Are YOU Destined To Burn For Eternity?

Saquist said:
I know many interpretations are not true. But does that mean there is no true interpretations-You seem to think so.
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Most likely, there should only be ONE interpretation that could possibly be true. The question is, what makes you so sure yours is that ONE true interpretation.

And, why should there be an interpretation? Why isn't there a clear, direct message to all?
 
Are you still alive SnakeLord?
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Aye, still kicking :D

Well, there is still always the option of turning you into a pillar of salt. You might want to brace yourself! Hopefully this will not be your last post!
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A valid point, I shall behave myself from now on.
 
(Q) said:
Most likely, there should only be ONE interpretation that could possibly be true. The question is, what makes you so sure yours is that ONE true interpretation.

And, why should there be an interpretation? Why isn't there a clear, direct message to all?
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I've answered this completely already. The correct understanding of the word of God will be without contradiction. As long as contradiction exist factualy with the scripture it is by definition an interpretation and doctrine...not a clear, direct message.
 
Saquist said:
I've answered this completely already. The correct understanding of the word of God will be without contradiction. As long as contradiction exist factualy with the scripture it is by definition an interpretation and doctrine...not a clear, direct message.
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Then, there never was a clear message as the alleged word of god is riddled with contradiction.
 
(Q) said:
Most likely, there should only be ONE interpretation that could possibly be true. The question is, what makes you so sure yours is that ONE true interpretation.

And, why should there be an interpretation? Why isn't there a clear, direct message to all?
Click to expand...


If everything in the Bible were simple and blunt, there would be no reason to study the Bible, to try and learn more and grow in spiritual wisdom. God does not lay it all in front of you like a slab of meat. Getting to know Him is analogous to getting to know someone you truly love, someone you want to figure out and grow with, rather than meeting a prostitute who gives everything up in a moment.

If you look, even as an atheist, to countering explanations on a particular controversial scripture, you may find that there is one explanation that is more scripturally accurate. People historically have twisted the words of the Bible and taken passages out of context to condone horrible things, such as slavery. But you also historically have people who read scripture in context, and revile against popular misconceptions of the day by coming back to the core of God's message: Men are created equally, love your enemy, turn the other cheek, live with compassion and understanding for one another, forgive those who trespass against you(to name a few). This is what Jesus taught.

And, the Bible IS pretty straight-forward in many ways. You will find that the various Christian denominations agree on most issues and especially on what matters most: To follow Jesus Christ.
 
(Q) said:
Then, there never was a clear message as the alleged word of god is riddled with contradiction.
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The "clear message" is obvious: God's love for man... His sacrifice of all for the sake of man's redemption thereby providing a way of escape from the consequences of one's sin.

"Riddled with contradiction" on the other hand applies to man...most especially when he chooses against His Nature as made in the Image of God by either willingly disbelieving God's Word in the face of knowledge, or while remaining indifferent and unmoved when confronted on every side with reminders of God Himself.
 
(Q) said:
Then, there never was a clear message as the alleged word of god is riddled with contradiction.
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The problem is the spiritual message is often lost in the dogmatic nonsense of man.
In otherwords specific attributes and portrayals of God being trumpted as the "only truth" and all others invalid.
So many religions contain virtually the same core message..just dressed up differently.
This is where many religous people miss the boat. Either due to their internal set of predisposed prejudices or lack of knowledge of other religions.
That core message essentially being simple..practice unconditional love and be selfless in your attitude. Having the "faith of Christ" rather than "faith in Christ".

I look for the commanality between religions.Then I compare them to what I know about Near Death Experiences (the overall pattern) and pychic phenomanae. The common points that corelate are what I believe to be the "truth".
 
FallingSkyward said:
Aren't there really only two options? We were created, or we emerged from nothing.
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No. We were not created nor did we emerge from nothing. We (life) is just a different arrangement of the same stuff that rocks and stars are made of.
The popular misconception that the Big Bang was the beginning of everything from nothing is just that. A misconception. Scientists simply say that they have no way to examine a time previous to T=0 (the BB). This dosen't mean that will always be the case.
 
Humans, life, the universe, whatever. It all had to begin somewhere. Even if there is another physical world beyond our universe, something that we may be able to quantify, that doesn't make God any less feasible. Physical reality must have an absolute beginning somewhere.

For, how can something begin to happen(such as our particular universe) in an infinite amount of time?

If I promise to give you a cookie after an infinite amount of time, will I ever give it to you(could anything ever end)?

Similarly, if the universe(or physical reality, whatever) was infinitely temporal, could anything ever begin?

That's why postulation of a spiritual world comes into play. A world that has atemporal qualities, those that we cannot understand due to our temporal existence. God.
 
I don't see your philosophical problem with an eternal past/future universe. In fact, those terms, past and future, are purely relative to what we experience as now. My current feeling is that the universe just is. It most likely goes through cycles of expansion and contraction or pockets of it (like our little 13.5bly radius bubble) expand indefinitely while others contract. Who knows? But there's no need to invoke spirits.
 
(Q) said:
Most likely, there should only be ONE interpretation that could possibly be true. The question is, what makes you so sure yours is that ONE true interpretation.

And, why should there be an interpretation? Why isn't there a clear, direct message to all?
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The following section of the Bible explains why the message was not clear. The purpose was to keep the wrong sort of people from entering the kingdom of God. You know, all of those really evil people who needed it the most of all.

Mark 4:10-12

10When he was alone, the Twelve and the others around him asked him about the parables. 11He told them, "The secret of the kingdom of God has been given to you. But to those on the outside everything is said in parables
12so that,
" 'they may be ever seeing but never perceiving,
and ever hearing but never understanding;
otherwise they might turn and be forgiven!'"

Can't have people turning and being forgiven, now can we? It is a "secret" that is only revealed to a chosen few. It was not intended for all.

The really strange thing is that even the disciples could not understand these same parables either.

Now, how does that work? :rolleyes:
 
SetiAlpha6 said:
The purpose was to keep the wrong sort of people from entering the kingdom of God. You know, all of those really evil people who needed it the most of all.
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A man with two sons told the older boy, 'Son, go out and work in the vineyard today.' The son answered, 'No, I won't go,' but later he changed his mind and went anyway. Then the father told the other son, 'You go,' and he said, 'Yes, sir, I will.' But he didn't go. Which of the two was obeying his father?" They replied, "The first, of course." Then Jesus explained his meaning: "I assure you, corrupt tax collectors and prostitutes will get into the Kingdom of God before you do. For John the Baptist came and showed you the way to life, and you didn't believe him, while tax collectors and prostitutes did. And even when you saw this happening, you refused to turn from your sins and believe him...They that are whole have no need of the physician, but they that are sick: I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance...But go ye and learn what this meaneth, "I will have mercy, and not sacrifice": for I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.
 
FallingSkyward said:
If everything in the Bible were simple and blunt, there would be no reason to study the Bible, to try and learn more and grow in spiritual wisdom.
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That makes no sense. There would be no reason to study anything unless it were full of riddles and parables. You don't learn anything that way as it leaves everything to the imagination and guesswork. How is that learning and growing?

God does not lay it all in front of you like a slab of meat. Getting to know Him is analogous to getting to know someone you truly love, someone you want to figure out and grow with, rather than meeting a prostitute who gives everything up in a moment.
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So, teachers and professors are prostitutes because they teach you something? And, gods are worried of our perception of them as prostitutes, so they leave it up to us to make sense of riddles and parables? Again, how is that learning and growing?

If you look, even as an atheist, to countering explanations on a particular controversial scripture, you may find that there is one explanation that is more scripturally accurate. People historically have twisted the words of the Bible and taken passages out of context to condone horrible things, such as slavery.
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Funny how you've now hit the nail on the head of the problem. Clearly, god did not think things through when he decided on not sending clear messages. Didn't he know such things would inevitably happen? Did it not occur to him that perhaps his messages were clear and understandable to these individuals and are merely perceived differently by you and others?

But you also historically have people who read scripture in context, and revile against popular misconceptions of the day by coming back to the core of God's message: Men are created equally, love your enemy, turn the other cheek, live with compassion and understanding for one another, forgive those who trespass against you(to name a few). This is what Jesus taught.
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Considering there is no evidence Jesus even existed and that anything actually written about him was by those who never even met him and occurred decades later, it's most likely those are words of other individuals who created Jesus in order to start a religion.

And, the Bible IS pretty straight-forward in many ways. You will find that the various Christian denominations agree on most issues and especially on what matters most: To follow Jesus Christ.
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What about the rest of the world with their myriad of cults and gods with entirely different messages? Are they wrong and you're right?
 
nova900 said:
The problem is the spiritual message is often lost in the dogmatic nonsense of man.
In otherwords specific attributes and portrayals of God being trumpted as the "only truth" and all others invalid.
So many religions contain virtually the same core message..just dressed up differently.
Click to expand...

But, that's not the case. Different religions boast different messages, some contradict others while some will lead one to heaven in this religion and to hell in that religion.

And, that is the main point of this thread. If you read gods message the wrong way, unintentionally and inadvertently, you wind up in hell, regardless of how pious you were and how certain you were to the clarity of the message.

This is where many religous people miss the boat. Either due to their internal set of predisposed prejudices or lack of knowledge of other religions.
That core message essentially being simple..practice unconditional love and be selfless in your attitude. Having the "faith of Christ" rather than "faith in Christ".
Click to expand...

And, the other religions?

I look for the commanality between religions.Then I compare them to what I know about Near Death Experiences (the overall pattern) and pychic phenomanae. The common points that corelate are what I believe to be the "truth".
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Yes, what YOU believe to be the truth, not what IS the actual truth, as should be delivered by god.

Again, if you are mistaken in your correlation of the messages, you might wind up burning for eternity.
 
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