beth

does he answer prayers like,"Lord, please renew my faith," or, "Lord, help me to believe," or, "Lord, just show me that you're there and that you love me"?

winstonjen

"Hands that help are MUCH better than lips that pray."

It is nothing more than wishful thinking to believe that something else will do something for you - you need to help yourself. I think that people with 'answered' prayers actually accomplish their goals themselves, but give the credit to god.

GeoTheo

I think he does and I am praying he will for you. One thing I do when I feel discouraged and full of doubt is remeber answered prayers of the past.

GeoTheo

Uless you pray for things out of your control. For example I prayed to have a Christian co-worker to encourage me in my faith and I soon got a new boss that was a Christian and now I go to church with him. I've also prayed that I could lead people to the Lord and god answered that prayer as well. My step sister was a Russian literature student and went to Russia. I prayed that she would have Christian people to stay with. She did and now she is a Christian. I also prayed for my parents to get saved and God hasn't answered that yet. These are all things beyond my control.

Philosoft

There are a lot of Christians in the US, Geo. Do you think this such an improbable event that your prayer had any influence at all?
If that's the case, you seem to be using "pray" as a synonym for "hope." It doesn't seem very useful to "pray" for an outcome that is beyond your ability to influence.

Radorth

Re:BG

I think he answered that one a long time ago when he endured the cross for the Big Meanie Rad.

Rad

Radorth

Re Scombrid

So then if there's a God, you suddenly bear little or no responsibility, even though you said previously we are responsible when we know the consequences of our actions.

You call this argument coherent and logical I presume. I call it blatantly self-contradictory. And claiming you can be responsible for all your sins is wishful thinking at best, and arrogance at worst. When you look back on your life you will see many things you did wrong, which you found a way to justify at the time, and which you cannot do anything about. You either go into arrogant denial, or you humble yourself and admit you can do no such thing as you claim.

No, the question is whether you are responsible for what you know, extant God or not. And if God judges you by your knowledge and your own rules, he is nothing but just. To do anything else would be unjust.

How many skeptics have argued it would be unjust to forgive a "bad" Christian all their sins then argue in the next breath that his God is too harsh. But for pride and self-righteousness, the skeptic would well say, "Well it would be nice if it were so, but I don't believe it." I can only think of two skeptics would could bring themselves to say that. Most just try to find fault with the Christian God and even with Jesus himself, claiming such nonsense as the atonement is somehow "unjust," God is evil because he let his son suffer so for six hours- blah, blah, blah.

Again, whatever responsibility God might be charged with for creating us so, he has more than compensated for. He well knows how weak we are, if we do not.

Rad

winstonjen

Why can't we accept responsibility? If there are things we can't do anything about isn't that god's fault for interfering with our free will so that we can't help but commit those sins?

Radorth

You missed the point as usual.

Rad

winstonjen

Is that because there wasn't a point to begin with?