Quote:
Originally Posted by greywar
OK, I hope no one is offended by this as its meant as a honest question. Often I see folks talking about how bad people behave who dont believe in God because they should fear his wrath justice etc. aka "you should fear the wrath of god" sort of things.
But...isn't it more about kindness and about a loving god? Why do people choose to make folks fear him, instead of understanding that love is a better motivator long term. Fear? People get over when nothing happens immediately. Love? Love can go forever.
Why do so many ministers etc focus on the fear side?
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That's a good question.
Heaven and hell has been the traditional carrot and stick approach. That's why many ministers use it. It's tradition, it's orthodox, mainstream and its what quite a few church goers expect.
However. modern day Bible scholarship reveals that that traditional thinking isn't what Jesus, the apostles and the early Christians believed based on the Christian Greek Scriptures (NT).
https://www.washingtonpost.com/natio...TUU_story.html
This is the time of year that people hold a memorial in remembrance of what Jesus did (Luke 22:19) or Easter celebrations. I like to focus on the love that God showed by sending his only begotten to earth. If someone does something like that for me without my even asking and not even having that reciprocal love I think a considerate person would strive to learn more about that person as a means of appreciation and grow that love in return. Just my opinion.
"By this the love of God was revealed in our case, that God sent his only-begotten Son into the world so that we might gain life through him. 10 The love is in this respect, not that we have loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a propitiatory sacrifice for our sins."-1 John 4:10,11
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