xeren

Theists, an honest question:

How could god send me to hell for not believing that Jesus is my savior, simply because random events of my life have not led me to any evidence that i see as conclusive?

Why should someone who sees apologetics as convincing enough to believe in Christ go to heaven, while someone who's standard for beliving something is just a little more stringent, go to hell?

Thanks
-xeren

Amos

God does not send you anyplace. Heaven and hell are religion specific (Buddhist do not go to heaven or hell) and if hell is religion specific God will not be the judge over it. Hell is the result of religious perversion and therefore real or such perversion could not be conceived to exist.

K

xeren:

I would say that it must be one of the following choices.

1. God loves mindless zombies.

2. God is an incompetent moron.

3. There is no such thing as Hell and everyone goes to heaven.

4. God is just a fairy tale invented by nomads thousands of years ago and modified by committee in the millenia since.

Jamie_L

Oh, it gets better than that.

Why are you the way you are? Because genetics and environment made you so.

Who made genetics? Who made the environment? God and God.

Who created the universe with full knowledge of all events that would happen in all time, and full ability to shape those events however he wanted, thus knowing that you would not believe but choosing not to make things otherwise?

God.

And you go to hell for that? What a stupid concept.

Jamie

K

Jamie_L:

Yeah, that's the incompetent moron God. I guess it also could be a sadistic God.

Amos

Except, Jamie, that you are not your genes. It is true that God made your genes (so you could not change them) but it is not true that God created the Universe (or you could not exists in the universe) nor is it true that God is in charge of the events that will happen in the universe or you and yours would not have a free will.

Jamie_L

Amos:

Well, maybe so, but I think the OP was more or less attacking the standard Christian party-line, which includes a god that did make the universe and everything in it. I'm attacking that story as being inconsistent and loony.

As best as I can tell, there's no god, period.

Jamie

Jobar

Amos, the God you worship (do you worship? I'd be interested in hearing about your prayers.) is not the God worshipped by the vast majority of Christians, I think. Ah, more precisely, your *concept* of God is not theirs. I know you are aware of this, because you've said you are unwelcome on various Catholic discussion boards. Although I find your own personal theology rather fascinating, you confuse people when you try to equate your concept of God with the 'standard version' accepted by most- well, many- Christians.

As best I can tell, no two Christians have the exact same 'version' of God- but yours is very far from the version most Christians profess to believe in- the version which, indeed, would send all of us atheists to hell.

xeren

Jamie, that was exactly what i was trying to get at. Amos' customized religion aside, i want to know if any Christians who do believe god created the universe can reconcile what you and I have posted?

[ October 01, 2002: Message edited by: xeren ]</p>

Laurentius

Were there any Biblical God, he'd send you straight to hell even for implicitly questioning his authority with the type of questions you're asking here. In order that you may not go to hell all you have to do is just blindly believe that he's hypothetical decision to send you to hell can only be a just one.

Dig it? (though I'm sure you knew it)

AVE