Is christian doctrine decided by popular vote?
The words of Jeremiah the son of Hilkiah, of the priests that were in Anathoth in the land of Benjamin.
Then the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations. (Jeremiah 1:1,4-5)
We are the children of the LORD your God: ye shall not cut yourselves, nor make any baldness between your eyes for the dead. (Deuteronomy 14:1)
I have said, Ye are gods; and all of you are children of the most High. (Psalms 82:6)
Thus saith God the LORD, he that created the heavens, and stretched them out; he that spread forth the earth, and that which cometh out of it; he that giveth breath unto the people upon it, and spirit to them that walk therein: (Isaiah 42:5)
Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it. (Ecclesiastes 12:7)
2007-12-27 16:31:30 · 16 answers · asked by Anonymous in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
It challenges other doctrines. It opens other questions they can't answer. If God is literally our Father and we lived with him, it alters the whole dynamic of being born in sin.
2007-12-27 16:36:33 · answer #1 · answered by Isolde 7 · 3⤊ 0⤋
It sounds to me like God had a plan for who He wanted Jeremiah to be and knew Jeremiah's heart and mind. God sanctified Him in the womb to be prophet (also...pray ye that the Lord will send laborers into His harvest). If we are in God's heart and mind then we were with Him before, but we are being multiplied in the earth and each individual is a new creation from a singular source and that is the Word. For by Him and for Him all things exist. So I believe we existed in God's mind before being born in the flesh. But to believe the truth of who God is and to follow, is the only thing that gives us power to return to God our Father through Jesus Christ. We have free will to choose what is right.
2007-12-27 17:26:22 · answer #2 · answered by watertalk 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
The argument against the pre-existence of men comes from the often times misunderstood concept of free will vs. predestination.
The verses you've quoted above obviously show that God has been planning each and every one of us from day one of our universe and has grand plans in mind for us. However God has also given us free will, so how do these two ideas coincide harmoniously? The understanding of this concept comes from the knowledge that God knows everything, including what we are going to do, and can hence plan around our mistakes (made possible via free will) and that plans are not things that are set in stone, not even God's because He allows us free will. I imagine that all of our lives could have been so much grander had we not done those sinful things, whatever they were. It's in doing those things that we deviate from God's plans for our lives. So yes, they do exist as the verses above show us, but that doesn't mean that we must follow them. We can choose to go our own way, though usually to catastrophic ends.
2007-12-27 16:46:59 · answer #3 · answered by Chake-Ri Shcos 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I don't know what % deny pr-existence. But those that do are ignorant of the facts. You have stated some pretty good bible documentation for pre-existence. Also in Acts it basically quotes God as saying " While I loved Jacob, I hated Esau BEFORE he was in his mothers womb. The bible also quotes God as saying, " before the foundation (before Adam and eve) of the world , I called you by name. How much proof do you people want ?? A star for this excellent question.
2007-12-27 16:45:50 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Most christians denounce it because is does not fit their ideas of religion.
Does that make them wrong ? yes. Does that make them bad ? no. But when you use your mistaken rendering of true scripture to mislead others you are then wrong and bad. If you want to believe red birds are blue, don't take advantage of the blind. People must have their free agency to read and believe what their hearts tell them. Organized religion is the most dis-organized thing I have ever witnessed
2015-05-23 19:09:06 · answer #5 · answered by Jerry W 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
These verses are talking about God's foreknowledge of us, not a preexistence. God is all knowing so He knows about us before we exist, and He forms us in the womb. The verse in Psalms is about man making himself god of his life instead of accepting his position as a child of God.
2007-12-27 17:07:53 · answer #6 · answered by kingsdaughter 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
2Ti_1:9 Who hath savedG4982 us,G2248 andG2532 calledG2564 us with an holyG40 calling,G2821 notG3756 accordingG2596 to ourG2257 works,G2041 butG235 accordingG2596 to his ownG2398 purposeG4286 andG2532 grace,G5485 which was givenG1325 usG2254 inG1722 ChristG5547 JesusG2424 beforeG4253 the.... TIME began,G5550
The word.. World, should be Time Strong's G5550 Greek Chronos. not Cosmos G2889
e-sword.net
2014-03-30 17:25:52 · answer #7 · answered by Vernon 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
God said this because He knows everything from beginning to the end, that is why he knew us even back then. Peace!!!
2007-12-27 16:43:01 · answer #8 · answered by GREGORIOUSITY 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Yes! it's true. Even before the foundation of the world HE IS
Before the "Big Bang?" He IS!
What more can you think of - He IS THERE before Nothingness, HE IS THE "I AM"
2007-12-27 16:36:59 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋
My church doesn't denounce it (I'm Mormon/LDS by the way).
We believe in the pre-existence. As you pointed out, man's pre-existence is spoken of in the bible (and in the Book of Mormon, but that's just LDS scripture)
2007-12-27 16:42:06 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋