It seen like you have a lot of faith and thats great. But as each day goes by I feel like I'm losing my faith. Dont get me wrong I love God but sometimes I wonder if he loves me.
Oh no thats not what this thread is for believe me. I believe in God, and these questions has been in my head for a while now. I just wanted to see if anyone else had any questions they would ask if given the chance.
I'm pretty sure the OP is a conflicted Christian, there may just be more Atheists and Episcopalians than you thought.
I agree! I believe in God & if someone here don't then that's their prerogative. It's just like that thread that someone post- Asking if there is really a Jesus Christ. Cleverly disguise hate! It's like if I start a thread- is their really a Mohammed? If you believe fine, if you don't that's your choice, just don't hate!
He loves you. You are not losing your faith, your faith is weakened. There is nothing wrong with weak or small faith. Jesus said you just need faith like the smallest seed and God will still produce a tree. God is teaching you to trust in the dark, hold on when you do not have strength, stay when you want to walk away. The flowers do not grow on the top of the mountain but in the valley. When we are in the valley we cannot see far, we don't understand, we have to climb up higher. I know you believe, God will never let you go, He loves you.
I'm not God but I'm his spokesman here on Earth so here are your answers, gentle child. 1) Slavery didn't last 400 years. Slavery lasted 20,000 years (or as long as humans have had social culture and concepts of ownership). Until the advent of Democracy and reformed Christianity slavery was a basic aspect of the human condition. Basically every society had some aspect of slavery, be it Jews, Romans, Greeks, even American Indians held black and Indian slaves. Be grateful however, that I exist. Abolitionist was a direct outgrown of Christian philosophy in America and the single greatest cause in the abolition of slaves in American and then around the world. 2) Every sin is not equal, do you know not my Commandments? In Jewish tradition murder comes before fornication and before all is my command that you honor my name. In Catholic tradition sins are split into mortal and venial transgressions. 3) Because in my tradition the blessings and sins of the father transmit to the son. Why do you think that Europeans who lived in Europe for 1000 years have the birthright to kick out A-rabs and live in Israel? It is because of the Covenant I made to Abraham in time immemorial for the fate of his Hebrew descendants to live as my Chosen people. Far from punishing the whole human race, in the Christian tradition, the "sins of the 2 people" have been washed by my own blood. For details, rent "Passion of the Christ" available through Netflicks (tm) or your nearest video provider. Here's my question to you. How can any person who considers himself logical make a decision about the existence of God (in either direction) when ignorant of basic tenets of Christian (or Muslim, Confucian, Shinto, Hindu etc) theology. Most people b****ing about religion on the Internet lack the most basal (or one sided) knowledge of the thing they are crying about. This is stuff you should have learned in 2nd grade Sunday School. And I'm not even religious.
There are a number of things I don't know the answer to. But I don't think that if I had the opportunity to stand before God I would waste the opportunity by asking him. I think if I could stand at all I would praise Him ceaselessly. Surely there are other people who could answer my inane questions. Job had some very good and hard questions and God responds in Job 38-42. If you don't want to read the entire book of Job, in the preceeding 37 chapters Job and his friends grapple with trying to understand why bad things happen to good people. Most of the serious questions asked here seem to have to do with questions of sin and justice which I think are answered in the cross.
Dear Darwin. Christian philosophy? (There is no such thing...) REALLY? Reformed Christianity ended slavery? REALLY?
You can also find these answers in the Quran, Greek "Mythology", Hinduism, and EVERY OTHER RELIGION EVER MADE BY MAN.
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How opinions about God are formed (just my opinion)- Carlin a great comedian had great bitterness, anger and pain from childhood, he used comedy as an escape. His mother left his father when he was a small child, he grew up in a tough neighborhood and early was raised Roman Catholic where in his case he was pressured (that is religion not love) to believe in something that wasn't real in his life, he and his mother had a difficult relationship, he ran away from home several times and there is no evidence that had the stable love and grace of loving parents - ever. Comedy is a nice way to mask the pain and bitter resentment of being 'cheated' by God. Carlin was more than an atheist, he had good reasons to hate the concept of 'a loving God'. His wife died of cancer... I'm confident that solidified his belief system. His life was funny, but it was a tragedy and I have the opinion there was alot of pain in his heart. I have empathy towards him and certainly understand his mocking attitude. I didn't watch the clip but growing up smoking alot of pot, he was one of my favorite comedians, at that time we shared the same pain in life.