If the Bible god is (according to Xtians) a "god of love", why wouldn't he encourage you to question authority and see for yourselves?
Why did he put Abraham's faith to the test instead of suggesting that he did some scientific research to find some proof of god's existence?
I mean, wasn't God's voice enough proof of his existence? Why did he have to be so MEAN?
2007-10-05 07:28:11 · 19 answers · asked by Lex Fok B.M.F. 3 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
That is what contridicts the "free will" clause in the bible as well. If you believe that "God" gave you free will but he requires blind obedience to Him, then why give you free will in the first place?
2007-10-05 07:41:29 · answer #1 · answered by Karma of the Poodle 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
1) The bible does *not* discourage an inquisitive mind. Right from the start? Let's see...
Gen 1:1
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
Doesn't discourage the inquisitiveness of *my* mind. Quite the contrary! Maybe your's isn't as inquisitive?
2) "why wouldn't he encourage you to question authority and see for yourselves"
The 2 are exclusive. There is a difference between "questioning authority" and "seeing for yourself". The one does not require, demand or rely upon the other. In other words, you can "see for yourself" without ever questioning authority. Of course, the bible *does* permit this particular combination - see for yourself, Deuteronomy chapter 29, for just one of many examples.
3) Scientific research (at the level of our science today) cannot prove the existence of God - or disprove it. Science did not even *exist* in Abraham's time. If, by chance, science ever advances to the point that it is able to prove God's existence, it will *still* not be evidence of any individual's *faith* in God. That would require an entirely different experiment, to be performed on the individual.....Hey, isn't that what God actually did? How about that - Abraham's God applied science more logically than you!
4) Of course, God's voice was enough. What makes you think that he was "mean" to prove his existence? Maybe you should read more of the bible than a few verses about Abraham's (near) sacrifice of Isaac.
Jim, http://www.jimpettis.com/wheel/
2007-10-07 01:29:09 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Simple answer. God wants the heart, not the head.
People can belief that God exist, but still have no desire to follow or obey him. Just like they can know the GW Bush is the President, but have desire to follow his policies and plans.
God is not looking for people to find the "fact" of his existence. He is looking for them to find the "truth". When he tested Abraham it was not see if Abraham knew he existed, but if Abraham trusted him enough to obey. No scientific experiment is going to show that.
As for why God tested Abraham the way he did: Human sacrifice was very common in that day. More people practiced it them did not. As it is something that God did not want, he did something about it right at the beginning of the Jewish faith.
He started by telling Abraham to do it. And let Abraham get right up to the point of no return before stopping him. But stop him he did. By doing that, God so impressed on Abraham that God did NOT want human sacrifice that you will never see another incident of anyone offering a human sacrifice within the Jewish faith.
God knew exactly what he had to do to put a permanent end to the practice, and did it. By doing that he has probably saved millions of innocent lives every year. That does not sound very "mean" to me.
2007-10-05 14:48:43 · answer #3 · answered by dewcoons 7 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Those stories about Abraham are mythological. The way Jews understood God at the time, he very likely might have done this kind of sadistic trick. I don't believe in that idea of God either (and neither do most modern Jews).
Individual experence and reason within Christianity is not enough to revise the faith - tradition and scripture form an anchor of sorts. The downside is that it is slow to change when an advancement is needed - as with artificial birth control or homosexuality, in my opinion. The upside is that it is very difficult for the current Zeitgeist to coopt and run away with Christianity entirely - in many ways the practice of Christians today is remarkably similar to the first Christians.
And the drawback isn't absolute. Christians were on the forfront of the abolitionist movement, for example, despite the scriptures upholding that institution. But as a community of faith we have checks and balances and are not so big on DIY religion.
2007-10-05 14:44:10 · answer #4 · answered by ledbetter 4 · 2⤊ 2⤋
The bible does encourage an inquisitive mind. But you have to have an open mind and heart to have faith which is the essence of being a Christian. And God is not mean. He is very loving to those who love Him.
2007-10-05 14:33:54 · answer #5 · answered by *Almost ready* 5 · 1⤊ 1⤋
I want you to show me exactly in scripture where God tells you "to leave your mind at the door". God has proven His existence over and over again- and in many places in the Bible, it talks about how easy it is to find God, IF YOU SEEK HIM WITH ALL YOUR HEART. Mean? Sending His son to die a cruel death on the cross, so that we can have eternal life- He is Holy, yes, and we are not- so there has to be payment for our sin- Jesus paid it all- look to the Cross and you will find mercy, grace and love. Without that we all deserve justice. There is no where in scripture where it says we cannot use our mind. Our faith is not blind- when you look to Jesus, you see God. plain and simple.
2007-10-05 15:01:12 · answer #6 · answered by AdoreHim 7 · 0⤊ 1⤋
It wasn't god, it was Moses. How can a guy bring down ten commandments and then after writing them onto animal hide they equal more than 600 laws? All throughout the Bible, the prophets are complaining about the lying hand of the scribe. they even agreed the Torah was not god's word because of how it was written. If Christians can write their version of god, then so can the Mormons.
2007-10-05 14:33:25 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 3⤊ 2⤋
Proverbs 14:6 A scorner seeketh wisdom, and findeth it not: but knowledge is easy unto him that understandeth.
You fail to see that there was another motive to test Abraham. He wanted Abraham and each of us to understand what the sacrifice of a son really means. It was not in the end Abraham who gave up his son.
2007-10-05 15:59:03 · answer #8 · answered by Isolde 7 · 1⤊ 1⤋
That is a lie. Read teh full Bible in particular the NT. It always speaks of learning about God. Seeking him out.
2007-10-05 14:32:16 · answer #9 · answered by a_talis_man 5 · 1⤊ 1⤋
Read it and you will see that it does encourage an inquisitive mind. We are told to search the scriptures, to seek the truth, to learn for ourselves, and even in some scriptures to "study it out in our minds. Truth faith is not blind obediance, it is willingness to search and learn truth.
2007-10-05 14:35:20 · answer #10 · answered by alwaysa(ducky)bridesmaid 4 · 2⤊ 1⤋