Christians: Isn't it obvious from all the answers to these questions (links provided) that you are...?

Question

...rationalizing because not only does scripture not provide answers, it doesn't even support the answers you're giving?

And the alternative? That the god of scripture is -not- a god of love, is too frightening for you to consider?

Couldn't Jesus have been a man who understood Love, and used the concepts and terminology his people understood to try and convey an understanding of Love that was alien to the god they worshipped?

I know, your eyes are glazing over and knee-jerk devotion to -religion- (not Love, not what Jesus taught, but religion) will provoke denial and quotes from scripture. But every question I've asked denies any belief that the scriptural "God is Love".

Do none of you have the faintest doubt that scripture god could be a god of love? Do you not see how those of us who are not Christian have doubts because you cannot agree on an answer for these challenges? Do you not see that even your own scripture does not agree with your answers?

links below:

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=AsqQCEkDarkFKmAjRnpp0i7sy6IX?qid=20061004172154AAee3k1

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=AnZlxzxkXQlbfOjbwyGWWqXsy6IX?qid=20061004173340AAf0UwQ

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=AvuuPoubJMFfyaTxRtMwGAPsy6IX?qid=20061004174428AAfMMPg

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=ApoAy4wlMCzYUZxGIhLvxHIezKIX?qid=20061004175545AARl9kK

Lest I be misunderstood:
I am not an atheist.
I believe in Love as the manifestation in Life of a self-aware universe (which you can call "God" if you wish).

I will assume that you are unaware of all the questions I've asked (nearly 500, counting my main account: bobkgin, and all the sock puppets I've created: bobkgins_sock_puppet_1, 2, 3, 4).

You've also no way of knowing of the 36 years I've spent learning to understand Love and how it has manifested itself in scripture.

As for grouping literalists with those who see metaphors, and praying for guidance...it is the difference between those who admit they don't understand, and those who claim they do. Either group has difficulty justifying the claim that "God is Love" given the evidence in the only source of information this god has provided the public. Whatever answer you get to prayers isn't in the book, and that is what the rest of us rely upon to understand Christianity.

I find it interesting that some would prefer to spell god as "God", but Love as "love". Perhaps we have a difference of opinion as to where the emphasis should be place.

Answer 1

Perhaps you should curtail your knee-jerk reaction to lump all Christians together, given that many Christians aren't Bible literalists.

And lumping people like me together with people like the fundamentalists doesn't make me want to have a real in-depth warm and fuzzy chat with you. You're as blind to the truth of Christianity as most fundamentalist Christians are to Love - the truth being that there are thousands of denominations, many of which believe something similar to what you offer - many of which don't take the Bible literally, but as a book of parables and a way to find God.

Many of us struggle to reconcile what we see as inconsistencies within the Bible, and many of us finally relent and offer up to God one prayer - that we can find His true will by living what we believe His intent to be - that the one thing Christ taught over and over and over was LOVE. We understand that the Bible has been changed perhaps hundreds of times over the centuries. It doesn't mean we discard it entirely - it just makes it a bit muddier.

Perhaps you should learn a bit more about "Christians" before you go asking questions to just "Christians in general." It would take you a good long time and by doing so, you might actually find out the answers to your questions in a meaningful way, rather than simply posting your acerbic and barbed rhetoric on Yahoo! Answers.

Answer 2

1.) How can you possible have "freewill" if you take away any possible of them having a choice? If there is no alternative, then there is no free will, and man is nothing but a robot or another animal. No possibility of sinning also means no possibility of loving either. So a God of love has no choice but to allow love, by allowing sin.

2) Exodus 8:32 Says the Pharoah hardened his own heart. All God did was to constrain Pharoah to the course and decisions he had already made. Rather then having him wavering all over the place for weeks and months as people continued to die, God simply pushed him the direction he had already decided to go.

3) Genesis 6 - The Flood. Interesting how many people miss the first 6 verses of the chapter that explain the reason for the Flood. He says that the sons of God (fallen angels) had relationship with human women that resulted in "giants". They introducted non-human genetic material into the human race that would have caused birth defects, diseases, etc, destroying all life and causing their hearts to become like fallen angels - full of evil all the time. So God preserved the only genetically and morally pure people - Noah and his family. And wiped out all the genetically impure, no longer human people - including the women and children. Thus preserved the human race.

4) Why do people think that giving your life sacrifically for another is a horrible and awful thing? It is the ultimate expression of love. When Jesus came, it was with the express purpose of giving his life. Go back to question 1. It all ties together. God's first and foremost purpose for man was to have a loving relationship with Him. So once sin came, it had to somehow be removed. So rather than have man have to die or be tortured or whatever to break the power of sin, God came down and did it himself. Why, would you rather he had you nailed up instead?

The answer are easy when you read the book...

Answer 3

I hope that you can find the answers to your own questions, qualms and doubts, not from us but from God Himself who is the giver of the gift of faith because without faith you only have reasons and reasons until you end up frustrated.
Faith will enlighten you.
Then you ask how and when faith will come to you. I say I don't even know. Do you really get it anytime you want it? I say again I don't know.

But when it comes to you, you cannot avoid it.
You questioning mind will be opened and you will find the answers not here and now but later.

Your own book of love or whatever you call it, if you review it, will show you some revelations to understand the spiritual relationships between your affiliation and that of Christians.

The commonalities of relationships in love permeates every human being, religion and affiliations.

Answer 4

I agree with you wholeheartedly. The god of the old testament was about as far from a god of love as you can get. He told his people to steal (from the Egyptians and the Caananites), commit genocide (Ammonites and Caananites), gave them a set of laws that were very complex and difficult to follow and abandoned them whenever they broke them....this doesn't sound like love to me.
Admittedly, the message Jesus preaches in the new testament is a little different; but supposedly Jesus is part of this old testament god. It also says in the new testament that god is the same yesterday, today and forever, which would seem to indicate that he is still not very nice. I've never understood how that can be rationalized.

Answer 5

The links I have seen reguarding'proof'of God uses some very circular reasoning. Christians teach belief in a personal savior, but I have yet to see anything resembling a personal intervention by any type of higher power. This is why I left Christianity. Their answer to this was I didn't believe hard enough. I guess I don't get it.

Answer 6

can a simple man such as yourself provide salvation to mankind??
Jesus being ALL man ALL God can...

can a non powerful god create all things with a simple word??
GOD ALMIGHTY CAN

would a crazy man die on a cross for the salvation of the word??
ONLY JESUS THE SON OF GOD CAN

Aliens, space ships bla, bla bla who exactly is living in a fantasy world??
Satan has a blind over your eyes...

One thing I do agree with you is that most Christians are not well prepared to answer certain question...for that I ask God to forgive us and to better prepare us.

Answer 7

It's a little disappointing that no one seems to be making any effort to at least understand your perspective. I feel like you're getting a big "nuh uh". I believe that to truly understand your own beliefs, you must explore and attempt to understand the beliefs of others. I just don't see that here. You yourself could use a little more of an attempt to see their side, but in the end we will all come to our own conclusions, as you have, as they have. I just hope to see a little more effort put into those decisions.

Answer 8

obviously, u have the right to disagree with religion, but i am quite curious y it is that the atheists feel the constant need to try to convince the christians that they are wrong. athiests can believe what they want... christians can believe what they want.
athiests seem to think that christians are irrational for their beliefs. i think that the athiests are irrational because anyone with any common sense would understand that it is pointless to continue to try to convince the christians to change their minds.

Answer 9

My friend, arguing from a negative position for the elimination of a positive position is not going to happen with this form of logic.

Answer 10

in my life, if i have learned one thing, it is, Jesus Christ is the only way out of this, planet school, for the reason being that we are here to learn what He has come to teach," LOVE", all i know is i want to be Christ like, LOVE is all there is...
God bless us all...