H.E. Double hockey sticks

[Shai Gar]

No. There's no such thing as God.

Look through the bible and try to see a single time when your "god" identifies himself as such.

You need to add spaces to your grammar.

 

[gloomy-optimist]

Let's be open here. This is a thread about beliefs -- let people believe as they will, without pushing doctrines on each other.

 

[kyo]

Inside all the branches of Christianity there are different views on what hell is. So I am not really sure I know what the first option in the poll stands for.

I don't believe there is a hell in the traditional way. When a man dies, then he is dead. I could talk more about this, but that would get somewhat off topic then.

 

[Blind Bandit]

I'm all for that but I hope people really look into their belief. I can tell you I'm 6'1" but that doesn't make me that tall.

 

[Shai Gar]

Let's be open here. This is a thread about beliefs -- let people believe as they will, without pushing doctrines on each other.

It's not about pushing doctrines, it's about getting people to read their own doctrine. Not the stuff made up hundreds or a thousand years after Christ, but the stuff he said, and that came before him.

 

[gloomy-optimist]

It's fine to question a doctrine -- but respectful to beliefs. There's a difference between pushing people to explore/understand their beliefs and just negating them.

 

[myself]

Thats right.God has given us the freedom to choose whichever but he has also told us that the only way to heaven is through his son Jesus.If you believe this and follow his ways faithfully even though sometimes you may stumble you will go to heaven.God loves us and he wants the best for us.He wants all of us to go to heaven (Land of milk and honey) but with only one condition;Accept jesus into our lives and follow him.

jesus died for the sins of the world. whether or not someone believes in him, their sins are covered. that is grace. you don't have to ask for grace, god gave it to us all when he sacrificed jesus. ...right? or are there really all sorts of clauses that might send someone to hell... as if the creator of the universe can't bend the rules and give us humans a break.

i don't believe there is a hell waiting for anyone in the afterlife. i can only see it as a convenient scare tactic to keep people in line.

heaven? what does the bible say about it, streets of gold? really? a mansion too, built just for me by jesus?

why do we need an eternity in 'paradise'? is it because we are so completely miserable that we must look to the heavens and wish to die? 'come, sweet death' What?

How sick are we when we resign ourselves to an afterlife and give up on this life?

 

[Duty]

And that's the point Christianity requires faith.It is just not any other religion rather a personal relationship with God.But you are free to believe whatever.

Instead of another huge rant about how much faith annoys me, I'm going to repeat something my friend likes to say:

There is a difference between faith, which is a form of trust, and credulity, which is blindly believing without proof.


If I say, "there are so many philosophical inconsistencies with this belief," and you respond by saying, "you just have to have faith" (meaning: you just have to believe it anyways), then you are basically asserting that we should adopt a belief credulously.

And right here is where I could really rant about this most stupid of assertions. I'll find it satisfactory to keep it short and just ask you why credulity for your belief is ok, but for any other belief you'd probably vehemently deny its reasonableness?

You'll get no respect for such a blind assertion from me. I'm a big believer in the dignity of every person, so you'll get that. However, respect is far different, and if you threaten people with eternal damnation based on not accepting a credulous belief...you won't get my respect.