I'm a Christian Open to Questions

[JT812]

I am a confessing believer in and follower of Jesus Christ and I believe the Bible is the inspired Word of God. I would really like to know what's your biggest questions/concerns/problems etc. with God, specifically the God of the Bible. I may not be able to answer everything you say or ask, but I would love to do what I can.

Some things you need to know:
1. I love to debate. If I seem like I'm getting heated it's not because I'm angry it's just because I get in a certain mode.  Please forgive me if I seem rude or angry.
2. If you're smart or sarcastic with me I'll probably be the same way back, not because I'm offended or angry, just because I love sarcasm. 
3. Please support your claims/views with either your logic or evidence. I can't refute or agree with claims which I don't understand or know why you've drawn them.

[Nick]

I don't believe that an imaginary sky daddy exist but if one did why does He hate amputees?

[ParkingPlaces]

My biggest question is not about your god but about how people can believe that stuff. Can't christians see that they are following a myth just the way the Dogon people of Africa and the hindu's of India and the new age pagans of today, and ancient greeks and romans with their plethora of gods. were or are following a myth? Can't you understand that each person who believes a myth is just like you, no matter which myth they believe.

Does your religion make you feel so good it must be true? Well so do other religions make other people feel good. Coincidence? I don't think so. Happy thoughts breed happy thoughts. But god stories don't breed gods.

Explain why your belief is so special.

[Azdgari]

Since you've directed discussion here:

If they were completely subjective across cultures, societies, and religions then they would just be morals. My argument is that there are morals that extend across all of humanity as a whole. A sense of right and wrong that everyone has. This is the moral law

How do you determine whether a moral law is right or wrong?

[Odin]

I am a confessing believer in and follower of Jesus Christ and I believe the Bible is the inspired Word of God.

I've asked this question many times, so I'll ask it of you.  I assume you don't believe that ALL the Bible is true, and to be followed to the literal meanings.  For example, you probably don't believe in death as punishment for working on the Sabbath, or stoning of disobedient children.  You probably don't really believe that the graves opened up after the resurrection and the holy dead men arose and appeared to many in the holy city, as in Matt 27:52-53. 

So how do you, a normal human being, take the inspired word of the Creator of the Universe, the Great I Am, the Alpha and the Omega, the god of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and decide which parts to believe and follow and which parts to disbelieve and reject? 

Odin, King of the Gods

[ksm]

I am a confessing believer in and follower of Jesus Christ and I believe the Bible is the inspired Word of God. I would really like to know what's your biggest questions/concerns/problems etc. with God, specifically the God of the Bible. I may not be able to answer everything you say or ask, but I would love to do what I can.

Welcome.

Given that I strongly suspect that your gods do not exist I do not have any problems or concerns with them.

You don't stay awake at night wondering what Darth Vader is going to do next do you?

[Positiveaob]

What differentiates your god (really godS if you're a christian) from any other gods throughout mankinds history?  Why should I believe in your god over any of the others?

[12 Monkeys]

Why did god himself(according to the bible) kill millions of people,just because he was unhappy?

[12 Monkeys]

why did god have siblings?

[MadBunny]

What differentiates your god (really godS if you're a christian) from any other gods throughout mankinds history?  Why should I believe in your god over any of the others?

This actually can be a very pointed question.

In short, I like to ask people what criteria they would use to deny the existence of OTHER religious figures, and if they are willing to use the same standard on their own.

As a simple example: Why don't you believe that Zeus is the King of the Gods, and sits atop Mt Olympus, with his pantheon?
Ultimately what you wind up with is a 'winnowing' of the apologia, anyplace where the same exact argument can be applied to more than one god or deity throw it out, and continue till you've reached the core of the argument and look at it rationally.

[Larissa238]

I am a confessing believer in and follower of Jesus Christ and I believe the Bible is the inspired Word of God. I would really like to know what's your biggest questions/concerns/problems etc. with God, specifically the God of the Bible. I may not be able to answer everything you say or ask, but I would love to do what I can.

I just posted this somewhere else, but I can tell you one of the things that made the lightbulb go off in my head. It has to do with Deut 22:28-29.

http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Deuteronomy+22:28-29&version=NIV

28 If a man happens to meet a virgin who is not pledged to be married and rapes her and they are discovered, 29 he shall pay her father fifty shekels[a] of silver. He must marry the young woman, for he has violated her. He can never divorce her as long as he lives.

Sorry to make this personal, but I don't see any other way. I was raped by my stepbrother. He didn't get caught and it's almost impossible to prove rape in a US court, so I didn't pursue legal action. I have PTSD from this. I was ashamed for many, many years, feeling that it was somehow my fault. I was extensively abused (physically, sexually, mentally... there was no part of me that remained okay after that). I *still* sometimes battle the idea that me being abused was my fault. I know it's not most of the time, but sometimes when I'm weak I get that little voice inside my head saying things like "He did this to you because you looked at him in a way he thought was an advance" or other bullshit like that. I was 5. I didn't know any better. This lasted till I was 14. He stole my innocence. I'm not talking about my virginity per se, I'm saying he stole my childhood. So excuse me if I get passionate about the subject of rape.

So, back to Deut. If a man rapes a woman and gets caught, he has to pay her dad some money and then he gets to marry her. They can never get divorced. My heart goes out to all the poor women who were subjected to this bullshit. In this verse, the so-called good and moral Christian god signs away the life of the woman. The poor woman now gets to be raped for the rest of her life. She has no out, God has spoken. How the hell does someone think that this is okay? It's one of the most disgusting things I have heard of in my life.

[12 Monkeys]

^^^ so rape is ok with biblegod as long as you pay off Daddy. Then the women gets victimized again having to marry the man that RAPED her,that is also OK with god.Larrissa sorry to hear about this

[12 Monkeys]

well JT?

[jetson]

Wow.  He asked!

Why can't non-believers just die, as opposed to going to burn in Hell for all eternity?  I mean, what is the problem with just denying us access to the Kingdom?

[DVZ3]

God Dam Larissa238!!!!  I realize you are reletively new to this forum and I'm glad you're here, but we seem to learn something very, very deep and personal with you every other post!  I can't beleive you make up this stuff up but I'm almost surprised you haven't used turning to god as an excuse for your lifes many challeges.  Anyways, I didn't mean to go on a tangent but I'm glad you found this forum and feel comfortable in your own skin here!

[MadBunny]

^^^ so rape is ok with biblegod as long as you pay off Daddy. Then the women gets victimized again having to marry the man that RAPED her,that is also OK with god.Larrissa sorry to hear about this

Well, it's all contextual see.
If you base a womans value on the state of her hymen you get this sort of thing.
We still do it today to some degree.  We just call it a 'Dowry'. 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dowry

[12 Monkeys]

^^^ so rape is ok with biblegod as long as you pay off Daddy. Then the women gets victimized again having to marry the man that RAPED her,that is also OK with god.Larrissa sorry to hear about this

Well, it's all contextual see.
If you base a womans value on the state of her hymen you get this sort of thing.
We still do it today to some degree.  We just call it a 'Dowry'. 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dowry

but this Dowry thing is more of a class system thing and less of a god thing....and according to the bible this behaviour is ok as long as someone with a penis gets paid

[MadBunny]

That's true, but it's a way of directly putting a dollar value on a womans 'intact' status, which ultimately is what the bible seems to be concerned about which is why I used it as an example.

[12 Monkeys]

Ahh understood

[Graybeard]

1. What would happen if you stopped believing tomorrow?
2. Whatever your answer, why isn't it happening to me?

[JT812]

Sorry, I'm not going to be able to respond as often as I'd like or as specifically as I like.

To Larissa concerning the verse in Deuteronomy about rape:
http://www.answering-islam.org/Shamoun/ot_and_rape.htm
That verse is not actually referring to rape as the website will show. I'm really sorry for all that happened though.

The other big issue was why Christianity is right while other religions are wrong. This would take a very long time to discuss all the many reasons I believe this but here's a very simple answer (I can go into more detail if you'd like me to):
Let's say at least hypothetically that God does exist (I can argue scientifically why he must exist if you'd like but I won't do that this time). If there really is a God, then one religion must be right and the others must be wrong because they are all different in some way. And every other religion (unless there's one I don't know about) is based on works getting you into Heaven. Basically if you're a good person your whole life you go to Heaven/ reach enlightenment and if you're a bad person you go to Hell/ come back as a cockroach through reincarnation. Christianity is the only religion that offers the chance to get to Heaven through grace alone. And this is the only way that being allowed in Heaven makes sense. How good do you have to be to get into Heaven? How bad do you have to be to be sent to Hell? (Christianity is also the only religion I know of where people aren't sent to Hell by God; instead they are offered grace from Him) How can a holy and perfect God accept sinful/bad people into Heaven without a form of redemption? How can your works save you if they are the very thing that condemn you? Most importantly if works are the way into Heaven then every other religion in the world got it right but they all have different gods. So which god is the real god who judges works? But Christianity is the one religion that is different. It doesn't require you to have done enough good things to get into Heaven. It's based on grace. Also, another huge difference is that our God is alive. Justin Martyr (non-Christian extra-biblical author) wrote Dialogue with Trypho which said that the tomb of Jesus was empty, although he claimed the disciples had stolen the body. Other extra-biblical sources confirm that the tomb was empty. But how/why would the disciples steal the body? There were two Roman guards who knew they would die if the body was stolen and never claimed the disciples stole the body. Then the disciples were all killed for their beliefs (all but one who was boiled alive and then exiled). Why would the disciples die claiming in something that they themselves made up?

[MadBunny]

Good post JT812, thank you.

Yes, it is good to take things and look at them from in a comparative way.  Your bible (assuming that you're a Christian) doesn't allow for 'just nice' people to get into heaven, the whole 'sacrifice of Jesus thing' either results in Universal Salvation, meaning that everybody get it equally or it's an extortion, meaning it wasn't much of a 'grace'.

I don't want to get you swamped in this thread like you are in the others, so I'll ask you a simple question: Is Hitler in Heaven, according to the criteria in your bible?

[sammylama]

Other extra-biblical sources confirm that the tomb was empty . . .

Whoa!  You know I just can't let this slide. 

Please, go into further detail on those "extra-biblical sources." 

[Azdgari]

This thread is a bad idea, IMO.  There is too much breadth of questions for one person to answer in any decent amount of time, and the thread will be way too confused for any of the questions to be investigated in any depth.

[12 Monkeys]

what are the specific terms in which your god offers grace,what excludes you from grace specifically?

[Larissa238]

God Dam Larissa238!!!!  I realize you are reletively new to this forum and I'm glad you're here, but we seem to learn something very, very deep and personal with you every other post!  I can't beleive you make up this stuff up but I'm almost surprised you haven't used turning to god as an excuse for your lifes many challeges.  Anyways, I didn't mean to go on a tangent but I'm glad you found this forum and feel comfortable in your own skin here!

I made this thread just for you: http://whywontgodhealamputees.com/forums/index.php/topic,17267.0.html

[jetson]

This thread is a bad idea, IMO.  There is too much breadth of questions for one person to answer in any decent amount of time, and the thread will be way too confused for any of the questions to be investigated in any depth.

I agree. 

[Ashe]

Other extra-biblical sources confirm that the tomb was empty . . .

Whoa!  You know I just can't let this slide. 

Please, go into further detail on those "extra-biblical sources." 

That, and why God "must" exist, scientifically.

Although I echo some of the others in saying this is probably a very bad idea. This thread is going to be swamped so fast.

[ParkingPlaces]

I agree. Tomb empty. Scientifically god must exist. Quite a wide range. Separate threads, one on each, would be really really nice.