questions for the religious peoples?

Question

1. I heard greed is sin, so why does the church always want more money? (i never see it put to good use, only fund raisers)

2. Whats the name of that religion where you dont need to believe in god but just love(or something like that)?

3. Whats the point of having a Religion?

4. Cant one just believe there may be a god and do good things without having to offically say i am a "whatever" and still go to heaven/after life?

5. what the hell is the bible, no ones deciding, word of god, dictation that man wrote down for god, a whole bunch of tails and trails to stay good?

6. the future of the earth is moving toward a scientific total take over, so shouldnt the children be learning more from public schooling and not church so that have a better off life?

7. should the bible just say "Be good, pass it on?"

8. they say the end is now cause of all the signs but worse things and many things have happend in the past that are similar, so why didnt the gods and prophets come?

crusader.rabbitt: im not starting a fight, i am retaliating, the fights been going on since science won the dark ages, and i have read the bible and thats what convinced me that its mostly garbage, if i had a big vocabulary when i was 4-6 years old, i wouldve believed it up until i learned science, math, history and all that good stuff.
in the mean i really do wanna know your answers

everyone in general: i am not ask christions, i am not asking, catholics, i am asking that you look at these questions from all points, except fot the bible ones, because with all the religions out there, it seems that there are many gods, or its really all split off one belief in a god/s. everything scientific is theory, because knew ideas and explinations that are better then previous ones are thought up and prooved a new theory. science has prooved that there are fossils that come from billions of years ago. a candle flickers violently before it goes out, religion is flickering most violently, the time of the old books and religion is coming to an end, a new age is coming, a new age where no one will fear, where no religion will hold them back, religion is doomed to extingtion.

Answer 1

1. Greed is when you selfishly desire something for yourself without thought of using it for others. The churches of Christianity are the largest sources for charities, such as Habitat for Humanity, Salvation Army, the Red Cross, the Lazarus food fund, Soup kitchens, homeless shelters, food drives, etc. Mission teams from churches help out people in need. When hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans, hundreds of churches from across the world sent groups of people to help rebuild, and thousands more sent aid in the form of money, food, clothes, etc. to help the victims.

Some churches have their own schools and hospitals as well. And don’t forget, it costs money for electricity and water, and some nations even tax churches. So it’s not like all that money is going into someone’s pocket, most of it goes right back into the community. Most churches don’t openly brag or overly publicize what they’re doing, which is probably why you haven’t heard much about it.

2. I’d say Buddhism, but that focuses more on internal peace than love.

3. Despite salvation? I suppose for practical reasons, there’s the stress reliever of knowing that God’s in control and trusting in Him to do the right thing. Churches can act as support groups (especially if they have a prayer group). Prayer and meditation allows you to focus and reflect on what you’ve done, and hopefully better yourself. It’s an outlet to do good deeds and be in a community, etc.

4. In Christianity, you’ll have an afterlife either way, whether it’s desirable or not is a different question. You don’t necessarily have to identify yourself as a Christian, or even go to church (although you should keep the Sabbath holy) as many of the early Christians did not do either. But the reason why you can’t just simply do good works is because of sin. Sin is anything that takes you away from God (perfection). Not believing in God, or just being apathetic to Him is a huge sin, because you’re choosing to separate yourself from Him. It’s why Jesus said that the greatest commandment was to “Love thy God”.

So while good works is required, so is faith. You can’t simply have faith and be saved (for faith without good works is dead, see what James has to), but you can’t simply do good works and be saved either. “But someone will say, "You have faith; I have deeds."
Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by what I do.” – James 2:18

This is greatly discussed in the Bible, I advise you read move of James chapter 2.

5. The Bible is a compilation of 66 books written over an aprx. 1500-2000 year period by 40 different authors. The majority of the Bible is divinely inspired. The types of books in it range from moral stories/history (Genesis), eye-witness accounts (Exodus, Matthew, John, etc.), pure history (Kings, Chronicles, Acts) prophecy (Revelations, Isaiah etc.) Law (Deuteronomy, Leviticus), Spiritual praises (Psalms), advice (Proverbs) Poetry (Psalms, Song of Solomon) etc. While you need to look at the Bible as a whole and understand it as such, you must also realize what each book is and the background behind it.

6. Science and religion have no conflict, outdated interpretations of religious literature do though, because they are based off of outdated scientific facts (Creationism, for example).

7. The Bible is not simply about being ‘good’. In fact, one of the fundamental concepts behind the Bible is that no one is perfect, and that we all need a savior. You need faith. Jesus stated that the greatest commandment was to “love thy God”. While we should do good works, it should be because we are compelled to do so by our faith in God and our own conviction.

8. According to Jesus:
“But concerning that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only.” Mt. 24:36

I personally do not concern myself with when the ‘end’ will happen (which isn’t even the end, according to Revelations), only if I’m prepared for my own personal end, which is enough to prepare me for the ‘end’ times.

Answer 2

1. Greed is sin. Churches ask for money so that we can practice not being so greedy, by taking care of others through our giving. Giving also shows your belief in the covenant relationship you have with God.

2. How can you truly love apart from God? You may think you love, but in the end, you will find that you are lacking, once again. That religion is called humanism.

3. I dont know the point in having religion. I have a relationship with my Father in Heaven. There is a HUGE difference.

4. No. Jesus is the Way, the Truth and The Life, no man comes to the Father (in Heaven) but by Him. I didn't write it. I just try to live by it.

5. The Bible is the book of instructions that we all should live by. Your teacher never did your homework, but what she taught you, you wrote down, correct? The Bible is man's homework. God dictated it, man wrote it down.

6. The future of the earth is also moving toward cloning, same sex marriages and pedophilia. Should we also adopt these to have a better life as well? Just because something seems like a good idea, doesn't mean its the right thing to do.

7. It does say that, and it also says, Repent!

8. Huh? I think you are a little confused. gods and prophets come? what does that mean? The end comes everyday for a lot of people, and they end up going to hell because they haven't admitted their sin and accepted Jesus as their savior. Your focus should be on improving your relationship with God, not on end time events.

I hope this has helped you, Asker.

Answer 3

I’m religious, but not Christian. Since I was Christian I think I can answer these questions pretty easily. I do agree with others that these questions are only meant to insult Christians and are not doing it very well. They're more an insult to your intelligence, but here we go.

1. Church needs money to pay the bills and spread the message.
2. I don’t know. It’s not atheism, agnosticism or humanism. None of those emphasizes love.
3. I have found it to be very helpful when I’m feeling down to know that God loves me even when it feels like no one else including myself does. Having a faith also makes me feel that I can get through my problems and that in the end it will all work out.
4. Yes. Not all Christians are evangelical.
5. The bible is a books of stories that teach you what is good and what is bad to help you be good.
6. I don’t agree with that statement, but anyhow Church is taught by the family and not public schools, so they are getting their scientific education. It’s up to the parent to take their child to church and raise them in they way they feel is best.
7. No, I’ve never know a person to learn something the first time. Repetition is important to the learning process.
8. It wasn’t the end then and it still may not be now. There is still a future out there that is uncertain.

Answer 4

1. The money is used to pay for the building (maintenance, utilities), the salary of the staff (pastor, secretary, whatever), materials (hymnals, paper, envelopes, stamps), etc. Any funding above and beyond that should be used to feed the hungry, clothe the naked, house the homeless, etc. You should be able to ask any church you belong to for an annual report that details where the money goes. If they don't have one for members to look at, there may be something fishy, but most of them are on the up-and-up.

2. I think you must mean Universal Unitarians.

3. Religion, for me, is a way to make God the center of my love. It enables me to enter into worship of God with other like-minded believers, provides education so I am always growing in my faith and character, gives me opportunities to use the gifts God has given me and provides a means of receiving the Grace of God through the Sacraments. (I'm Catholic.)

4. Sure, that's possible. But if you think there may be a God, why wouldn't you try to find out for sure? Because if there is a God, He is worth knowing. And if there isn't, you could save yourself some trouble. Don't be lazy -- go find out for sure.

5. The Bible is a collection of books that are inspirational. Sometimes they are historic, sometimes they are allegoric, sometimes they are poetic. Why are you so negative about something you don't know anything about?

6. I don't think learning science (or any other academic topic) and learning about religion are mutually exclusive. Learning about both is best, IMHO.

7. It does. It says it in a lot of different ways, but that's one of the core messages.

8. I don't say the end is now. That's just a handful of rather emotional and uptight people who interpret the Bible in their own narrow viewpoint.

Answer 5

1: Yes, greed is a sin and everyone is greedy, whether church or not, it's like, there is one last cookie in the jar, do you take it? or do you leave it for someone else?

2: Atheist, though it's not a religion

3: having a religion, or a set of particular beliefs, gives people a sense of completement within themselves, it also gives them a sense of right and wrong because some people do not have and were not born with common sense. So religion helps build their common sense. Religion is also there as a way for people to explain things that are not yet proven as explained, religion in itself is just a theory as is most science.

4: I have four Gods, I do not believe in a heaven or a hell, I believe in reincarnation. I feel that people should just do good things without having to claim what they are and why they are doing it, just going about doing good things for people who deserve them. I feel that you don't have to even believe in god(s) to be doing good things.

5: the bible was written by man as a way to set up a foundation for a religion that is initially taking over the world. It is, as you put it, a whole bunch of tails and trails to stay good.

6: I agree with you, what will church really teach children? Rape, cruelty, murder, incest, homosexuality, all things they can learn in schools, only difference is that at school it is not driven in them by fear that they will be burning in hell if they do those things, they will go to jail for rape, cruelty and murder.

7: Yes, it should, it would leave a lot of contradictory phrases and hypocrisy out of it if it was just a page and a half of how to do good things and what things are bad, then again, you can learn the same things from a law book

8: They said the world was going to end in 2000, they'll be saying the same thing in the year 3000/4000 etc... History repeats itself, it is an old saying that is very true.

Answer 6

You asked too many questions here, which violates the yahoo community guidelines, but I will not be the one to report you, or you will think I'm reporting you because your questions are bad or some such nonsense.

1. The church needs to pay the electric and heating and air conditioning bills just like any other place where people meet (movie theaters, restaurants, etc.) The pastor deserves a salary or he will starve! The fund raisers is like United Way, supporting very good organizations who help in the community.

2. What's the point in having a religion without believing in God? That's like saying you like the forest but you don't like trees!

3. Religion, according to the Bible, is to feed the hungry, clothe the naked, house the homeless, visit people in prisons and hospitals, et cetera. Now, you put yourself in the shoes of a hungry person and tell ME - what's the point of religion?

4. We have broken God's Laws (refer to the list of the 10 Commandments), and as such, deserve a penalty. God sent Jesus Christ to pay that penalty for us. Without Jesus in our lives, we still have the penalty hanging over us.

5. Watch your language!!! The Bible is God's written word to mankind, showing us the depravity of man, and the way back to God through His Son, Jesus Christ.

6. Children already go to public schools. Churches teach about God, while schools teach non-religious education.

7. No. The Bible says what it says (such as "Do unto others as you want others to do to you" and "If your enemy is hungry, feed him, if he is thirsty give him a drink" and "Bless those who curse you, do good to those who hurt you, pray for those who despitefully use you.", et cetera. It also tells us not to lie, cheat, hate, et cetera. In other words, it says what it says, period.)

8. What gods? There is only one God, and He says that He is the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End, the First and the Last. He declared that there were no gods here before Him, nor were there any gods formed after Him, that He alone is God, and all others are false gods and we should have nothing to do with them. The prophets told us of these days that we are now living in, that there would be skeptics and scoffers and mockers, and the fact is, there has never been such a rise in these kinds of people as there is today!

Answer 7

"A scientific takeover" -- ???

Contrary to what most scientists write, the fossil record does not support the Darwinian theory of evolution because it is this theory (there are several) which we use to interpret the fossil record. By doing so, we are guilty of circular reasoning if we then say the fossil record supports this theory. Children are being taught that they are just evolved pond scum, that there are no absolutes, and that they can decide what is right for themselves. I hope this concerns you, since you care what children are taught. Without absolutes, children will do what feels good and right for themselves (likely at the expense of others). Not to mention that the belief in evolution continues to retard education and scientific advancement (i.e. junk - DNA) and ruin the careers of those who are actually doing excellent research and not toeing the line. Only good can come from preaching the truth of God's Word. This isn't to say that Christians can't do wrong, but I am saying Christ can't do wrong. We follow Jesus, not Christians. An evolutionist acting selfishly or promiscuously, for example, is just doing what is perfectly acceptable, if not "right," in their paradigm or own eyes, so how can you logically discourage that sort of behavior? You can't, they can't, but God does.

Answer 8

1. Our church operates a soup kitchen, a homeless shelter, a batter women's center, and sponsors poor kids for college.

2. If you do not believe in a God(s), then it is not a religion.

3. Religion is a way for community foundations to be laid. It works better than secular programs that seek to create community foundations.

4. Sure you can, by the GRACE of God. Noone knows whose name is written in the Book of Life save the Father. Salvation is up to God.

5. The bible is the oral history written of the jewish people, the prophesy of the messaih, the fullfillment of the messaih, and the recordings of his apostles, inspired by the spirit, on earth.

6. 98% of the world believes in GOD(s). Definition of life's value is subjective. Some people value community more than wealth. To each their own.

7. It does, and a whole lot more.

8. It is not us to know the hour. The end will come like a thief in the night. As St. Francis of Assisi answered when asked if it was the end, what he would do, he responded by saying he would continue to work in his garden.

Answer 9

1- you are right, greed is a sin- however there are churches that do put money to toward growing God's Kingdom, so please do not generalize.

2- wrong and not possible

3- religion- is man's attempt to reach God
relationship- God's reaching down to man, through Christ
so religion is useless in that respect

4- You can do whatever you want, however, the truth of the matter is JESUS is THE WAY, THE TRUTH, and THE LIFE.

5- The Bible is the Word of God- God is truth, so therefore, it is the word of Truth.

6- A better way of life? There is no better, than knowing Jesus, who by the way, created the world- and as Christians our hope is not in this world anyway, because if this is all we had, it would be very sad.

7- No the Bible says- "There is no good in us"- "Our righteousness is as filthy rages". "All sin and fall short of the glory of God". "The wages of sin is death , BUT THE GIFT OF GOD IS ETERNAL LIFE THROUGH JESUS CHRIST, OUR LORD."

8- There are no gods- there is only one GOD , and one day Jesus will return to earth- think of it this way, if HE returns before you accept Christ, you are lost, so in God's infinite mercy, He is giving you time to repent and come to Him.

TODAY IS THE DAY OF SALVATION. Please do not take this as judgment, I had to accept Him too, so I am saying that there is nothing good in me either, except Him.

Answer 10

1. the church wants more money for mission trips, feeding the homeless, and housing people.

2.i have never heard of that religion before

3. people want religion because we want to know what happens after death because its sad just to think that we will just rot in the ground. heaven is what we want to believe in but the only way to get there after death is through Jesus Christ.

4. even satan believes there is a God so no. you have to believe that not just good works will get you to heaven but believing that you are a sinner and that God sent his only son Jesus Christ to do die on a cross to save you from hell after you die and you ask him into your heart.

5.the Bible is God's words to his people given to his prophets so they could write them down

6.well if they believe in creation then they wouldnt learn anything from public schools because they already set their faith on creation no matter how terrible the world gets.

7.if the bible did just say be good then no one would know why! and a TON of fully true amazing stories came from the bible so it is also a way to help you through life and the tough times. if a math teacher just told her students to do math would they know how? nope.

8. this question depends on what you believe but if you read revelations then you will see that all of the criteria(sickness, wars, brother against brother, deceiving world leaders, ect.) is being met today! the bird flu, war on terror, brothers hating/killing their brothers because they believe in God, the president of iran/hilary clinton.