Buddha, Mohammed, Confucius, and others never claimed to be God, they never resurrected from the dead, their bones lie dormant in the ground somewhere.

But Our Lord Savior Jesus Christ resurrected from the dead. The Four Gospels of the New Testament are all based on eye-witness accounts depicting the whole story of Our Lord Savior Jesus Christ.

How can anyone be/go wrong in having faith in Our Lord Savior Jesus Christ?...they just can't. He told us in order to be saved you must accept Him as Savior. It was an easy decision for me to make after I examined and evaluated everything that's out there in this world.

So dairy I am very comfortable where I'm situated on the faith totem pole. Have you ever considered returning to the religion you abandoned a while back? I don't believe if you told us why you left the Christian religion but something happened I suppose for you to abandon the religion.

But anyway let me leave you with a few heavy duty quotes from Our Lord Savior Jesus Christ!

We Read in Scripture:

Our Lord Savior Jesus Christ said,

"For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve others and to give His life as a ransom for many." Mark 10:45 NLT

16 "For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life." John 3:16 NLT

25 Jesus told her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Anyone who believes in me will live, even after dying. 26 Everyone who lives in me and believes in me will never ever die. Do you believe this, Martha?” John 11:25-26 NLT

6 Jesus told him, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me." John 14:6

48 "But all who reject me and my message will be judged on the day of judgment by the truth I have spoken." John 12:48 NLT

26 Eight days later the disciples were together again, and this time Thomas was with them. The doors were locked; but suddenly, as before, Jesus was standing among them. “Peace be with you,” he said. 27 Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here, and look at my hands. Put your hand into the wound in my side. Don’t be faithless any longer. Believe!” 28 “My Lord and my God!” Thomas exclaimed. 29 Then Jesus told him, “You believe because you have seen me. Blessed are those who believe without seeing me.” John 20:26-29 NLT

The Narrow Gate

Our Lord Savior Jesus Christ said, "You can enter God's Kingdom only through the narrow gate. The highway to hell is broad, and its gate is wide for the many who choose that way. But the gateway to life is very narrow and the road is difficult, and only a few ever find it." ---Matthew 7:13-14 NLT

 

It was stupid for the Apostles to be wimps when they could have easily called fire down from heaven to destroy their enemies. Elijah did that trick all the time.

 

I always thought it would have been cool for "The Supreme One" - one of my favorite epithets. and sorry for the immediate digression .. but this is important - to come down from the Cross and hurl an few bolts at the Romans.. Even Satan has that much power - as per Job - .. didn't take the real mighty stuff of "The Supreme One" .

Would that not have made far more an impact .. followed by "This is my code of ethics for this planet - and you are the experimental subjects - so follow this - or be punished" .. simple .. right ?

What ? - you say God has a different experiment in mind .. OK - then what ever the rules for that .. just post them - if that were indeed the "Supreme One" hanging there .. who - in some kind of masochistic delirium - forgets that he is "The Supreme one" .. and starts calling out to some other God.. claiming this God had forsaken him .. perhaps tricked the Supreme one in some way -- and he ended up in some wretched state. .. but this turns the Supreme one into something not so Supreme .. and we do not want to do that do we.

So clearly that can not be the Supreme One hanging there.

And now for the promised digression - the epithet I have been using - is one found in the Bible - if you look at a more exact translation ..

Such as in Psalm 82 https://www.scripture4all.org/OnlineInterlinear/OTpdf/psa82.pdf

So verse 6 says - "I have said, Ye [are] gods; and all of you [are] children of the most High" .

Who is Speaking here ? - YHWH is speaking. .

Who is he speaking to ? - Other Gods .. is right there in the Good book Mate .. YHWH has kin .. and in fact the Bible is the story of YHWH's struggle with those Kin .. and every other town - as it was towns fighting each other had their YHWH - just by a different name.. these other Gods YHWH is referring to.

The end of the Psalm - Story - has YHWH Triumph over these other Sons of God - and in fact condemns them to death - because the hero always wins .. and YHWH is the hero of this story .. the other Son's being the hero's of the other city's story ..

but hold on... who is "The Most High" rendered "The Supreme One" as directly translated from Hebrew -

YHWH is not saying these are his Children - but Children of "The Supreme One" - OK .. well "WHO is THAT" for goodness sakes ??

We are told who this is in the first line .. EL - Enlil - Chief God of the Sumerian Pantheon .. the "Father" "Creator" "Most High" "Supreme One"

And everyone knows who this is .. and in particular the term Divine Council .. or "Council of EL" rendered congregation of EL from this Hebrew Translation.

by everyone .. I mean everyone in the near East at the time of Abraham - for centuries before Abraham - and for millennia after. Everyone knows what the council of EL is. OH and there is no debate over the use of the Proper Name in this instance .. vs El as the title of Lord - El Shaddai - "Lord of the Mountain" .. No No .. this is El .. one of about 4 or 5 times the Proper Name is Given.

It is not a coincidence that the Encyclopedia Britannica gives the identity of the God of Abraham as "EL"

So who is YHWH in this Story ? YHWH Is Son of EL - who ends up defeating the other Gods .. and then later usurps the position of his Father .. kind of like what Jesus did .. except YHWH was the Son of 2 Gods .. where Jesus was the Son of Man - Son of God-and Human.

"and now you know - The Rest of the Story" .. hope you have heard of Paul Harvey

 

Sorry amigo but nothing has been proven one way or the other. Nobody has yet put a rubber stamp on the age of the earth, sure we have theoretical assumptions/speculations/explanations but these can't be classified as factual, conclusive, and so debates linger on.

Also let me point out to you the Bible does not explicitly tell us the age of the earth because Scripture doesn't address it at all.

Relying on science to answer scientific questions is fine, but science cannot be treated as infallible. And so in the end, the chronological age of the earth cannot be proven.

Conclusion: Nothing has been proven amigo! And so who knows the exact age of the earth?...answer...only God knows, after all He created the heavens and the earth.

We Read in Scripture:

The Account of Creation

1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. 2 The earth was formless and empty, and darkness covered the deep waters. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the surface of the waters. Genesis 1:1-2 NLT

 

Mitt - can you address the "Tough Question" in post 1005 .. por favor . Who is the "Supreme One" ?

and was it the "Most High" aka "Supreme one" hanging on the Cross.

 

Anti-science creationist drivel.

 

So.... I restate my question for Christianity:

Why does God limit himself to ancient written text rather than simply have us all know what he wants us to know? Does he intend the confusion and conflict from different interpretations of the Bible?

And how can you call it Judgment if people act without knowing what God wants of them or even if God exists? Would it not only be free will to obey or reject God if you first understand and believe there is a God to accept or rebel against? Where is the free will in passing judgment without the judgef knowing there was any such choice?

 

Can someone truly decline accepting Jesus into their heart if they don't believe he exists? Was there any choice at all?

 

Obviously you are having trouble interpreting the Bible but that's not surprising because the Bible is not an easy book to comprehend/interpret correctly, especially for non-theist but even for some theist, they are also not immune to interpretation impaired issues. I myself have made interpretation errors in the past but have corrected them through diligent Bible studying, researching, asking questions, etc...etc.

I have many times before on these threads say, "The Bible is not a book for the interpretation impaired."

Ok now Gift let me start by first saying Christians believe in the Triune/Trinity Christian God, which consists of The Father, The Son, The Holy Spirit.
God is not three entities, nor three beings. God is a trinity of persons consisting of one substance and one essence. God is numerically one. Yet, within the single divine essence are three individual subsistence that we call persons. Now let me bring up the first part of your post #1005 below.

So you believe you know better than God? That He should have come down from the cross and hurl a few bolts at the Romans...and save Himself from crucifixion...that is so ridiculous Gift!...I am stifled...speechless...lost for words!

Ok, I'm alright now...whoa! Gift sometimes you just kill me...lol Well it's so obvious, you just don't understand why Our Lord Savior had to die on the cross. You claimed to be a Christian but why are you not understanding what Our Lord Savior Jesus Christ represented?

Let me explain God's plan, the Divine Plan, the plan that only God could devise to save us. Through the Bible, God makes it clear that He loves us and has a plan to save us from the destructive power of sin.

His only begotten Son, Our Lord Savior Jesus Christ was prophesied in the Old Testament to be the Messiah who would come into the world to save it, so that we could be made right in the sight of God. He would bridge the gap between mankind and God once and for all.

Our Lord Savior Jesus Christ sacrificed Himself by shedding His innocent sinless blood on the cross. He was made sin, to be our sin so that whoever believes in the sacrifice He made on our behalf would be saved and not be punished for the sins we have committed. All who are saved spend eternity with God in His Heavenly Kingdom. A place where He will wipe every tear from our eyes, a place where there will be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain. All those things will be gone forever.

We Read in Scripture:

6 He gave his life to purchase freedom for everyone. This is the message God gave to the world at just the right time. 1 Timothy 2:6 NLT

21 For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ. 2 Corinthians 5:21 NLT

3 I heard a loud shout from the throne, saying, “Look, God’s home is now among his people! He will live with them, and they will be his people. God himself will be with them. 4 He will wipe every tear from their eyes, and there will be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain. All these things are gone forever.” Revelation 21:3-4 NLT

Continuing on, so that was God's Divine Plan, Our Lord Savior Jesus Christ had to die on the cross in order for us to be saved by Him. If He did what you've suggested and saved Himself, then we wouldn't have a Savior and we'd all end up going to hell as punishment for our sins.

That's the difference between a Divine Plan...a great plan!...where believers are saved...compared to a not so bright plan...your plan...where we would all end up in hell.

Now to your 2nd part of your post below.

This is another good spot to point out your misinterpretation of Scripture. When Our Lord Savior Jesus Christ cried out on the cross "why have you forsaken me" He was not in some kind of masochistic delirium...forgetting that He is "The Supreme One" and started calling out to some other God...No!...No!...Gift! You misinterpreted the whole thing.

In the Old Testament there are a lot of prophecies pertaining to Our Lord Savior Jesus Christ. I mentioned a few of them on Post #1002 of this page. Below is another from the prophet Isaiah. It is prophecy in motion here, describing what Our Lord Savior Jesus Christ will go through at a future time.

We Read in Scripture:

4 Yet it was our weaknesses he carried; it was our sorrows that weighed him down. And we thought his troubles were a punishment from God, a punishment for his own sins! 5 But he was pierced for our rebellion, crushed for our sins. He was beaten so we could be whole. He was whipped so we could be healed. Isaiah 53:4-5 NLT

Now let me bring up Scripture where Our Lord Savior Jesus Christ is crying out while He is slowly dying on the cross.

We Read in Scripture:

Our Lord Savior Jesus Christ said,

The Death of Jesus

45 Now from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land until the ninth hour. 46 And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” that is, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” Matthew 27:45-46 ESV

This cry is a fulfillment of Psalm 22:1, it wasn't that God had forsaken Him. It could be that Our Lord Savior Jesus Christ's intent in quoting Psalm 22:1 was to point His hearers to that Psalm.

If you read Psalm 22 in its entirety, you would no doubt see the many fulfilled prophecies included in that song of David.

So even while experiencing the agony of the cross, Our Lord Savior Jesus Christ was teaching the crowds and proving yet again that He was the Messiah who fulfilled the Scriptures.

Below is Psalm 22:1, I am putting up just the 1st verse...the cry.

We Read in Scripture:

22 My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, from the words of my groaning? Psalm 22:1 ESV

So go ahead on your own and read Psalm 22 in its entirety to see the many fulfilled prophecies. It's pretty long so I'm not going to show it here, just showing you the 1st verse of that Psalm.

I will end here but later will respond to that 3rd part in your post so do standby Gift ol boy!

 

This was such a pile of nonsense which completely avoided responding to the majority of tough questions . The one question you did try to tackle .. you spend most of the time crying "misinterpretation" but do not say what was misinterpreted.

"My God , My God , Why have you Forsaken me" - a passage so troublesome that the authors of the later Gospels -Luke/John - edit these these last words of Jesus out of the text.

The 2 questions you failed to address are

1) who is the God that Jesus is referring to as "My God" ?
2) how has this God forsaken Jesus ?

You respond by quoting a passage from Psalm 22 claiming Jesus is fulfilling prophecy - but this does not answer either question.

You Quote the OT - Psalm 22 - where a man is crying out that his God has forsaken him - the same as what Jesus says.

Where is the "misinterpretation" here ? In Psalms we know who "My God" is referring to - Lord YHWH - El YHWH.

1) Your response indirectly answers the question - although you did not realize it. Jesus is crying out to the same God as in the man in Psalms. El YHWH.

How is this a "misinterpretation" ? This is you crying "Misinterpretation" to avoid addressing this tough question .. but you can not manage to say what that misinterpretation actually is.

In the text - Jesus cries out to his God. You want to claim "Jesus is not crying out to his God" .. and point to scripture where a man is crying out to his God ..

So answer the question - who is this God that Jesus is crying out to - as this is not the only instance of Jesus talking to or about this God .. aka "The Father" .. as in "Our Father - who art in Heaven"

Jesus is not talking about himself - as you desperately wish to claim .. Jesus is talking about "The Father" .. who is located not on earth - as Jesus is .. but in Heaven.

It turns out that you are the one who misinterpreting scripture - and deliberately so - ignoring all evidence to the contrary - including a complete inability to explain the text as written.

So try again - Who is the God being referred to - if other than El YHWH ? in Psalm 22 and Jesus last words in Mark "My God"

and 2) how has this God forsaken Jesus.

 

So does Jesus become an atheist on the cross, is he denouncing god?

 

This is why it is a tough question - Why two later authors of Luke/John - omit and/or alter the last words of Jesus - as Christianity has evolved - and with it the divinity of Jesus - and the text no longer fits in with dogma.

Jesus has clearly not become an atheist though - obviously he believes in God - not only does he believe in God - he believes that this God has forsaken him.

Which begs the question - what did Jesus expect would happen ?

If you and I have a deal - and you forsake /back out of the deal - don't come through on your side of the deal - what does this mean - "You broke the deal"

So what was the deal that Jesus had previously - or that Jesus thought he had .. did Jesus think at the last moment God would rescue him from that which Jesus had previously asked to be rescued ? praying "Take this cup from my hand" but then putting his trust in God's Judgement .. "Let not my will be done but yours"

Mark 14:36 - Jesus is praying to his God - “Abba, Father,” he said, “everything is possible for you. Take this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will"

It is easy to understand why the early Church Fathers believed that Jesus was "Subordinate" to the Father.

but I digress. Clearly the story Jesus does not want to hang on a cross - but - he puts his faith in God. Unfortunately - God lets him down.

Is that not the story ? Sorry but that is the story. Jesus does not want to be strung up on a cross - asks God to not let this happen - however leaving the decision to God - Let your will be done - not mine.

When God does not save Jesus from the terrible fate - Jesus cries out "My God - why have you forsaken me".

There is little that is complicated in the story itself. What is Complicated .. is trying to reconcile the story - with modern Doctrine/Dogma

 

It's rather obvious that although you claim you're a Christian, in my view, you're not. You have to be in some kind of cult...believing in all these Gods...there aren't all these Gods but just one God in the Christian faith which is The Christian Triune God, The Father, The Son, The Holy Spirit.

Now you referred to Psalm 82, and you asked, "Who is speaking here?" (referring to verse 6 of Psalm 82)...you answered..."YHWH"

Written out properly it is Yahweh which is the Hebrew name for God.

Well Yahweh (God) is still the Christian God, The Father, The Son, The Holy Spirit. Or if you like, call Him "The Most High", "The Supreme One" no matter what you call Him, He is still The Christian God.

Then you asked, "Who is he speaking to ?"...you answered - "Other Gods" Well since He was speaking to the angels who are created beings with special powers that He has given them, then it would be more proper to refer to them as "gods" and not "Gods"

The angels were created by God therefore they are not Gods, since they were created by God that means they are not eternal like God is. God has no beginning, has no end that is why He is referred to as the Eternal One. Angels had a beginning, when God created them, so again they are not "Gods"....understand?...is it sinking in?...prolly not...lol

But I suppose if you want to refer to them as Gods then use a small "g" and refer to them as "gods". Since Almighty God The Creator as I have already said gave them special powers then I suppose you could refer to them as "gods".

You go on to further say, "YHWH has kin .. and in fact the Bible is the story of YHWH's struggle with those Kin .. and every other town - as it was towns fighting each other had their YHWH - just by a different name.. these other Gods YHWH is referring to."

So God has kin...you say. Does He have a mother?...Grandfather?...Grandmother? ..brothers and sisters too? So ridiculous what you're spewing out...lol
Well I guess I'm done here. Now please I beg of you to give me another one of your nonsensical responses so I can just shake my head back and forth until I get crazily dizzy and pass out...lol

 

You are the one responding with nonsense - making false accusations - so you have something to attack - and avoiding the content of scripture because you can't handle the Truth.

This is not about me - this is about what the text says .. so quite demonizing the messenger because you have no ability to deal with the message.

The text is as follows -
"I have said, Ye [are] gods (Elohim) ; and all of you [are] children of the most High (sons of the Supreme one)" .

YHWH is speaking here - you got about that far and then your brain went into avoidance mode.

Those he is speaking to are not Angels - or Men - but Gods "Elohim" - Sons of the Supreme one.

And the "Supreme one" being referred to is not YHWH obviously.

YHWH does not say " These are my sons .. he says these are "Son's of the Supreme one"

The identity of the Supreme one is EL .. and this is all happening in the "Council of El " / Congregation of EL .. and everyone knows what the council of El is - in the entire Near east.

 

Got a real good tough question for you - yet another that you will not be able to answer.

What was the name of the God of Abraham .. ?

 

There you go again using that dreaded "p" word. Again nothing has been proven one way or the other. There are many who theorize that there is enough water. But again as I've said many times before, theories are not factual, not conclusive, they are inconclusive. And so the debate goes on, no side has claimed victory...well it appears some premature false victories have been claimed...lol

So to use words such as "absolutely", "undeniably", and the dreaded "p" word "proven" to say that there is not enough water on this planet to cover the land masses is just absolutely, undeniably proof of intellectual dishonesty.

And so the pom pom girls are still on the side lines waiting patiently for a winner but I know they will never have a chance to perform any victory dances. There are just some things that can never be proven/disproven...that's just a fact of life. We humans do not have insight into 100% of all knowledge. I can say with great confidence that statement is a fact...jack!

But since I have faith and trust in Almighty God The Creator, I believe His true tale regarding the Great Flood of Noah and so I do believe there is enough water on this planet to cover the land masses.

Scripture tells us that God raised the mountains and valleys sank to the levels He decreed that's how all the water got drained off the land. If He were to lower the mountains and raise the valleys like how it was during the time of Noah then it would be logical to conclude that the water would cover all the land masses again.

We Read in Scripture:

5 You placed the world on its foundation so it would never be moved. 6 You clothed the earth with floods of water, water that covered even the mountains. 7 At your command, the water fled; at the sound of your thunder, it hurried away. 8 Mountains rose and valleys sank to the levels you decreed. 9 Then you set a firm boundary for the seas, so they would never again cover the earth. Psalm 104:5-9 NLT

But we need not worry about a world wide flood again because God gave us His Word it will not ever happen again (verse 9 of Psalm 104).

Sure we have these localized floods here and there but never again on a scale of a world-wide flood such as the Great Flood of Noah.

God told us He gave us a sign of His covenant with us and with all living creatures for generations to come and that He placed His rainbow in the clouds as the sign of His covenant with us and with all the earth. When He sends clouds over the earth, the rainbow will appear in the clouds and He will remember His covenant with us and with all living creatures that never again will the floodwaters destroy all life.

We Read in Scripture:

12 Then God said, “I am giving you a sign of my covenant with you and with all living creatures, for all generations to come. 13 I have placed my rainbow in the clouds. It is the sign of my covenant with you and with all the earth. 14 When I send clouds over the earth, the rainbow will appear in the clouds, 15 and I will remember my covenant with you and with all living creatures. Never again will the floodwaters destroy all life. 16 When I see the rainbow in the clouds, I will remember the eternal covenant between God and every living creature on earth.” 17 Then God said to Noah, “Yes, this rainbow is the sign of the covenant I am confirming with all the creatures on earth.” Genesis 9:12-17 NLT

Has mankind seen a flood such as the Great Flood of Noah since the Great Flood of Noah?...answer...no we haven't!

See, God has kept His Word for thousands upon thousands of years since the Great Flood of Noah. His Word is Golden, not like some of us human beings, I mean some of us can't even keep our word for more than a minute!...Lol!

We Read in Scripture:

19 God is not a man, so he does not lie. He is not human, so he does not change his mind. Has he ever spoken and failed to act?
Has he ever promised and not carried it through? Numbers 23:19 NLT

 

Of course there was a choice. It really boils down to, do you want there to be a God (Jesus) or no? I have accepted Our Lord Savior Jesus Christ because basically I have faith and trust in what's written in the Holy Bible, as Christians we believe the Holy Bible to be the Word of God and so I want there to be a God (Jesus). I'm also not blind and so I do see evidence all around us that clearly makes the existence of God plausible/reasonable.

You on the other hand haven't accepted Jesus Christ as your Lord Savior because basically you have no faith nor any trust in what's written in the Holy Bible and so you don't want there to be a God (Jesus).

So both of us made choices, based on our faith, I have faith in Our Lord Savior Jesus Christ, whereas you have no faith in Him whatsoever.

God wants us to come to Him through faith. He is not going to prove Himself to the masses by every so often aligning the stars in the night sky to spell out, "I am".

But He has given us lots of evidence for His existence, if you can't see it then it could be you don't want to acknowledge it, don't want to see it because deep down you don't want Him to exist.

So the choice you made as of now is to not accept Him.... so be it. Can anyone make you change your mind?...I doubt it, you have to do it yourself or do nothing at all and remain an unbeliever your entire life till the day you perish.

 

If I command a soldier by speaking into my coat and he never actually hears me, then I don't think I can justly reprimand him for not following my orders. Especially if he doesn't even know I exist.

If I have a computer program on a disc, but never put it in the disc drive and load it onto the computer, I don't think it is broken for not running the program.

An all powerful being COULD make us all know it exists. That she hasn't done so, that it requires "faith" and that it communicates through written word, with all the limitations of that medium, tells me very clearly that either this being wishes to not be clearly understood by all, or that there is no such being.

What if I do want there to be a God? That won't make it so. And I personally lack the superpower of self-delusion to be able to make myself believe something I don't. It is beyond my control what I believe to be true.

That's not a choice I made. You actually chose to believe? Simply by chosing to? Can you make yourself believe you are an elephant? Try it. Can you do it? I can't.

Why?

Why not? And he wouldn't have to. If God is all powerful, no such display would be needed. He would simply have the power to make us know what he wants us to know, and then we could actually be judged on how we act on this knowledge.

You've got very well meaning, and very faithful Jews, Muslims, and numerous conflicting types of Christians, all who must have gotten this God's message wrong if you got it right. Why does your God want this? The conflict, which has even spilled into holy wars, the hunting of heretics etc? Why does your God want that if he could so easily avoid it by having people know what he wants them to?

I made no choice.

 

He finally realized that he had been fooled all of his life.

 

It's already there written out so eloquently and precisely what He wants us to know. Nothing has changed and so those ancient written text are still valid and not outdated. God does not change His mind so essentially that means His ancient written text still stands.

So I suggest you start reading the Holy Bible to get some insight into what He has revealed to us that He wants us to know...again it's already there in the Holy Bible, a revelation to us from Him.

We Read in Scripture:

19 God is not a man, so he does not lie. He is not human, so he does not change his mind. Has he ever spoken and failed to act? Has he ever promised and not carried it through? Numbers 23:19 NLT

6 “I am the Lord, and I do not change. That is why you descendants of Jacob are not already destroyed. Malachi 3:6 NLT

God did not intend any confusion to arise in what He has revealed to us in His Best Selling Book Of All-Time, but of course when it comes to people confusion and disagreements always finds a way to infiltrate our finite minds.

But despite that each Christian denomination has its own distinctive beliefs or practices, they are all commonly considered branches of the same religion in which they agree on such fundamentals as the Holy Bible, the Trinity, and the teachings of the Nicene Creed.

It's already spelled out in the Holy Bible what He wants from us, basically one of the things He wants us to do is to obey His commandments that He has given us. I'm sure you've heard of the Ten Commandments...haven't you? Well you can start obeying those commandments. If you can at least do that you'll see a dramatic change/improvement in the quality of your life.

Even if you don't believe He exist, again if you follow those commandments you'll see the improvement.

So we are all held accountable for our own individual lives and will be judged accordingly by God. There is no judgment against anyone who believes in Him. But anyone who does not believe in Him has already been judged for not believing in God's one and only Son.

We Read in Scripture:

Our Lord Savior Jesus Christ said,

16 “For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. 17 God sent his Son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world through him.

18 “There is no judgment against anyone who believes in him. But anyone who does not believe in him has already been judged for not believing in God’s one and only Son. 19 And the judgment is based on this fact: God’s light came into the world, but people loved the darkness more than the light, for their actions were evil. 20 All who do evil hate the light and refuse to go near it for fear their sins will be exposed. 21 But those who do what is right come to the light so others can see that they are doing what God wants.” John 3:16-21 NLT

Free will is the ability He has given us to either choose to believe in Him or choose to not believe in Him. So the choice is yours to make, so you cannot deny that you do have that free will ability.

From the looks of things pertaining to you it looks like currently you have chosen not to believe in Him because you believe He doesn't exist at all. Well then so be it...you have made your free will choice.

Well aren't you being made aware that you do have the free will ability to make a choice?...the answer of course...is yes. Pardon me for answering my own question but hey it's just the truth and nothing but the truth.

 

There is no judgment against anyone who believes in him? Even if they reject and rebel against him?

And again, how can you judge somebody on a choice you never gave them?

I can not choose to believe your God exists. I can pretend to believe, but clearly God would see through that, right? Again, can you make yourself believe you are an elephant? No, I don't think you can. I can't make myself believe your God exists. That would take some pretty amazing self-delusion skills that I and many others imply do not have.

What choice?

A choice would be if God made us know he exists and then we could choose if we were to obey him or not. This judging people based on if they believe or not makes no sense at all.

If your God does not exist, but Allah does, and you are punished for not following Moahamed, was that your own bad choice?

 

First of all Almighty God The Creator is everyone's God, whether you like it or not. He created everything that exists. You, me, all the people on earth and the ones venturing out in space, the fish, the monkeys, the birds, the stars, the whales, the little ants, the huge elephants, the planets, our sun & moon...everything else that I can't list right now...lol....pretty awesome eh! That's why He is Almighty!

But you do have the gift of free will to believe that "nothing" created everything that exists, that everything just out of nowhere for no apparent reason just popped into existence by itself, that the universe just popped into existence by itself. All living beings just popped into existence by itself, the fish created itself, the monkeys created itself, the birds created itself, the stars created itself, the whales created itself, the little ants created itself, the huge elephants created itself, the planets created itself, our sun & moon created itself...everything else that I can't list right now created itself....pretty awesome eh!.. well yeah if it weren't so illogical.

Illogical because nothing can cause itself to come into existence.

Now getting to your Allah & Mohammed portion of your question. As far as I know the founder of the Islamic religion Mohammed has his bones lying dormant in the ground somewhere in the Middle East, while the founder of Christianity Our Lord Savior Jesus Christ lives on because He resurrected from the dead and will return one day to reign over this entire world to fix all the mess we sinful humans have created.

Mohammed and others never claimed to be God Almighty, they never resurrected from the dead but Our Lord Savior Jesus Christ did claim to be God Almighty, He proved it by resurrecting from the dead.

Now whose religion do you suppose is the right religion? This is not a trick question...the answer...the Christina religion of course!

Let me go on by saying, the Trinity is essential to the Christian faith. Without the Trinity, there would be no incarnation of God’s Son in the Person of Our Lord Savior Jesus Christ. Without Our Lord Savior Jesus Christ, there would be no salvation from sin. Without salvation, sin would condemn all to an eternal hell.

The biblical God alone addresses and solves the problem of sin by giving His Son, Our Lord Savior Jesus Christ.

We Read in Scripture:

Our Lord Savior Jesus Christ said,

"The Father and I are one."---John 10:30 NLT

Jesus answered, "I tell you the truth, before Abraham was even born, I am!" John 8:58 NLT

"For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve others and to give His life as a ransom for many." Mark 10:45 NLT

16 "For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life." John 3:16 NLT

6 Jesus told him, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me." John 14:6

 

You make a lot assumptions about what other people think. Why do you do that? I never said I knew how things came to be.

Of course you say that, because that's what you believe to be true. The Muslim fellow believes just as strongly that his religion is obviously true. The Hindu lady believes hers is. Apparently none of your Gods made you all know they exist and what they want from you, nevermind those of us who don't believe in any of your Gods.

And that brings us back to my question. Why would God (whoever it is; if there is one) not make us all know what he wants us to know instead of writing a Quran or Bible or Torah? Why wouldn't he communicate better than false religions do? And if he didn't make us know, then how can you say he doesn't intend all the disagreements, squabbles, and even holy wars that resulted?

I find the whole concept of inherited sin and vicarious redemption to be very problematic, but that's not the question I asked about here. I asked why God doesn't clearly communicate to us, so he can judge us based on what we do with that knowledge? It isn't a choice to obey or not if we don't know there is any order, or have the orders wrong.