Why do you feel you can speak for "God"?

Question

Just wondering: why do you feel that you have the right to decide for others what "God" is? And to condemn them for believing otherwise? Why are you so certain that you are right?

Also, if it is the Christian concept of God that you are defending (as those who attack others for their beliefs here generally seem to be), he is, according to your texts, omnipotent and superior to humanity: why do you feel a need to defend him?

This is posted out of curiousity.

for the record, I am an atheist that has recently become interested in the world pantheist movement

http://www.pantheism.net/

To those who are citing the bible:

it was written by human beings.

Answer 1

I do not believe in a god, and I don't presume to speak for any god that may exist, with a book or not. How would one small species on a planet in the middle of nowhere claim to know what a deity looks like or wants out of human behavior? As if it even mattered! And the notion of god is far from certainty. It's downright unlikely in a universe driven by natural, non-intelligent processes.

All religions are silly and impossible to prove. Some can be dangerous. Faith is still baloney with sugar coating.

Answer 2

I have no right to condemn, but I have an obligation to inform about God and His will, which is described in His Word.

I am not deciding who or what God is, He is doing that Himself.

Why are we so certain we are right about God's existence....we have the Holy Scripture, an inerrant and infallible revelation from God Himself.

We do not evangelize for our own gain, or for yours, but solely for the Glory of God

If you do ot wish to be informed about God's existence and where you will spend eternity after this life, then tell it directly, We will cry for you on our inside and pray for you, but we know; all we can do is offer you insight by presenting the Gospel to you, and then step back and let the Holy Spirit do the work of bringing you to salvation, if it is God's will.

Stop, think, and chose wisely.
I recommend you to at least find out what it all is about before you reject, read the Bible, seek someone who can help you understand what is says, and then make up your mind!

Come to Christ, better today than tomorrow, there might not even be a tomorrow.

Soli Deo Gloria
To The Glory Of God Alone

Answer 3

"Those who dwell...among the beauties and mysteries of the earth are never alone or weary of life. . . Those who contemplate the beauty of the earth find reserves of strength that will endure as long as life lasts. The more clearly we can focus our attention on
the wonders and realities of the universe about us,
the less taste we shall have for destruction."
Rachel Carson
Who do you figure wrote this? Isn't she a human being? Yet this is how your site begins its history! Now this is relatively recent as some new kid on the block of worldly organization. Yet you find some sort of comfort in it as the Creator did instill in us not only that desire but the need to worship as well which is what allows us to learn and grow... much in the same way that a child craves discipline from its parents... If they don't get it, notice how they will do anything to get it, even at their own detriment. It just so happens that in your ignorance of the facts, you have decided to worship the creation as opposed to the Creator. It's nothing new! As the world is absolutely blinded by the impostor god of this six day old system we happen to live in right now...Why! did you not hear that Adam and Even only died 5,000 years ago, which is only 5 days ago to God? Everything will come clear real soon and the extremely intelligent reasons what He had to do just what He did will manifest itself real soon... Then every form of curiosity will be satified and goodness and perfection, along with love, wisdom, power and justice will prevail at last forever and ever and you will get to enjoy this beautiful creation which your new found organization (man-made) practically has come to worship with their hope of a better life. The promises you have from your Creator who made all of this possible in the first place has preserved one book which claims divine inspiration and you think that this is such an impossibility??? What will you think when He resurrects all of the dead from Sheol and Hades??? Freak out??? I suppose you will!!! But I won't as I believe every word He inspired his people to write down just as much as I beleive my own words that I inspire my assistant to write on my behalf!
And if some of us defend His great name and purpose, it could be because He said that if we didn't, He'd make the rocks talk!!! I'm afraid you'd freak out with this as much as the rest that is soon to come at Armageddon... but a lot of humans always wish to live in denial of any truth that seems strange to them... Again, there's nothing new here!!!

Answer 4

First let me explain that I have never condemned anyone.
I answer straightforward questions from the Bible which I believe in with all of my heart. And the Bible is the word of God.
But if you see it differently, that's your business.
This may sound silly to you but as a child ,have you ever found something and was so excited to share it with your friends or show your mom?
That's how Christians feel about learning about God and the fact that he gave his son for our sins. It's an exciting moment in our eyes. And though we are to be teachers of His word, sometimes we may get fanatical in our excitement to show others how richly blessed we are by God.

Answer 5

Why isn't anyone answering the "Condemn them for believing otherwise" part of the question? I know, the bible says that those who believe in false Gods are "sinners", but wasn't there something in there about tolerance? Loving one another?, judging not?....any of this ring a bell? Maybe I'm wrong, I must be thinking about Jesus, not Christianity.

Answer 6

Why do we feel we can speak for God? Well Jesus said, who puts my Words into practice, will know if I am telling the truth or not in the book of John. If you have a connection to God, His spirit will bear witness to what is the truth and what is not. In the book of John, the Lord Jesus said, when the Holy Spirit comes, He will guide you into "all" truth. Moreover, it was always God's desire to set up man in dominion over the whole earth. There are laws and principles that God has which He will not violate. One of His principles that He established was that if you are going to live in the earth, you have to have a physical body. God gave Adam and Eve physical bodies and He annointed them and made them His spokesmen in the earth. It is no different today. God annoints men and women and makes them His spokesmen in the earth. Since the believer is connected to God, he or she can speak His expressed will and desire, because His Spirit dwells in them.

Answer 7

Only If You Are Spirit Filled And Have Had The Born Again Experience.
Praise The Lord

Answer 8

Why can we speak for Him? Bible says we are His eyes, ears, hands and feet (the BODY of Christ) on the earth. Plus the Bible is HIS word. His WILL. We have read it.

Why decide for others? Clearly, they have made a bad choice. Don't you tell someone before you see them about to slip on some ice, or do you just watch and laugh. A good friend warns you.

Why defend Him? No He does not need our defense. It is more of a warning of His wrath to people who mock Him.

Answer 9

Why do people say things they believe are true? I think that they must be lying about almost everything. I mean, how can you say you believe anything? You're stepping on other people's beliefs if you say you believe the truth and they don't believe it is the truth. I'm being facetious, but what I'm saying is true. Because, as it is in the world, if you say you believe in Jesus Christ, if you say "He is the truth," then people accuse you of thinking that you own the truth, you're judging them etc.. So, there must be something innate in the nature of man that makes him unable to hear the truth without getting upset about it. Unless they believe the truth.

Answer 10

1) I agree with some of your statements. I am irritated by all sides declaring their beliefs/opinions as FACT. This is for the religious as well as the non-believers. It makes it difficult to see things for what they are: BELIEF/FAITH

2) I believe I am to speak about God because in the Bible, Jesus said to go forth and preach to all nations (paraphrasing some I believe here). So I go out and speak.

3) But he also said to love one another, so as I speak, I try to do so with kindness and compassion. Not with insulting your beliefs or declaring non-believers as wrong. Some will not believe. As a convert to Catholicism, I am the only Catholic in MY family. So obviously, no one agrees with me! :-P I tell them what I/we believe and let them go from there.

4) I believe that all forms of religion have some form of truth (well, except those that believe in NO God, **I** would say) The amount of truth varies. I, of course, believe my faith is correct. As a Catholic, I believe our faith holds the complete deposit of faith. Again, my (and my church's) opinion. Others have at least SOME of it.

5) We defend him because he is our God. Our Father, etc... Just like you defend someone you love, even if they do not need your help in doing so. He doesn't "need" it, you are correct. But it is part of believing in him. He isn't going to come down from heaven and backhand those who slight him, that wouldn't exactly be his way. :-P

6) My belief in the Catholic Church being correct is from multiple ways. Emotional - I feel it. Hard to describe. Intellectural - I have probably ... uh... 200 books? 50+ tape/CD sets. I have attended numerous conferences. I study the Bible and read comentaries. I see it as the correct one. Faith - The only way anyone BELIEVES anything is through faith. Heck, the only reason I believe in the existance of quarks and other high end science is through Faith. I believe these people know it is correct. I haven't seen it or had it proven to me. I even know a lot of 'facts' of science have changed or been proven wrong throughout time. But I still "believe" until shown otherwise. I think it is a good parallel for religious faith.

7) Some added points on Faith - We believe in the Bible. We can't PROVE that is correct. There isn't some sort of thing in the front that says: Factually found to be true by some authority... LOL. We believe it is correct. There are other historians throughout time that have backed up some things, old documents, etc... That is also part of it. If we didn't think the Bible was what we think it is, then the faith would be a lot harder.

Hope that helps some. i like the way you asked your question. Not insulting. Give your points and ask why. Although I would disagree a bit. I see just as much anti-Christian attacks on the questions. So I would just say it isn't mostly Christians)

Edit: I was also thinking of a few things that might lead one to be more ... strenuous in their statements.
Immaturity/youth - I think that those who are more immature have a greater difficulty discussion things rationally. Just a generic statement of a current thought of mine.
New to the faith - those who are either new to their faith or have had their faith recently strengthened by something find the need/desire to 'shout it from the rooftops'. This may come across as arrogant/insulting/whatever to others. This is also true of those who don't believe recently, just in reverse.

Not sure about these last ideas I just added in the edit.. just thoughts for discussion