What Do You Think About God?

[jjaenagle 0]

What do you think about GOD? I am a Christian and i know a lot about him. I know he loves me, and he is perfect in every way. I couldn't imagine my life without him and sometimes his ways of "love" confuses me. I sometimes have questions like why does god let bad things happen? I know the answer, but they still make me think! I would have a hard time rejecting him, knowing all the things i know about him. Do you think he loves you? Do you think god exists? Do you believe in god but not jesus? (Think about it too) If you dont believe in Jesus, then you dont believe in heaven or hell or sin or eternal life.... unless of course you believe in a god that does have some of those things.But then, what else is your god?

[kobra500 1]

Well, I compared myself to god when i was pissed once . I don't believe in God, it makes sense that way to me, I couldn't imagine my life with god, well I could but really he isn't worth an hour every sunday even if he does exist, after all I am but one man, why should god care about 1 man, as long as he doesn't go around killing people, I believe you should live your life right, that way if there is a God you will go to "a better place", but you should follow christian morals anyway! If there isn't oh well.Why does he let bad things happen, I don't know, no one knows for shure, christians and other religions have their beliefs, you won't find out until the end I'm afraid, and if I'm right then your be far to dead to find out!But don't worry, death doesn't matter, your going somewhere better and if not well then you won't need to worry about it then because you'll be dead!

[byronarnold 0]

"God", to me, is the entirety of existence. That is, the Universe is "god". Beyond the Physical universe, there is no god. For more info, you can go to the topic I posted on these forums, http://forums.xisto.com/topic/58177-introduction-to-pantheism-a-very-short-explanation-to-natural-spirituality/.

Well, I hope everyone has a good day! Peace!!!!

[mikeyboy63 0]

I'm an atheist, but it isn't something I discuss much. I don't like adults who enjoy telling kids that there is no Santa Claus, and I don't feel the need to run around explaining to religious people that gods don't exist. Some people are afraid of death and some aren't smart enough to learn about the scientific view of the world. For these people religion plays an important role in their lives. Until there's a Science 'Bible' that is comprehensible to nearly everybody, religion will continue to be a benefit to many people who, without it, would feel fearful and could become less civilized in their conduct.

Edited May 22, 2008 by mikeyboy63 (see edit history)

[jjaenagle 0]

I'm an atheist, but it isn't something I discuss much. I don't like adults who enjoy telling kids that there is no Santa Claus, and I don't feel the need to run around explaining to religious people that gods don't exist. Some people are afraid of death and some aren't smart enough to learn about the scientific view of the world. For these people religion plays an important role in their lives. Until there's a Science 'Bible' that is comprehensible to nearly everybody, religion will continue to be a benefit to many people who, without it, would feel fearful and could become less civilized in their conduct.

Mikey! that is a very interesting point to take on that. The regular Bible isn't 1 smart man who put everything for all of us to read and understand. Most athiests read it to contradict itself and they of course find ways to do that, but most read it out of context!

I agree that there are unexplainable parts in the bible, but evolution isn't the perfect answer!

In fact, it takes more faith for a man to believe in evolution or aliens than a person to believe in god!

I mean, just the fact that 1 cell just happened to come into existence in a planet that is deadly to us now and then happened to reproduce itself perfectly to fit in the environment again and again and again, is not my idea of why i came to earth.

----------------------------------
Kobra, lol your answer was mine about 3 years ago! haha... i have changed so much sense then. first off, dont think that im trying to "convert" you guys. I just really love talking about god and things like that!

Just cause i say i'm a christian or i believe in god does not mean i go to church every sunday or that other people do. In fact, you can have a perfectly good relationship with god and never go to church! I go because i learn more stuff about god, i learn how to act as a christian, and i learn from someone who can help me in life.

I can go to my dad, but i dont want to do the things he did. I can go to someone who is "good, " but not every person's view of "good" is truly good.

If there is a god, then yes you will either go to his place for good people or his place of bad people
But heres what i think.

If you dont believe in Jesus, then you dont believe in heaven or hell or sin or eternal life

Now i say that because "my" god created jesus and sacrificed him for us so that we wont have to go to hell. If you dont believe in jesus, then you also dont believe in the same god as mine.

my god created heaven, hell, jesus, and everything mentioned in the bible.

Now you just have to think about your god and what he's like to you. But everyone who is agnostic has their own image of god as well.

If you dont believe in jesus or my god, then there is no way for you to get into heaven because my god created it. The only way you can get into heaven is through my god or have your god create one

thats kinda confusing.

now that i have found my god, its really hard to turn away from anything else.

And if you are believing in the wrong god, then death matters cause i would hate to be stuck in god's bad people place.

NOw, im not saying that my god is the correct god, but i cant go back to atheism because i have just as much as evidence for my god than evolution.... and i dont want to leave my god and be trapped in hell for eternity. Until my faith has been proven false, then i will consider a different path, but so far, none yet!

[Inhuman 0]

You see my whole beef with religion in general is that people actually believe it. I mean it's one thing to read the bible, or whatever the other religious books are, and understand the point behind each, if not most of the stories. There's so many parallels going on that it's sorta hard to type out, but here it goes. First off, every religion and mythology is based off of the stars. Now someone can and would claim "Jesus religions", as I call them (Ya know, Christianity, Catholicism, Baptist, etc.) ripped off Paganism, with the stealing of the dates of holidays and symbols. "Jesus religions" even went so far as to make Paganism look satanic, which it isn't. Satanism is totally different. (It's like the acceptance of God and Jesus, but deliberately going against that) Anyways, like I said, every mythology and religion was based off of the stars....think back to when you were learning about ancient Greece and Rome. Their gods were exactly the same. Now then, compare all other multi deity mythologies with those two, you might see even more parallels, not only in the gods, but in the stories. Keep doing said comparisons with the bible, and well you get about the first half an hour of this movie. (check it out...it'll be worth your while....hell, watch the whole thing, the rest of it is a topic of discussion for another time, however.) Basically what I'm saying in a nutshell thus far is that "Jesus religions" are a fraud. I mean, think about it, someone had to have written the bible, some man, or group of men, am I right? Therefore, wouldn't it be almost logical to say that God was created by Man, and not God created man?

Now that I feel I have struck a nerve with creation, I'll kinda stream of conscience my way over to that. Like I said, I feel that Man created God. My reasoning: waaay back in the day, back when the bible was being forged...(wow, awkward choice of wording.)...people needed something to explain away the unexplained. Now with science, we can get explanations. The problem is that some people refuse to believe it because of their faith. There are a few things that are unexplained, yes, but you don't need to use religion for things that are explained....or at least have a theory behind it. Therefore, asking "Why does god let bad things happen" sounds kind of stupid to me, with all due respect to you. I mean, it's sorta passive aggressive or something, asking why does god let so and so happen, when really this world is a chaotic and ,essed up place to begin with. It's not a matter of god letting something happen, it's moreso, "Why is man so freaking crazy? Why does man do these things?"

[jjaenagle 0]

inhuman, thats a really good response... the last paragraph especially.Yes, i agree that in a way, humans created god. And im not talking about people have god to explain the unexplained. Im saying that christians cant explain things of the bible. i mean.. first of all, when it comes to the bible, nobody is smart enough to have written it. Even if it was a group of people, they could not have thought of it! Just research the facts. Its a series of books written in different languages and authors and time periods.but aside the bible, People can make god real. Just like people can make imaginary friends real. That doesn't explain some of the most dramatic changes that happen to people though.My imaginary god changed my life and my wife's life and my friend's life. i have heard it change gang member's lifes, (he spoke at our church once.)My imaginary life changed Norma L. McCorvey life (roe vs. wade - the supreme court case that ruled abortion legal). We can't all have an imagination that works like that.-----------------------------------------------------------------lets say all atheists are right....The bible has to be the greatest conspiracy ever! I mean, create a god to help people and the bible that is near perfect in every way!-------------------------------------------------------------------------i will tell you the real reason religion is so hard!PEOPLE HATE CHANGE!!!!!!When you think of becoming a christian, most people think of being this perfect person who goes to church and visits old people or something. but when it really comes down to it, nobody wants to change their lives, and thats whats wrong with some "Christians" today!They claim to be christian, but they dont do anything that someone who follows god would do. And thats what the world sees. They see the hipocrites and the bad parts of this "religion". Christianity is not a religion to me. Its a way of life! Im not the perfect christian and nobody is, but i know where i stand in my beliefs and you have to respect me for that.Trust me, it took me a long time to figure this out too! i grew up catholic and hating church and did so much bad stuff that i thought every normal person went through at least once, and realized how ignorant and stupid i was.I agree that people are crazy and do stupid stuff... but only the ones that dont know, are the ones that blame god! I cant blame god for anything and a true christian doesnt blame god. They dont even blame other people, but rather satan and the corrupt world... now, dont tell me that im making satan up to blame someone else, because it is very true. You dont have to believe it but i do.--------------------------------------------------------------------------------anyways... in this world, people take paganism way too seriously. Paganism isnt even a religion. Its an old christian term basically "putting down" an unbeliever. They were into a lot of sin and didnt care about jesus or who he was....They had all these holidays and "beliefs" so they wouldnt have to go with "christian beliefs"

[KansukeKojima 0]

Alright, jjaenagle I have to say I'm on your side... however, some of your theology seems a little off to me... but thats another discussion...

Said by Inhuman:
Basically what I'm saying in a nutshell thus far is that "Jesus religions" are a fraud. I mean, think about it, someone had to have written the bible, some man, or group of men, am I right? Therefore, wouldn't it be almost logical to say that God was created by Man, and not God created man?

You are correct in one aspect of this. Men did indeed write the Bible, however, they did not invent/create/imagine it. The words which are found in the Bible today are 100% God inspired. In other words, those who wrote it down, were being guided by God in what they wrote down.

It's not a matter of god letting something happen, it's moreso, "Why is man so freaking crazy? Why does man do these things?"

If I am reading this correctly, I completely agree with you. I find it annoying that people say that God simply lets horrible things happen. We has imperfect humans have no right to question God. He is infinitely greater than our minds could ever comprehend. The reason why horrible things happen so often in this world: sin. In other words, it is mans own fault that the world is in the state it is in.

God was created by Man, and not God created man?

As I've already noted, the Bible is clearly God inspired. In Genesis, it says that God created man. That is all the proof that is necessary.

[jjaenagle 0]

thanks k! When i said

i agree that in a way, humans created god

, i meant humans created gods in their own image! everyone does it now! If you went down the street and asked them what they thought about god, most non christians would say that he exists and people would get into heaven for being good!
They just imagined a god that puts all "good" people into heaven! Who's to judge which ones are good? The person who imagined their god of course!

Also, think about gods in mythology. How can they be gods? Arent they supposed to be all powerful and all knowing and all that jazz? Well, wouldnt the one that can beat all that be the real god? iF he is weak in one area, then that just makes them more like a superhero or villain...

Now, i dont say that god does exist, because he does and i do believe that the bible is all god inspired 100%
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Read about the bible... try wikipedia or something. But if you really look into an apologetics type resource about the bible, you will find that it is a lot more than just a book that people wrote!

in fact, the bible has more proof of it's existence than "The Odyssey" or even shakespeare's works.

saying the bible is not legit, pretty much questions all the other older works. The bible is no excuse!

[Bluebear 0]

I do not know what I think about God. I have never met him. If someone actually answered my prayers, maybe I would believe in some God. Probably to the Christian God, because that is kind of the main God here. About 85% of Norwegians are members of the state church. Though the truth is that it is more people here that are not religious. People get automatically members of the church when born, but of course they can decide if they want to be members later. My brother is not a member of this church, because he did not do his confirmation in a church. I did, and so did many others of my friends. Most of them did. But there are very few of them who actually are religious... it just do not matter here. The last thing got quite of topic, but it gives a better viewing on religion around here. It is not a part of our normal day, not a part of most people life. So why I am not Christian? Nobody answers my prayers, and I just do not fit in in such communities. There is of course religious people at my school... and they are really nice. Too nice. I am not a bully, but I do not fit in with them. I like doing a bit crazy things sometimes. If I swear then they will just stare at me. I could simply never be such a person.Somebody who loves you will do anything for you, help you and be there for you. If God loved me, would he not help me? Sometimes I am waving with a white flag above my head, but he must be blind because I have not received any help. If he is the maker of this universe, he should be able to help everyone. People always tell me that I need to "accept God and give him the best place in my heart." To do that, I need proves. I am one of those who want to know why, how and get answers. How can I believe that God exists, that he loves me, that he is the maker of this universe and give room for him in my heart, when I have never felt that he is here? That he is helping, and will always be there for me? Kind of hard, right? But hey, if I actually met God maybe I would think he exist.

[KansukeKojima 0]

Hey Bluebear. I can understand what you are saying and can see where you are coming from.

 

There are probably a few reason why it may seem God is not answering your prayers.

 

1. Everything God does, He does for His own glory. That may seem fairly self centered when you hear that, but after all, He is God. He may not be answering your prayers how you would like Him to because it is not in His divine will.

 

2. Maybe God is answering you prayers, but maybe not in the way that you expect it to happen. He has a much greater design, and it falls beyond the boundaries of what we are able to understand.

 

3. Maybe His answer is no

 

4. God is Holy, and therefore, He does not allow sin to enter his presence. You may not like hearing this, but you are a sinner. Why would He answer your prayers when you continuously rebel against Him?

 

If God loved me, would he not help me?

 

He does love you! He has already proven it by sending His Son to die for you! The question is though, do you love God? He does not have to do anything (including helping you) because He is All Powerful. But He has chosen to offer you His Grace, all you have to do is take it .

 

How can I believe that God exists, that he loves me, that he is the maker of this universe and give room for him in my heart, when I have never felt that he is here

He very much wants you to accept Him into your heart, but the reason why you have not felt Him in your life is because you HAVEN'T allowed Him that room in your heart!

[jjaenagle 0]

i would have to agree with kansuke again on this one bluebear. When i was like 13 or 14, i used to have those same questions and you know what, at times, i thought that i had a good relationship with god. i was catholic so i never really understood what a true relationship with him was but i thought it was good cause i did well in school or i got something i wanted. I was pretty selfish back then. Asking for things that have no purpose for anyone but me! When you want that kind of a relationship with god, you have to accept the things he has done for you! Kansuke isn't saying that your just a sinner, but we all are and none us can pass his judgement without jesus. If we didnt have jesus, we would have to do everything in the old testament (sacrifice animals and such) just to get forgiveness. Now that jesus has suffered and taken our sins from us, we just have to ask God for forgiveness and when we believe that, we are forgiven. What kind of prayers are you praying for? You have to be realistic about it. A new playstation? answer will probably be no. World peace? Probably not. Even though that might be his ultimate goal, he can't do that. That's his promise to us. The promise of free will for us. We can choose to accept god or not and god cannot do anything about it.He wants world peace, but to do that, he would have to get rid of a lot of sin in the world and that means getting rid of people who are in sin. Read about noah's ark.... that is the exact story and the rainbow signifies his promise that he would never do anything horrible like that again!

[Bluebear 0]

In elementary school we learned a lot about Christianity. We were supposed to learn about various religions, but the truth is that the school focused a lot on Christianity. So it is not that I do not know a lot about it, but I just... I do not know. It is hard to explain. I was kind of raised at a school were they told us that God is good, that he created this universe and that he loves you... sometimes I believed in it. Always when I came home and asked my dad about God, he would say "it is just *BLEEP*, I can not believe they actually teach you that crap." So I kind of heard one thing at home, and one thing at school... when you are eight years old that can be kind of confusing.

At some point I think I considered myself as a Christian. I went to this "sunday-school" were we sang and worshipped God. I actually think of it as a nice time in my life. It was fun.

"What kind of prayers are you praying for? You have to be realistic about it. A new playstation?"

Haha, yes I can be kind of selfish at times. When I am having troubles in my life I often pray, it creates hope for me. And I understand why God will not answer me... But I do not always pray about things regarding myself. When my parents got divorced, (I was around 11 years old or so.) I prayed that God would please make my mum stop crying, and that she would be happy and smile again. As you guys say he has no reason to help me. My mum WAS actually quite Christian. I guess that kind of change over the years too.
I have tried to accept him, but I just can not do it. I feel like I do not fit in, so I have decided that it is not something for me. After all the different stuff that has happened in my life, I have a hard time believing that someone can help me, or make me feel better or something like that, if I accept him into my heart. I hope that you all understand it. I grew up with people saying different things to me all the time. I am quite sure that if my dad had not always been that negative about religion, that I would be religious. I would actually fancy that.

[kobra500 1]

Mikey! that is a very interesting point to take on that. The regular Bible isn't 1 smart man who put everything for all of us to read and understand. Most athiests read it to contradict itself and they of course find ways to do that, but most read it out of context!
I agree that there are unexplainable parts in the bible, but evolution isn't the perfect answer!

In fact, it takes more faith for a man to believe in evolution or aliens than a person to believe in god!

I mean, just the fact that 1 cell just happened to come into existence in a planet that is deadly to us now and then happened to reproduce itself perfectly to fit in the environment again and again and again, is not my idea of why i came to earth.

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Kobra, lol your answer was mine about 3 years ago! haha... i have changed so much sense then. first off, dont think that im trying to "convert" you guys. I just really love talking about god and things like that!

Just cause i say i'm a christian or i believe in god does not mean i go to church every sunday or that other people do. In fact, you can have a perfectly good relationship with god and never go to church! I go because i learn more stuff about god, i learn how to act as a christian, and i learn from someone who can help me in life.

I can go to my dad, but i dont want to do the things h e did. I can go to someone who is "good, " but not every person's view of "good" is truly good.

If there is a god, then yes you will either go to his place for good people or his place of bad people
But heres what i think.
Now i say that because "my" god created jesus and sacrificed him for us so that we wont have to go to hell. If you dont believe in jesus, then you also dont believe in the same god as mine.

my god created heaven, hell, jesus, and everything mentioned in the bible.

Now you just have to think about your god and what he's like to you. But everyone who is agnostic has their own image of god as well.

If you dont believe in jesus or my god, then there is no way for you to get into heaven because my god created it. The only way you can get into heaven is through my god or have your god create one

thats kinda confusing.

now that i have found my god, its really hard to turn away from anything else.

And if you are believing in the wrong god, then death matters cause i would hate to be stuck in god's bad people place.

NOw, im not saying that my god is the correct god, but i cant go back to atheism because i have just as much as evidence for my god than evolution.... and i dont want to leave my god and be trapped in hell for eternity. Until my faith has been proven false, then i will consider a different path, but so far, none yet!

But look at judaism, they don't believe jesus is the son of God, also I don't tell peoples there no santa, he asked, I answered, we're all adults or mature enough at least to know people believe differently. I myself beleive that we shoud follow many christian morals except a few. Of course athiests will find reasons to contradict the bible, if you read a horoscope you will notice things that it may say, because you are trying to find it.

it's like in "Thats So Raven" - i have sisters, whenever Raven saw something good in the future it didn't happen because she saw the future, tried to make it happen and changed circumstances.

Why would dieing in anyway help me, he died for my sins, why couldn't he live and my sins be forgotten anyway! thats like stealing a watch to stop global warming, there completely irrelevent!

The bible to me is a book of stories, with morals we can learn from , much like the guy who wrote the tortoise and the hair and other simular books (essop?)

The truth is I could debate for hours, I love debating but i wont!
Edited May 22, 2008 by kobra500 (see edit history)

[jjaenagle 0]

bluebear... that story is almost like mine! Well my parents didnt get divorced so i didnt pray for things like that, but i did pray that my life would be a lot easier or i wouldnt make my parents so mad all the time lol..

If you truly accept god in your heart and you confess to god that you are a sinner and realize that jesus came here to take our sins away... then yea, you are christian.

But as a christian, you have to live your life for god. it doesnt mean you have to change everything in your life cold turkey, or go to church every weekend and stuff like that, but it does mean that you keep praying and trust that the things god does is good. If you pray for your mom's happiness and believe it, then it will happen!

Get others to pray for you cause that will help too! There are so many christians who go into this "depression" and they feel pretty much like you do. I have fallen into it and at times still am in that state, but to be honest, nothing can make me deny god.

Praying for me is amazing. It does bring hope to things and when they are answered, i know he's with me. But there are times that i dont hear anything and i know he isnt ignoring me. One of the thngs that really struck me with god is this poem called footprints.

One night I dreamed I was walking along the beach with the Lord. Many scenes from my life flashed across the sky.
In each scene I noticed footprints in the sand.
Sometimes there were two sets of footprints,
other times there were one set of footprints.

This bothered me because I noticed
that during the low periods of my life,
when I was suffering from
anguish, sorrow or defeat,
I could see only one set of footprints.

So I said to the Lord,
"You promised me Lord,
that if I followed you,
you would walk with me always.
But I have noticed that during
the most trying periods of my life
there have only been one
set of footprints in the sand.
Why, when I needed you most,
you have not been there for me?"

The Lord replied,
"The times when you have
seen only one set of footprints in the sand,
is when I carried you."

That is how i think of him!

We dont mean that he has no reason to help you, or just one person, but the things he does is in his plan to help the entire world. IF you trust god and pay close attention, he will use you to be a part of his plan.

the best way to get to know god better isn't just praying and knowing what you know now either. Reading the bible helps so much, and even books by other christians. Im getting ready to read a book called "unchristian". I have friends that i go to for help too, but in the beginning of my "christian life" i had so many questions about everything and the thing that helped was to read the bible and know that it really happened!

If you want to read the book with me, we can do a study or something lol.. or just pm me or email me anything! I love talking jesus and God!