Questions that led to where I am

[Mourneview]

I really cannot understand why christians would pray for the recovery of older christians after an illness. I can understand if they are a young parent of young children but if the sick person is going to be with christ which is far better why would they want to recover from illness to spend any extra time on earth ?

If god changes not why was the day of rest / worship changed from Saturday to Sunday and why do we have the new testament ?

If jesus was crucified and he was seen by lots of people after his resurection why is there no record apart from the bible ? My ex pastor used to refer often to Josephus but he wasnt born until 37 AD and there is doubt over the authenticity of his reference to jesus.

If christianity is true then the vast majority of the 6 million jews exterminated in the holocaust are in hell for all eternity and I really cannot personally believe that.

[TheRedneckProfessor]

These are all good questions and deserve an answer; though I doubt you'll ever get one from the church.  To add two more that I've often pondered:

 

If the plan from the very beginning in the Garden of Eden was for god to provide salvation through the blood of jesus, then what was the point in destroying the world in the Great Flood of Noah?

 

If being "born into sin" is what causes people to go to hell, then why are christians against abortion?  Can't be "born into sin" if you're never born.  So wouldn't abortion work like a "Get Out of Hell Free" card?

[Casualfanboy16]

6 hours ago, TheRedneckProfessor said:

If the plan from the very beginning in the Garden of Eden was for god to provide salvation through the blood of jesus, then what was the point in destroying the world in the Great Flood of Noah?

 

B-But, Prof. His ways are just mysterious 'n' shit, like you say. Just kidding lmao!  Okay, but seriously though. Even though he seems omniscient, God just doesn't feel like he's using that ability properly. He has all the foresight in the world, but barely uses it and just does whatever he feels like, it seems. His plan just feels so lackluster and nonsensical that when you start thinking more and more about it, the wilder it gets.

 

To attempt to answer the first question, I can't really give a definite answer. It just feels like God didn't want some people to be saved it,  seems lol. He needed to dump water all over his sandbox because his meat puppets weren't doing what he wanted them to do. Screw the blood of Jesus, worldwide genocide is a quick and easy solution. Why he didn't provide the salvation through the blood of Jesus before the fact he pretty much killed everyone is such a strange way to go about things. Are all those people he drowned rotting in Hell right now? Screaming in agony forever and ever, crying out to be saved?

 

I mean, God only spared Noah and his family because he deemed them righteous enough. I say "enough" because nobody is without sin according to the Bible. What made Noah and his family so special? No other righteous people out there? If they died without the salvation from the blood of Jesus stuff, where are they gonna go? Heaven or Hell? It's all just nonsense that leaves more questions than answers.

 

Edit: I forgot that animal sacrifices for the atonement of sins were a thing lmao, but what about the people who died who didn't follow Christianity or do the animal sacrifice stuff? Did they all just go to Hell? Again, more questions than answers.

 

6 hours ago, TheRedneckProfessor said:

If being "born into sin" is what causes people to go to hell, then why are christians against abortion?  Can't be "born into sin" if you're never born.  So wouldn't abortion work like a "Get Out of Hell Free" card?

I tried to do some Googling on this, but I'm not getting a definite answer, so I'm just gonna say this: Most of the results I got (despite disagreements here and there) say that life seems to begin at conception for a lot of Christians. To them, at that point I guess you'd be "born" despite just barely beginning all of the birth cycle crap and the sperm and eggs start working their magic or whatever. So, it's not like your not born to them. As soon as conception, you are born into sin it seems. Little Timmy might just be a little spermie making his way to the egg, but he can't be forgiven for his sins... that he hasn't committed yet. I guess the only way to stop this is to stop making babies lol. Well, nothing makes sense, so just belieeeeeeeeveeeeee!! Lmfao!

[Casualfanboy16]

6 hours ago, Mourneview said:

I really cannot understand why christians would pray for the recovery of older christians after an illness. I can understand if they are a young parent of young children but if the sick person is going to be with christ which is far better why would they want to recover from illness to spend any extra time on earth ?

Huh. Never crossed my mind before. I mean, I guess it's just some people have a harder time of dealing with things when other people are about to die, especially those close to them. It feels like by praying it's like they're bargaining with God to spend a little more time with them; even if by dying they would be in "a better place" as some people say.

 

6 hours ago, Mourneview said:

If christianity is true then the vast majority of the 6 million jews exterminated in the holocaust are in hell for all eternity and I really cannot personally believe that.

I don't believe in Hell, honestly. I'd like to imagine that in death they are finally at peace and free from the suffering and pain and all that brought on by the atrocities of the Holocaust. The victims deserve peace. Not being tortured for all eternity. It's so messed up to think about.

[◊ Weezer ◊]

12 hours ago, Mourneview said:

I really cannot understand why christians would pray for the recovery of older christians after an illness. I can understand if they are a young parent of young children but if the sick person is going to be with christ which is far better why would they want to recover from illness to spend any extra time on earth ?

If god changes not why was the day of rest / worship changed from Saturday to Sunday and why do we have the new testament ?

If jesus was crucified and he was seen by lots of people after his resurection why is there no record apart from the bible ? My ex pastor used to refer often to Josephus but he wasnt born until 37 AD and there is doubt over the authenticity of his reference to jesus.

If christianity is true then the vast majority of the 6 million jews exterminated in the holocaust are in hell for all eternity and I really cannot personally believe that.

 

Yes, there is a heck of a lot of stuff that doesn't add up.  I was working for a church related social service organization, and feeling trapped.  They expected me to atttend church.  It took me several years of rationalizing stuff, and searching for a "liberal" group that I felt comfortable in, before finally declaring agnosticism, changing jobs, and walking out the doors of "church" for good.  Where are you in the process of walking out the door?  Forgive me if you have already explained that elsewhere on the forum.

 

Edit:  I found your previous posts, and can see your dilemma.  Do you have any support for "non-belief" locally?  

[♦ Fuego ♦]

Add to the mix the one they don't tell you in church: Judaism doesn't have damnation, and it is doubtful Jesus or the apostles ever would have talked about it. The church will point to poetic passages, and to the Jerusalem's trash pit as "examples" of hell, but Judaism doesn't have it. All the commandments were to have a good life here. If Jesus had preached about hell, he would have been accused of preaching Greek/Roman religion. The new testament was written by Greek converts, each with an apparent goal of converting more gentiles (except maybe Mark). 

 

[sdelsolray]

Several biological/evolutionary reasons:

 

1)  Our genes holistically function to encourage us to stay alive;

2)  Humans have evolved to favor social relationships and those involving kin are usually the strongest; and

3)  Empathetic tendencies and fear of grief and disruption convince us to hope for the survival of others, more so with those in which we have strong relationships.