A few religious questions.

1. There is no heaven or hell. Also, God doesn’t “love” or “hate”. You are attaching human qualities and perceptions to God which is not correct. God is not of the universe and is not concerned with its functioning.

2. Jesus is not the son of God anymore so than you or I. No one was before God. God is eternal and always exists but exists outside of the universe AND time. Time is a factor relative to the internal functioning of the universe, not to that that is outside of the universe. God is not a people. Most likely, God is a Force, albeit a Creative Force, rather than a being.

3. God doesn’t meddle in the affairs of man. Sin is a perception of man, not of God. What one man calls a sin another may not. It’s relative.

“Do you believe in the Bible?”

  No!

In contrast to believing in the Bible, I believe:

1. That God is that Creative/Causative Force that exists before the beginning of the universe/time and continues to exist outside of the universe and time.

2. That “Force” created/caused the spiritual/soul entities to come into being.

3. The spiritual/soul entities continued the “Creation” with the “Big Bang”. And, through evolution and possibly subtle manipulations, have caused the current state of affairs.

4. The spirits/souls choose to inhabit the various physical bodies that they have created in order to experience physical reality.

5. When bodies die the spirit/soul continues to exist and often times reincarnates into another body in order to continue its growth.

6. The purpose of it all is for the spirits/souls (entities) to gain knowledge and experience and to ultimately rejoin or evolve back into the Oneness of God.

  The Bible is a book of history and guidance for peoples of certain times. The Old Testament was meant for the societies and peoples of ancient times. The New Testament was meant to change much of the Old Testament law and to guide the society and people of two thousand years ago.

The Bible worked during the time periods it was meant to cover. Its guidance protected the people and gave value and purpose to their lives.

The problem is that the Bible was meant for past eras and was successful therein. It, however, did not keep up with the times and technologies during the advancement of mankind.

There may still be some lessons that can be learned from studying the Old and New Testaments of the Bible. But, the lessons must be tempered with the knowledge that exists in the current time period.

Man and his technology has evolved considerably since Biblical times. The Bible has not evolved accordingly. It is therefore the province of man to interpret the whole Bible and attempt to allow its relevant parts to fit into the lifestyles of the current era.

As long as they do not infringe on the rights of others, men are free to follow the teachings of the Bible for themselves. Your rights and beliefs end where mine begin.

  The Bible is a “crutch” which is necessary for some but not for all. It is a book written by men with the purpose of helping to guide other men through some of the pitfalls that life has to offer. It is also meant to give hope and purpose to those who may have no other way of finding same.

Just as with other fictional works, it is not meant to be taken literally but parabolically. Parts of its historical accounts may be factual while other parts are symbolic. And, yet other parts are simply devices wherein to protect the health and well-being of people of that era.

It takes many religions to give guidance to those who are in need of direction. Some use the Bible as their basis while others use other Books. They all serve a needed purpose. They all benefit the society of man.

Just because the Bible (or some other Book) is right for you does not mean or make it right for everyone else. The human race is a diverse species. It has many different cultures and Beliefs. Grant to each their right to choose that which fits them.

If God loves everyone and forgives everyone, then why is there a hell?

God does necessarily forgive everyone; he forgives those people who allow themselves to be forgiven. The name “Jesus” (Yeshua in Aramaic) means “God Saves.” He wants to save us, but he asks us to “repent and believe in the Good News” (Mark 1:15).

The central Gospel (good news) message is this: “God so loved the world that he sent his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world but that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him will not be condemned, but whoever does not believe has already been condemned, because he has not believed in the name [God saves] of the only Son of God” (John 3:16-18)

In order for anyone to believe in Christ Jesus, it absolutely requires an action of the Holy Spirit, as St. Paul observed. “No one can say ‘Jesus is Lord’ except by the Holy Spirit” (1 Corinthians 12:4).

The Second Vatican Council observed that every person on earth receives “grace sufficient” (from the Holy Spirit) to accept or reject the salvation that Christ offers. That is why Christ made the following statement: “Therefore, I say to you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven…but blasphemy…against the Holy Sprit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come” (Mat. 12:31-32; see also Mark 3:28-30 and Luke 12:10).

This leads us to your 3rd question about why God allows sin to exist.

God does love us (no matter what other posters here may say). His love is not what we usually think about when we say the word “love.” His love (“agape” in Greek; “caritas” in Latin) is defined as an all-encompassing, self-sacrificing, unconditional love. It’s the sort of thing that St. Paul describes in 1 Corinthians 13. It is not an emotion or a feeling; it is an decision; it is an action.

We, as men and women, are made in the image of God, which means that we are rational creatures with an intellect and a will. He gave us a free will, because he wants us to freely choose to be like him. He gives each person the grace sufficient to make that choice, but he will not force it on us. (He also gave us his Church, his body, to strengthen us. Jesus said to Peter, “Simon, Simon, behold Satan has demanded to sift all of you like wheat, but I have prayed that your own faith may not fail; and once you have turned back, you must strengthen your brothers.” -Luke 22:31-32)

The bottom line is this: he must allow us the opportunity to say “no” to him, otherwise our “yes” would be meaningless. He wants us to love like he loves. Sin is what happens when we refuse to love as he loves.

I will have to answer your 2nd question later (the one about God’s eternity).

1. Well, most people, throughout their lives, hear about God and christianity at least once, so pretty much every one gets a chance to become a christian(aka to follow God and Jesus), people are sent to hell, because they choose to disbelieve, God truly loves us, but he can’t make us be christians, it’s free will. no one really knows what happens to people who commit suicide, but if someone is a christian, they shouldn’t need to commit suicide, because God is there for them, and God forgives everyone, but he forgives those who ask him of it. which is repentance, saying directly to God, I’m sorry that I did such and such, please forgive me.

2.no one was before God, he just existed, if someone believes in the bang bang, where did the matter come from that caused the big bang

3. tough one, I believe that God doesn’t allow us to sin, but he gave us free will, choice to do right or wrong, when we do bad things, it saddens God, but when we do good things he’s glad for us(keeping in ming doing good things won’t get us into heaven) we don’t get away with it, God knows when we sin, usually there is some sort of punishment.that’s when we ask him for forgiveness.

Okay here goes

1. People are sent to hell when they don’t ask forgiveness or any remorse for theire wrong doing. I do believe people who commit suicide can ascend into Heaven, if they ask to be forgiven for there sin. Your body is a temple of God and it is considered a sin to do harm to your body. 2)God has existed since the beginning. He made you and me and there was nothing before him. Not exactly for sure how he came to exist but he does and what cyberchick said about Adam and Eve is exactly right.
2. We sin because God allows us that temptation to see if we will sin. He empowers the devil to test the faith of each of us. Those who don’t stray from the chosen path will enter the kingdom and those who choose differently without forgiveness will be sent to hell. Its not getting away with it because when you die it becomes judgment day. God then will decide whether you are worthy to enter his kingdom for all of eternity.

If you have any other questions, let me know. Don’t listen to toadaly. He obviously is one that has been knocked off of the path.

1. If God loves everyone and forgives everyone.. Then why are people sent to Hell? From what I’ve heard if you commit suicide you go to Hell. But wouldn’t God forgive you and let you in to Heaven? Why do people go to Hell if God forgives everyone?

God does love everyone. Do you have children? If not you surely you know someone who does. Look around at all the other children around you. Do their parents love them even when they have to discipline them? Of Course. I love my son very much, and I would be remiss as a parent if I did not correct him. The punishment for those who sin is much worse. It is eternity in the lake of fire. This is the formal name for hell btw. God does not forgive everyone. He only forgives those who accept that they are sinners and ask for forgivness. John 3:16-17 If you believe in Jesus, his life, death, and ressurrection, believe that He died so you could live, and believe that you are a sinner accepting the gift He gave by paying the penalty for you (Three days in Hell), then you will be saved. Someone already answered the scuicide ?. You will be judged if you destroy His temple. As for anyone who does not accept the gift, they will be judged according to their works, and will not be seen through Jesus, but for themselves. No one can stand up to that scrutiny.

2. If Jesus is the son of God.. Who was before God? I can’t see how he just always exsisted. He had to come from somewhere. Which would mean there was people before him. So.. who was before him?

In the Bible, it says nothing about anyone being before God. It says that He created the heavens and the earth. Therefore you will not find anyone, Christian or non-Christian who can sufficiently answer this question. I believe that God, the Spirit and the Son have always existed. If that answer doesn’t suit I’m sure someone else has a different opinion. But I do not believe God himself was created.

3. If we aren’t meant to sin.. Why does God let us? Why do we get away with it?

In the beginning God created Adam and Eve, they were tempted, and we pay the penalty.

not religous but from what I’ve heard (In answer to your first question) it is a sin to kill when you commit homicide there’s time to be forgiven, but when you kill yourself there’s no time to be forgiven, you die after you kill yourself & it’s a sin to kill so…yeah (my minds going in circles right now) hope this helped in some way

The existential blues become easier to deal with when you give up ancient myths that needlessly and unjustifiably complicate.

1. Hell doesn’t exist. God doesn’t exist.

2. Nature has always existed without any creators involved.

3. Sin is a man made concept.

I don’t want answers as much as people’s views.

Like if some one were to say: “I think that.. blah blah blah.” That’s good enough for me.

No one has the definite answers. But they can give me their opinions. :) But the really religious people could shed at least a little bit of light on the questions. I’m sure they could.

Well I don’t really believe in God, but I can answer your first question from what I’ve been taught in religion class. God will forgive those who are truely sorry and ask for his forgiveness, no matter how badly they have sinned

They Are all Great Questions that I am sure Everyone has asked themselves at least once, But Don’t Expect any answers.

:)

People are sent to hell that Disobey God and do not find him and ask him for forgivness!

In the bible it says that if you welcome god into your heart and ask him to forgive you for your sins by prayer you will live for eternity in heaven, but if you die before asking for forgivness you are doomed to hell for ever.

In the beginning of time god created adam and eve to live forever but they disobeyed him and ate off the forbidden tree, so now everyone sins, but if you ask god for forgivness for your sins you will go to heaven

Hopefully I helped a little bit Fun mail me if you still dont get it!

god loves everyone that is why he send his only begotten son that who ever believe in him will not end up in hell but have everlasting life. so you see truly god is love but he hate disobedience children . just like our earthly father loves us and will not love someone that is against his rules and regulation in the house. beside the above, ask your creator , he can talk. he will give you the right answer you need. the reason why some will end up in hell is that light has come into the world but some hate light and love darkness.god is light and we have to love the light (jesus) and obey his rules.

hey, good Qs. our GOd is a just and righteous God, right? of course. just think, would He be just and righteous if He let liars, rapists, murderers, theives, etc into paradise? no, of course not. Our God is SO good, and SO just, and SO righteous, that He MUST bring justice upon law-breakers. yes you are right, God will forgive our sins, but the Bible says we must ASK Him to. if you notice, the word ASK is a verb. its an action. you must DO something for forgiveness, not just sit your laz butt on a chair, that aint going to get you anywhere.

The dumbest question in the world is does God exist..the question is so dumb that even God called those people who does not beleive he exist a fool : Saying God does not exist is like saying you don’t exist..you are not here if God is not here..How can the creator who created you not exist when he created you from the dust of the earth and breath the breath of life in you..and how did the Sun get here..if the sun was just seven miles closer to the earth everyone would be fried it would make the planet over 1000 degrees..so who intelligently put all those things into place..and sat them at the exact spots they need to be God is organized and so it his world..the season..flowers bloom, they are planted they grow, the seasons change in perfect order,,winter does its thing summer does its thing and fall does its thing the moon comes up when the sun goes down…and God holds back the sea so it does not over run the earth and flood it like it does in the days of Noah…so please don’t ask such a crazy question if God does not exist neither does you…and since you obviously exist and you know satan exist because he shows his little demonic power which the bum gets from God he has to ask for permission before he can attack someone..OTHER than showing you that demons exist and evil exist of course God crushes this wimp who was cast out of Heaven with 1/3 of the angels and as far as Jesus everyone and everything knows he exist and its not that complicated God just put his spirit in Mary and covered himself with human flesh, in order to know how an ant thinks sleeps and eats and wants and feels you have to become an ant..well on the other hand in order to feel what people feel God came down and wrapped himself in Human flesh and lived a perfect life for us and died by sending Jesus…but remember Jesus is still God because all God did was took his spirit and put it inside of Mary and Mary ‘s flesh formed it into a God child called Jesus for he shall save his people from their sins that is why in all your satanic rituals you mock Jesus and put the cross upside down if Jesus was not this or that why go throught all the trouble to mock him and say the bible backwards and all that stupid stuff…see satan always tells on himself because he is weak pathetic and jealous and ooh so what he can show you his little tricks will we have casted out those demons from people in Jesus name tells you how powerful satan is..when me a child of GOD who beleives in our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ have the power to defeat satan on my own with Jesus’s help… Don’t be fooled Jesus has the power and your mind and neither can our comprehend who was before God no one God is supreme and you better be glad he is Good..its very scary to think of your future without Jesus…because you choose satan the weak bum by default by not giving your life to Jesus..people receive sight who were blind in their eyes by Jesus’s touch so please we are not talking about SOMEONE without power to heal we are talking about the Son OF THE LIVING GOD…and if you committ suicide you will go to hell and these fools who say they don’t beleive in God what a bunch of idoits…you think just because you say you don’t beleive in God means that he does not exist…how arrogant can you imagine a painting telling the painter who painted it that the painter does not exist…those who say God does not exist need a mental ward…any whoo it does not change the fact that he does exist,,,how arrogant to say God does not exist when he can take your breath away by the time you finish reading this..I am glad I am on his side..and not satan or luicfer who will be casted in a lake of fire..So you say God sends people to hell…you are choosing not to beleive and to do what you want and beleive in the things that God hates…so you are sending yourself…while over 3 billion Christians choose to believe in God you choose some evil weak pathetic enemy of God satan as your god…so there you have it people send themselves jesus gave his life for us …and you will give your life to the devil for rejecting what Jesus did for you…its that simple told ya it was not complicated…you can see air but it exist you can see God because you are his handywork..just the fact that you are here means GOD is here..Every have the feeling your being watched well its him …I was not checking for typos really dont care about them more in suicide go to www.hisnews.net you will never stop reading

“Why do people go to Hell if God forgives everyone?”

God doesn’t forgive everyone. Few churches actually teach this. Many in fact teach that those who are saved were already chosen, or “predestined” by God before time began. Most Christians, and the Bible, teach that the vast majority of the world’s population will spend eternity in hell. It’s a bleak existence, and I can see why it inspired Kurt Cobain to write a song.

“So.. who was before him?”

No one has sufficiently answered this because no one can. While Christians will tell you the Big Bang is illogical, they will also tell you it makes perfect sense that God has always existed. They just don’t know.

“Why does God let us? “

Most people answer this with free will and human choice. The truth is, Christianity overall doesn’t teach actual free will, even in its more scholastic beginnings. It’s teachings are more deterministic.

But that God allows humans to choose between him and sin is like a dictator holding elections, and saying “vote for me or I will torture your family…but it’s completely your choice”.

Nice answer cyberchick.

I apologize for taking so long. I promised to answer the second question later, so here goes:

The question of God’s eternity brings up two foundational principles: the concept of the Holy Trinity and the concept of time as a “created reality”

All explanations must begin and end with Trinity, so I will start there. God The Father contains everything that exists, and he is still “bigger” and “beyond” everything that exists. Everything that is part of the Truth (using the Thomistic or Aristotelian definintion: Truth is “that which is”/existence/being) is part of God. He knows, runs, and sustains the universe with more ease than I snap my finger. He contains all Truth, Goodness and Beauty within himself.

Furthermore, God the Father, in his very nature, knows and loves himself. That knowledge and that love contains everything that God is, in his nature, and it is so full, and so real, and so complete that it is a seperate person: God the Son. There is nothing that was in the Father that is not in the Son, and there is nothing in the Son that did not come from the Father. Furthermore, the Son was not created. He was “begotten”. He was “born of the Father before all ages.” God the Father did not decided to create a Son, but rather he is “Father” because of his very nature.

The Son receives everything that he has from the Father, and he infinitely knows it, and he infinitely loves it, in accordance with the “nature” that he received from the Father. Furthermore, he pours out that knowledge that that love that he is constantly receiving from the Father. And that knowledge and love that the Father pours out to the Son and the Son pours back to the Father is so perfect and so complete and so real, that it is a distinct person: God the Holy Spirit.

Everything that the Father has, he gives to the Son. Everything that the Son receives, he gives back to the Father. Therefore, everything that any one of the persons of the Trinity have, the others have as well. Each one is fully God. They are all of the same divine “ousia” (substance or being or essence, which consists of the intellect (truth) and the will (love)). Each is fully God, and the Three are fully one God.

At the same time, the three are truly distinct. The Father is not the Son, the Son is not the Holy Spirit, etc. Each maintains his own “hypostasis” (personhood). The Son is fully distinct from the Father, because he is the one who is “begotten” of the Father. Their distinction lies in their relationships to one another. The distinction is real, but their is no division. The three persons are fully united in intellect and will. This is called “the mystery of the hypostatic union.”

How does the concept of the Trinity relate to the concept of time?

The question asked was: “Who was before God? I can’t see how he just always exsisted. He had to come from somewhere. Which would mean there was people before him. So.. who was before him?”

This question has a significan short-coming. It pre-supposes that time is eternal and God is with time. Based on the understanding of the Trinity (God contains everything that exists, including time, within himself), it should be clear the concept of linear time is something that falls within the definition of God. It is part of God. Time does not contain God, rather God contains time. He is the reason that time exists in the first place.

In all fairness, this question was asked in relation to Jesus. “If Jesus was the Son of God, then who was before God?” This question bears further analysis, so I will address it shortly. First, I must address the Trinity’s relationship to time.

The Trinity lives in an eternal “now.” He is always in eternity. CS Lewis has an excellent explanation of a possibility for God’s relationship to time in the book “Mere Christianity.” I will give a brief summary of his explanation.

Suppose that time is like a string. Now suppose that eternity is like a ball (a really, really big super-sized ball). Now, the sting only touches the ball at one point. We call that point “the present.” The ball can see the entire string, past present and future, but it only interacts with the string at the present moment. The present influences the past and the future, but that moment is the only point that touches eternity. God (from his position in eternity) can see the entire string (thus he knows the past present and future), but he only interacts with us in the present (thus we truly have free will).

How does Jesus relate to all this?

The Church has confessed throughout the centuries that Jesus is “fully God and fully man.” He is not only the Son of God, but he was also God the Son. He was the one who was eternally begotten from the Father before time was created. This understanding is what prompted John the Evangelist to write: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God and the Word was God” (Jn 1:1).

Through the mystery of the Incarnation, God the Son assumed a human nature, and entered time and space. “For us men and for our salvation, he came down from heaven.” By the power of the love that the Father and the Son pour out to each other (the Holy Spirit), he was conceived in the womb of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

He (who was fully God) humbled himself to become fully man. He was like us in all things but sin. He had a human body and a human soul. He was tempted, cried, suffered, and died. He was 100% bona fide human being.

At the same time however, he was fully God. He had a divine intellect and a divine will (distinct from his human intellect and his human will). He was fully God. Everything that was in the Father was in the person of Jesus of Nazareth, which prompted him to say, “the Father and I are one,” and “He who has seen me has seen the Father” (Jn. 10:30; Jn 14:8).

He was fully God, and fully man, but he was also only one person. He only had one divine “hypostasis” (personhood). Strictly speaking, it is incorrect to say that he was a human person, because his personhood was derived from his divinity rather than his humanity. He was a divine person who assumed a human nature rather than a human person. His humanity and his divinity were perfectly united in his one hypostasis, so he was one person rather than two people.

Therefore, when we speak of Christ as the Son God, we mean that God himself is directly the source of everything that is in his body. God was his Father, and God was the source of his soul. Christ was fully God. Everything that is “God” was in him. By the mystery of the Incarnation, the eternal, uncreated God entered into time and space.

If you have any questions about my explanaiton, feel free to funmail me.