He everybody's God. He made everything that is and always will be. Don't curse me. We all bear the consequences of sin. Are you personally doing anything to stop someone's suffering? Are feeding the hungry? Are visiting people in Jail? Are you helping people out in financial need? These things are all required of you by God. So get off your self righteous behind and do something instead of running your mouth. BOLT
You are ignorant of this topic. The old and new testament clearly speak of Satan, Hell, the lake of fire, sin, unrighteousness and the whole nine yards. Read the Bible before you comment on it. BOLT
Once again, you are blaming God for man's decisions. God set forth the law and man CHOOSE to ignore it. Those statistics are your results of sin. Every last one. Now, don't get me wrong, I feel EXTREMELY bad for any and all problems in the world and so does God. However, if people won't listen, then who is to be blamed? Here is something to ponder. In order for someone to enter into Harvard they MUST adhere to a very strict criteria. That criteria would most definitely require extreme discipline or else you will not see the inside of Harvard University. People just except such a difficult criteria to enter into this elite educational institution. However, when a strict criteria is set forth by God to enter Heaven, people are shocked that he would demand such a thing. Now, that's hypocrisy! BOLT
THATS A (bleep) ANSWER AND YOU KNOW IT!! DONT TRY TO PLACE THE BLAME SQUARELY ON ME OR ANYONE ELSE YOU ADMIT YOUR GOD IS TO BLAME SO LETS SEE HIM DO THE RIGHT THING!!!
Of the nineteen occurrences of the word "satan" in the Authorized Version, where the original word has been left untranslated, twelve are found in the Book of Job. There can be no doubt that the "satan" of Job was an adversary to the true worship of God; there is no proof that he was possessed of supernatural powers and the language of the book readily admits of a selfish human being filling the role. The names hell and Hades have generally been understood as places of punishment, either eternal or temporary. Ancient cultures often envisioned an abode for the dead as a reward, or as neutral, rather than always as a punishment. In very ancient primitive religions, as well as among American Indians, the dead went to dwell with their ancestors or to a heavenly location with other souls. Ancient Israel conceived of a place called Sheol, a dark and gloomy place, to be sure, but no elements of punishment were attached to it.
Actually, I am blaming God for not stopping the suffering on earth. If he created the earth, then surely he has the power to stop the suffering, or apply it in a more just fashion. Since he will not or can not, then I submit; if he will not he is not worthy of praise, and if he can not, he does not exist. I believe that man's own evil causes much of the suffering, not some supreme being. Your line of reasoning is similar to that of Osoma Bin Laden that the end justifies the means as long as infidels remain. After all, those who don't follow the teachings of Allah should not be on Muslim holy land. Or some crap like that that justifies innocent people dying. The Harvard analogy is an interesting one, although your reasoning is circular to say the least. Fine there are a set of standards to get in to Harvard. There are also a set of standards that people should live by, commandments if you will. If I take thou shall not kill. If no one killed, there would be no murder. DUH The argument follows that people kill, god get's angry, children starve or get sold into slavery. Forgive me if I don't buy this. At least God could have a 1 to 1 scoring system. Further, the big payday is that those who follow God's Rules get to go to Heaven. Those who don't burn in Hell. If I cheat on my wife, and steal I will be punished for eternity. That does not explain why some child in Africa dies of Malaria. The whole argument is that I am put on earth to serve the lord and go to heaven. I don't, so some other child gets put on earth, eaten by flies for a year and then dies. In the mean time I live for 72 years.. This is the master plan of the being that created the earth??
Thunderbolt, The Bible says ........Jesus preaches violence, sets families against their own Matthew 10 34-36 Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword. (recognised today as inciting terrorism) For I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter in law against her mother in law. And a man's foes shall be they of his own household The Bible says ........ God thinks creates and does evil Exodus 32 9/10/11/ the Lord said to Moses ... Now therefore let me alone, that my wrath may wax hot against them, and that I may consume them (according to the bible it was man himself in the form of Moses who railed against evil) And Moses besought the Lord his God, and said, Lord, why doth thy wrath wax hot against thy people (so "He" relents) and the Lord repented of the evil which he thought to do unto his people. (Just to make sure though, âHeâ decides his first idea was best anyway) Exodus 32 27 And he said unto them, thus saith the Lord God of Israel, put every man his sword by his side, and go in and out from gate to gate throughout the camp, and slay every man his brother, and every man his companion, and every man his neighbour. Exodus 32 35 And the LORD plagued the people The Bible says ........God created evil, why the hell should he do such a thing ? ! Isiah 45:7 I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the LORD do all these things. I suggest YOU read the bible PROPERLY, instead of misinterpreting and misrepresenting it as the work of a supreme intelligence. It is a very long way off that. All this junk was concocted and written by man. If anything, it is the work of devilish con men who altered and adjusted earlier nonsense through the centuries . Your bible does not show itself to be the work of an almighty loving creator . Your rationality (not to mention your sanity) will always be suspect whilst you place so much blind unquestioning faith in a flawed 2000 year old novel which itself makes a mockery of anything to do with an ultimate truth. You've fallen hook line and sinker for the world's most popular chain letter and you're too proud or scared or both to admit it. Your persistent and unreformable attitude to the conspicuous and obvious is child like.
You're absolutely right Stu. That only scratches the surface. There is so much more that's worse than that. I seem to have lost my references though - dammit! The following is distilled from a conversation my friend LP had on another message board, which follows on from some of the points you just made:
They say that only raving fanatics and religious madmen are obsessed with the end the world and the wrath of God... They say that such doomsday prophets are a menace to society and such odd fellows should be locked up in a padded cell... They say that this idea of God's wrath and "all the world a burning" is the myth of the ancients and talk of fools... They say that... wait a minute...who are "they"? "For this THEY willingly are ignorant of, that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the water and in the water: Whereby the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished: But the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men." (2 Peter 3:5-7). "For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night. For when THEY shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and THEY shall not escape." (1Thessalonians 5:2,3)
Fool's Talk. Many church people may find this message to be too blunt or negative for their sweet tooth religion. They may sincerely believe that it is "too hard" or "too unloving". But I am not going to cater a chocolate covered message. Besides how can you candy coat the Day of the Lord and hell? God knows my heart that I share this message in soberness but also in love. And tell me, isn't warning you of impending danger an act of love? And so I will warn you in love. There is not enough time left to beat around the bush or to spare words lest I offend or "run you off" from the gospel that I preach. Too many preachers mince their words and hell is enlarged because of it. I will not be a polite neighbor who knocks softly upon your burning house (lest I offend you) to wake you out of your intoxicated sleep of damnation. No, I will even resort to being referred to as a "raving fanatic" if I can but save one from the "everlasting burnings". Like the Apostle Paul stated, "knowing therefore the terror of the Lord, we persuade men" (2 Corinthians 5:11).Your eternal soul is more important than my fleeting reputation. I do not care what you think of me in the end, as long as you have heard the Word of God and have been properly warned. As a child of wrath you have already been "run off" by your sin and rebellion to God. I can not make your damnation any worse than it already is, especially by preaching the truth. Since you are already a child of hell, I must then make every sincere effort to warn you to "flee from the wrath to come". Should you be offended or get angry, it is only another sign to you that you are a hater of God and His truth.