Bible Verse

[queenofnines]

I haven't simply just 'read' it, I have studied it and you certainly have not as your confusion so readily reveals.

And by "study" you mean collecting excuses for the countless contradictions, logical leaps, wrong information, and just plain evil that stem from that book.  You shouldn't have to make excuses for a god.  He's the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow...therefore, any atrocities he's committed, regardless of "it being a different time" (like Christians love to claim), still stand.

I cannot see how my question can be considered a cliche, and regardless how would such commonality lead to any conclusions about my education?

You have to understand that I get asked these same questions over and over again, and it starts to look a little...unoriginal.  And thoughtless.  If you truly are a scholar of the Bible, then you should have some idea why rational people have problems with it.

Should I feel the need to counter you with your admitted ignorance of the word 'antipathetic' and your inept ability to even search for the word (it would take you 5 seconds or less surely).

Yes, that was my bad.  I've never heard that word before, and I thought it was possible that you either made a typo and meant "apathetic", or made up your own word to sound smart (being new to this forum, you'll soon see that not the sharpest tools in the shed frequent these parts).  I asked my husband about it and he hadn't heard of it either, so I didn't bother to look it up like I normally do for things I'm unsure about, because I didn't have much to go off of with what you wrote, and especially that last line you wrote, I wasn't inclined to think it was a real word.  I can now see since you've written more than a few lines with this last response that you have more intelligence than I garnered from your original post.  Sorry about that.

If say, I were an atheist, it would not be safe for anyone to have any dealings with me.  I would take what I wanted as I wanted and no laws of men would protect people from me.  There could be no 'good' atheist in me.

This is certainly something I've heard before..."If we were all atheist, what would stop people from running around raping, killing, and stealing?!"  And it's just ridiculous, because religious belief does NOT stop people from doing things like this in the first place (the religious breakdown of prisons can attest to that).  On the other hand, the most atheistic nations in this world (Japan, Denmark, Norway, Finland) are statistically the most peaceful (http://www.visionofhumanity.org/gpi-data/#/2011/scor/).

Laws of men WOULD protect people from you, eventually.  You can run a muck causing trouble to your heart's content, but being a detriment to society is more likely to catch up to you than not.  Laws are in place so that as social animals, we can live together in harmony.  It's more beneficial for us all to try and work together rather than against each other.  If we all ran around being selfish and vicious, humanity would not last very long.  In any case, I for one do not see the point in harming others just for the sake of it.  We are all only here for a short time, sharing this common experience...it doesn't make sense to go out of my way to ruin it for anybody.

I don't trust an atheist because I know quite well what I would be if I were one (and that there could be no 'good' atheist as they would simply only be idiotic atheists who haven't even investigated their own disbelief).  Honestly if you were my neighbor you should be quite thankful that I have my faith.

Well that's unfortunate that you think so little about yourself.  I used to be a Christian myself, and while I don't doubt some people might be "better people" as Christians as opposed to not being Christians, millions of people deconvert and remain perfectly decent.  Like I said before, some silly, empty threat of hell is not what is stopping 99 percent of people from going batshit loco.

[mtmailey]

there are many people who do not have faith or little of it also they not believe in god because what happens to them or others.like good people dying but the evil people still living.

[JediJohnnie]

Isn't this a thread for Bible verses?When did this turn to the debate & discuss thread?

[Abrupt]

Isn't this a thread for Bible verses?When did this turn to the debate & discuss thread?

You are quite right and that is my fault in being new here and all.  I had noticed the text describing the sub-forum 'discuss and debate' and hadn't actually realized it was a sub-forum and instead applied it to this one.  My apologies.

[joannaingram84]

And God said, "Let the vapors separate to form the sky above and the oceans below." So God made the sky, dividing the vapor above from the water below. This all happened on the second day. genesis 1:6-8

[jsuderc]

If you study the Bible, you will see that all of this death and suffering were not part of God's original plan. Because they distrusted God, the first people God created chose to listen to Satan instead of God. Since that time, everybody has to make a choice--to follow Satan or to follow God.

Take a look at look at what the Bible says God's character is. "He who does not love does not know God, for God is love."(I John 4: "But the Lord is faithful, who will establish you and guard you from the evil one." (II Thessalonians 3:3) If you follow God and let Him guide you, your life will show these results or fruit: "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control..."(Galatians 5:22-23)

These characteristics may seem to contradict a lot of what you see in the Old Testament. However, the God mentioned in the New Testament is the same God mentioned in the Old Testament. "For I am the Lord, I do not change..." (Malachi 3:6) Sometimes the image of God in the Bible may appear to be revengeful and cruel, but that is not so. Remember God is love. God hates sin and all it does, but He loves the sinner infinitely more than we can understand. He loves the sinner enough to allow Jesus to be killed to pay the penalty of sin. "For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." (Romans 6:23.)

God works with all of us as much as He can to get us to stop sinning and ask forgiveness for what we have done. It is totally our choice, though, because God cannot force us to obey Him. "Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God." (James 4:4) God is a God of love and mercy, but He is also a God of justice. "'The Lord is longsuffering and abundant in mercy, forgiving iniquity and transgression; but He by no means clears the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and fourth generation." (Numbers 14:18) When someone persistently refuse to listen to conscience and obey God, God will not "bother" that person anymore. But that doesn't happen until God has done everything He can to help that person change. God knows everything and only when God knows that nothing else He can do will change that person, He will allow him to do what he wants. In the Old Testament, when God wiped out whole tribes of people, He was not doing it out of hatred, but rather out of love. He saw that those people would not change no matter how much more time they had. If they were allowed to stay around, they would lead many others to join them in rebellion against God. Take for example Sodom and Gomorrah. If you are not familiar with the story, read Genesis 18-19. God destroyed the wicked cities, but only after Lot and his family were led out of the city by angels. If there had been ten people who wanted to follow God in those cities, God would not have destroyed the cities.

This has much to do with what is commonly referred to as the unpardonable sin. The unpardonable sin is persistently refusing to listen to God. "He who is not with Me is against Me, and he who does not gather with Me scatters abroad. "Therefore I say to you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven men." (Matthew 12:30-31) Blasphemy against the Holy Spirit is the persistent refusal to respond to the invitation to repent.

Do not refuse to listen to the Holy Spirit any longer. God promises in the Bible, "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." (1 John 1:9) It is not too late to change. Choose not to follow Satan, but rather to follow God. If you ask God to help you, He will. God is a God of love and He will never give up working with you until there is no hope left. Don't reject His pleas. Please choose to follow Him now.

[jsuderc]

Take a look at look at what the Bible says God's character is. "He who does not love does not know God, for God is love."(I John 4: "But the Lord is faithful, who will establish you and guard you from the evil one." (II Thessalonians 3:3) If you follow God and let Him guide you, your life will show these results or fruit: "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control..."(Galatians 5:22-23)

I don't know where that smiley comes from. I have an 8 there and no smiley when I wrote it. What happened?

[jsuderc]

Isn't this a thread for Bible verses?When did this turn to the debate & discuss thread?

I'm sorry. I posted my last post before I read page 2. Is there a way to bump a copy of this thread over to "debate & discuss"?

[JediJohnnie]

No need to apologize.You guys weren't the ones who started turning this into a debate thread.

[njycorps23]

Hear my voice when I call, O LORD; be merciful to me and answer me. ... Do not hide your face from me, do not turn your servant away in anger; you have been my helper. Do not reject me or forsake me, O God my Savior. Though my father and mother forsake me, the LORD will receive me.
Psalm 27:7,9-10