I have a question about GOD?

Question

So, i used to be Catholic, but now i am just a follower of Jesus. I do not believe in God, however I feel that Jesus' teachings are good. So i still go to mass.
Anyway, religon is the most contradicting thing ever. We are told not to kill and turn the other cheek, but we are allowed to murder other people in war and they will go to heaven. and heaven, only humans can go there. We have been on this planet for a few thousand years, why are we the only life forms to have the privilage of an afterlife. The pope says to give to the poor etc, and he wears Gucci and Versace and flys around in private jets and helicopters. The Bible is only backed by the Bible. There is no other docuemnts supporting to Bible.

We believe in a religon created by people that thought that the earth was in the middle of the universe, that putting some hay and food together would spawn animals. Can you really believe in such a stupid idea. (for lack of better word)

Answer 1

what?

I hope that you don't partake in communion if you truly feel this way.

you should talk to your parish priest.

Answer 2

"I do not feel obliged to believe that the same God who has endowed us with sense, reason, and intellect has intended us to forego their use." -- Galileo Galilei

Contrary to what people have already posted, it absolutely fine to question, to wonder, to doubt. It is in the nature of humans to do so. Anyone who says that *YOU* are the one being ingnorant, for trying figure out a such a complicated thing, is in fact, very ignorant themselves.

Religion is tough. It was made by Man, not God. God never had a "religion" in the sense of the word we use today. So there is no way to prove what it right and what isn't. And yes, religion and it's human figures are all very contradictory and confusing. Jesus talks about love, and yet the Bible preaches quite a bit of hate. And that's just one thing.

I think the best thing to do, would be talk to people. Any people. And find your path as best you can, whether it be Catholic/Christian or something else. Talk to a priest/reverand you trust. Figure out your own answers as best you can.

And remember, there is nothing wrong with curiosity and questioning.

Good luck, and I hope you find what you are looking for :)

Answer 3

Killing someone in war isn't murder. In war killing is permissible bc you're allowed to defend yourself and if you're fighting someone bc they're doing evil, then you're justified in killing them if necessary. Now, there may be an unjust war, in which killing isn't right, but even then, a conscripted soldier is allowed to kill to prevent being killed himself.

Yes, only humans go to heaven bc we are the ones with souls. Animals don't have them. Now, animals may, in fact, be in heaven, God can let them in if He wants to. The pope having wealth doesn't mean he doesn't believe in or practice charity, I myself don't know what he may do to give to the poor, but Solomon was making the equivalent of half a billion dollars a year in gold, and God is the one who gave it to him. Having wealth isn't sinful, misusing it is. As for whether the Pope misuses his wealth, I can't say.

Yes, the Bible is the final authority bc it is God's Word. Paul said all of Scripture is God-breathed, and if He was inspired by God, which is likely, considering his amazing conversion, what he said can be considered truthful itself.

Going to another document to support the Bible would be giving the other document more authority than the Bible. Why should the Bible be doubted when other texts aren't? If it is God's Word then it's flawless and so should be relied on for truth above any other document.

As for creating animals by putting hay and food together, I don't know where you got this idea from, and yes, that does seem a stupid idea. Where it came from, I'm not certain, since you didn't state a source, and I don't recall it from the Bible.

Answer 4

So many misconceptions. First, if you follow Jesus, the natural result of that will be to follow His Father as well. They are one. That is what He did when He was here on earth. That is what His crucifixion was all about. Reconciling mankind to God. Secondly, you've obviously never heard the Scripture that says in God's kingdom, the lion will lie down with the lamb? Apparently, animals will be there, too. Personally, I can't wait to see my dog Winston. Had him for 12 years. He died last July.

Poverty is something that we all have to fight against. Not just religious leaders. Some people accused Mother Teresa of the same thing you're accusing the Pope. She supposedly stayed in plush hotel rooms when the cameras and reporters weren't around. Judge yourself with the same measure you judge others. What are you doing? What am I doing? Those are the questions we need to be asking about each other. God is doing His part. He's calling us.

Answer 5

i don't agree with you.
a follower of Jesus always stands up for the Bible.
have you people forgotten how the Bible changed the lives of millions?
what kind of regular book would do that?
sure the Bible is the source that milllions of people died for just for believing it.
i believe in it and you can't stop me. even if you string me up and torture me to change my belief you can't.
because the Christian religion is not created by "people"
its created by God who speaks THOUGH the people.
and He changes the lives of millions.
i don't think its a stupid idea.
if you read throughly in the Bible you can tell not a ordinary human being would come up with such an idea. its God that affects the lives of people.
and what you say about the Bible is only backed up by the Bible. that is not true. there were some archeologists who went to Mount Ararat and found some wooden pieces that might have been from Noah's Ark. and there is much more evidence. its also backed up by millions of its faithful believers.
you don't believe me? watch national geographic.
how can you call yourself a God's follower if you are against Him?

Answer 6

Our true selves are immortal, not corporeal.

It is absurd to say that the Self changes through past, present, and future. The body changes through past, present, and future, so it is constantly in a flux. If you say that the Self, as in who we are, is somehow a part of this via accident or design, you are admiting that who you are is constantly changing every second of the day. So it's not as if you were once a child, now a young man or woman, but instead who you are right now is different than who you were five seconds ago. Which is untrue. Your thoughts and mental perceptions of the world are different, but who you are is not this unstable, otherwise we would never be able to hold to anything resembling us. Our likes and dislikes would be random by nature, as there would be no "we' or "us" to make these decisions, as well as we would have no choice other than the random change that we experienced at the moment of our bodily transformation (which by the way we wouldn't be able to say "we" experienced it at all, since that would imply a stable Self). And so given this absurd belief that the self changes with the body, every criminal is relieved from his crime, because it was merely an accident or plan of nature, and not the individual person, so rather than throwing that man in jail, we just as well should throw a tree in jail. This is all obviously absurd, and so it must be that the Self does not change with the body's transformations, but remains steady. And if you say that who we are is caused by our consciousness, then the mind that this consciousness reveals will also reveal our Self, which is immaterial compared to the body. This immateriality is the real holding place for our Self. And since this hold is possible, be it apparent or not to the individual, one thing is still true, that throughout all this change, the individual that can and will think is always in reality the one that wills himself to think. So this One is constant and does not change along with the changes of the body, but is rather the mediator to the change. Most people know this, but assume that this somehow dies at the time of the body, which is impossible if it is not a part of the body but instead it's animator. In order for the Self (you) to have any control of the body, it must be that it is outside of the materiality of the body. So saying that God is outside of time/space is getting to the point, but the real truth is that You Yourself, the permanent, and unchanging You, is completely free of the body's prison, which allows it to control and animate the body. The only reason that people do not realize this is because they associate who they are with their body and not who they are with their immortal spirit.

Answer 7

Your problem is explained by your first statement. You can not be a follower of Jesus if you do not believe in God. And you can not follow Jesus unless you are a Christian. Therefore you need to find and KJV Bible go to Romans 10:9-13 read very carefully and follow what it says. I guarantee you will change your mind/

Answer 8

Umm, I'm agnostic who also thinks Jesus' teachings were good, but I'm not a "follower". Yes, there's a lot of contradictions in religion, but there are GOOD parts - some people are kept in line who might not otherwise be kept in line. But remember that it is people - PEOPLE - who are hypocrites. That does not make the ENTIRE religion bad.

And there is plenty of support for the Bible - not the God stuff, but we do know many Biblical figures existed.

And spontaneous generation was not solely a religious idea.

Answer 9

I believe that you were taught a great deal of "priest magic"(coined), and your lingering thoughts toward Jesus are force of habit. Seems to me, that you respect the man, however denying his "divinity" does throw you from the Catholic Church. Thank goodness, they don't have have the leverage they used to. You should check out this website. I think it may clear your head a bit. Hope this is helpful.

www.deism.com

Answer 10

I agree the teachings of Jesus are good, but they are fundamentally the same as in many religions.
I believe in his teachings, but I don't think he ever existed, that doesn't mean the spirit of Jesus is not real, if that makes sense.
As for the Bible being a true record, as you observe that is a ridiculous idea.

Answer 11

Religion never contradicts itself, in which case you are allowed to murder people?, if it's war war is against God so that doesn't contradict religion at all. Nobody says animals don't go to heaven, nobody says they do so that isn't contradictory either. The Pope flies around the world for the good of people, so I think you are the one who contradicts himself