See, what I'm a bit confused about, is (as MGW pointed out in another thread) how can Christains claim to know what God wants, if nobody but God can know what he thinks?
See, what I'm a bit confused about, is (as MGW pointed out in another thread) how can Christains claim to know what God wants, if nobody but God can know what he thinks?
Christians aren't supposed to know what god wants/thinks, so every time someone justifies any action with god, it is hypocritical since they can't know if god would approve in that particular situation or not. But there is the bible, which is supposed to be god's words. So they believe they have some of god's viewpoints and recommendations on paper, on which they can base themselves.
So they believe they have some of god's viewpoints and recommendations on paper, on which they can base themselves.
The Bible however covers the entire moral spectrum from acceptable to repugnant as such it offer not such guide in these respects and is left up to the reader to interpret using there own morality as a basis.
God didn't inspired anyone to write it! he came down from heaven and said, "hey you with the hair". the crazy person out of the crowd heard the voice and just started writing giberish.
just came across another explanation of what is Hell. It was based on 1 John 4:8, along with 1 Cor 15:28, and other sources both from the Bible and from Church Tradition. The original I am basing on is here, but it's in Russian, the closest English material I could find is here. That states that Hell is a condition when God loves a soul, but that soul does not love God, so it receives as suffering the same what souls in Heaven, who love God, receive as eternal happiness. While this involves Orthodox theology, it is a close representation of what I was taught about Hell. Theologians still consider the idea of apocatastasis (salvation for all) as possible, while Origen who taught it originally was condemned and anathemated - but at the closer look, he was anathemated for another aspect of his theory which he directly linked to the idea of salvation for everyone. Anyway, the common belief between Catholic and Orthodox churches is that God offers salvation to any person, albeit indirectly, while that person's decision to accept God and His love will eventually determine his post mortem existence. The debates about whether a soul retains free will after bodily death are open, and we do not know that for certain, the dominant position currently is a no, so please do choose God while you're here.
That states that Hell is a condition when God loves a soul, but that soul does not love God, so it receives as suffering the same what souls in Heaven, who love God, receive as eternal happiness.
In other words "I love you but if you don't love me back your going to suffer for eternity." Nice God... >_>
The debates about whether a soul retains free will after bodily death are open, and we do not know that for certain, the dominant position currently is a no, so please do choose God while you're here.
Argument from coercion, believe or suffer. This argument tries to play on fear as a motivating force. I find it's use rather despicable.
In other words "I love you but if you don't love me back your going to suffer for eternity." Nice God... >_>
Self-induced suffering it is. According to this, a soul suffers in Hell just because any soul is inclined to love, and if a person refuses to love, the internal conflict surfaces and produces suffering. It's not God who makes you suffer, but it's you who inflicts self-suffering. But, you're almost right here
Argument from coercion, believe or suffer. This argument tries to play on fear as a motivating force. I find it's use rather despicable.
Accepted. Still, there are other arguments in the Bible, that are positive: "Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears my word and believes him who sent me, has eternal life; he does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life." (Jn 5:24). But you don't heed to them either. What other argument could one provide? You are given life and death, choose life, so you will live and your descendants will live. (This is in Isaiah IIRC, but I can now say this as my words.)
