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Originally posted by 547000
reply to post by Equidae
So your real question is why God doesn't do things according to your wishes?
Originally posted by 547000
The whole point is this world is unimportant, it's the world to come that's important. Our main goal is to get into heaven, not enjoy the pleasures of this world. God is no respecter of man. He gives signs to those who diligently seek Him.
and the criteria for getting into heaven is based on how we act in this world, then wouldn't you say this world is very very important?
Jesus pointed out that the current world is important, enough for him to come to save it.
Originally posted by 547000
The whole point is this world is unimportant, it's the world to come that's important. Our main goal is to get into heaven, not enjoy the pleasures of this world. God is no respecter of man. He gives signs to those who diligently seek Him.
Originally posted by Equidae
Originally posted by 547000
reply to post by Equidae
So your real question is why God doesn't do things according to your wishes?
No, it's more along the lines of why is God such an apparently evil sadist. Even a cursory glance of the Old Testament supports that.
And I would hope that God would share my desire to heal amputees. But so for he hasn't so that leads to: he's not all powerful, he's all-powerful but has no regard/compassion/interest for any of his creation beyond them being his puppets, or that he isn't there.edit on 13/12/11 by Equidae because: (no reason given)
But the criteria for who is an heir to heaven and who is not has nothing to do with how we act in this world. It has nothing to do with what we do or do not do, but what He has done already on our behalf.
Originally posted by jmdewey60
reply to post by NOTurTypical
But the criteria for who is an heir to heaven and who is not has nothing to do with how we act in this world. It has nothing to do with what we do or do not do, but what He has done already on our behalf.
What Jesus did was make it possible for us to receive the Holy Spirit so we can act as better people than we would have done otherwise.
People who do not act accordingly will not have any part in a future heaven. Only those who act on faith as a guide to living are invited to stay, otherwise anyone who is not faithful to the end will die their normal death and will not be brought back to share in the better world, having shown themselves unfit for such an existence. Evildoers will be not allowed, this is very clearly presented as the underlying principle of Christianity and to deny it is to form your own anti-christ religion.
Of course. But the Holy Spirit we are given to live by happens when we are born again. If there are evildoers I'd not think that person would be born again yet.
Originally posted by autowrench
reply to post by NOTurTypical
Of course. But the Holy Spirit we are given to live by happens when we are born again. If there are evildoers I'd not think that person would be born again yet.
Well, gee whiz, what if I have lived many thousands of lives on Earth, and have been "born again" each time. Does that count? I wonder about you guys sometimes.
Maybe you are capable of original thought, and don't just keep to your cult playbook.
Of course. But the Holy Spirit we are given to live by happens when we are born again. If there are evildoers I'd not think that person would be born again yet.
Reincarnation is a doctrine of demons.
Originally posted by jmdewey60
Jesus pointed out that the current world is important, enough for him to come to save it.
Originally posted by 547000
The whole point is this world is unimportant, it's the world to come that's important. Our main goal is to get into heaven, not enjoy the pleasures of this world. God is no respecter of man. He gives signs to those who diligently seek Him.
The "world to come" has arrived, the Christian Era where we take in the spirit of Christ and become better people and make the world a better place to live in.
And where do you get this idea?
God will destroy the current world by fire when the time is right and create a new heaven and earth.
Where is the end (fiery destruction where a whole new one needs to be made) of the earth in, for example, The Book of Romans?
Originally posted by 547000
It didn't happen yet. The return of the Lord as written by the apostles to did not happen yet.
Originally posted by jmdewey60
Where is the end (fiery destruction where a whole new one needs to be made) of the earth in, for example, The Book of Romans?
Originally posted by 547000
It didn't happen yet. The return of the Lord as written by the apostles to did not happen yet.
Originally posted by autowrench
reply to post by NOTurTypical
Reincarnation is a doctrine of demons.
...
Josephus, the Jewish historian who lived during most of the first century AD, records in his Jewish Wars (3, 8, 5) and in his Antiquities of the Jews (18, 1, 3) that reincarnation was taught widely in his day, while his contemporary in Alexandria, Philo Judaeus, in various of his writings, also refers to re-imbodiment in one or another form. Moreover, there are passages of the New Testament that can be understood only if seen against the background of pre-existence of souls as a generally held belief. For instance, Matthew (16:13-14) records that when Jesus asked his disciples "Whom do men say that I am?" they replied that some people said he was John the Baptist (who had been executed only a few years before the question was asked). Others thought he was Elijah, or Jeremiah, or another of the prophets.
King James Bible & Reincarnation
Reincarnation and the Bible
Reincarnation and Christianity