Jet Grind

This is something different Christian denominations disagree on. The most hardcore of fundamentalist Christians say that unbaptised babies go to hell, while the more moderate say that God makes an exception. Why anyone would worship a cruel God that sent dead babies to hell is beyond me. But that's Christianity for you.

This is the infinte regress of designers argument. Most Christians counter it by saying something like "God exist beyond space and time" or some other nonsensical blather. Yes it is asked often, but Christians simply dodge it by saying that it's a worthless question and beares no relavence.

Koyaanisqatsi

I find christians say a lot of stupid things .

Eric H

Hello Majody, Your questions highlight a dilemma for Christianity, if all Christians agreed on everything, then we would all be mindless morons.
If we disagree then it appears that Christianity is fragmented and confused and you only have to look at the thousands of separate Christian denominations to see this.

If at the age of seventeen you see problems with how Christianity is interpreted, think of it from another angle

If God exists, and if he has no beginning, then he probably had the time on his hands to think through all these moral problems.

If a God exists who had the power to create the universe as we see it, then surely he would want to create it for the greatest good reasons.

If this God deliberated over millions of years to find the greatest good, and then if he created, something different,

He would not be very great.

Despite all the conflicts and contradictions, despite all the mess that we perceive our world to be in. As A Christian I need faith to believe that God has a greatest purpose for all of humanity.


As to your second question, it is probably easier to understand how the universe should not exist. It seems to defy logic, something had to come from nothing, or have no beginning.

Even if it is some form of matter, it had to come from nothing, or else have no beginning.

There are all sorts of wonderful theories as to how this can happen, but it does my head in trying to understand a logical solution.

At the tender age of 54 I am still searching, it seems right to keep asking questions.

Peace

Eric

JEST2ASK

First Hello & Welcome MAJODY ( )
... excuse me for responding to Eric H.

Eric, It seems to me that you have if not stopped searching entirely, you (IMO) have at least severally limited the range of acceptable answers....just my view looking from the outside ....

The faith that Humankind was created for a divine purpose seems (IMO) somewhat misplaced and arrogant.

Eric H

Hello JEST2ASK,
Quote; The faith that Humankind was created for a divine purpose seems (IMO) somewhat misplaced and arrogant.
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Eric
If and only if there is a God then hopefully he had some purpose in mind to create the universe.

Sorry this is not intended to be flippant but if I took an opposing view it could come out something like this.

Hopefully God didn’t say one day, I’m bored I’ve had nothing to do for the last million years, Oh I know I can create some kind of a universe.

Faith in God requires me to believe that there is a purpose for humanity, but there is no concrete proof.
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JEST2ASK,
It seems to me that you have if not stopped searching entirely, you (IMO) have at least severally limited the range of acceptable answers....just my view looking from the outside ....
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Eric
I agree I have limited my range of acceptable answers, because I had to find an answer for myself to one question.

Is there a God yes or no?


The one answer I can’t accept for myself is, maybe there is a God, this to me is worse then saying there is no God.

This is only from my own point of view, and every one is welcome to find their own answers.

I find coming to this forum the place to find opposing views to my own, it is no good going to a Christian forum to have your views on the existence of God challenged.

I can see a very real conflict that has affected people who once believed and then stopped believing for genuine reasons.

I can see a great deal of knowledge and thought and questioning has gone into making these decisions to stop believing in God.

I believe that many people limit their questions once they have found their own answer to; is there a God, yes or no?

I could keep my mind open on this question to the day I die and not find an answer, but what would I have achieved?

Peace

Eric

diana

Luk 18.16
Mat 19.14
Mar 10.14

Rom 10.17 + Mar 16.16 = you have to hear to believe + belief and baptism are necessary for salvation

Jn 14.6

Welcome.

d

Pyrrho

None of those verses suggest in any way that children who have not accepted Jesus will go to heaven. Here is the version in Luke, with the following verse:

People should bring their children to Jesus, which would not be necessary if they were already going to heaven. (The verse says that to such who come to Jesus is the Kingdom of God.) Furthermore, it is expressing how adults should accept Jesus. Verse 17 makes that clear, as well as the fact that one must accept Jesus to enter heaven. And, when we consider the remaining verses to which you refer:

Mark 16:
We can see that saying that children who have not heard obviously do not go to heaven, as "he that believeth not shall be damned." And Romans 3:

So, as Augustine said, all deserve to burn in hell forever, so when children go to hell, it is what they deserve.

The idea that babies are exempt is NOWHERE in the Bible, and, in fact, is directly contrary to what the Bible explicitly states.

This is a perfect example of how irrational some so-called "Christians" are, as the source of Christianity is the Bible, yet many go directly against it. IF the Bible is the word of God, then children burn in hell. IF the Bible is just anther book written by men, then let us ignore it completely, and not pretend to follow it at all.

diana

True. I guess I should leave it to those who buy into them to tell us what verses they find them in, huh?

d

Keith Russell

Greetings:

I agree. It is a fundamental tenant of most interpretations of Christianity that human beings are sinful--period.

Being a child does not exempt one from the burden of Original Sin.

K

Pyrrho

Yes. I suspect that the true source of the idea that babies are exempt is the feeling that many have that such a doctrine is unfair. However, that has nothing whatsoever to do with what appears in the Bible. The doctrine of Original Sin, passed on from generation to generation, is quite clear in the Bible, regardless of whether it is unfair or not.

If it were not passed on, we would all be entitled to be born into the Garden of Eden.

(If I may say so, I prefer you as a moderator over certain others at II. Naturally, I will not name the ones I have in mind.)