God creates man. Man sins. God creates hell to put man in for sinning. God sends him self/his son to Earth to redeem man. Man must accept this act or go to hell.
Recall, God is omnipotent, so he could have just said "Nah, I'll cleanse them myself and not send them to Hell."
Is it just me or is that a spiritual protection racket?
Would you love and thank the local mobster who threatens to let his boys beat you if you don't pay him?
2007-04-13 11:57:35 · 31 answers · asked by Squishy Khrysorrhapis 2 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
GOD is not a mobster! How can you say such a mean thing about your Creator? He Loves you! He doesn't want you to go to Hell Squishy, he wants you to be with Him for all eternity!
2007-04-13 19:09:42 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 3⤊ 0⤋
So let me get this straight?
God creates man. Man sins. God creates hell to put man in for sinning.
***Adam's sin was not just an infraction ... it was a total rejection of the love of God, and the equivalent of high treason.
Adam CHOSE to throw in with Satan the devil. Satan was the one hell was created for. And by choosing Satan, Adam CHOSE to accept the fate of his new master, which is hell.
God sends him self/his son to Earth to redeem man.
***God was under no obligation to redeem man. He did so at his own expense, and out of love.***
Man must accept this act or go to hell.
***Man's fate has already been decided by Adam. In order to change that fate, one must be legitimately redeemed and removed from the power of the evil one by Jesus Christ, the NEW ADAM.
To accomplish this requires the assent of man's will AND the power of God. It is no trivial matter.***
Recall, God is omnipotent, so he could have just said "Nah, I'll cleanse them myself and not send them to Hell."
***A free creature is just that. Without freedom man would be just another animal. God had much more in mind for us than that.
God has the ability to restore all that has been lost, and he chose to do it this way for his own reasons. He's God. He has that right.***
Is it just me or is that a spiritual protection racket?
***It's just you.***
Would you love and thank the local mobster who threatens to let his boys beat you if you don't pay him?
***Your metaphor is false, and it fails in it's intended purpose, just as you apparently do, too.
Wise up, before it's too late.***
2007-04-13 21:00:26 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
No...you have it wrong.
God created Man. Man sins...man creates hell by sinning. Hell is a consequence of sin. God sends his Son to save man from hell.
Yes, God could have avoided it all and just made us robots with no choice but to love him. But he wanted more then that. He wanted and still wants a relationship...he is the bridegroom and we are the bride. He loves us and desires us so much that instead of just letting us all go to hell, which is what we deserve, he sent his son to suffer for us and bring us home.
2007-04-13 19:08:30 · answer #3 · answered by Misty 7 · 2⤊ 0⤋
From a Mormon perspective:
God creates man.
Man sins.
God creates hell to put man in for sinning. <
God created commandments and instructions for man to follow, he has given man the free will to do as he wishes, when man fails he is given a chance to repent. God is bound by His laws to enforce the law and carry out a punishment. If we don't do our part to repent, God is forced by his own law to carry out a punishment. The punishment involves a placement in a world of a lesser degree. God dwells in what we call a Celestial World the highest and most desired of all, you call it Heaven. Then there's a lesser world called the Terrestrial World and then an even lesser world called the Telestial World. Each has different characteristics which makes it lesser. Neither of them are a "tormentuous hell" which you speak of.
For those who have absolutely no desire to repent and yet know God to be true and they still reject him are cast out into outer darkness and become spiritually dead...in which they cease to exist. (But that's an extreme)
The whole point of us all being here is for a greater purpose. In short, God was once a man as we are. Through his righteousness he rose up to become a God, by His example and existence, we ALL have the possibility to become God-like ourselves. There are certain ordinations that we have to go through to reach that spiritual level while we are yet living on this Earth. When we die, depending on our faith and righteousness we MIGHT receive that glory that God has as a God.
The whole point is to see if we will do the right things without being forced to. If we do what's right we will thereby prove our worthiness and intent to return to be with God.
My opinion:
It might be that one day we might have a world of our own to create and manage. Imagine that!
2007-04-13 19:11:31 · answer #4 · answered by Querida 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
He did cleanse them himself. And as far as being omnipotent, he is held to perfect holiness and justice. There are things he cannot do. He cannot not be holy. He cannot allow what is unholy into his presence. Holiness deserves holiness. God is perfectly just also, and so the needs of his creation are met by his justice, at the same time as the demands of his holiness are met. When we sin we have overstepped a boundary which God has clearly marked for us, we have decided for ourself what our boundary will be, we have thumbed our noses at God. If we believe, Jesus came and cleansed us of all the times that we have done this, and we believe that we have been cleansed and faith gives us the desire to obey him. If we reject him and continue to decide for ourselves what our boundary will be, we become the adversary of God and we have chosen eternal separation from him on our own. The wrath of God is poured out on that which is against holiness.
2007-04-13 19:55:16 · answer #5 · answered by hisgloryisgreat 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
God *is* omnipotent -- at least you got that much right. And since He is all-powerful, He makes the rules. Whether you like or agree with them is completely immaterial.
Let's look at another analogy which is a lot more accurate than the one you gave us. Suppose you're about to be executed for a murder that you are truly guilty of, but the phone rings at one minute to midnight. It's the governor, and he gives you a full pardon.
But instead of being grateful, when you get out of prison, the first thing you do is head to the state capitol and spit in the governor's face. He could have let you die, but he chose to save you through the power invested in him. And rather than loving and thanking him for that, you show nothing but disrespect and ingratitude.
By rejecting God's offer of salvation through the shed blood of Jesus Christ, you are in effect spitting in God's face. You're telling Him that His Son's death was unimportant to you and that you aren't grateful for the chance to escape the hell that you so rightly deserve for your sins.
Like I said, God is the sovereign Lord of the universe. His rules, His way -- like it or lump it.
2007-04-13 19:36:48 · answer #6 · answered by Wolfeblayde 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
*Applauds* You've GOT it! You would certainly thank that mobster if you were so threatened by him; how else to keep oneself on 'good terms' than to brown-nose the leader? A spiritual protection racket? Absolutely? Godfather? Indeed.
Aaaahhh... it's been a long time, but Mr. Math has brought out Pascal's Wager. *Begins drinking heartily* Oh, and a round for my friends, please. ~~*Puts Squishy on lap and lets him sip some rare Scotch through a straw*~~
2007-04-13 19:04:31 · answer #7 · answered by Me, Thrice-Baked 5 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Squishy,
Sounds like a pretty unfair way of doling out punsihment to me! Hell, which I do not believe in is known to be a horrible place, so, the choice is: Believe in The Almighty God or go to Hell.....Hm....Doesn't sound like this deity wants many people up there in his heaven....According to the Bible, we are all sinners at birth....Ok, so, redeem ourselves before we die or go to hell, be saved, etc.....I think I will take my belief and say, HEY! I am a spiritual being having a human experience and I will see everyone on the otherside!!
2007-04-13 19:26:11 · answer #8 · answered by Luna 2 · 0⤊ 1⤋
You did a good job you only left out God Loves you. There are reasons for what God does. You went from Genesis-through Revelation in less than one little paragraph. As far as you are concerned you covered it all.
2007-04-13 19:09:04 · answer #9 · answered by j.wisdom 6 · 1⤊ 1⤋
The whole thing is so much malarky that I find it difficult to believe any rational human being believes it to any extent. In my opinion, the word faith is just a synonym for wishful thinking (and not particularly deep wishful thinking at that).
2007-04-13 19:04:19 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋