I'm attempting to construct a list of "Then why" questions dealing with "God". This is pretty much for atheists asking questions to those who do believe in "God", or even the theists that have questions themselves..

"God" supposedly created the earth in 6 days, rested on the 7th.. correct? Then why do dinosaur fossils date back to millions of years ago, before humans ever existed?

Why did "God" speak to people before, but he doesnt now? "Abraham... Abraham!"

Why do people pray? If it's "God's" will to do something, he'll do it anyway, will he not?

if I come up with more, I'll post them.. but that's what I can scrounge up in a couple minutes of thinking.

Ooo goody, I like questions.

1: The whole god thing creating the Earth in 7 days is probably crap. Even if it were true it would have happened way before dino's.

2: God does speak to people now, but most people don't know how to listen. You need a peiceful mind to be able to listen, but nowadays people's minds are cluttered with garbage. The 'Ego' is overfed. We worry too much about pointless things like 'our appearance' instead of what God has to say. Although it's not technically God speaking to us. We are all a part of God, and it's our very own 'godself' (you could say our inner-self) that talks to us. At the back of our minds where we can't here it (due to mental clutter). This is where meditation helps.

3: As I said, we are also a part of god, and we also have a 'will'. Through the power of belief we can change things, since creation is formed through belief. People pray for things but most people don't know how to pray. If you want something to 'be' you have to belief that it's already so.

Here's a bible quote:

"Whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive" matt.21:22 .

This is how jesus did loadsa cool shit. He was enlightened and had complete understanding of how life works. He believed in what he did, and it happened.

Ps: This thread could be a disaster when people start giving different answers.

[This message has been edited by Beany (edited 06-21-2003).]

If god created Adam and Eve shortly after dinoscaurs (along with the rest of the animals) then there'd be human fossils dating as far back as dinosaurs.. . And if 1 thing in the bible can be looked at as not true, it's very possible that nothing else in the bible is true.. How could someone tell what was true and what wasnt true? The bible, as honorable as it is made out to be, shouldnt be filtered to find the truth.

God didn't just create Adam and Eve out of the blue. Humans were evolved just like anything else, but it was only at a certain point when humans got 'free will'. Perhaps adam and eve were the first with free will, i don't know.

You don't have to believe anything in the bible. It wasn't written by Jesus, it was written by different people, some of which may not have understood certain things correctly.

It does have some bullshit in it but you can use your own judgement for that.

Either way you won't go to hell, so don't be worryin bout that

[This message has been edited by Beany (edited 06-21-2003).]

quote:Originally posted by Beany:

God didn't just create Adam and Eve out of the blue. Humans were evolved just like anything else, but it was only at a certain point when humans got 'free will'. Perhaps adam and eve were the first with free will, i don't know.

You don't have to believe anything in the bible. It wasn't written by Jesus, it was written by different people, some of which may not have understood certain things correctly.

It does have some bullshit in it but you can use your own judgement for that.

Either way you won't go to hell, so don't be worryin bout that

[This message has been edited by Beany (edited 06-21-2003).]

You have got to have the most interesting outlook on (Christianity? or just religion in general) that I've heard in awhile.. It's not too abstract, but laid back. Cool dude.. I dont agree with ya, but it's a nice change than the rightwing strict-ass Catholics I am surrounded by in this town.

If the population of my town was inhabited by Christians (or theists) like you, It'd be much easier to live in.. lol.

Like I said, still dont agree with you. I just feel there's too much pain in the world for there to be some higher being that "loves and protects' us..

another question, inspired from another post in this forum..

Why do innocent babies die?

If you read Genesis, it states that there were animals of every kind created before man was created. The word "day" must have a different measure of time than the 24 hour day we live by.

Why do innocent babies die? I don't know the answer but maybe, Biblically speaking, to reaffirm that man is not the highest being and is not in total control of destiny.

We don't live in a perfect world, there is an element of chaos that we don't have power over. Sometimes it is death.

Go ask Pandora. I think she'll know.

Why do innocent babies die?

From a Christian point of view:

God made us free, with free will. The possible causes of death, of innocent babies are either natural causes, or brought by a human being.

Because God made us with free will, it is not his fault, but man's fault, if he chose to bring death to the baby.

Giving us free will is the only "just" way for God to handle things. If he didn't, he would be oppressing people...

Why do innocent babies die?

That question implies that death is a punishment which it isn't and it is not God's position to mess with free will which in I think in all cases would be in affect when the baby died

quote:Originally posted by Rust:

Giving us free will is the only "just" way for God to handle things. If he didn't, he would be oppressing people...

ok, so why in the bible does "God" basically say "you must believe in me, only in me (not another god) blah blah.. and why the hell did he make sure that not everyone could speak the same language? bullshit, bullshit!

"ok, so why in the bible does "God" basically say "you must believe in me, only in me (not another god) blah blah.. and why the hell did he make sure that not everyone could speak the same language? bullshit, bullshit!"

First of all, you are assuming the bible is:

1. 100% correct.

2. Written by, or "directed" by God/Jesus.

3. That it is literal.

Alot of things to assume...

Even the Christian/Catholic Churches acknowledge that most if not all the passages are metaphors.

Secondly, God could suggest things to you, he could warn you and still be "just". He just can't force you; and you my friend, are the prime example...

quote:Originally posted by Hammer&Sickle:

Why do innocent babies die?

That question implies that death is a punishment which it isn't...



If you read Genesis, it clearly demonstrates that death is a punishment for all because of the decisions of Adam & Eve. They call it "original sin".

Before this fruit psychodrama happened, there was allegedly no such thing as death.

If you take a look at the world and all it's evidence, animals have been around millions of years before humans, and they did, in fact, die.

This directly contradicts Genesis (for all those that subscribe to the idea that the events in Genesis are real and actually happened).

quote:Originally posted by Lovley:

I just feel there's too much pain in the world for there to be some higher being that "loves and protects' us..



This should have been one of the 'why' questions.

For a start there is nothing wrong with pain. Pain isn't a bad thing at all. Suffering is the word you should have used because 'pain' is just a sensation that can be enjoyed or not (ever heard of people finding pleasure in pain?). The point in which pain turns into suffering is when people fear it.

God does love us. The only reason why people suffer is because they don't have faith that god exists. We have had many people to teach us truths about the universe (jesus, buddah etc) which would eliminate suffering if we only understood what they taught properly (although we inevitably realise these things ourselves over time).

For instance, the reason we fear pain is because it's suggests the destruction of the human body, but in actual fact we are not our bodies, we are the spirits that occupy the bodies and we live for eternity as part of god. One we realise this, we no longer fear the destruction of our bodies and so 'pain' isn't something we fear, it's just something we feel.



Also the babies thing. Well as someone said before. Death is not an end and because at that young age the baby has no conscious thought, so it won't be afraid of what's happening. It will be living in the moment and taking each step as it comes. One minute it will be in the hospital, the next it's brain will shut off and the soul of the baby will leave for another body.

As far as the parents go. They will be suffering because of this, but if they realised that the baby isn't actually dying, but moving on to another body, a lot of the greif will diminish.

Another area of grief from the parents comes from their attachment to the baby. They feel that the baby is 'theirs' and that when the baby dies it's been taken away from them. Well, as I said, we are all part of the same 1 entity (god) and so you can't really lose anything because it's a part of you and it simply moves to a different part of you.

Having an attachment to anything is unwise. Attachment causes suffering and this is another thing that enlightened minds try to teach us (what god tries to teach us).

[This message has been edited by Beany (edited 06-22-2003).]

aye I should have said "Too much suffering in the world" instead of pain.. my mistake.

The reason I am assuming that the bible *should* be 100% true because as far as I know, it's one of the only written proofs of "God"s existence.. if there was no bible, everything would be up for interpretation and imagination. Alot of people base their beliefs off of ideas they've extracted from the bible.. Most people will refer to the bible for guidance.. But if it's partly untrue, as some of you say, then I lose all 'respect' of the bible.. because like I said, if part of it's untrue, there's a chance that the whole thing is a gimmick and there's no such thing as God and that part of history.

Also, about God speaking to others..

People that he spoke to back then, as far as I know, had no idea he existed, and were probably just as 'savage' as most others.

Again, I might be wrong.. but dont automatically think because I said that I might be wrong, I will be wrong. http://www.totse.com/bbs/smile.gif (http://www.totse.com/bbs/smile.gif)

I dont mean to come off as an asshole.. It's hard reading someone's emotions through text.. I'm not pissed off or just out to prove your asses wrong, I just disagree strongly. I am at no point to say that a "God" exists.. I've already come to believe he doesnt.. I feel the scientific explanation for things is something I can touch, see, and hear for myself. Religion to me is like this:

There's a diamond in my hand. *Hand is held out and closed*. You must believe me that there's a diamond in my hand. If you open my hand, the diamond will be gone.. If you dont believe there's a diamond in my hand, you're wrong. I cannot show you that there's a diamond in my hand.. But you must believe there's a diamond in my hand.

Fair enough, my advice to you is to always keep an open mind and you'll eventually find out the truth, without the help of any book or preacher.

[This message has been edited by Beany (edited 06-22-2003).]

"The reason I am assuming that the bible *should* be 100% true because as far as I know, it's one of the only written proofs of "God"s existence"

While it *could* be some kind of proof to someone, the bible offers no "scientific proof". As far as science is concerned, its just a old book, talking about a religion.

That being said, it does not mean you can't base your faith/life on it. Many of the Bible's passages teach love, understanding etc.