Originally posted by GoneGrey
There seems to be as many 'holy books' as there are religions. Which of these do you purport to hold all of the answers and represent the word of
God? How do you know this for certain? Why are the others not the the word of God?
the bible, because only it provides answers to questions that are relevant in our lives like - "why does god permit suffering" "where do we go when
we die" "will suffering ever end"
bible is a book of prophecy and has proven itself time and time again as accurate.
the bible has shown itself to be protected despite efforts by the church itself to destroy it.
but i have to ask, why are you changing the topic? whether or not the bible is god's word is a separate thread
If "God" is omnipotent, why is this entity unable to present itself to all men in a manner that would convince all of us beyond doubt of its
existence?
he did. several occasions. one of them in front of all of israel. no wait, i get the feeling you are going to tell me that didnt happen because you
didnt see it yourself
Why would this "God" create an existence where man is continually spiritually divided (and violently so, in many cases). If this is
explainable, would you consider this "God" to be a benevolent one then?
that was answered in the article.
god did not create the existence, man did it to themselves. its about independence from god which god himself respects so yes, he is "benevolent"
especially because he opened the way for people who see the bad effects of independence to go back to him.
but the fact is, most dont want to be told what to do.
just one example. "do not commit adultery" or fornication. in other words, you shouldnt have sex with anyone but your marriage mate.
there are advantages to living this way. the couple trust each other emotionally. they avoid the possibility of certian diseases. if a person isnt
married, then they avoid unwanted pregnancy. it helps the people involved and allows the children that sex creates to grow up in a better home. good
advice no?
but most people feel that the bible is antiquated in this regard. they reason sex is natural, so im going to do it whenever i want. some people
criticize the bible about it. at one point i heard someone say that a god of love would never hold back sex for any reason. others think that god is
holding back something for no reason.
well fine, its your choice. you have the free will to follow god's commands or not. whether or not you follow them is between you and god.
but lets say that disregard them. go out to a party and meet a beautiful woman. you go home with her and by the next day you feel very happy with
yourself, the condom broke, but its ok, your both clean.
except much later you are HIV positive.
now i ask a question, is your suffering (both emotional and physical) god's fault or yours?
are you suggesting that a benevolent god would have parted the sky and stopped your night of passion before anything bad would have happened?
look around you. a majority of the suffering in the world is directly caused from mismanagement from man. both globaly and personally in our own
lives.
[edit on 21-1-2010 by miriam0566]