Originally posted by SpearofDestiny
That is where I disagree, and I think this is the only real problem I have with Christianity, otherwise, I don't mind it as a religion or philosophy.
But...Christianity is not a religion. We are simply a community of people who have passed from death unto life. We are not longer dead in trespasses and sins and on our way to Hell. We have been brought back into righ-standing with God through Jesus Christ. It really is that simple.
If God blatantly showed himself to us through an obvious and clear representation which we all recognized, then we would have no excuse, and thus Hell would almost be a justified punishment for not accepting what is right in front of you.
God has shown you Himself--did you forget that He sent Jesus 2,000 years ago? Besides, you are already without excuse according to the Scriptures. You see the Bible states,
Romans 1:16
For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse.
However, that is not the case. All we have is a book. The Bible, which has been written ages and ages ago, and retranslated and re editted throughout time.
You have all that you need.
"One of the first internal evidences that the Bible is truly God’s Word is seen in its unity. Even though it is really sixty-six individual books, written on three continents, in three different languages, over a period of approximately 1500 years, by more that 40 authors (who came from many walks of life), the Bible remains one unified book from beginning to end without contradiction. This unity is unique from all other books and is evidence of the divine origin of the words as God moved men in such a way that they recorded His very words. (Copyright 2002-2008 Got Questions Ministries - All Rights Reserved.
www.gotquestions.org)"
Besides,
[/COLOR]
Originally posted by JesusIsAlive
[b]God's Word (i.e. the Scriptures) is all that He has given for us to know Him. It is all that is necessary in order to have a relationship with God through Jesus Christ.For example, if your parents wrote you a letter then went on a long vacation would you be looking for any other writing from them? That one letter would be all that you needed to know their will, desire, and heart for you right? Well, picture the Bible (all 66 books) as one giant letter from God to His creation (for each and every individual person). [/B]
God has not shown himself to the world. That is why so many doubt his existence, and thus for God to condemn those to Hell for not blindly beleiving in something that cannot be seen, heard, or communicated with, is unreasonable, illogical, and stupid.
Do you believe that your statement is original? Do you believe that you are the only soul on planet earth that has felt this way? Well, you are not. Nevertheless, God has made Himself known to every single person on earth. People do not doubt that God exists, they doubt that God truly cares about them and/or their situation. People know deep down inside that God lives, but they suppress that with reason. They say things like, "If God exist then why____________(fill in the blank)." They say things like, "God could not exist because____________(again, fill in the blank)." The truth is that people know God exists but they don't believe that He cares about them or what is going on in their lives. So...they conclude that God could not exist. Friend (and this is addressed to anyone reading this post right now) if God did not exist there would be no Bible, no Jesus, and definitely no universe or people like me reaching out to you with the message of God's love for you.