Are people really this self-centered and self-important -- that you think you know a god's thoughts and wants?

Question

I read many answers here where people actually take the position that they know what god thinks and wants of everyone.

Wow. You actually think you possess that knowledge? You actually know what god wants of everyone and what god thinks?

What kind of an ego does this require? A hugely overinflated one? I mean WOW! What kind of CHAIR do you sit in??

What's REALLY unusual, even funny at times, is people making that SAME CLAIM (I know god, I know what god wants of people, and I know god's thoughts...) -- they disagree with each other. They read the SAME BOOK that they claim gives them this "'insight" -- but they have such different interpretations of it, they all disagree with each other. LOL!

Meanwhile, judging everyone around them!

Are people really this incredibly self-centered and self-important??

thanks for dropping by with your anger, DZE... I hope you feel better someday!

jtrusnik - you say that it's called "having values"? claiming to know god, that you know what he wants of everyone, and telling them how to live based on this 'knowledge", despite the fact that all its readers disagree with each other on what god's thoughts are -- those are "values"? Wow. Seriously. WOW.

wolfblayde - thanks for dropping by with your comments. unfortuantely, the only thing that claims the bible is the word of god is the bible itself. i guess, perhaps, you dont' see the problem in logic and validity there. and this is still the biggest problem with cults. ALL OF THEM claim they are the right one, the one path to god, and the others are wrong. sorry hon, but it doesn't hold water. that claim never has held water.

Answer 1

That is the basic problem of any stock religion. People no longer think for themselves and use their little stock book 'o answers to apply to everyone else. It is much harder to be a human and try and make sense of it all on its own terms.

Answer 2

Some may think they know what God thinks or wants, having read the holy scriptures. We do sort of get an idea of a few things God wants and the way He has thought about things in the past. But you are right, who are we to make statements that seem so definitive as to Gods wants and thoughts, and this is wrong. Outside of the Holy Bible we are powerless to know the mind of God.

Answer 3

the bible being the truth holds more water than you saying it doesn't because Christians have something very very old to back up there sayings (amongst the historical accuracy of the bible) but all you have to put it aside as not true is your own claims with no proof or knowledge of the subject. you try to figure out how out how "self-centred and self-important -- that you think you know a god's thoughts and wants?" but how self-centred and self-important is one that claims to know how the bible is wrong with no evidence to back their comments yet tell people they don't know what they are talking about and that the bible is false. i know God i have experienced his presence and i have seen his works, and i think people attempt to know his wants but i believe the bible states that only God is omnipotent and all knowing and perfect. which would mean NO christian is ALWAYS right. they merely voice their opinions (this would also cover why Christians are hypocritical, because they are not perfect.) i respectfully disagree with you, i always appreciate someone that can put forth a well put together argument it puts forth a challenge and allows me to find my own mistakes and errors because i am certainly not always right or perfect.

Answer 4

If people would notice everything around them and weren't ignorant of most things, their heads would explode.
And, sorry, interpretation can only be based on your experience. Isn't it simply logical, that everyone differs in interpreting a book with very vague passages written in old languages, badly translated in many new languages, that even disagrees with itself a few pages later? (You did read it, yes?)

I'm agnostic, for my part. There might be a god, there might be none, how can we know and what difference does it make in our lives, really?

Answer 5

i follow God say anything leader. im not perfect at all and i can't be perfect of part myself situation . learn lesson make wrong what i done. try again what god to us his word spoke. just work out experience for life. never end keep going move on. that god want us right thing and god love us anyway and judge his heart in world.

Answer 6

The Bible is pretty clear about what God thinks on a lot of issues. For example, "Thou shalt not kill" gives you a good idea of where He stands on issues like euthanasia and abortion. Statements like "God is love" tell me how He feels about His people and how He would like to see us treat each other.

Many of God's attributes are spelled out in the Bible -- loving, holy, merciful, compassionate, just, etc. It's not too hard to figure out what He thinks about any given subject based on what we know to be true about Him. Does He approve of those who steal, rape, murder, or commit any other sin? No, because the Bible tells us that He doesn't.

Being able to say what God is thinking in some instances isn't a matter of being self-centered and self-important. It's a case of knowing what He's already said about Himself through Scripture.

Edit:

That's a matter of perspective. I'm a Christian, and so for me, the Bible is the Word of God. You asked how people know what God wants and needs, and from my viewpoint, that's how we learn those things.

And based on your logic, my answer is as valid as anyone else's. If there's no absolute truth (and I think you're wrong about that, but that's another issue entirely), then you have no basis to say that my viewpoint is any more or less right than anyone else's.

I suppose it all comes down to some variation on Pascal's Wager, and time alone will tell which one of us is right.

Answer 7

wow...ummm yeah people are people. we all make mistakes and we all have different views on different subjects. i do agree that people are self-centered but true Christianity teaches us how we can stay away from that. also, Christan's can be big hypocrites. like in the bible (Romans 2) it explains how the Jews "God's chosen people" were the biggest hypocrites of all!! however, true Christians are the most humble of us, the most giving and totally not self-centered at all.

Answer 8

Did you miss the part about different gifts from the Holy Spirit. Some are prophets, some have gift to distinguish between good and evil spirits .....God Bless

Answer 9

Yes. It's called having values and making independent decisions. It's all part of life.

Answer 10

People who know what God wants for them (or for me) scare the crap out of me. It isn't their arrogance that scares me; it's there naivete.