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Now suppose you were brought up in a culture where there is no Bible and there is no belief in any Jesus Christ, and this culture existed long before either one of these two, and there is no belief in a heaven or hell, as defined by Christianity, and your beliefs were taught to you as everyday life and you have no wish to convert, because you find that your "religion" for lack of a better word, more like my way of life, is at peace with my surroundings and everyone that comes into my life, do I need the forgiveness of your God to be accepted in your definition of heaven, and if not where is my spirit going to go?
i have to agree with this post. There are plenty of sincere people, good people, all over the world, across time, across culture, who are just as devout and dedicated to living a holy life, as defined in their community. God loves us all and accepts us all. Period. No conditions, especially none of what church we happened to join or not join!
To the OP. You have a very perceptive daughter. Just look through some posts written by people who say they've been "saved". Saved from what? Hellfire and damnation?
I received a Christian education up to the age of 14 years. As kids we were taught to love God and to fear him! Imagine that... taught to fear god. And they really did put the fear of god into us with tales of him condemning us to hell ("From where there is no redemption" -- I recall that phrase from their 'teaching') and burning for eternity.
Fear, superstition, wishful thinking, a crutch to cover up other addictions, brainwashing- I think fear is only part of it. For me religion should be subject to the same skepticism/questioning/examination as any other claim regardless of how good it sounds (or how bad the alternative sounds). It fails this standard of review.
Whether you believe it or not, if you jump off a high cliff, you're going to fall and die, whether you believe it or not, if you drive your car into the back of a semi, you're going to be in trouble, whether you believe it or not, if you drink poison, you're going to end up in the hospital, whether you believe it or not, if you bother a rattlesnake, it will bite you, whether you believe it or not, we willl die someday and we will stand infront of God, and our eternal destination will depend on where we placed Jesus in our lives.
Yes, religion is based on fear, but a RELATIONSHIP with Jesus takes the fear factor out because we know when we sincerely accept Jesus in our heart, we are forgiven by the grace of God.
"forgiven by the grace of god"? forgiven from what? what did we do that we need to be forgiven? THIS is why I dont understand religion. Maybe you're referring to us being born with sin? I dont understand that either.
"forgiven by the grace of god"? forgiven from what? what did we do that we need to be forgiven? THIS is why I dont understand religion. Maybe you're referring to us being born with sin? I dont understand that either.
Romans 3:23-24 "For all have sinned and fall short of God's glorious standard. Yet now God in His gracious kindness declares us not guilty. He has done this through Christ Jesus, who has freed up by taking away our sins".
Romans 3:23-24 "For all have sinned and fall short of God's glorious standard. Yet now God in His gracious kindness declares us not guilty. He has done this through Christ Jesus, who has freed up by taking away our sins".
I'm sorry, please explain this to me, because it makes no sense to me, it assumes that we are all sinners at birth and if that where the case, why would your God let you be born to begin with? I thought he wanted you to be without sin?
I'm sorry, please explain this to me, because it makes no sense to me, it assumes that we are all sinners at birth and if that where the case, why would your God let you be born to begin with? I thought he wanted you to be without sin?
Yes we are all sinners, we are born that way because of Adam and Eve, we have a sin nature. John 3:5-7 " Jesus replied, the truth is no one can enter the Kingdom of God without being born of water and the Spirit. Humans can reproduce only human life, but the Holy Spirit give new life from Heaven. So don't be surprised at my statement that you must be born again".
Everyone sins, even Christians, yes God wants us not to sin because sin hurts us. But because of what Jesus did on the cross, we can be reborn with a new mind, new thoughts, we are still going to sin, but we ask Jesus to forgive us. We will never be without until we get to Heaven.
I don't feel my religion has any basis in fear... so I'd say that generalizing that religion is about fear isn't an accurate statement. I can't speak to the world's religions intelligently, but I'd be willing to bet that there are quite a few that aren't based on fear.
Of course these humans that wrote the bible were guided by the Holy Spirit. The same person that was sent by Jesus to teach us ALL things. He is now guiding us to correctly interperet what was written.
Why are there so many contradictions within the Bible then?
I think the Bible tells many valuable stories... but it was written by men, translated by men, and is interpreted by men. All judgements of it are relative... where do you gain your basis for it being guided by the Holy Spirit? The Bible itself... so much for an unbiased viewpoint.
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