Reasonable Assertions About Personal God Except One

[Praxis101]

gimmick, yo?

[knowledgeORbust]

Is your problem (with #6) with the fact that:
a) there exist clergymen who are not excellent at their profession and therefore others suffer
or
b) all of Christianity and organized religion in general suffer because of the system. (i.e. clergymen are involved and that’s inherently weaksauce because you’re following the interpretation of others.)

and, IMO, there is extremely little room for error. You gots to get it right, yo. If your clergymen are off at all, you could be experiencing life better. And you're probably better off studying your own thing, listening to others, and keeping an open mind, etc, etc.

[FortunaMaximus]

I dunno if you can "gimmick" a method of studying.

As for #5, and to a lesser but related extent, #6...

Ask a metalsmith, especially one who forges swords. It's a lengthy, focused process with attention to detail and quality.

I don't really think an omnipotent being, as it were, would settle for billions of yes-men. Seems to discredit the concept, or shows a lack of understanding of what omnipotence is.

And to implement those concepts while still leaving room for originality of thought and freedom of expression (albeit not on finite scales) requires the motivational threat of a Hell.

Most people, to a certain point, do fulfill more of their potential under pressures they can't quite handle. The carrot of salvation, etc.

A hypothetical God would get frustrated and might do things out of spite because he lacks peers. So you'd have to give at least some credit to the fact that such a path to omnipotence would come through a very long period of trial and error. Time being subjective, alas.

tpir,

<chuckles> Isn't that the way sometimes? When they finally reach across and rap your knuckles, it's a good thing to have happen.

[1p0kerboy]

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If however, its off by more than a little bit, it matters not that you love honor and obey him to the best of your ability. Off to hell you go.


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This is probably the biggest misconceptions about Christianity.

There is only one thing you have to do to get into heaven.

And it's nothing that you listed.

[Allinlife]

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If however, its off by more than a little bit, it matters not that you love honor and obey him to the best of your ability. Off to hell you go.


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This is probably the biggest misconceptions about Christianity.

There is only one thing you have to do to get into heaven.

And it's nothing that you listed.

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what a tease

[slimjim646]

Wow, this is the best poker board ever. It's like getting mental candy everyday. Thanks.

Although, I'm unclear on one precept here. Is this a relation of God in our physical existence? Or the relation of God to how one would confront a personal God when the question of faith is presented to the individual?

I would guess it's the latter question, because then the assertions would be reasonable. Yes, 6 would be scary and is followed/exploited by various faith groups all across the world. Just watch the nightly news to see evidence of the exploition of assertion 6. With the other 5, hey if science does indeed to be wrong, well then they could be reasonable. I wouldn't particularly mind if that's the way it was. Maybe a bit pissed at the simplicity of all that we are.

With my first question, well, it seems there are many here with far more physics based knowledge to discuss that than I have. Which is also extremely interesting, but I think it might be missing the point of the "reasonable assertions about personal God".

[slimjim646]

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Descartes thought about the "God" thing and came up with some really sketchy arguments that modern philosophers rip to pieces. Fortunately these days there's not any pressure to agree with whatever the Church says.

Scientists and philosophers these days don't even bother considering such questions. With good reason - it's so completely obvious to any critical thinker that the "God" that religious zealots try to make us believe in is made-up and non-existent. It's much more interesting trying to explain things that do exist, or for which there is evidence that they might.

If theologists want to worry about such questions, fine, but I don't see how it fits in with any of Science, Math, or Philiosphy.

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Wouldn't the thought process behind non "critical thinkers" be of interest to the scientific methods? Afterall that group is the majority of the population. Whatever makes up the thought process behind billions of people across thousands of years must be of some value to at least one critical thinker. It would make sense to study a group, or sub group that represents a vast majority of the total human population versus the smaller secular population.

[scorcher863]

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5. He runs into a problem though. Because of his immense power, if not outright omnipotence, there will be those who have no love or respect for him but will obey his wishes soley because of fear of retribution.

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If he despises these people, enough to send them to hell to burn for eternity, why would he even bother creating them?

[onesandzeros]

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This God wants more than just love respect and devotion. He wants you to be part of the ten percent or so who follow those who have studied his word and interpretted it the way he meant it.

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The bible says to never trust nor blindly follow mens words, see if the words match the actions, moreover whether the "actions" and "words" are in harmony with "Gods word". This eliminates all organized religion I know of. hence it is doomed according to the bible. "Babylon the great", The harlot"... etc...


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If your clergyman's interpretation is a tad off from that you are still OK. If however, its off by more than a little bit, it matters not that you love honor and obey him to the best of your ability. Off to hell you go.

Maybe its just me. But I have a problem with #6.

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It only matters to "the church", not God. "The Churches" are covered in blood and hypocrisy. The only thing that matters is "that you love honor and obey him to the best of your ability." P.S hell is hades which is "the grave" so whatever it is its not hot! Perhaps heaven and hell are literally, both here in this dimension? Something to do with what other cultures refer to as "karma"?

[1p0kerboy]

There's a lot of debate and different interpretation as to what "hell" actually is.

For those that aren't familiar with Christianity, this is how it works:

1. You don't earn your way to eternity. No matter how many "good" things or deeds you do, you can't "earn" a ticket to eternity.
2. The wages of sin is death. Why? Because God said so. Maybe somewhat out of anger. He had a vision for the world and left it up to us to fulfill that vision. I believe at some point God may have? regretted making this rule. But he has to follow it. Why? Because if he didn't that would make him a liar. And he is too rightious to lie.
Some astute readers might note that much of the Old Testament covers things such as laws that are not applicable today. That is because they were written for a specific time period and were replaced when Jesus brought the "new covenant".
3. Jesus came not just to teach, but also to offer payment for our sins. Jesus' death is the payment for our sins, so that the punishment of death might not be inflicted on us. It is available to everyone and anyone who accepts it. It really is that easy.

Based on #3, Sklansky's original post, specifically #6, is wrong.

4. To know Jesus is to love him. Once you accept the gift, and do so really believing you are receiving it, you will be filled with the holy spirit. This will make you want to learn more about God and his plan. It will also make you want to appease him. Things will be "revealed" to you which will further strengthen your faith.