It is very interesting that these 2 questions yield such different answers about God, Why do you think that is

Question

One appears to attract more open minded people:
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=AuGEwvD1TiR5YIXSdCFJe_Lsy6IX?qid=20060811200418AAZNUDT
And the other people who are less open minded:
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=AsVEyBmb.zfBDwYf54C.MW_sy6IX?qid=20060811202853AAMAMjh

Why do you think that is? They ask approximately the same thing.

The questions both revolve around salvation for non-christians.

This question regards how different types of people choose different questions to answer. Why would more fundamental christians not choose to answer the question about Abraham. Why would more conscervative christians choose to answer it.

I was targeting Christians with both. Regardless of the number of religions involved. The primary audience here is Christian afterall.

luv2so2: GOOD ANSWER! Though some might beg to disagree...

Answer 1

Well, how you worded your second question was allot more straight forward then in your first. You are asking basically the same thing but more bluntly in your second. People of the christian faith tend to become very sensitive when you say something that makes God or Jesus Christ look as though He is jealous or vengeful, such as your second question implies. Very nice observation.

Answer 2

The questions seemed very different to me . . . the first brings out the fact that 3 religions stem from Father Abraham. The question more or less was do they worship the same God and can they be saved within their own belief. The second was concerned with a single belief in Christianity and if Christ had to be accepted. Of course they are going to be responded to by different people.

As for my own belief: yes, the basic concepts re: God is present in all 3 religions. Following the religion will lead one to salvation just as the thief on the cross was taken into Paradise. You raise the question of purgatory . . . I believe there is a space between death and the final resurrection where people have the opportunity to learn what they missed here although they still will be accountable for their sins. (For example, murder is a sin in all 3 religions.) IF you were exposed to Christianity and rejected what you were being taught by the Spirit, then it will complicate your progress. Repentence will be required.

Answer 3

I don't think the questions are asking the same thing.

If you are asking about all faiths or a Christian basis, you need to be a little more specific.

To answer the combined question as a Christian I say that God's plan for his children included a savior, Jesus Christ, to atone for our sins. He did not omit salvation for those of other faiths. Those who went throught this life without the Gospel will be given an opportunity accept it later.

Answer 4

When the position of the questioner is clearly established, answers will take sides based on their agreement or disagreement with that basic position.

In the first question, your position was unclear. You could have come from any of the Abrahamic faiths or none, so you got more open, objective responses.

Once your details identified with not just Christianity, but Catholicism, you segmented your response base even further and the answers started to have less and less to do with the question and more with the fundamental disagreements with your stance.

Answer 5

Interesting observation...

It appears that the first question is asking for a very specific "yes or no" answer and one that requires less presant-time decision making, deduction or introspection - one comes to the question and either believes the answer is true or false, that there is a common God figure to the beliefs you mentioned or there is not - while the second question is open for a wider range of responses and this seems to be exactly what it received. Individuals who answered were challenged to do a bit of current-time thinking in order to formulate an answer appropriate to your "if" statement and then were further challenged to supply their own belief system to explain their reasoning for "why."

It seems to me that each question is bassically different in it's depth. One askes for "what one believes" while the other asks for "a justification of what one believes." I'll add that the questons seem to differ in their apparent appeal as a result of the implied broadness of answer-range each allows.

Good original questions, both... and thoughtful answers, too.

[][][] r u randy? [][][]

Answer 6

Very keen insight. I don't know why people get so uptight at all. God will answer all the questions on his return or our death. Certainly no one really belives from being yelled at. If they did I would just yell louder and they would 'believe' me. The second question did seem to kinda issue a challenge. And the first might attract people who typically answer those kinds of questions a lot, therefore they figured that yelling doesn't work.

Answer 7

It could be more of an opinion instead of Bible based. If you can back anything with scripture, then believe it.

Read 1 Corinthians 3:3
Carnal minded

Answer 8

Because they are two different questins.

I dont see the similarity in them.

Maybe you can explain a little better the next time you ask a question.

Answer 9

My interpretations differs from yours. And I think they're not approximately the same. They're 2 different questions. Naturally, they get different answers.

Answer 10

They don't ask the same thing. one is directed to 3 reliegions at the same time. the other is directed to only 1 reliegion