RE: Got Jesus?
Wow! This is enlightening. Do you really mean to say that God doesn't respect human life? Is that based off Acts 10:34? Because, if so I think you are taking that entirely out of context. The actual context is Peter explaining how God values all human life equally. The KJV is old English, and people don't talk that way anymore. Modern versions read:
NIV: Then Peter began to speak: "I now realize how true it is that God does not show favoritism
ESV: So Peter opened his mouth and said: “Truly I understand that God shows no partiality,
NASB: Opening his mouth, Peter said: "I most certainly understand now that God is not one to show partiality,
If you really don't think God respects human life, then why the commandment forbidding murder? What's the big deal?
And Jesus... Really? Do you actually rip the middle part of the gospels out of your bible? What about what He said?
John 10:10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.
Never mind that Jesus' number one message was the "Kingdom of God" which He said was "at hand" and "upon you." Why did He even preach the sermon on the mount? It would be easier to get people to heaven if people went around forcing conversions, then killing the converted. There's no reason to keep them alive, right? Why try to stop abortion? The babies are probably going to heaven, right? So why not fill the place with babies?
How can you say with a straight face that your conception of Hell isn't God torturing people? Your analogy sucks because people don't live forever, unless God decides that they will. It says that in the bible a whole bunch, so I guess take that up with God. Jesus Himself said that God had the power to destroy the soul:
Matthew 10:28 Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell.
Nevermind for now that the verse clearly teaches that the soul is destroyed in hell, but think for a second... If God can destroy the soul, but chooses not to so that a person can be in eternal torment... How is God not torturing them? That makes no sense at all...
Let's re-frame your analogy. It seems to me it's more like this: you are about to fall into a hole that leads to a torture chamber. I tell you to take my hand so that you don't fall into the torture chamber, but you don't believe me. You fall, and I torture you.
I'm glad you can somehow have faith that God will be merciful considering your conception of Him. Keep that thread alive. Just FYI, if the Bible doesn't teach what you are saying that it does, you really ought to reconsider your position.
The History of God destroying whole civilizations from time to time shows his level of respect for human lives. Does it not?
Well, there's the flood. But if you take that as literal, you got to take the statements that the "whole earth was corrupt" and that "every intention of man was only evil, continually" seriously. The rest of the civilizations were actually destroyed by other agents. Nations, Angels, The Destroyer... But yeah, that's still a problem.
The question is, what is God like? Is God like the OT diety that kills people, or is God like Jesus, who said to pray for your enemies, forgive 70 times 70, bless those who curse you, turn the other cheek... He also said that if you have seen Him, you have seen the Father.
The way I take it is that the Old Testament prophets were only able to give us glimpses of God. They weren't able to give us the full revelation of His character, but Jesus did. Hebrews 1 says that Jesus is the "radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being." Exact. That means that God's character is exactly like Jesus'.
Even if you want to stick to the guns and say that God killed all those people, you still don't have eternal torment. You have at best an ending of life, with still the resurrection in the future to set things right. There's no torture, and there's always a purpose.
Any more comments on faith confirmed?
The great examples of faith in the bible don't lead me to agree with your definition.
Did Moses have faith? He never reached the promised land.
Did Abraham see his decedents number as the stars?
How about Abel? Was his faith confirmed by being murdered?
From Hebrews 11, the "Hall of Faith"
The faith is supposed to be that in the end, at the resurrection, God will vindicate the righteous. It's not to be expected here. If you get "confirmation" and it helps you, that's great, but it doesn't always work like that.
I truly hope for your sake that you keep getting those confirmations. The world is a dark place when you don't.
Luckily I was born when I did. To be able to apply the signs of the impending rapture to current events then researching it and finding a whole group of people preaching the same to confirm my belief.
Otherwise I’d still be unsaved because of my concerns with the appropriateness of God’s judgements.
Yeah, well you lost me on this one. I don't buy into the "rapture" thing at all. I think it's basically divination. Using the bible as a crystal ball. If it works for you, then congratulations. I just see it as yet another example in a 2000 year history of people misreading the book of Revelation to say the "end times" are imminent. Historically, they have all been wrong, and in all probability so are you today.
I'm much more interested in the slander of the character of God that is the Eternal Conscious Torment in Hell doctrine.
And for the record, finding other people who agree with you is no way to determine truth. You could say the same exact thing for preterism, amillenialism, Pre-wrath, pre-trip, Hindus, Muslims, Bhuddists, Sikh, etc. Lots of people have crazy beliefs. Finding that there are others like you is not confirmation of anything except maybe that you have been influenced by huge advertising campaigns from book publishers, movie producers, and megachurch pastors who all make millions off the "rapture."
Absolutely what you mention are are real concerns about the way faith can be confirmed and consensus in an if itself is not complete confirmation.
As I said before.... the invention of cryptos and rfids takes the prophesy of stopping all commerce without the mark of beast out of the realm of fiction into the realm of possibility and probability.
Likewise the creation of the modern state of Israel and their plans to rebuild the temple are a confirmation that we are on the time line heading to the rapture.
This pastor really brings the Book of Revelation to life.
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL4oPLNtP6_ec2ac_ZsujgtcjoPNBwVFET
I wish you would have led with the direct allegation that I was slandering God by claiming he will torture souls for eternity. But thanks for bringing that up.
Again, I'm not really interested in the "rapture" idea. I think it's escapism.
I'm sorry if you think I wasn't being straight forward with you about slandering God's character. I thought I was. I said your view was that God tortured people for eternity like a dozen times... I didn't know there was an exact phrase I was supposed to use.