Why does it matter so much?

Question

Why does God care so much if people follow different religions? This is mainly referring to the God of the Bible and any other religion that follows the line of "you will go to hell for eternity if you do not follow this religion".

The Bible says that God knows all so if when he created mankind he KNEW that people will follow different religions. So why create man when he knew most will be destined for destruction?? Is this not cruel?

I've been raised a Christian my entire life and went to Church all most every Sunday but stuff like this still does not make sense to me. Someone please give me a well-thought explanation and please no religion/christian bashing.

thanks.

Answer 1

Why would your spouse care if you committed adultery? To God, when someone follows someone or something other than Him, that is spiritual adultery. The whole book of Hosea is about this.

He provides so much to the ungrateful, and they don't honor Him in return. That is the ultimate offense to Him. And yet, He graciously provided a way for ingrates like me and you to come to Him cleansed of our sinfulness.

Answer 2

1st you need to find a better church. You have too many questions. Or you may just be young. No one can ask your question this this space. But one of the greatest thing God gave us is free will. Would have wanted it any other way? Why does God care. He don't want you to go to hell. But He love you enough to allow you to make the choice. There are great Bible studies out there that can ask your questions. You need to do more than just go to church. You must study God's words. When you have questions you need someone who knows God's words and will not feed you a lot of PC misinformation. There is no one answer but to study. Try othr sites. www.ask.com can send you do some good sites that will help in your studies. www.hi5.com has at least 2 good Baptist sites I belong to that has some good questions and answers. Some mot so good but you will get that anywhere. I will pray for you.

Answer 3

O.K. you have a very good and serious question but a misunderstanding about the Bible's explanation. I strongly recommend you go sit with the priest or minister of your childhood and ask him to explain exactly what the Bible says and especially what God says with regards to Himself. You will be amazed at what you missed during all those church services. I know I did. When I finally got serious and started listening (at 50) I learned a lot that I could have learned at 5 years old. God Bless you and I think this is God talking to you directly: ASK and you shall hear, SEEK and you shall find, KNOCK and the door will be opened.

Answer 4

I agree with some answerers' view that we can't question God's righteousness because we are just human. Paul said it clearly in the Bible:

'Are you going to object, "So how can God blame us for anything since he's in charge of everything? If the big decisions are already made, what say do we have in it?"
Who in the world do you think you are to second-guess God? Do you for one moment suppose any of us knows enough to call God into question? Clay doesn't talk back to the fingers that mold it, saying, "Why did you shape me like this?" Isn't it obvious that a potter has a perfect right to shape one lump of clay into a vase for holding flowers and another into a pot for cooking beans?' - Roman 9:20-22

There are so many things that we don't know about God and the universe. I think it is very arrogant and presumptuous for us to call Him cruel!

Answer 5

I have not read that in the bible. Christ never said that! In fact he said quite the opposite of that! Man has no clue what is in God's head so we just need to stop putting words "in his mouth" and preaching them from the pulpit as his word! That is what is wrong with religion. Man is not meant to translate the Bible unless they are right with God. The problem is that people are lying to themselves and calling themselves to preach instead of being called to preach like back in the day. We are sending our ministers and preachers through school teaching them what to say taking God out of church and putting politics into it. Whether it be the politics of the different religions or the politics of the school they attend.
I hope this answers your question and doesn't offend anyone. That is not my intent.

Answer 6

Look, the bible advocates a patriarchal religion. It's not supposed to be fair or make sense. It's supposed to make you obedient, and to ensure that obedience by making you fear anything that contradicts or differs from it.

It's a circular system - you're good or you're evil, nothing in between. If you question it, you're evil. If you break the rules, you're evil. Better yet, let's make you evil from birth and then you have to spend your whole life trying to be good enough to go to heaven.

I'm not bashing - I'm telling you the truth. The goal of the Old Testament was to establish a patrilineal system of inheritance. That's why women who have sex or are raped outside of marriage are killed. That's why entire foreign groups are destroyed, but the female children are taken for the victors. That's why they have no problem dashing the heads of their enemies' babies on the rocks. Most of what you think you know about Christianity simply isn't true.

Read the bible. Prepare to be shocked and maybe even sickened. Prepare to be confused - it contradicts itself in places, and scholars even think the big four gospels about "Jesus" may have been written about different people.

After you read it, read about it by authors who agree with it and who disagree with it. Then make up your mind.

Keep asking questions. You were born with a brain so you'd use it.

Answer 7

You know only half truths. How well do you really know God? Religion is man made, truth is God made. What is the truth, then? That Christ came to save man and performed miracles and what did man do? He killed him. Is this what God wanted? No. So why did He let that happen then? To show us that we need Him and that no matter what He does or not do, man still needs Him!!! He is man's only hope for salvation. You need to get to know Him personally so that you can begin to understand HIM. Do you? This is only a small portion of a very big, big, big, picture. Good luck

Answer 8

Ever read anything by CS Lewis? Great Christian writer. He was called 'the apostle to skeptics'. He said that there were many paths to God, and so long as you were consistent and truly believed, you could reach God through any religious tradition.

Sadly, a lot of Christians don't believe that. 8^< I have even had fundamentalist Christians tell me that 'Religion is man's way of reaching out to God but Christianity is God's way of reaching out to man!'

Answer 9

I so can relate- I am a hindu for example, and I view all religions as equal, and I respect each of them (cuz hey, if a man such as Jesus or Allah or Krishna had the power to tame, control and bring hope to the hearts of many people, he is for sure a man whom I respect). My parents taught me that all religions are equal (I see my dad doin' a quick prayer every time he passes by a church or a mosque- wish he cared more about his driving though...), so it was shocking to hear when my cousin told me that once you leave hinduism and go for another religion, you can't be a hindu again...
I doubt that I'd see the bible bashing other religions (well, theres the 10 commandments, but think about when they were made- for sure long before other religions were known... so of course they try to have a bit of a monopoly then...)
its funny how all the religions preach similar ideals- be good to your fellow man, work hard, have faith, (ironically, they all also preach to not leave the religion, or face dire consequences, in my opinion, to prevent people from leaving- you can't have a religion without any believers...)
One thing that I pray as of today is for all the religions to have a revision in all of its texts and what not... obviously the current status is making people like you and I really confused... do you see your fellow brown man as a devil, just because he believes in a religion that isn't christianity? hopefully not...
its not christianity's fault though... the times are changing- who would've expected the world to be so round and vast? who would've expected to see land beyond the sea?
now however we're combining 2 different worlds- the past and the present- we're bringing in so much that was unknown back then...
but you shouldn't lose faith... its sad to see people throwing away their religion after finding minute faults... you see, God does know all- hes pinpointed our destination- like a lighthouse in a stormy sea... religion is like the coordinates, but like every calculation, you can only be most accurate to the 10th decimal place... there are many things that none of us can explain as of yet- science can give every explanation of every bodily function and feeling, except the feeling of soul... like- why am I in my body, and not in yours? What will really happen once we die? (I know we see a tunnel thingie once we're about to die, but what happens after that?)
also, there are many ways for reachin' that light house- otherwise why are different religions originated from different parts of the world?
wow, I must've bored you to death by now... sorry bout that...
i also apologize for offending you in any way if I have done so, these are my opinions, and I know that im wrong most of the time, so im open to other's opinions... like an umbrella, a mind can only work if its open :P

Answer 10

As a person who goes to church ,not every week, but when i can. I dont think the important thing is whether its God or Alla or whatever God any one worships. I think it is important to have faith, faith in anything is better than beleiving in nothing.
Sometimes i think God made different religions so that everyone would understant him. No one learns the same way right. Different people interpret thing different ways. God knew this and made different ways for people to learn.
thats my 2 Cents. hope it helps