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I am interested in hearing what Christians truly believe, based on my life to date. Given the following facts about me, am I destined for hell? I am a 27 year old white male.
I am an atheist and don't believe in religion, God or anything supernatural.
I am homosexual and have acted upon it numerous times.
I was a difficult child and would disrespect my parents, swear at them, etc.
I use God's name in vein almost daily.
I haven't attended church in 14 years, immediately after I was confirmed.
Now, to put things in perspective, I am a mature man with a good, professional job who never commits crimes and wants the best for society. I have a positive attitude and believe that my own actions affect what will happen in my life. I rarely drink alcohol and never even tried doing drugs. I take great care of myself, eat healthy, exercise and treat others with respect and kindness.
But, if you were to guess, am I going to go to hell? I don't want to hear any responses such as "It's not up to me to decide...that's God's decision on judgment day," etc. I want to hear YOUR opinion.
Thanks!
My (non-Christian) opinion is that you would do well in a Unitarian Universalist Church. A lot of them don't believe in any God (or Hell!), some are gay, they want the best for society, and treat others with respect and kindness. The denomination isn't about sin, guilt, and saving souls from eternal damnation, but helping our neighbor, and living together in peace. There are no denominational prohibitions against alcohol.
Kind of reminds me of this, from the BritCom Blackadder (the part of Prince George is played by Hugh Laurie, the actor who plays House).
Blackadder : If you can't make money, you'll have to marry it.
Prince George : Marry? Never! I'm a gay bachelor, Blackadder, I'm a roarer, a rogerer, a gorger and a puker! I can't marry, I'm young, I'm firm buttocked, I'm...
Blackadder : Broke?
Prince George : Well, yes, I suppose so.
Blackadder : And don't forget sir, that the modern church smiles on roaring and gorging within wedlock, and indeed rogering is keenly encouraged.
Prince George : And the puking?
Blackadder : Mm. I believe still very much down to the conscience of the individual church-goer.
My (non-Christian) opinion is that you would do well in a Unitarian Universalist Church. A lot of them don't believe in any God (or Hell!), some are gay, they want the best for society, and treat others with respect and kindness. The denomination isn't about sin, guilt, and saving souls from eternal damnation, but helping our neighbor, and living together in peace. There are no denominational prohibitions against alcohol.
Kind of reminds me of this, from the BritCom Blackadder (the part of Prince George is played by Hugh Laurie, the actor who plays House).
Blackadder : If you can't make money, you'll have to marry it.
Prince George : Marry? Never! I'm a gay bachelor, Blackadder, I'm a roarer, a rogerer, a gorger and a puker! I can't marry, I'm young, I'm firm buttocked, I'm...
Blackadder : Broke?
Prince George : Well, yes, I suppose so.
Blackadder : And don't forget sir, that the modern church smiles on roaring and gorging within wedlock, and indeed rogering is keenly encouraged.
Prince George : And the puking?
Blackadder : Mm. I believe still very much down to the conscience of the individual church-goer.
Hi Pat, great to see you here! Yes I agree, a UU church might be just what the OP needs. I'm going to check out our local UU church when I get a chance and see if it's the right fit for me as well.
And I love Hugh Laurie!! I have (on loan from my mother) the entire Jeeves & Wooster complete seasons DVD's but I haven't had a chance to watch all of it yet. I've never seen "Blackadder"......I'll have to check that out too.
I am interested in hearing what Christians truly believe, based on my life to date. Given the following facts about me, am I destined for hell? I am a 27 year old white male.
I am an atheist and don't believe in religion, God or anything supernatural.
I am homosexual and have acted upon it numerous times.
I was a difficult child and would disrespect my parents, swear at them, etc.
I use God's name in vein almost daily.
I haven't attended church in 14 years, immediately after I was confirmed.
Now, to put things in perspective, I am a mature man with a good, professional job who never commits crimes and wants the best for society. I have a positive attitude and believe that my own actions affect what will happen in my life. I rarely drink alcohol and never even tried doing drugs. I take great care of myself, eat healthy, exercise and treat others with respect and kindness.
But, if you were to guess, am I going to go to hell? I don't want to hear any responses such as "It's not up to me to decide...that's God's decision on judgment day," etc. I want to hear YOUR opinion.
Thanks!
You cannot evade God, and should you go to hell behold he is there!
We were created in the image of God. Does God have free will? Why then shouldn't we?
I look at it this way...Since we had no existance before God created us...then where God is is reality...our reality only exists because of God, not because of us...So, in essence our reality is a product of God's creativeness...The whole universe and everything in it exists inside of God, for nothing could exist outside of God...God holds everthing together by His will...He could very well repent of creation and then we would be non-existent...This is all logic...God is not a clockmaker...He doesn't just create and then wind it up and sit there and watch it tick away...We are sentient beings, however that does not mean that God does not have everything under His Sovreign control...We do not have a choice to be born, or where we are born, or into what circumstances we are born...we may propose, but God guides our steps...Even Joseph recognized that when he said to his brothers, 'You meant it for evil, but God meant it for good'...It does not say that God turned it around, or that He used the situation for good...'He meant it for good'...But, in their wickedness they meant it for evil...Just as in the OT God said that He was going to put a lie into the mouths of the prophets and the people would believe them...And again when God caused the Egyptians to look with favour upon the Israelites...Also, when He hardened Pharaoh's heart, He told Moses right from the start that that is what He was going to do, and Moses could have very well said, 'Then what's the point in talking to him?'...God says that He declares the end from the beginnning, those things from ancient times not yet done...Now, either Scripture is Truth, or as a few on here say, it is wrong because of the ignorant misunderstanding of our ignorant superstitious ancestors...They misunderstood God and had written down the Scriptures according to their own ignorant superstitious understanding of the time...We struggle always against our flesh that desires to take even a small bit of credit for our Salvation...Even you DNA has you locked into who you are and what you will be...your predispositions, what you will look like, even your intellect...I read something just yesterday regarding DNA and the American Indians...The Mormons claim that 2 waves of Isrelites came to the Americas 2600 years ago and that the American Indians are the decendants of the Lamanites who had destroyed all the other Israelite Tribes that came here...Well the Y-Chromosomes and mtDNA, which map out the Male line and female line respectively, had no Jewish markers at all, rather they shared markers with tribes from Siberia and the Altai Mts. and also the Mongols a bit...Now, there is also the Lemba tribe from South Africa, who claimed to have Jewish roots and they tested their DNA and found that they were one of the Lost Tribes of Israel...For they had Jewish Markers in their DNA...
Genetic evidence also supports the oral tradition that the Lemba, who are now Bantu-speaking people of southern Africa, derive from Jews who migrated from the Middle East to Yemen 2700 years ago and from Yemen to southern Africa 2400 to 2000 years ago. More than 50% of Lemba One of the two sex chromosomes that determines maleness in mammals, carried and passed down from males to males.Y Chromosomes carry haplotypes that are common among Jewish populations but absent in their African neighbors (17). Genetic analysis has also confirmed the distinctiveness of the Cohanim, or traditional Jewish priesthood.40 - DNA Evidence and Molecular Genetics Disprove the Book of Mormon
All this is not a product of chance, but rather it is a product of design of a Sovreign God...BTW, You didn't answer my other question...Why do you think God created us?...
I look at it this way...Since we had no existance before God created us...then where God is is reality...our reality only exists because of God, not because of us...So, in essence our reality is a product of God's creativeness...The whole universe and everything in it exists inside of God, for nothing could exist outside of God...God holds everthing together by His will...He could very well repent of creation and then we would be non-existent...This is all logic...God is not a clockmaker...He doesn't just create and then wind it up and sit there and watch it tick away...We are sentient beings, however that does not mean that God does not have everything under His Sovreign control...We do not have a choice to be born, or where we are born, or into what circumstances we are born...we may propose, but God guides our steps...Even Joseph recognized that when he said to his brothers, 'You meant it for evil, but God meant it for good'...It does not say that God turned it around, or that He used the situation for good...'He meant it for good'...But, in their wickedness they meant it for evil...Just as in the OT God said that He was going to put a lie into the mouths of the prophets and the people would believe them...And again when God caused the Egyptians to look with favour upon the Israelites...Also, when He hardened Pharaoh's heart, He told Moses right from the start that that is what He was going to do, and Moses could have very well said, 'Then what's the point in talking to him?'...God says that He declares the end from the beginnning, those things from ancient times not yet done...Now, either Scripture is Truth, or as a few on here say, it is wrong because of the ignorant misunderstanding of our ignorant superstitious ancestors...They misunderstood God and had written down the Scriptures according to their own ignorant superstitious understanding of the time...We struggle always against our flesh that desires to take even a small bit of credit for our Salvation...Even you DNA has you locked into who you are and what you will be...your predispositions, what you will look like, even your intellect...I read something just yesterday regarding DNA and the American Indians...The Mormons claim that 2 waves of Isrelites came to the Americas 2600 years ago and that the American Indians are the decendants of the Lamanites who had destroyed all the other Israelite Tribes that came here...Well the Y-Chromosomes and mtDNA, which map out the Male line and female line respectively, had no Jewish markers at all, rather they shared markers with tribes from Siberia and the Altai Mts. and also the Mongols a bit...Now, there is also the Lemba tribe from South Africa, who claimed to have Jewish roots and they tested their DNA and found that they were one of the Lost Tribes of Israel...For they had Jewish Markers in their DNA...
Genetic evidence also supports the oral tradition that the Lemba, who are now Bantu-speaking people of southern Africa, derive from Jews who migrated from the Middle East to Yemen 2700 years ago and from Yemen to southern Africa 2400 to 2000 years ago. More than 50% of Lemba One of the two sex chromosomes that determines maleness in mammals, carried and passed down from males to males.Y Chromosomes carry haplotypes that are common among Jewish populations but absent in their African neighbors (17). Genetic analysis has also confirmed the distinctiveness of the Cohanim, or traditional Jewish priesthood.40 - DNA Evidence and Molecular Genetics Disprove the Book of Mormon
All this is not a product of chance, but rather it is a product of design of a Sovreign God...BTW, You didn't answer my other question...Why do you think God created us?...
I responded to this already, but it was deleted by the moderators when they deleted this same post as being off-topic.
Where in scripture does it say free will is a gift from God...Or maybe it is just an assumption due to misunderstanding of God's Sovreignty...
This free will issue is unnecessarily contentious and it is probably because of a lack of understanding of Dominion. We have been given Dominion over the earth. It requires free will to exercise sovereignty over the earth.
Dominion:
1. Control or the exercise of control; sovereignty:
2. A territory or sphere of influence or control; a realm.
3. One of the self-governing nations within the British Commonwealth.
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