ANSWER POST 1
Pakman wrote about 7 questions, after I said to write one, but because I’m just soooooo nice I’m going to answer them all lol. By the way it is 1:35am in the morning right now, so these answers may not make much sense, I may need to correct them when I’m more awake
QUESTION 1. Why is it that you send thousands of missionaries throughout the world and Islam sends none, yet Islam is the fastest growing religion?
ANSWER 1: I guess I can only give you my thoughts on this one, but I guess that’s what you’re asking for. Now Christians send missionaries because Jesus said go out to the entire world preaching the good news and making disciples of my people (not exact quote but too tired to look it up). So that’s why missionaries go out, because Jesus tells us too, and when you believe that Jesus went to hell and back for you, then you don’t mind going to China and back for him.
The reasons I think Islam is growing faster are as follows:
1st: Arabic countries have no tolerance for any belief other than Islam, thus with no opposition Islam spreads faster (no tolerance can be shown in many quotes from the Qu’ran, one that comes to mind goes something like ‘deal with those who preach a message other then Islam, as your province demands’ – it is something like that, I can find it for you when I have more time) And it is my impression that the way Islamic provinces deal with anti Islamic preaching, is to kill the preacher – a very effective method I might add
Now Christianity also puts pressure on people to be Christian, yet they are tolerant of other beliefs, some may disagree but when compared to Islam Christianity is extremely tolerant.
2nd: And this is totally just what I have heard from people, and I wouldn’t be surprised if it was wrong, it is an opinion I have come to by my own logic so I hope it is a least partially correct. – Okay Muslims can’t use birth control. Christians can. So Christians end up raising around 2 Christian children, while Muslims raise around 5 or so Muslim children. So the growth of Islam isn’t because it is converting people throughout the entire world like Christianity, it is at least partly due to the fact that Muslims raise so many Muslims. If this has offended anyone because it is wrong, then I’m sorry, I’m definitely up for discussion on this point of view, as I would like to test the truth of it. Thanks.
Sorry I had other reasons in my head only a few minutes ago, but it’s too late at night and they’ve just gone.
QUESTION 2. If man was created after God's image and man is a sinner, would that mean God is a sinner too?
ANSWER 2: Man was created after God’s image, yes he was indeed, and so was woman for that matter. And when they were created they were perfect, absolutely nothing wrong with them. No lies’, no hatred, no dandruff, nothing wrong at all. But you see as history has shown us time and time again, man can take a perfect situation, and turn it into an utter disaster. Why? It’s because we have choice. To choose good or bad. I’m going to discuss epistemology and (that other big word about truth lol) in another post, so I’ll just say something very simplistic here. Good is what God says is good, bad is what God says is bad. Now God said to Adam and Eve, that it’s bad to choose to eat the fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil (personally I think God was being way too easy here, like I already don’t like fruit, so I don’t see how it could be sooo tempting) But because God didn’t want Adam and Eve to be mindless followers, who had no choice of what they wanted to do or who they followed (as in he didn’t want puppets) he gave them the choice to do what is right (what He says to do) or what is wrong (what He says not to do). And long story short we made the wrong choice.
So God isn’t a sinner at all, He is just someone who always makes the right choice, man is the one that chooses bad. We are in His likeness because we can choose, but our choices are what separate us.
QUESTION 3. Why are women considered spiritually and physically inferior? Well, I know the answer to that, but I would like your opinion on it?
ANSWER 3: Women aren’t spiritually inferior, and I’ve met many a woman who could smash me down, so they aren’t physically inferior either lol. This is such a huge topic that I will just reveal the top of the iceberg on. Jesus said, “Whether Jew or Gentile, male or female, all are made equal in me”. So we are equal. Now we bring up what people think are contradictions to what Jesus said. Such as the husband being the head of the house etc. Some of what the apostle Paul writes on this is based on the culture of the day (e.g. women must not ask a question in church, but ask their husbands later etc…). But some is more deeper then that. Basically throughout both the New and Old Testaments, the way man and woman are meant to work in a relationship is this. They get married; the woman lets the husband lead the way, while she is an example to him. Now this doesn’t make them unequal (wasn’t Jesus sent as an example for us, and he by no means is less then us just because we make the decision to follow His example or not), it just gives them different roles. Logically I can say; if we have two leaders in a relationship, then one will go one way and the other the other way (divorce). Yet the way God has set it up, is that the woman is the example to the husband, as in she shows him how he is supposed to act, and basically influences the husbands decisions. The husband is supposed to listen to his wife, and act accordingly. Now when the wife isn’t a good example, the husband makes bad decisions. This can be seen when Eve eats the forbidden fruit, and then Adam seeing her example, decides to do the same. Eve did the wrong thing, and stuffed it up for Adam because that’s the way a relationship works, they both suffer for the ones decision, because they are both connected in that relationship. Now Adam, because he is the head of the relationship, was held responsible for what they had done wrong, and because they were both connected, both were thrown out of what was heaven on earth, the Garden of Eden. Now this story is very symbolic, but as I have shown you, it has consistent truths within it.
QUESTION 4. Why must you say that Jesus is the only way into heaven? There are other quotes in the Bible, which say that there are other ways to get to heaven. Someone told me that it was like that until Jesus made the ultimate sacrifice and then now there was only one way.
ANSWER 4: Okay we say Jesus is the only way to Heaven, because Jesus said ‘I’m the only way to heaven.’ Well He actually said; “I am the way, the truth and the life, no one comes to the Father except through me.” Now the Old Testament is where you’ll get the quotes saying that there are other ways to Heaven. E.g. through obeying the law (basically the Ten Commandments) and when the law isn’t obeyed, you must sacrifice an animal or burn some grain or whatever to pay for your sins (not keeping the law). Now I think God had the foresight to tell that this way couldn’t last. For cultural reasons alone, like imagine a modern day westerner going out into the back yard to fire up the altar. And secondly, that arrangement of following the law was both extremely hard and temporary. That’s where the New Testament comes in. Now God wanted to make a sacrifice on our behalf, so little bah bah black sheep didn’t have to die every time some jerk didn’t follow the law. And also because He loves us lol. Nah God made the sacrifice so we didn’t have to, so that it would be easy for us to get to Heaven, because God does in fact love us, and wants us to be with Him for eternity. Now the sacrifice God was going to make, had to not only be big, it had to be huge, gigantic, and immense
It had to pay the debt of countless present and future sins that humans make constantly. This payment had to be bigger then just a few sheep, it had to be God’s very own Son. This was the greatest sacrifice possible for God to make; yet He loves us so much that He made that sacrifice for us. And all we have to do to get saved, is to accept what God offers, and God offers us Jesus’ sacrificed on the cross, God offers us the payment for our sin (forgiveness), yes that’s right, God offers us Heaven with him for eternity.
Now God didn’t just make a new way to get saved, he got rid of the old ways to get saved as well. No longer could we get saved from sacrificing little sheep or pigs, or burning grain, or living by the law. No God got rid of that now culturally unacceptable practice, that outdated, and temporary practice, and replaced it with Jesus’ offer of salvation. If you ask me I’m glad that God changed the way we are to be saved.
QUESTION 5. In addition to question 4, does that mean that God changes his mind?
ANSWER 5: Okay now if I want to go down to the shop and buy me a pizza, I make up my mind and say, I’m gonna buy me a pizza. Now if I get in the car to go down there, and discover that the car is broken down, what do I do? I tell you what I do, I’m darn hungry, and I really want that pizza, so I sacrifice my money and get it delivered. Now my money is really important to me, but because I want that pizza so much, I sacrifice my money anyway.
Now did my mind change? At the start I wanted pizza, at the end I wanted pizza. Just because I got it a different way, doesn’t mean my mind changed from what I had decided to get.
We are God’s pizza
God really wants a relationship with us. God found that to get that relationship He had to get rid of the old broken down car of the Old Testament, and replace it with the sacrifice of His only Son. Yet during this changing of ways to be saved, God didn’t change His mind, His mind was unfalteringly set on saving us.
QUESTION 6. You say that anyone who doesn't accept Jesus as his savior will go to hell. Well, that is unreasonable to anyone who is not Christian. What is your opinion on that?
ANSWER 6: Of course it is unreasonable to a person who isn’t saved. It’s like trying to make a blind man comprehend the sky. The Bible goes as far as to say that with man, making someone understand and realize the truth of Jesus Christ, is impossible. But it also goes on to say, that with God all things are possible. Hey if you think that Jesus being the only way to Heaven is unreasonable, then you need God to explain some things to you. And He just so happened to write a very very long explanation called the Bible, maybe you should read it.
QUESTION 7. Why do you say Jesus is God when Jesus himself prayed to God for help?
ANSWER 7: God is triune. He is made up of the Holy Spirit, The Father, and The Son. They are God, and if mere humans could comprehend something so complex then it would bring God down to our extremely low level of understanding, a level I would personally not be able to bring myself to worship. Our understanding, not so long ago, told us that the Earth was flat, and everything revolved around it. How can we understand God when we have just now started to understand our very own planet?
But there is one thing I can say that may reveal something of God’s nature to you. And that is that like time, God is one. Time is past, time is present, time is future. But although time is three things, in essence they are all just time. God is the Father, God is the Son, God is the Holy Spirit. But although God is three things, in essence they are all one God.
I hope these answers have been helpful, it is now 3:07am and I really have to be off to bed.
CyA’s
