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There is no meaning to life or existence. We exist, just as some cloud of nebulous dust in the universe. We are born, live, toil, struggle, and die, like the stars do. Does that have meaning or a purpose? No...you can assign one though if it makes you feel better.
Wow, you really believe your life has no meaning or purpose?
Wow, you really believe your life has no meaning or purpose?
Each human life is a meaningless speck in a vast universe, and no one cares.
I think the poster meant that each person can put his/her own meaning into life. The choices are vast, people can devote their lives to composing music, writing books, leading corporations, striving to be exceptional baseball players, raising families, collecting material things, creating art, becoming a politician, making money, helping the poor, leading armies into war, pampering pets, and many more. These are active pursuits. Believing that god has a purpose for people is passive, it requires no action, merely a belief.
Each human life is a meaningless speck in a vast universe, and no one cares.
I think the poster meant that each person can put his/her own meaning into life. The choices are vast, people can devote their lives to composing music, writing books, leading corporations, striving to be exceptional baseball players, raising families, collecting material things, creating art, becoming a politician, making money, helping the poor, leading armies into war, pampering pets, and many more. These are active pursuits. Believing that god has a purpose for people is passive, it requires no action, merely a belief.
I disagree, I think human life is meaningful and people do care.
There is no meaning to life or existence. We exist, just as some cloud of nebulous dust in the universe. We are born, live, toil, struggle, and die, like the stars do. Does that have meaning or a purpose? No...you can assign one though if it makes you feel better.
How could life have meaning without understanding that we are here to learn to be like our Father in Heaven?
The journey to perfecting love is the purpose of our existence, because it is the only pure attribute that can bring about a fullness of Joy.
We are that we "might" have joy.
Without knowing the love of God and Christ, how could we know how to love?
Everything is in vain and without meaning when we are not aware of the pure love of Christ.
Yet other Christians always mention that nobody can ever understand the mind of God and that it is not our place to do so. That's why we can never really understand why bad things happen to good people etc., etc...
I will say that I, personally, don't agree with much of mr jack's theology. But, I can respond to the rest of your post about knowing God's mind and "why do bad things happen to good people."
God is omnipotent, omnipresent, omniscient, holy, just, infinite, eternal, etc., How can people, who are imperfect, limited in our knowledge and abilities, finite and sinful, fully know and understand the mind of God? God can reveal portions of Himself and His will and mind, but no man can, or ever will, fully understand a holy God.
As for the other part of your question, maybe a better question is, "Why do good things happen to bad people?"
The Bible is full of scriptures that show that people are sinful. (Romans 3:23 and 6:23.) It also shows that God is holy. (Isaiah 6:3 and Revelation 4:8.)
So, how does God view all of humanity? Romans 3:10-18 tells us:
Quote:
“As it is written: There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands, no one who seeks God. All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one. Their throats are open graves; their tongues practice deceit. The poison of vipers is on their lips. Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness. Their feet are swift to shed blood; ruin and misery mark their ways, and the way of peace they do not know. There is no fear of God before their eyes.”
Every person on this earth deserves to be thrown into hell right away. Every moment we're alive is only by the grace of God. Even the worst misery we could experience now is merciful compared to what we deserve - eternal hell in the lake of fire.
But...
Romans 5:8 says, “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us”
Despite our wicked nature, due to sin, God still loved us enough to pay the penalty on our behalf so we can spend eternity with Him. He took our punishment on Himself. As a result, we can believe in Him, repent and accept that payment on our behalf and live with Him for eternity, instead of getting what we deserve - hell. Eternal life in heaven vs hell. Not hard to figure out.
The next time we ask the question, “Why does God allow bad things to happen to good people?”, maybe we should be asking, “Why does God allow good things to happen to bad people?”
I realize that doesn't technically answer your question, so I'm going to do my best to do that, too. (Don't you hate it when you ask a question and it doesn't get answered in a straight manner? So do I, but what I wrote above is really important to understand.)
"Why does God allow bad things to happen to good people?" As much as we can, we see the answer in Job, in the Bible. Keep in mind what I first wrote; no limited, sinful man can fully understand the mind and ways of a perfect, infinite God.
Job was an upright man and God loved him. God allowed Satan to do whatever he wanted to to Job except kill him. How did Job react?
Job 13:15 “Though he slay me, yet will I hope in him.” Job 13:15
Job 1:21 “The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away; may the name of the LORD be praised.”
Job didn’t understand why God had allowed the things He did, but he knew that God was good and therefore continued to trust in Him. Ultimately, that's meant be our reaction, too. God is good, just, loving, and merciful. When bad things happen to us, we don't understand why. However, instead of doubting God's goodness, our reaction should be to trust Him.
Proverbs 3:5-6 "Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight."
God has always proven Himself faithful. That doesn't mean that we will always escape trouble, but it does mean that He will be with us through it and...
Romans 8:28 "And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose."
Last edited by Simple Living; 05-09-2008 at 11:27 AM..
There is no meaning to life or existence. We exist, just as some cloud of nebulous dust in the universe. We are born, live, toil, struggle, and die, like the stars do. Does that have meaning or a purpose? No...you can assign one though if it makes you feel better.
How can you prove this? Non-believers are always asking Christians to prove everything, but they never prove their beliefs. Not understanding something doesn't mean there is no meaning in it.
Each human life is a meaningless speck in a vast universe, and no one cares.
I think the poster meant that each person can put his/her own meaning into life. The choices are vast, people can devote their lives to composing music, writing books, leading corporations, striving to be exceptional baseball players, raising families, collecting material things, creating art, becoming a politician, making money, helping the poor, leading armies into war, pampering pets, and many more. These are active pursuits. Believing that god has a purpose for people is passive, it requires no action, merely a belief.
Like I said to nebulous, prove it. Non-believers always demand proof from Christians. Can you prove your personal belief?
How could life have meaning without understanding that we are here to learn to be like our Father in Heaven?
The journey to perfecting love is the purpose of our existence, because it is the only pure attribute that can bring about a fullness of Joy.
We are that we "might" have joy.
Without knowing the love of God and Christ, how could we know how to love?
Everything is in vain and without meaning when we are not aware of the pure love of Christ.
godspeed,
freedom
Your posts seem to be a bit incoherent.
You would never know what meaning life can have unless you experiment on your own, make your own decisions, your own actions, your own evaluations, instead of accepting that what you are told to believe should be the meaning of life.
Anyone who needs a precedent or instructional manual on how to love would never know what love is. How can love be perfected? One either loves or does not love.
Untimately, everything is in vain because we will all die. Some will leave behind a legacy that will be remembered for a while, and then fade away.
Your posts seem to be a bit incoherent.
You would never know what meaning life can have unless you experiment on your own, make your own decisions, your own actions, your own evaluations, instead of accepting that what you are told to believe should be the meaning of life.
Anyone who needs a precedent or instructional manual on how to love would never know what love is. How can love be perfected? One either loves or does not love. Untimately, everything is in vain because we will all die. Some will leave behind a legacy that will be remembered for a while, and then fade away.
This is a very sad view of life, IMHO. Even if you do not believe in a creator, certainly you do not believe that your life is in vain. Do you have a family? Do you have a purpose? I am sorry, but I cannot believe that other atheists believe as you do. I am wondering why a person would even choose to get up in the morning if they beleived that their life was in vain and spoke as you do. I'm pretty sure that they have legal prescriptive drugs for feelings like that. Perhaps you should see a professional.
I disagree, I think human life is meaningful and people do care.
Humans are just as meaningless as the cockroach which gets squashed under a shoe. Some people only believe that human life has value. Many people give meaning to their lives by what they do, where they direct their passions and interests.
People basically care only about themselves, their material possessions, and those in their intimate surroundings. If people cared there would be much less poverty, hunger, pain. The world is full of unwanted people. Thousands die daily from curable ailments only because it's not financially feasable to correct the situation. Many are left to fend for themselves in the streets and rummage thru garbage for food, they are looked upon as a nuisance, run off, put in jail, assaulted and sometimes killed. People in various parts of the world deal with such problems daily and will never know any other kind of life.
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Do you have a family? Do you have a purpose? I am sorry, but I cannot believe that other atheists believe as you do. I am wondering why a person would even choose to get up in the morning if they beleived that their life was in vain and spoke as you do. I'm pretty sure that they have legal prescriptive drugs for feelings like that.
Perhaps you should see a professional.
