Again my beef wasn’t with you being blunt, but rather in being presumptuous. Do you have any idea how many Christians show up here on a semi-regular basis and start lecturing us on how we should try reading the Bible without checking to see if any of us have? I apologize for biting your head off, but after years of that sort of thing it tends to become a bit of a sore spot.

I do have a deep seated concern for your spiritual well-being. I have no interest in pushing my opinion on others just because I want to be right. However, my faith in Christ would be rather useless if I didn’t believe salvation itself was at stake.

Is it really concern for my well-being or your belief that Jesus said you should be trying to convert others that motivates you?

That said, I don’t believe the message of the gospel can be proven by rational analysis alone. If that were the case, where would faith enter the picture?

I agree it can’t be proven by rational analysis alone in part because good chunks of it defy rationality, but that doesn’t mean you can’t have a rational reason for accepting it as true.

In my experience, however, accepting something purely on faith often leads to unfortunate results. I have faith in a great many things, but that faith has a rational basis.

Then again, some tend to respond to Christ’s love, others more to buy spiritual “fire insurance.�?

Yes, we often have folks using Pascal’s Wager on us here attempting to argue that if they’re wrong they’ve lost nothing, but if we’re wrong we’re going to Hell. They’re usually at a loss to explain why God would accept someone who believes purely as a means of gaining “spiritual fire insurance” as being worthy of salvation. One would think God would know if you truly believed or were just covering your ass.

Every time someone brings it up I can’t help but think of the scene in the 1999 remake of The Mummy where Beni is trying to ward off the advancing mummy by holding up a number of different religious symbols and chanting prayers in hopes of finding one that’ll repel the creature advancing upon him. “No?” he says as he drops the cross and picks up an ankh, “What about this one?”

My choice of name (praying4u) shouldn’t bother anybody if they really don’t believe in God. If that’s the case, my name should be equivalent (in that person’s view) to “wastingtime�?.

What bothers me about it is that it implies your only goal is conversion and if that’s the case then you’re definitely wasting time here unless you’ve got a seriously novel new argument that we’ve not heard a hundred times before.

You need to keep in mind that a LOT of Christians like to use that as some sort of threat (which I’ve never understood) and as such it is often interpreted as a hostile statement.

Double dipping ‘cause Zilch snuck one in on me…

Les, we have a civil dipshit here… Didn’t Heinlein have something good to say about civility?

Indeed, and I’ve apologized for being so cranky. Honestly though it was another drive-by troll and was just highly annoyed about it.

Looking4truth, formerly known as Praying4u: Spoiled? How so? Materially? Socially? I’m not getting you?

Based on my reading of the Bible, Christ had a fairly massive ego. The basis for this interpretation came mostly from these Matthew quotes:

Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. 35 For I have come to turn
“ ‘a man against his father,
a daughter against her mother,
a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law—

37 “Anyone who loves their father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves a son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. 38 Whoever does not take up their cross and follow me is not worthy of me. 39 Whoever finds their life will lose it, and whoever loses their life for my sake will find it.

Can we say self-absorbed? Granted, if I were told that I were the offspring of “god,” I might be a little uppity myself. But to cast people into hell simply for the stroking of one’s ego is hardly exemplary behavior, even for the purported son of god.

By the way, welcome aboard, Looking4truth. We throw great parties. 

I apologize for biting your head off, but after years of that sort of thing it tends to become a bit of a sore spot.

Yeah, well, I’m sorry for sounding all righteous. Wasn’t it Ghandi who said something like:
“Your Christ I like - it’s his followers I can’t stand.” Lord, help me to not come across like a freak.

Is it really concern for my well-being or your belief that Jesus said you should be trying to convert others that motivates you?

Now there’s a million dollar question. In all honesty, it’s a mixture of both. Yes, I want to comply with the great commission, but since I do believe in a literal heaven and hell, the underlying motivation is less to “please the boss,” than having to deal with the thought of someone experiencing that hell/being denied heaven. Why would I bring this message here to this board? I mean, I surely don’t know y’all well enough to have developed any personal concern. However, you gotta admit that the title of your site alone is going to provoke curiousity. (I should probably ask what lead to that name, lest I assume something and stick foot in mouth again). I’m not sure what makes me want to linger here, and provide food for thought. I’ll admit up front that I’d love for every reader here to come to faith in Christ, but I also believe that that’s ultimately God’s job. All I can do is share my own observations from the Christian perspective, and let you (and the other readers) sort it out.
Do I have anything beyond the tired old advert for the faith? We’ll see.
Love your description of the Mummy scene. My response to your question of why God would grant someone salvation who was simply covering their butt is twofold:
A) God granting salvation to a person says everything about Him, and very little (if anything) about us. Therefore, even if the person had a “cheap” reason for coming to Christ, God still gets the glory in that person’s salvation. That, to me, is what makes the Christian God so attractive. I don’t have to attain salvation through my own efforts. Not that I shouldn’t strive for holiness, but fooling myself into thinking I can get there on my own? Well, there’s lots of other religions that will offer you that exhausting/impossible route.
B) The Bible doesn’t gaurantee that those merely buying the “fire insurance” are true believers. Too me, one of the most frightening lines of scripture is Matthew 7:21:
“Not everyone who says to me,’Lord, Lord,’ will enter into the Kingdom of Heaven; but he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.”
It’s a quandary. On one hand, all who believe in the Son are saved, on the other hand, how exactly is that “believe” word defined?
I’ll probably sneak in a few prayers (on my own, in a closet) for you and your readers, but it’s not meant as a threat.
Oh, and BTW, I initially got to your site when I did a google search on the New Jersey Devils team name. You had an entry on that last year. I live in Carolina, and would love nothing more than for the Canes to stomp the Devils. When the Devils win the Stanley Cup 6 years straight, I’ll REALLY know the end is nigh!
Regards.

OK, now we’re getting somewhere. I’m really starting to like L4T…

Now there’s a million dollar question. In all honesty, it’s a mixture of both. Yes, I want to comply with the great commission, but since I do believe in a literal heaven and hell, the underlying motivation is less to “please the boss,�? than having to deal with the thought of someone experiencing that hell/being denied heaven. Why would I bring this message here to this board? I mean, I surely don’t know y’all well enough to have developed any personal concern.

Your honesty is very refreshing. I can’t count the number of times we’ve had someone claim that their motivation was purely out of genuine concern over our spiritual well being and I just can’t buy that given what I know about A) Christianity and B) human nature.

However, you gotta admit that the title of your site alone is going to provoke curiousity. (I should probably ask what lead to that name, lest I assume something and stick foot in mouth again).

I’m actually surprised at how many people are attracted by the name of the site. I’ve gotten letters from people of all sorts of backgrounds that I never would’ve guessed in a million years read this site.

The name “Stupid Evil Bastard” was a reference to how I feel the world views me as a person. I usually get this feeling after reading the newspaper. The politicians and marketers of craptastic products all seem to think I’m stupid, I’m evil because I play pen and paper RPGs and those horribly violent video games, and I’m a bastard because I actually have the audacity to speak my mind about my viewpoint. I’ve also been called one or more of those words in various combinations by various people over the years.

The blog is primarily my place to shoot my mouth off, but awhile back I added the ability for anyone who has taken the time to register with us to be able to submit guest entries to share so it’s a bit of a group blog that has a heavy bias towards me. We’ve got a fair number of religious folks who hang out here that just ignore me when I start ranting about religious stuff and a couple of them have even been brave enough to submit an entry or two themselves.

We can be a rough bunch at times particularly with people we feel are being insincere or just plain stupid, but we do try to have honest discussions.

I’m not sure what makes me want to linger here, and provide food for thought. I’ll admit up front that I’d love for every reader here to come to faith in Christ, but I also believe that that’s ultimately God’s job. All I can do is share my own observations from the Christian perspective, and let you (and the other readers) sort it out.

Fair enough. Likewise I’d also be quite happy to see everyone give up their religious superstitions, but I’m not holding my breath waiting for it to happen. Generally speaking I really don’t care too much what you want to believe so long as you don’t try to impose it on everyone else against their will. I may find your religious beliefs silly, but I’ll be the first to stand up and defend your right to have them. Doesn’t mean I necessarily respect your beliefs, just that I respect your right to hold them.

My response to your question of why God would grant someone salvation who was simply covering their butt is twofold:

First, let me say you’re the first person I’ve seen try to argue that God would accept the CYA believers. When presented with that question most folks end up admitting that the CYA argument probably wouldn’t sit well with God.

A) God granting salvation to a person says everything about Him, and very little (if anything) about us. Therefore, even if the person had a “cheap�? reason for coming to Christ, God still gets the glory in that person’s salvation. That, to me, is what makes the Christian God so attractive. I don’t have to attain salvation through my own efforts. Not that I shouldn’t strive for holiness, but fooling myself into thinking I can get there on my own? Well, there’s lots of other religions that will offer you that exhausting/impossible route.

You realize this makes God sound like he’s just competing in some sort of cosmic popularity contest, right? If true that implies he’s a tad on the shallow side.

B) The Bible doesn’t gaurantee that those merely buying the “fire insurance�? are true believers. Too me, one of the most frightening lines of scripture is Matthew 7:21:
“Not everyone who says to me,’Lord, Lord,’ will enter into the Kingdom of Heaven; but he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.�?
It’s a quandary. On one hand, all who believe in the Son are saved, on the other hand, how exactly is that “believe�? word defined?

This seems to contradict the rather low barrier for admittance you suggest in the A) point. The implication I take away from it is that God will grant salvation to some of the CYA believers, but not all of them. Seems a bit arbitrary.

I’ll probably sneak in a few prayers (on my own, in a closet) for you and your readers, but it’s not meant as a threat.

No need to pray in the closet. I’m not offended by prayer and I’ve had more than my share of people doing it for me right in front of me. If you wish to include me in your nightly invocations prior to bed or whenever you do them then there’s no harm in that. Just realize you’re joining a very large crowd that has, so far at least, been ineffectual. I would never suggest you should keep your prayers in the closet, though.

I live in Carolina, and would love nothing more than for the Canes to stomp the Devils. When the Devils win the Stanley Cup 6 years straight, I’ll REALLY know the end is nigh!
Regards.

Psh, it doesn’t matter anyways, because Ottawa is going to win the Stanley cup anyways. 

L4F:

some tend to respond to Christ’s love, others more to buy spiritual “fire insurance.�?

Reminds me of Billy Connolly’s comedy ‘The Man Who Sued God’.
Billy’s boat burned up and sank in Sydney Harbour. His insurance company declined to pay out coz they reckoned the fire was caused by an act of god.
Billy sued a coupla church leaders who couldn’t prove god’s existence and won.

If you’re seriously looking4truth, try looking outside the borders of the square (book of Grimm’s Fairy Tales and Other Propaganda to Keep the Sheeple enslaved) you’re currently bumping into.
You’ll be truly amazed at the competing theories available.
To cut to the chase though, read Sam Harris’ The End of Faith and you’ll see how your current beliefs, logically, contribute to the spread of Islamic terror.
I’m lending my copy to a Protest-ant mate’s Catholic wife on Friday nite.
I remember her asking me last Friday night: But don’t people need faith in something?
I was a bit too pissed (drunk) to answer her at length but I managed to piqué her interest even more to have her read TEoF.
She, at least, is seriously, looking4truth.

There’ve been some extremely fascinating posts in SEB.
This one, of 6 December 2004, is first-class. 
http://stupidevilbastard.com/index/seb/comments/theocracy_a_beginning/#c42838
Spoko’s take on it is excellent.
Nunyabiz though, knows your religion’s history better than most.
He shows that the bible is nothing more than a sequence of Astrological and Pagan events quite probably based in Egyptian mythology.
Eg. The Son = The Sun. The Lamb = Aries. The Fish = Pisces. etc

Unfortunately, my behavior is often as deplorable as many Christians. It’s embarrasing, until we learn that our faith in Christ doesn’t instantly make us perfect. I’m working on me day by day (and asking God to work on me), but as you know, the Bible doesn’t claim we believers will be perfected this side of heaven.

I’ve never understood why people who have so much to work on feel justified in instructing others.

Looking4truth, have you ever considered that writers of the Bible fashioned the “bring others to God” inducement in order to swell the ranks of their club. If nothing else, religious instructors crave neophytes: It feeds a sense of worth.

Truth be told, I’ll probably never completely understand why people feel compelled to instruct others in something as mysterious and unprovable as a religion.

Truth be told, I’ll probably never completely understand why people feel compelled to instruct others in something as mysterious and unprovable as a religion.

Money.

Power.  

Barbeque.   

A) God granting salvation to a person says everything about Him, and very little (if anything) about us. Therefore, even if the person had a “cheap�? reason for coming to Christ, God still gets the glory in that person’s salvation. That, to me, is what makes the Christian God so attractive. I don’t have to attain salvation through my own efforts. Not that I shouldn’t strive for holiness, but fooling myself into thinking I can get there on my own? Well, there’s lots of other religions that will offer you that exhausting/impossible route.

You realize this makes God sound like he’s just competing in some sort of cosmic popularity contest, right? If true that implies he’s a tad on the shallow side.

This seems to be a theme here - how God just demands worship and obedience because He’s just a power-tripper. I would recommend a book called “Desiring God,” by John Piper. He suggests that God wants us to worship Him alone because He knows He is the Holiest, and nothing else competes. Therefore, God wants our love and devotion because He hates to see the pain and suffering we would come to by worshipping/following anything less than pure Holiness (Himself)
O.K., so why then, does God kill people like in the Old Testament, or ultimately send some to Hell? In these situations, God gave/will give PLENTY of warning to accept His grace and mercy before respecting the person’s final wish to have nothing to do with Him.
Those in Hell will be there because they basically told God to get out of their lives. God will respect their choice.

It’s a quandary. On one hand, all who believe in the Son are saved, on the other hand, how exactly is that “believe�? word defined?

This seems to contradict the rather low barrier for admittance you suggest in the A) point. The implication I take away from it is that God will grant salvation to some of the CYA believers, but not all of them. Seems a bit arbitrary.

Yep, my statements A) and B) are contradictory, hence my use of the term quandary (sp?) John 6:29 states:  “Jesus answered and said unto them, this is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He sent.” So, all I can do is figure out exactly what the word believe means. Then, Romans 10:13 says: “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”
These seem to lend creedance to the “low bar of admittance.” However, looking at the Galatians 6:7 warning that “God will not be mocked” makes it doubtful that anyone will simple pull one over on God for their salvation.
I refuse to ultimately pronounce someone as being saved or not (barring their own statements), because once again, that’s God’s call. The Bible says He alone knows our hearts/motives.
Whoa, it’s 2 a.m. and I gotta work tomorrow! For others who I’ve not responded to yet, I’ll get there. Don’t classify me as a “drive-by evangelist” yet. 3 kids, job, Stanley Cup playoffs, and the rest of the WWW keep crouching out my blog discussions.
Seek Truth

P4Y writes…

This seems to be a theme here - how God just demands worship and obedience because He’s just a power-tripper. I would recommend a book called “Desiring God,�? by John Piper. He suggests that God wants us to worship Him alone because He knows He is the Holiest, and nothing else competes. Therefore, God wants our love and devotion because He hates to see the pain and suffering we would come to by worshipping/following anything less than pure Holiness (Himself)

This is one of my biggest beefs with the Christian concept of God: the idea that he wants to be worshiped at all. God is supposedly a perfect creature and we are supposedly so lowly as to be undeserving of his attention and yet this supposedly perfect being “wants” us to worship him.

You would think that a truly perfect entity wouldn’t have wants or desires nor would it feel the need to have something it considers abhorrent worship it. If God truly knows how great he is then the last thing he should need is outside validation of that greatness. The fact that he demands such affirmation implies he is insecure in his knowledge and needs to have his ego stroked by creatures he considers worthy only of eternal torment if they don’t acknowledge what a wonderfully loving and peaceful God he is. Do you not see how ridiculous that sounds?

You also imply that there is pain and suffering involved in worshiping anything other than your concept of God, but the only reason that’s necessarily true is because he willingly condemns people to Hell if they don’t worship him. Being that he set up the rules any suffering that comes as a result of them is a direct consequence of his decision making process. According to Christianity any decision God makes is “right” by the very fact that it was God’s decision. There’s no legitimate reason God couldn’t change the rules at any time to eliminate pain and suffering if he truly had a problem with it yet your God seems to think that eternal torment in a lake of fire is a perfectly just punishment for not spending your life telling him how great he is even though he doesn’t really need you to tell him how great he is.

O.K., so why then, does God kill people like in the Old Testament, or ultimately send some to Hell? In these situations, God gave/will give PLENTY of warning to accept His grace and mercy before respecting the person’s final wish to have nothing to do with Him.
Those in Hell will be there because they basically told God to get out of their lives. God will respect their choice.

That doesn’t answer the question at all. That merely attempts to justify the action. “God warned you and you rejected him so it’s your own fault.”

Consider the following simple facts: According to your Bible there is no sin God will not forgive if asked. You can murder 10,000 people in cold blood and as long as you come to sincerely realize what you did was wrong in God’s eyes and agree to accept him as your Lord and Savior then you can get into Heaven. Sure, he’d rather that you were a nice person and tried to emulate Jesus’ teachings and all that, but even if you don’t you’re still going to get into Heaven merely for accepting Jesus into your heart.

By that standard of justice that means that God considers you not believing in him to be a worse crime than the cold blooded murder of 10,000 people. Killing thousands while raping and pillaging and bearing false witness will not get you sent to Hell so long as you sincerely believe in and accept Jesus Christ as your personal savior.

In comparison I could live a relatively decent life where I stand up for the rights of others and work to help the needy and poor and get little kittens down out of trees and just generally being a reasonably decent person to my fellow man and yet because I don’t believe God exists I’m worthy only of being cast into a lake of everlasting fire to experience unimaginable torment for all of eternity. No matter how good a life I lead it’s irrelevant in God’s eyes because the only deciding factor on my entrance to Heaven is whether or not I believe in and accept Jesus as my personal savior.

And you don’t think God is on some kind of a power trip?

An entity that is supposedly perfect that knows how great it is has deemed that the ultimate crime worthy of unending torment is the lack of acknowledgment on the basis of faith alone of its existence by creatures it created that it deems unworthy of its attention. You don’t think that’s some fucked up reasoning?

Yep, my statements A) and B) are contradictory, hence my use of the term quandary (sp?) John 6:29 states:  “Jesus answered and said unto them, this is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He sent.�? So, all I can do is figure out exactly what the word believe means. Then, Romans 10:13 says: “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.�?
These seem to lend creedance to the “low bar of admittance.�? However, looking at the Galatians 6:7 warning that “God will not be mocked�? makes it doubtful that anyone will simple pull one over on God for their salvation. I refuse to ultimately pronounce someone as being saved or not (barring their own statements), because once again, that’s God’s call. The Bible says He alone knows our hearts/motives.

So then how can you argue in favor of “spiritual fire insurance” or Cover Your Ass Believing as a valid motivation to buy into the concept of God if you acknowledge that it’s likely God wouldn’t look favorably upon it?

If you believe in the concept of an omnipotent, omniscient, etc. god, how incredibly vain is it to think you can understand he/she/it’s motivations?  For that matter, why would god fit into our classifications?  There’s a sect of Islam (I think it’s the Sufi, but I may be completely wrong) that has that fact at it’s base: God is divine and cannot be understood by mere mortals.
There’s probably a sect of christianity that says much the same thing.

MoP writes…

If you believe in the concept of an omnipotent, omniscient, etc. god, how incredibly vain is it to think you can understand he/she/it’s motivations?

Everfresh Translation: I can’t think of a good answer to your insightful and troubling question so I’ll just pretend God is beyond comprehension even though everyone and their Uncle claims to know what it is God wants us to do.

I’m sorry, but that’s a copout. There’s also nothing vain about it—arrogant perhaps, but not vain—and it would only be arrogant if I accept the idea that God exists and was challenging his authority.

For that matter, why would god fit into our classifications?

Why shouldn’t he? If we’re made in his image then surely we share many of the same aspects. Again, this is a copout.

There’s a sect of Islam (I think it’s the Sufi, but I may be completely wrong) that has that fact at it’s base: God is divine and cannot be understood by mere mortals.
There’s probably a sect of christianity that says much the same thing.

Lots of Christians make that claim and then turn around and tell us all sorts of things about what God says and what he wants as though they understand him. Seems he’s only not understandable by mere mortals when we’re asked difficult questions about him. When we’re busy telling others how to live their lives then understanding God and what he wants is pretty damned easy it seems. How convenient.

Woah, easy.  I’m on your side.  I’m an atheist. 

My point was that if you believe in god, that doesn’t mean you understand god.  I was trying to say that since “god” (although I don’t believe in the concept) can’t be understood, then evangelists should shut the fuck up.

Oh man, such awesome questions. I’m not saying that to flatter you, but because they are such legitimate stumbling blocks to faith. Very similar to the issues that kept me away from Jesus until I was 36.
Before I address some of your issues, let me say that my theology (like anyone’s) is shaped by some of the extra-biblical stuff I’ve read (like John Piper, etc). In presenting my thoughts, I’ll do my best to attribute lines of reasoning to that concept’s originator vs. my own opinion vs. bare scripture. I do believe in scripture solara (the reason I left the Catholic tradition of my childhood), so I’m always wary of presenting Bible concepts that (however well meaning) are Man’s thinking aboud God, rather than what God himself says about His person. I get a funny feeling (not sure why) that many readers here have been put off exploring these things because of bone-head actions by those claiming to know God better than they do.

This is one of my biggest beefs with the Christian concept of God: the idea that he wants to be worshiped at all. God is supposedly a perfect creature and we are supposedly so lowly as to be undeserving of his attention and yet this supposedly perfect being “wants�? us to worship him.

You would think that a truly perfect entity wouldn’t have wants or desires nor would it feel the need to have something it considers abhorrent worship it.

I’m not sure God needs our worship. Piper suggests that the trinity had each other, and got along just fine before creating man. The concept is that God didn’t create beings to grovel at His feet due to insecurity, but in a desire to share the awesome love they (the trinity) already had for each other.
It’s a question of how/why one worships? If God needed forced worship, I’m not sure he’d be much different than a rapist, or one who uses a prostitute. Being on the receiving end of such worship might feel good, but would hardly compare to the feelings of having someone really love you for who you are. Does God want our worship/love? Maybe so, if - as you alluded to in another post - we are created in his image, our desire for love may be a reflection of His. I’m not sure on that one. Regardless, I’m just trying to distinguish between God needing vs. wanting our love.
From my experience as a believer, my own acts of worship hardly feel forced or uncomfortable. I play drums at my church, and those are some of the most peaceful, energizing, fulfilling moments I’ve ever had. Strange as it may sound, for myself, and many Christians, we don’t feel like we “have to” worship. Rather, we typically find the experience to be incredibly good. Is this just hepped up chemistry? I can’t disprove that, but you’d have a hard time convincing me that those moments are not supernatural.

You also imply that there is pain and suffering involved in worshiping anything other than your concept of God, but the only reason that’s necessarily true is because he willingly condemns people to Hell if they don’t worship him

That assumes God is doing the condemning. Like I suggested, it’s the non-beliver who insists God go away. He is merely honouring that person’s wish to have nothing to do with Him. The Bible states that Hell was created for Satan - not for man.

Oops, gotta go. More later. Dang these non-blog commitments…

L4T…

The thought of my own mortality scares me, the idea of one day not existing.  The thought that that will also happen to my children upsets me.  I want there to be a point to all this.  But I can not believe.  God was quite happy to reveal him self 4000 years ago. Why not now? You will no doubt wish to reply with something about faith, but how can I?  If it walks like a duck, and quacks like a duck, why should I deny it is a duck?  This is what religeon seems to want me to do, especially Young Earth Creationism. Having faith that it is an elephant does not make it an elephant.

Mop wrote:

If you believe in the concept of an omnipotent, omniscient, etc. god, how incredibly vain is it to think you can understand he/she/it’s motivations?

But we Christians don’t believe we can understand those motivations on our own. If we just wanted you to listen to out take on what we think God is like, our opinions would be as useful, as, say, our tastes in music.

However, since we do believe that the Bible is God’s communication, we can’t help but want others to have a chance to hear the message, and the great news it contains. If others want to disregard the message, that’s their choice.

I can’t speak for all Christians, but for me, I sometimes think that the divine communication has been misinterpreted, shared for one’s own glory, used for personal gain, etc. so much that many have disregarded the message itself due to the poor wy it has been presented.

I can’t help but read the Bible and interpret it as good news. God is for us, and has great things in store for those who trust him. If I didn’t want other people to get in on it, you could rightfully call me selfish.

Of course, I could be wrong in my interpretation that the Gospel is truth. If that’s so, and we all meet somewhere (?) after this life, I’ll feel really stupid, offer massive apologies, and maybe even accept a beating from those I’ve attempted to share the news with.

Paul himself said, in 1 Corinthians 15:19:
“If we have hoped in Christ in this life only, we are of all men most to be pitied.”
There’s no getting around it - this faith in Christ thing is an all-or-nothing choice.

Last Hussar:

God was quite happy to reveal him self 4000 years ago. Why not now?

Many would say that He told us all we need to know about Him in his WORD, until He returns. Jesus is that revelation, as stated in John 1:

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”

Zilch wrote:

Well, what about the little temper tantrum he threw when the fig tree had no fruit, even though it was out of season?  Sounds spoiled to me…

Symbolically, the fig tree represented Israel. Here’s a great explanation if you want:
http://www.christiancourier.com/questions/cursedFigTreeQuestion.htm

BTW, what is that thing in your pic? Seaweed, an anchor, a bong?

Allright, Looking4truth, since you seem to enjoy answering our questions/comments, I quote you Homer Simpson:

“What if we chose the wrong religion?  Every week we’re making god madder and madder.”

Given the enormous amount of religious beliefs various people have and had, what makes you think christianity is the one true faith?

Sexy Sadie wrote:

Based on my reading of the Bible, Christ had a fairly massive ego. The basis for this interpretation came mostly from these Matthew quotes:

Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. 35 For I have come to turn
“ ‘a man against his father,
a daughter against her mother,
a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law—

36 your enemies will be the members of your own household.’ [d]

37 “Anyone who loves their father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves a son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. 38 Whoever does not take up their cross and follow me is not worthy of me. 39 Whoever finds their life will lose it, and whoever loses their life for my sake will find it.

Can we say self-absorbed? Granted, if I were told that I were the offspring of “god,�? I might be a little uppity myself. But to cast people into hell simply for the stroking of one’s ego is hardly exemplary behavior, even for the purported son of god.

By the way, welcome aboard, Looking4truth. We throw great parties.

Thanks for the welcome. I love a good party.
Question for you. What kind of human bothers you more. An accomplished master of something that realistically assesses his/her own talents, or a braggart that is clearly delusional as to his own talent/power, etc? Probably the one who thinks he/she is better than they really are will be the obnoxious one.
If God is omniscient and all-powerful, and thus KNOWS He is such, would we want Him to commend something less than His own perfection? What kind of God would know where the real greatness is, but direct people elsewhere?
Hence the commandment not to have any other Gods before Him. If He knows He is the real deal, He wouldn’t want us settling for anything less. Why settle for the cheap and temporary high of drugs, sex, gambling, power, wealth, fame, etc, when you could have something far greater - a personal relationship with the one who created (and can dispense) ALL good gifts.
The Matthew quotes you listed are perfect reflections of the contrast between this world’s pleasures, and those God offers for eternity. Certainly, if this world is all there is, why not make your personal relationships, and the things of “this life” your quest.
If, however, God can offer you far greater gifts than these - FOR AN ETERNITY - then even the best of this world’s pleasures are comparitively useless. Ecclesiastes is a great study on the relative uselessness of trying to find meaning in this world’s offerings.
Jesus spoiled? Well, O.K., if by spoiled, you mean “an outrageous willingness to do whatever it takes to bring my creations in to the depths of my love,”
then, yes, I guess He was spoiled.
Happy choosing

Hey MoP

Before I dare go up against a Simpson’s quote, lemme express my condolences on game 2 of Ottawa/Buffalo. Much as I’m rooting for the Canes, I’ve been predicting all year that this was Ottawa’s year. Think they can bounce back?

O.K., on to your question.

Given the enormous amount of religious beliefs various people have and had, what makes you think christianity is the one true faith?

Well, my personal testimony can be read at my blog:
http://uncletomsblogcabin.blogspot.com/2005/05/itching-for-god-my-testimony.html

But in the last 3 years, since I accepted Jesus and His atonement for my sins, it’s been confirmed for me by these things:
A) Prophecy. The hundreds of old testament prophecies describing the coming Messiah. The odds of one person meeting all the criteria are just not humanly possible. Here’s a list:
http://www.messianic-prophecy.net/
Also, I read the Bible, and read the news today. Israel becoming a nation again after 2000 years, China/Russia/Iran aligning themselves for a coming attack against Israel, Syria heading toward annihlation, etc. All these things we are seeing are predicted in the Bible. Despite the fact it can’t be proven to be true, the Bible has also not been proven untrue. No other book (religious or not) has this record of prediction. For a good look at modern prophecy, check:
http://www.harpazo.net/101/List.html
B) Seeing miraculous responses to personal prayer. Prayers to God the Father, in His Son’s name.
C) His work in my own life. Changed attitudes where I’d hitherto been astoundingly stubborn, giving up an addiction (even though I still have some - like cigarettes), and a constant underlying joy in the face of struggles.
D) Understanding that every other religion requires something of me to become holier. Christianity is the only one where God does it all FOR me. If I were a God, and was called to a showdown of Gods to demonstrate my authenticiy and love, I would not have picked a painful death to demonstrate my divinity. In a field of uncaring, indifferent, demanding, or downright mean gods, I’m going with the one who demonstrates true love:
“Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.”
John 15:13

Whoa, that’s a trip. The graphic word that came up for me to type before I can click submit is “effort77.” Go figure…

You also imply that there is pain and suffering involved in worshiping anything other than your concept of God, but the only reason that’s necessarily true is because he willingly condemns people to Hell if they don’t worship him.

Actually, Hell is not assigned for refusal to worship Him. It’s assigned (or, as I alluded to earlier - God honors the choice of those who want Him to go away), as the just punishment for sin. God killed His son to take every sinner’s punishment. If someone refuses to let Jesus take their punishment, God says: “O.K., have it your way - You take the punishment.”