Can ANYONE ever say that they Did Not KNOW About GOD?

Question

(Psalms 98:2) The LORD hath made known His salvation: His righteousness hath He openly shewed in the sight of the heathen.

WILL Anyone ever be able to Make An Excuse to GOD as HE has shown them His Salvation?

Thanks, RR

Answer 1

Ever is absolute...I try not to deal in absolutes....ever.

Answer 2

Of course. In the jungles of Africa and South America there are tribes without books and much knowledge of the outside world. Until missionaries go in and disturb their existence, they won't know about "God".

Now if you still claim that they know about God, in what form would that be? And if it's through a form other than the one you are practicing, that would seem to say that other religions are acceptable and equally right, and by extension Judaism and Islam are just as right as Christianity. (All three believe in the God of Abraham.) And if they are all right, then why bother trying to convert or argue the merits of one over the other?

Have a nice day.

Answer 3

To answer the first question... "Yes, someone can say that they did not know about God."

(1)"Christianity spread beyond its origins within the Jewish religion in the mid-first century ...Christianity spread east to Asia and throughout the Roman Empire..."

The "word of God" took time to spread, especially in the "new world." So it would be nieve to think that there are no longer people out there who do not/have not heard of God. They may have their own god that they believe in, but that doesn't seem to be what you're referring to in your question.

I don't like to answer a question with a question, but isn't that one of the reasons why people go on mission trips? People dedicate their lives to educating people on God and who he is. There are still those very remote areas, especially in 3rd worlds, that still haven't been exposed... or so I'm assumming.

Answer 4

Humanity has developed over many lifetimes; first resembling beasts, with desires only for food, family, sex and shelter; then developing through stages of wealth, power, honor and knowledge.

At the first stage of development, desires for food, family, sex and shelter are a person’s only desires. Even a totally isolated individual has these desires and tries to fulfill them. Desires conditioned by society’s influence (desires for wealth, power and honor) emerge at the next stage.

Afterwards, the desire for knowledge appears. Sciences flourish as we set out to discover where everything comes from, to find our roots. This desire for knowledge, however, still only resides within the framework of our world.

Only at the next stage does a human being desire to know the real source, one’s essence—the meaning of life. “Where do I come from?” “Who am I?” “What am I?” These questions cause discomfort and trouble a person.

Human beings are naturally egoistic. All of our desires are self-motivated and crave fulfillment. They pressure us, literally controlling our every move. The height of egoism in our world is the desire to be filled with knowledge about something above us.

What is the source of desires and how do they appear? The source of desires is suffering. Passing from one type of desire to another happens only under the influence of suffering. If I am in a balanced state, then I feel comfortable and everything is just fine. A new desire then appears, and I feel that something is missing. Now I want to experience something new, so I start trying to fulfill this desire…and this process keeps repeating itself. In other words, I am always running after new pleasures.

We are born on this planet, we live and we die trying to satisfy our countless desires. Only after many lives do we reach the state when one desire is all that remains: the desire to attain our source, the meaning of our lives. Once this final, ultimate desire appears, everything else seems unnecessary and meaningless. A person gets depressed, feeling emotionally and spiritually empty, as if nothing in this world can bring happiness. Life seems pointless and lacking something real…“What is the purpose of my life?” “Why do I exist?” These are the questions that bring people to Kabbalah.

Answer 5

You're right. No one can say they did not know about God.

Psalm 19:1 The heavens declare the glory of God;
the skies proclaim the work of his hands.

2 Day after day they pour forth speech;
night after night they display knowledge.

3 There is no speech or language
where their voice is not heard.

4 Their voice goes out into all the earth,
their words to the ends of the world.

Answer 6

Man will not have an excuse- as it says in Romans 1:20

20For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse.

-They will try I am sure to say they never knew- But God has shown Himself through Creation, for starters....and that is very obvious that He exists. Praise be to Him!

Answer 7

Knowing & Understanding: There's A Difference

Swami Sukhabodhananda
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A man with eight PhDs - he was proud of his achievement - met a monk. The monk asked him, "Why have you been so foolish in life?" The man said: "But I have eight PhDs!"

"I have understood you; it is foolish to spend the best part of life reading instead of enjoying the birds, stars and the moon", said the monk.

"You may have knowledge but not clarity; you may know a lot and yet understand nothing".

What does one have to understand about life?

You have many centres: Intellectual centre, an emotional centre and a body centre. In each centre, there is a mechanical and magnetic part. The mechanical part acts like a machine while the magnetic part acts with ore awareness.

You have to transform yourself. Your mechanical movements and thinking have to change. Your mechanical emotions like jea- lousy and hatred have to be overcome. You can do this by bringing in more awareness.

Then a complete being will emerge. When you increase awareness, even poison can turn into medicine; and with no awareness, medicine can become poison.

Why are we so mechanical?

A king dreamt that he was a beggar. His guru, in his dreams, told him the truth that he was a king and not a beggar. Now was he to argue with his guru or just wake up?

The question of "why" cannot be answered. When did time begin? You cannot answer such a question. Which came first, egg or hen? There is a logical fallacy in the very question. Realise that we are mechanical. Bring in more awareness and see the life-transformation.

Even inert objects have life. Treat any object with loving awareness and it will guide you mysteriously. Your intuition and purity have to increase to receive this message. When you bathe, lovingly talk to water.

In a relationship, is it not necessary to judge? >>

In a relationship, is it not necessary to judge?

Keep yourself relaxed. Increase your awareness and love. Not to judge should not be a conclusion. Don't make it a demand or compulsion. Let there be a choice. There is a difference between "should' and "choice'.

"Should' creates stress; it limits you to only one option. Choose not to judge. It is not a demand but a wise choice.

The danger of judgment is that you stop seeing the object of judgment and you are more in your judgment.

In life, you have to make judgments, but don't be a victim of your judgments. Suppose a thief enters your house, you have to judge him but then, be open to the possibility that he could change.

Suppose you meet him after 10 years, see if he has changed or not. Do you still judge from the memory that he has been a thief? If you do not have this awareness, you will not see the change in a person even if he has changed.

What should one be really aware of?

Negative emotions poison. Like avoiding poisonous food, avoid negative emotions. Don't identify with them. Don't participate in them. Choose to create a new will, not be driven by negative emotions.

They deplete your energy. They keep you asleep. They are harmful and heavy. They make your life complicated. For example somebody's success should not be your failure. We define our failure by somebody's success.

We feel jealous seeing someone successful. Jealousy is a great poison.

Compete with your potential. Even if you compete with others, enjoy it. See beauty all around. Do not define your success and failure by someone's success and failure.

Answer 8

Romans 1:20
For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse.

Answer 9

Yes, there are people in remote parts of the world who have never so much as heard of your god, people whose mental capacities make the concept of a supreme being difficult or impossible to understand, and many others who have heard but don't believe that your god exists, or believe he is other than you describe him, or have their own gods to worship.

Answer 10

My middle brother is severely mentally handicapped, my feeling is he probably has a REASON to stand before your God and say he did not know. He has been denied the 'not knowing' of many things

Answer 11

It's certainly possible if you consider there may be people out there who have never had contact with any other person (deep in the jungle). Remember that we are taught about God from others. We are not born knowing such information.