Christians, what do you think?

Question

Why do good inocent people die while rapists, murders and terrible people live?

My sister's friends with a gay guy. He's really nice, so according to the bible, would he go to hell just because someone who wrote the bible is homophobic?

If you don't go to church, but you pray at home and you love God and Jesus, would you be considered a "good" Christian?

Do you believe the bible is the absolute truth or do you belive that it has imperfections because it was in fact written by humans?

I'm not trying to bash God or Jesus, but come one.

Answer 1

You have a lot of good points, and are obviously thinking clearly, logically, and compassionatly. You'll probably get a lot of negative responses from this question. I personally think that fundamentalist christians who really do believe you're going to hell if you don't do things exactly right seem to get angrier more often when discussing religion. Probably because all the evidence is against them. I'm an agnostic. Not a heathen, not a devil worshipper, I just think that no one knows for sure where we come from or where we're going, but I also think any god who would send his beloved creations to burn in hell for all eternity is a raving psychopath.

Answer 2

Look, your question is a fair one. I don't know about the homophobic who wrote the Bible part, but I can tell you this:
Your gay friend is not gonna get thrown into hell upon death. The Scriptures are clear: When Christ returns, there will be a 1000 yr period of teaching, and disipline. Both of which are needed badly. Nobody, and I repeat Nobody, will be dumped into hell without having every opportunity to see and hear truth, and accept Christ. This is not a second chance. Its just that God knows that with what is taught, there isn't much of a first chance. People are lied to so much by church systems, that they refuse to believe anything they hear. Can't blame them in many cases.
Ok, yes I believe the Bible is the absolute truth. I do my studies in the manuscripts, using the massorah (the footnotes) and with knowledge of the three Biblical languages. If a verse is tampered with in my good ole King James Bible, it will stand out to me like a sore thumb. And, yes there are some very poor translations, some tampered with, and some that are very, very good.
Its just like anything else - you need to know what you're doing, or in this case - what you're reading.
Innocent people die, rapists and murderers live. Why? Well, because thats the world we live in. After the war where satan wanted to take over Christs throne, God decreed that all souls would be born to flesh, making their choice of whether to follow satan, or God. In order to do that it was necessary that each person have free will. (For deeper students viewing this, yep I know Gods elect do not) God will not interfere with that free will, unless He is asked specially through prayer to intercede, and then He knows if He would intercede, I do not.
Yes, there are terrible things that happen to good people. Thats man for ya. If you feel like it seems as if those people are getting away with something, you would find Psalms 37 very interesting.
It contains an acrostic, which is a message within the message, that tells that those people will be just like a pig roasting on an open pit, with the grease of it dropping down into the fire, and the smoke of it rising up forever and ever. And you will see them go into it, and become no more. So fear not, God may have declared he would not interfere with man, but thats only up until He returns, and then theres gonna be a whole lotta shakin goin on. You can take that to the bank.

Answer 3

Alrighty, here I go, lets see if I can answer any of these...:-)

#1 Your sister's friend is with a gay guy, and you asked if he will go to hell because someone who wrote the bible was "homophobic" first off, no one in the bible was homphobic, 2 Timothy 3:16
"All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness," I doubt God would use a "homophobic" person to write the bible, expecially if it is GOD BREATHED! And for the record, yes, your sister's friend's friend, will go to hell, and not because of some homophobic person who wrote the bible, but because God's very word SAID SO.

Question #2. Yep, church doesn't make you a Christian, you make the church Christian. If you love God, and Jesus, and pray, then you are a christian. Church was only suggested by Paul as a way to "be encouraged by fellow believers, because a time will come when you will struggle in your faith, and then you will have support, to lift you up again."

and the final point....Question #3 I do indeed believe the bible is the ABSOLUTE TRUTH OF GOD..... Yes human's wrote it, but it was God breathed, as I quoted earlier, and that means, that God, the GOD of the WORLD, watched over it, took care of it....his very servants wrote it. Questioning the bible is like questioning the princpels this country was founded on, just because people wrote them, doesn't mean they aren't RIGHT! It's like a decree from a king, do you think he takes time to write the whole thing down on paper? No, his servants write it out, and he puts his seal of approval on it, and then it is spread all through the country that this is now LAW! But did the king actually write it...no. Is it still law? yes, because he decreed it!

Now, for the record, I am not trying to bash you, just like your not trying to bash God. I know a lot of people view God as this loving person who is full of grace and mercy, and he is...but what some people fail to realize is that the person you love, you also correct. And the grace and mercy you give, you also punish with.
God bless you
Kat

Answer 4

Good innocent people die because God has given us all free agency to choose what we will do in our lives. Rapists, murderers, and other terrible people may live, but they will be punished after they have died, depending on their circumstances. God is the only one who can truly judge these people.

Gay people are not going straight to hell or anything, but they are just good people struggling with a very immoral sin. Hate the sin, love the sinner.

I'm not exactly sure what would be considered a "good" Christian to God, but in my opinion a good Christian would be one who goes to church, prays constantly, loves God and Jesus, and just generally tries their best to do what God wants them to do.

I am a member of the LDS church (commonly known as Mormon), so what we believe about the Bible is that , because it was written and translated by men, it is imperfect. However, later a prophet re-translated the Bible using divine revelation and we now have a more correct version.

Answer 5

Your question has so many different parts I can't deal with it all here.

But like everybody else he would go to hell (if he will) because he is a sinner. Nobody is innocent; if you will search your own heart you will agree that you yourself are not innocent; and it applies to every other person in the world the same way. People are only "innocent" when you see them from the outside, when you don't know what they have inside them.

So, we need to be born again thru the Spirit of God. Normally people will not remain in a state of living in sin if they are truly born again by the spirit of God; thus Christians would say your friend is likely on his way to hell.

I understand you don't believe the Bible is truthful, thus this doesn't make any sense to you. But, suffice it to say, if somebody believes the Bible is true, then it will.

Answer 6

Good people die everyday. It's sad and heartbreaking, but it is life. We hope and pray they are in God's good keeping and sharing in His glory. We pray also for the rapists and murderers because they need saving just like the rest of us. Their crimes are horrible, but no sin is beyond God's grace.

Each of us are on our own path, and God knows this. Objectively, homosexuality is wrong. We know, though, that everyone struggles with weakness, and we pray for God's grace to help us through it. I would encourage anyone who is struggling with their faith to go to God in prayer, and go to Him in church. Time in church is very intimate, very personal. It's the one place we can go where the outside world goes away and it's just us and God.

The bible is the absolute truth, the inspired Word of God. Yes, human hands penned the words, but it is God Who is the author. Keep in mind that when reading the bible, we must do so prayerfully and with one very important thing in mind: the bible, from cover to cover, is about Jesus Christ. Both old and new testament point to Him. Keep this in mind and you'll be amazed at what you learn.

God bless.

Answer 7

- No one deserves Heaven anyway. Those that think they are good, innocent people, aren't. Our sin nature condemns us.

- The Bible identifies homosexuality as a sin, and I'll believe what it says. I don't think of God as fearing "alternate lifestyles", but I won't judge in His place, either. I'll let him make the final call on salvation.

- Why would you not seek the company of other believers? "Good" Christians? You give Man more credit than he deserves.

- Obviously the Bible was written by men, but under the inspiration of God. If you don't believe this, the whole thing isn't worth the paper it's printed on.

Answer 8

That's Satan contoling that. Making bad people think they are alright.

Yes, it says in the Bible not to do that.

No not really. You need to get together with people, even if it is only a few and worship and pray together.

The truth. It was written by man FROM GOD. In other words, God was telling them what to write. They didn't write what they wanted to.

Answer 9

The way to the Father is through The Son.

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

Answer 10

What is it with this hell thing. Where in the Bible does it condemn us to burn in the fiery pit of hell.