Jesus

[BigElCat]

Originally Posted by donquixote99

Why does god care so much what people believe?

I know why priests care, but why would it be the very biggest deal to god?

'Why' is a philosophical question.

Why does anything exist, rather than nothing at all ?

Why you, why me, why anything ?

The first commandment; Thou shall have no gods before me, for I am a jealous God.

And yet, it's a sin for people to be jealous of anything. Seems not fair.

Why would God be jealous ? Who could possibly know what God thinks, or how God thinks ?

[Not Insane]

Originally Posted by donquixote99

Why does god care so much what people believe?

I know why priests care, but why would it be the very biggest deal to god?

Without getting down a huge rabbit trail, I consider this life to be like a test and boot camp.

I also compare it to a "life simulation" video game. Our bodies are what the bible calls the "natural man". Our spiritual man is inserted into it (at belief) and is instructed to subdue it. We occupy the body in the same way a person may occupy a "self driving" car.

Which brings up the other aspect. A natural man without a spiritual person in it is an NPC. I was an NPC before I became a follower of Christ.

And I don't believe in "hell and suffering" for the lost. I think that they simply die. The natural man NPC body, that is. But the believers live on in the "real world".

This life is like a life in the womb, and death is the journey down the birth canal into the "real world". And as with the analogy, the real world is a much better and more fulfilling place than the world we occupy before death.

But none of that is "scripture". It's me trying to explain it with analogies. Nobody knows until they experience it.

[Not Insane]

Originally Posted by BigElCat

'Why' is a philosophical question.

Why does anything exist, rather than nothing at all ?

Why you, why me, why anything ?

The first commandment; Thou shall have no gods, before me, for I am a jealous God.

And yet, it's a sin for people to be jealous of anything. Seems not fair.

Why would God be jealous ? Who could possibly know what God thinks, or how God thinks ?

This is why I value Christianity over science. Science is good. It's cool, interesting and brings many positive benefits. It tells us how things work so we can manipulate the world in which we live.

But all that is pointless until one can figure out WHY we exist. That is where Christianity comes in. And "why" is a higher pursuit than "how".

[BigElCat]

Originally Posted by Pio1980

The doctrine of salvation looks like a con to me, of little practical value if it conveys a blanket forgiveness without practical redemption for the harm caused. A con in the sense that a sale based on a cosmic need that cannot be proven other than by taking someone's word without practical verification.
Ethical altruism as the Christian example has a meaningful demonstrable practical purpose in the here and now. Cosmic promises of pie in the sky by and by, not so much. Too many Christians in prison for violent crimes for the dogma to be proven an effective deterrent to abhorrent behavior.

It does look like a con.

Be submissive to everything. Slavery is a fact of life, be a good slave.

But the people that wrote the con did not gain anything from it. Actually, they were tortured and killed. They wrote it so some future phony preachers could be rich ? I don't think so.

[donquixote99]

Originally Posted by BigElCat

'Why' is a philosophical question.

Why does anything exist, rather than nothing at all ?

Why you, why me, why anything ?

The first commandment; Thou shall have no gods before me, for I am a jealous God.

And yet, it's a sin for people to be jealous of anything. Seems not fair.

Why would God be jealous ? Who could possibly know what God thinks, or how God thinks ?

The 'why' question goes to credibility. Having no direct evidence for the claim that god cares most about belief, we must try to assess if the claim makes sense.

[donquixote99]

Originally Posted by Not Insane

Without getting down a huge rabbit trail, I consider this life to be like a test and boot camp.

I also compare it to a "life simulation" video game. Our bodies are what the bible calls the "natural man". Our spiritual man is inserted into it (at belief) and is instructed to subdue it. We occupy the body in the same way a person may occupy a "self driving" car.

Which brings up the other aspect. A natural man without a spiritual person in it is an NPC. I was an NPC before I became a follower of Christ.

And I don't believe in "hell and suffering" for the lost. I think that they simply die. The natural man NPC body, that is. But the believers live on in the "real world".

This life is like a life in the womb, and death is the journey down the birth canal into the "real world". And as with the analogy, the real world is a much better and more fulfilling place than the world we occupy before death.

But none of that is "scripture". It's me trying to explain it with analogies. Nobody knows until they experience it.

Non-scriptural. It is of course possible to make up amendments to orthodox christianity, that cause it to make somewhat more sense. But other belief, or lack of belief, may make even more sense.

[BigElCat]

Originally Posted by Not Insane

And I don't believe in "hell and suffering" for the lost. I think that they simply die.

Jesus said they would be cast into Gehenna, a buring pit, where they would weep and gnash their teeth for all eternity.

Some kind of body would be necessary for that. It's going to hurt.

I guess you were converted by a Jehovah's Witness perhaps.

There are two deaths a human can experience according to the Bible; the white death (in which they die to sin) and the final death in which they wait for resurrection. The unsaved are given a body, and thrown into Gehenna.

[BigElCat]

Originally Posted by donquixote99

The 'why' question goes to credibility. Having no direct evidence for the claim that god cares most about belief, we must try to assess if the claim makes sense.

The claim makes perfect sense. 'Don't believe in the other bullshit, I AM. I AM God'.

The direct evidence was destroyed when Moses threw down the stone table.

The Bible doesn't say what happened to the fragments of the table.

You could say the Bible isn't credible, because the story is too goofy. The authors are virtually unknown.

But God's claim as the only God has credibility in the context of the 'story'.

[BigElCat]

Originally Posted by Pio1980

Matthew 7:16, "By their fruits----".
If it wasn't for living examples like Jimmy Carter, the elevation of a vicious troll to the presidency would move me that the whole thing is self-serving bullshit.
https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/ar...-lost/613999/y

Trump being President is further proof to you that God does not exist.

OK

God, as I understand him, does not rule this world.

Jimmy would have won re-election in 1980, if the hostages had been released. Remember our anticipation in the media ? The release had been negotiated by Jimmy's State Department, they were coming home any day.

Any day now. Three months passed.

Because CIA director George H W Bush had under-cut the State Department, negotiated a delay. People say this is a conspiracy theory, and you have to research it deep. About nine credible people say it happened.

And the Neo-Cons were born.

[Chicks]

Originally Posted by BigElCat

The claim makes perfect sense. 'Don't believe in the other bullshit, I AM. I AM God'.

The direct evidence was destroyed when Moses threw down the stone table.

The Bible doesn't say what happened to the fragments of the table.

You could say the Bible isn't credible, because the story is too goofy. The authors are virtually unknown.

But God's claim as the only God has credibility in the context of the 'story'.

Moses and the Qur’an

Here’s an interesting trivia question that hardly anyone gets right: What person is mentioned by name the most times in the Qur’an? If you guessed Muhammad you’d be wrong, because he’s referred to by name only four times in the approximately 6,300 verses of Islam’s sacred text. The correct answer is Moses, who is named a remarkable 115 times. More narrative is devoted to him than to any other person, biblical or not. That fact takes many non-Muslims by surprise...

Oh, Moses figures heavily in the Jewish bible, too. So, your response justifies Islam and Judaism. Good job!