Originally posted by Grand_Moff_GavAs a conservative evangelical, I would respond in two ways:
Why do evangelicals in America think God is all about wrath and punishment...what happened to love?Have they read the new testament at all?
Firstly, though we may disagree on some secondary issues, evangelicals believe the core doctrines of the Bible. The Bible teaches about the God of love, and wrath, and kindness, and jealousy, and mercy, and vengeance, and truth, and justice, and grace, and punishment, and forgiveness. The Bible -- Old Testament and New -- teaches about only one God. We take Him as He describes Himself.
Secondly, God's love is expressed through His gracious forgiveness of human sin. Mercy means nothing without the threat of punishment. Forgiveness means nothing without the actuality of consequences. As a result, it is biblically impossible to receive God's love if one does not acknowledge his moral poverty before God and repent.
Thus, as an evangelical Christian I might ask: "Why do many non-Christians in America (and elsewhere) insist on viewing God through their own subjective paradigm, instead of His revealed Word? Have they read the New Testament at all?
Originally posted by DigiMark007My point, DigiMark, is simply that our philosophical presuppositions invariably inform our perceptions and conclusions. There is no logical reason to believe that a loving God cannot also get angry.
I'll second Sym's opinion. It's one thing to disagree with other viewpoints, but when he presents such a sheltered perspective on anything outside his sphere of belief, and to imagine that there isn't intellectual justification for other ways of thinking, his comments begin to border on delusional.
As a Christian, I base my understanding of God on the Bible. Since the question suggested that evangelicals (like me) need to pay more attention to the book we so revere, it seemed appropriate to point out that the Bible describes many attributes of God, some of which may be unpalatable to the reader. Nevertheless, if indeed we are discussing the God of the Bible (as the questioner specified), it seems logical that we should consider the full breadth of the biblical data. I apologize if my response made this unclear.
Originally posted by Tim Rout
My point, DigiMark, is simply that our philosophical presuppositions invariably inform our perceptions and conclusions. There is no logical reason to believe that a loving God cannot also get angry.As a Christian, I base my understanding of God on the Bible. Since the question suggested that evangelicals (like me) need to pay more attention to the book we so revere, it seemed appropriate to point out that the Bible describes many attributes of God, some of which may be unpalatable to the reader. Nevertheless, if indeed we are discussing the God of the Bible (as the questioner specified), it seems logical that we should consider the full breadth of the biblical data. I apologize if my response made this unclear.
None of that has anything to do with what he said. To fail to understand how people could disagree with you about religion would require a sheltered, ignorant upbringing. Normally I'm the first to defend Theists but to seriously have trouble with the idea that someone chooses not to believe the Bible is just beyond the pale.
Re: gods judgement on america? Long time coming?
Originally posted by BetrayedUnicornnice try rabbi
this is why I think we are yet to be judged. We have been a close allie of israel for a while now and so I think we havent had judgement passed on us because we have been aiding gods sacred nation for so long.Opinions?
Originally posted by Tim Rout
As a conservative evangelical, I would respond in two ways:Firstly, though we may disagree on some secondary issues, evangelicals believe the core doctrines of the Bible. The Bible teaches about the God of love, and wrath, and kindness, and jealousy, and mercy, and vengeance, and truth, and justice, and grace, and punishment, and forgiveness. The Bible -- Old Testament and New -- teaches about only one God. We take Him as He describes Himself.
Secondly, God's love is expressed through His gracious forgiveness of human sin. Mercy means nothing without the threat of punishment. Forgiveness means nothing without the actuality of consequences. As a result, it is biblically impossible to receive God's love if one does not acknowledge his moral poverty before God and repent.
Thus, as an evangelical Christian I might ask: "Why do many non-Christians in America (and elsewhere) insist on viewing God through their own subjective paradigm, instead of His revealed Word? Have they read the New Testament at all?
👆 There is no reason at all for anyone to belittle someone for stating there opinion and views, Sym you know better, don't know why Digi is agreeing this much on allowing someone to say something like that...