Life’s most important question

[bigape]

Hi

Life’s most important question, is “Are you saved”.

This question, is important, because it will determine where you will spend eternity;

Oh, by the way, the source of all this information, is the Holy Bible(God's Word), so it can be trusted!

The first thing that you must understand, is that "you are a sinner" : Now before you get mad, let me explain, that I am a sinner also; The Bible says in Romans 3:23 etc., that we are all sinners, in need of forgiveness. "For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;" (Romans 3:23) Until you face this fact, you can't go any further. All that, "being a sinner" means, is that some time in your life, you have sinned! We must be honest with ourselves about this, or we will die and go to Hell.
Next, you must understand, that "God knows, that you are a sinner": And as a result, you have already been judged as guilty before Him. The Bible says in Romans 6:23 etc., that sinners, will have to face eternal death, if they don't get their sins forgiven:

Secondly, you must be motivated to be saved(God won't save you, unless you really want to be saved). This brings us to our next Scripture:
"For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord." (Romans 6:23)
The "Death" being talked about here, is Eternal death in a lake of fire; This is pretty serious business. Rather than debating, weather or not God is right, for sending unbelievers to hell, you aught to first make sure that you aren't gong there. Hell is real, and after you get saved and start studying the Bible and going to Church, you will quickly learn that God is right, in sending people there.

Also notice, that the second line in this verse, gives us a clue, about the true way of salvation, "but the gift of God is eternal life": God has set things up, so that the only way to get our sins forgiven and be saved, is to accept it, as "a gift": That is, we can't work our way to heaven, by doing good things: We must receive Salvation, as a gift!

Now, you are ready, for the good news: The one fact about the meaning of life, that makes all the difference: The fact, that makes Christianity different, from every other religion on earth: And that is the fact, that our Savior died in our place, so that we wouldn't have to. The Bible says, in Romans 5:8, that God, demonstrated his love for us, by sending His Son, to die for us: "But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." (Romans 5:8) This verse is from the Bible; and that means that every word of it, is important.

This word "commendeth", simply means "Demonstrated"; But the really good part about this verse, is where it says, "while we were yet sinners". This means, that in order to get saved, we can't be helping God to save us; We must be sinners, in need of His Salvation! Until you realize that your are a sinner, and need God's Salvation, you can not be saved.

One more important point about salvation, is that our Savior Jesus Christ, not only died for us on the cross, but was buried and spent three days in hell, and then rose from the grave, to prove that He was God: "And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures:" (1 Corinthians 15:4) This is important, because it reminds us, that our Savior conquered death, and that by Him, we will also gain a victory over death. This is the eternal life, that is promised to every one that gets saved.

The last thing that I have to say to you is......if right now, you realize that you are a sinner: and You believe that God knows about it, and has judged you guilty: and You also believe that God loved you enough, to send His only Son to earth, to die on the cross for you, and then to rise again, three days later: Than you are ready to get saved, right now!
The Bible says, in Romans 10:13, that real salvation, is as simple as, asking Jesus to save you:
"For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved." (Romans 10:13)

If right now, you are convinced in your heart, that you are a sinner, and that you need to get saved, then you are ready for salvation, at this very moment!

You don't have to wait until Sunday, you can get saved right now, by asking Jesus to save you. He promised in the Bible(John 6:37), that He will never say no, to anyone!

So right now, you can get saved, by simply talking to Jesus in prayer and asking Him to save you:

"Dear Jesus, I know that I am a sinner, and I believe that you died and rose again, to save me; please save me now, and help me to live for you!" Amen

-That's it!-

If you understood this message, and believed the Bible truth that is contained in it, and asked Jesus to save you, than you are saved, and I will see you in heaven, one of these days! And from now on, you will be praying to your Heavenly Father, in Jesus’ name.

P.S. If you have gotten saved, you need to find a Bible believing Church, and join it by water baptism; So you can learn of all the other wonderful truth's, that the Bible has to offer!

 

[talloola]

Hi

Life’s most important question, is “Are you saved”.


Why would I ever want to be saved, I'm not in any distress, but thanks for asking.

 

[FUBAR]

You should talk with eanassir. After you both decide whose book of fables is right come back, until then I'll stick with Aesop and his stories at least they have a moral at the end and haven't killed anyone for not believing ...........

 

[scratch]

Hi

Life’s most important question, is “Are you saved”.


Why would I ever want to be saved, I'm not in any distress, but thanks for asking.

nice comeback..:canada::canada::canada:

 

[hermanntrude]

How to be annoying on a forum:

1) choose a book, any book
2) decide implicitly with no provable reason, that everything within that book is absolute truth and cannot be wrong
3) use this reasoning to state all kinds of un-provable, wrong, or vague notions as absolute truth.
4) (optional) interpret the book in a different manner to other people in your field, perhaps by assigning numerical values to each letter and then summing each verse and analysing the results, then report your results as being totally incontravertable truth that the earth doesn't rotate, or that there is life on venus, or that the earth with collide with the sun on a very specific date, or that judgement day is on a tuesday.

 

[quandary121]

It should be clear to anyone reading this,

Hi

Life’s most important question, is “Are you saved”.

This question, is important, because it will determine where you will spend eternity;

Oh, by the way, the source of all this information, is the Holy Bible(God's Word), so it can be trusted!

The first thing that you must understand, is that "you are a sinner" : Now before you get mad, let me explain, that I am a sinner also; The Bible says in Romans 3:23 etc., that we are all sinners, in need of forgiveness. "For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;" (Romans 3:23) Until you face this fact, you can't go any further. All that, "being a sinner" means, is that some time in your life, you have sinned! We must be honest with ourselves about this, or we will die and go to Hell.
Next, you must understand, that "God knows, that you are a sinner": And as a result, you have already been judged as guilty before Him. The Bible says in Romans 6:23 etc., that sinners, will have to face eternal death, if they don't get their sins forgiven:

Secondly, you must be motivated to be saved(God won't save you, unless you really want to be saved). This brings us to our next Scripture:
"For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord." (Romans 6:23)
The "Death" being talked about here, is Eternal death in a lake of fire; This is pretty serious business. Rather than debating, weather or not God is right, for sending unbelievers to hell, you aught to first make sure that you aren't gong there. Hell is real, and after you get saved and start studying the Bible and going to Church, you will quickly learn that God is right, in sending people there.

Also notice, that the second line in this verse, gives us a clue, about the true way of salvation, "but the gift of God is eternal life": God has set things up, so that the only way to get our sins forgiven and be saved, is to accept it, as "a gift": That is, we can't work our way to heaven, by doing good things: We must receive Salvation, as a gift!

Now, you are ready, for the good news: The one fact about the meaning of life, that makes all the difference: The fact, that makes Christianity different, from every other religion on earth: And that is the fact, that our Savior died in our place, so that we wouldn't have to. The Bible says, in Romans 5:8, that God, demonstrated his love for us, by sending His Son, to die for us: "But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." (Romans 5:8) This verse is from the Bible; and that means that every word of it, is important.

This word "commendeth", simply means "Demonstrated"; But the really good part about this verse, is where it says, "while we were yet sinners". This means, that in order to get saved, we can't be helping God to save us; We must be sinners, in need of His Salvation! Until you realize that your are a sinner, and need God's Salvation, you can not be saved.

One more important point about salvation, is that our Savior Jesus Christ, not only died for us on the cross, but was buried and spent three days in hell, and then rose from the grave, to prove that He was God: "And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures:" (1 Corinthians 15:4) This is important, because it reminds us, that our Savior conquered death, and that by Him, we will also gain a victory over death. This is the eternal life, that is promised to every one that gets saved.

The last thing that I have to say to you is......if right now, you realize that you are a sinner: and You believe that God knows about it, and has judged you guilty: and You also believe that God loved you enough, to send His only Son to earth, to die on the cross for you, and then to rise again, three days later: Than you are ready to get saved, right now!
The Bible says, in Romans 10:13, that real salvation, is as simple as, asking Jesus to save you:
"For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved." (Romans 10:13)

If right now, you are convinced in your heart, that you are a sinner, and that you need to get saved, then you are ready for salvation, at this very moment!

You don't have to wait until Sunday, you can get saved right now, by asking Jesus to save you. He promised in the Bible(John 6:37), that He will never say no, to anyone!

So right now, you can get saved, by simply talking to Jesus in prayer and asking Him to save you:

"Dear Jesus, I know that I am a sinner, and I believe that you died and rose again, to save me; please save me now, and help me to live for you!" Amen

-That's it!-

If you understood this message, and believed the Bible truth that is contained in it, and asked Jesus to save you, than you are saved, and I will see you in heaven, one of these days! And from now on, you will be praying to your Heavenly Father, in Jesus’ name.

P.S. If you have gotten saved, you need to find a Bible believing Church, and join it by water baptism; So you can learn of all the other wonderful truth's, that the Bible has to offer!

It should be clear to anyone reading this, then, that the truth-seeker is not motivated by self-interest or for any selfish reasons, despite what the apologists might have you believe. The truth-seeker does not want to be god, have his-or-her own way or play by his-or-her own rules. Being rebellious, unrighteous, or disobedient has nothing to do with what motivates the truth-seeker. The only thing the truth-seeker wants is to know the truth and do so through mindful honesty and by examining all the available evidence. Come Judgment Day (if such be more than an immoral metaphor) the truth-seeker can at least proclaim that he-or-she did not become a believer in order to earn a place in heaven, become immortal, be reunited with loved ones, be cured of infirmity, or escape hell, but aspired only to know the truth. In fact, given a choice between seeking truth and going to hell or becoming a believer and going to heaven, the truth-seeker will likely choose hell over paradise since aspiring after the truth is deemed a more imperative commission than being rewarded all the gifts heaven might offer.8O

 

[quandary121]

continued

It should be clear to anyone reading this, then, that the truth-seeker is not motivated by self-interest or for any selfish reasons, despite what the apologists might have you believe. The truth-seeker does not want to be god, have his-or-her own way or play by his-or-her own rules. Being rebellious, unrighteous, or disobedient has nothing to do with what motivates the truth-seeker. The only thing the truth-seeker wants is to know the truth and do so through mindful honesty and by examining all the available evidence. Come Judgment Day (if such be more than an immoral metaphor) the truth-seeker can at least proclaim that he-or-she did not become a believer in order to earn a place in heaven, become immortal, be reunited with loved ones, be cured of infirmity, or escape hell, but aspired only to know the truth. In fact, given a choice between seeking truth and going to hell or becoming a believer and going to heaven, the truth-seeker will likely choose hell over paradise since aspiring after the truth is deemed a more imperative commission than being rewarded all the gifts heaven might offer.8O

On rarified occasions a believer may find him-or-herself crossing the line and becoming a truth-seeker. Sometimes this process is slow and gradual and extended across several years, while other times it is lightning fast and propelled by either epiphany or event. Usually it is predicated by the believer finally finding the courage to start asking tough questions, to see what underlies the belief process in terms of meaning and motivation, to admit or "fess up" to those niggling doubts eating away at the back of the mind. Anything can set it off: one too many contradictions between the arguments of faith and the evidence of science; one too many contradictions between passages of the sacred writing itself; one too many contradictions between the definitions of the deity and the actions of the deity; one too many contradictions between the translations of the sacred writing, the interpretation of the sacred writing, the versions of the sacred writing, the canon of the sacred writing, the doctrines of the sacred writing, the defending arguments of the sacred writing; one too many contradictions between the sacred writing and other sacred writings, non-sacred writings, myths and legends, archaeological findings, anthropological findings, mythical, biological, historical, geological, astronomical, moral, ethical, scientific findings, etc.:?:

 

[quandary121]

continued even more

On rarified occasions a believer may find him-or-herself crossing the line and becoming a truth-seeker. Sometimes this process is slow and gradual and extended across several years, while other times it is lightning fast and propelled by either epiphany or event. Usually it is predicated by the believer finally finding the courage to start asking tough questions, to see what underlies the belief process in terms of meaning and motivation, to admit or "fess up" to those niggling doubts eating away at the back of the mind. Anything can set it off: one too many contradictions between the arguments of faith and the evidence of science; one too many contradictions between passages of the sacred writing itself; one too many contradictions between the definitions of the deity and the actions of the deity; one too many contradictions between the translations of the sacred writing, the interpretation of the sacred writing, the versions of the sacred writing, the canon of the sacred writing, the doctrines of the sacred writing, the defending arguments of the sacred writing; one too many contradictions between the sacred writing and other sacred writings, non-sacred writings, myths and legends, archaeological findings, anthropological findings, mythical, biological, historical, geological, astronomical, moral, ethical, scientific findings, etc.:?:

A small number of us, however, will eventually wander into the realm of how and why, and this alone takes a good deal of courage and determination. Simply stepping in that direction can produce errant fear and existential panic, the chiding of friends, the remonstration of family, and the rebuke of authorities, yet by asking hard questions and seeking tough answers we gradually discover things about ourselves we never before fully recognized. Some of the things we realize are:

• All of us, somewhere along the line, have acquired faulty thinking habits.
• All of us make generalizations without the evidence or proof to back them up.
• All of us are prejudicial and biased in some way, and allow stereotypes to sway our thinking and actions.
• All of us harbor false beliefs tethered by fear, wishful thinking, ignorance, or laziness.
• All of us tend to look at the world from a single point of view then ignore or rile against other points of view that are not in agreement.
• All of us have fabricated myths and illusions to help us better cope with the real world.
• All of us have accepted myths and illusions in direct conflict with the way we know the real world works.
• All of us have argued emotionally for the reality of our myths and illusions despite their complete and total absence in the real world.
• All of us believe we can readily tell fact from fiction and determine the real from the unreal while still clinging to myths and illusions.
• All of us think deceptively, or allow ourselves to be deceived, if it can mask painful truth, feed hopeful and wishful thinking, fuel fantasies, hide fears, screen low self-esteem, promise the impossible, and reward inexperience, ignorance, and intellectual inertia with promises of karmic justice and paradise.

In discovering such things about ourselves, a smaller number of us will strive harder still to ask questions and seek answers, always foreshadowed by how or why.
Before dying a martyr's death in a gas chamber at Auschwitz, Saint Teresa Benedicta (Edith Stein) made the following assertion: "Whoever seeks the truth is seeking God, whether consciously or unconsciously." However reassuring this sentiment might be, any affirmation that considers the search for truth coequal to a search for a deity is doing a disservice to truth itself by assuming devotion at the offset then prejudicing its conclusion as already foregone. The search for truth must be, by necessity, sufficient unto itself and clearly evident, neither enticed by familiar presumptions and comforting expectations but a clean and simple tautology. Whoever seeks the truth is seeking truth, period. Not god, not belief, not salvation, not eternal life, not comfort, not hope, not peace of mind, but truth, even at the risk of losing everything or conceding the most disheartening conclusions. Without a willingness to risk it all, to forfeit one's most cherished beliefs and convictions, to hazard eternal hell if need be, the search for truth is compromised at the beginning by fearfulness, denial, shortsightedness, or self deceit.
Most believers are unaware of the physical aspects of belief, its biochemical nature, the way the brain functions, how neural pathways are carved and memories retrieved, nor have they considered what it means to believe, the often-prejudicial nature of the belief process or the vital differences between belief and knowledge, desire and truth, indoctrination and investigation. The double-whammy comes when people unquestionably believe in belief itself, as if belief alone is somehow veracious, self-evident, inherently trustworthy, or the very act of believing in something, anything, is all one needs to ensure fidelity, reliability, and certitude. Untested and unreasoned, belief is reduced to a series of presuppositions that falsely predicate a foreknown conclusion, an initiatory assumption of the "way things are" that pursues no verification or validation. In surrendering to this way of thinking, by believing something true is all that's required to make it true, then verification and validation become unnecessary, are pointless and redundant, thank you kindly, end of discussion. When leisurely belief takes precedence over laboring after truth, then reason, rationality, even sanity, are coldly sabotaged and offered as sacrifice upon the stony altar of blind faith. :lol:

 

[quandary121]

Ps: Take A Look At My Thread

If we applied this same argument to a person rather than a thing (in this instance, a “sacred” book not unlike the Bible), then we might clearly see the difficulties inherent in using quotation as sole authority.

Suppose we encounter a man on the street claiming to be the messiah. Should we believe this man's fantastic claims unquestionably simply because we are able to quote him later? Because we are capable of quoting by rote his various speeches is this all the proof we need to accept his claims as undeniable and infallible truth? If this is the case, then all we have to do when pressed by skeptics and unbelievers to “prove” the validity of the man's messianic claims is simply repeat his words to support our arguments: “ Because he said, and I quote, ‘I am telling you the truth when I say that I am Christ reborn' we can know without a doubt that he is Christ reborn. Because he said it, I believe it, and that's good enough for me.” Further questions concerning the man's claims are dutifully answered by apologists who proffer additional quotes or who compile a collection of quotes or who write instructional books interpreting the collection of quotes and on reductio ad absurdum. Only an initial assumption of validity gives credibility to using quotation as a form of argument, but it is this assumption that must be first tested if truth is to be known. :lol:
PS: TAKE A LOOK AT MY THREAD :roll:

Belief, Truth, Assumption, and Reason ;-)

 

[quandary121]

Pantheism

It is impossible to imagine total extinction. However hard we try, there is always a consciousness there doing the imagining. So it is not surprising that belief in life after death has been almost universal in human societies.But the afterlife has not always been seen positively. For Greeks, Mesopotamians, Israelites, and ordinary Egyptians, it was first thought to be a miserable shady subterranean existence. Life on earth was always preferable to death.
The idea that the afterlife might be better than the present life is a much more recent invention. In Greece, Israel, and Egypt this idea emerged at times of very high mortality, political chaos, war, social breakdown, famine, plague or mass persecution (see The History of Heaven). This occurred in the 21st century BC in Egypt, in the fifth century BC in Greece, and in the second century BC in Israel (where it took the form of resurrection on a magically transformed earth).
Once invented, heaven retained its appeal for everyone facing their own death or the death of their loved ones. It was a method for coping with grief, bereavement, and the fear of death. How comforting to think that though we would die, yet we could never die; that we would leave a place full of briars for one with only thornless roses; that we would meet again with all our lost friends and relatives.
Yet the belief in heaven has many problems. It is not backed by any solid evidence. It devalues life on earth. It reduces the urgency of social and environmental action on earth. And because it is almost always linked with belief in hell, it doesn't really relieve anxiety about death at all. Unless, that is, you play God and assume that you are worthy of heaven; or you accept only the heaven bit and forget all about hell.
​

Near death is not real death.

Other than scripture, there is no reliable evidence for survival after death.There is a growing popular literature about near-death experiences, but these are about near-death - not actual death. People whose physical functions have stopped for a short time are not truly, irrevocably dead. Their experiences are based on processes inside their own oxygen-starved brain, and the accounts they give are untestable against hard evidence.
No-one has ever truly returned from the dead to tell us what it's like. No-one has been dead for a week or a month or a year and come back to tell the tale.
We are told that many accounts agree with each other and with texts like the Tibetan Book of the Dead. But we are not told of the accounts that do not agree. Nor are we reminded that in Judaism and early Christianity there is no heaven after death, no journey of the soul through a tunnel into light - only a sleep until the resurrection of the body.
​

Death is real death.

All our direct experience tells us that souls die with bodies. As Job says:

A man dies, and is laid low;
man breathes his last, and where is he?
As waters fail from a lake,
and a river wastes away and dries up,
so man lies down and rises not again.
[Job, 14:7-12]​

Neurology suggests that our minds are manifestations of our bodies. When parts of the brain are damaged or removed in operations, various functions disappear and our mental capacities change. The simplest explanation is that the soul is not separate: it is a function of the body. When all our brain functions cease, the available evidence suggests that all our individual consciousness and mind activities cease.Of course no-one could completely exclude the possibility that part of our minds may outlive our bodies: absence of evidence is not evidence of absence. But the onus is on those who claim survival after death to prove it conclusively. No-one has.
In the case of heaven and hell, there is every reason to believe that these are human-made concepts, not accounts of true realities. We can trace in Egypt, Israel and Greece the precise evolution of the concepts. We can date the shifts to within 100 years in each case, and we can see clear psychological reasons why people would need to develop such beliefs at times of unprecedented stress.
​

If heaven is so good, why bother with life on earth?

Another major problem is that belief in a better life after death devalues life before death. The present life is short and problematic. The future life - if we are good - is wonderful beyond our dreams and lasts forever and ever.For people who really believes this, there is no contest. The afterlife is infinitely more important than this life, and this life must be used and may be sacrificed to ensure the best possible afterlife. But if they are wrong, they could undermine the only life they will ever really have, for the sake of an imaginary life that doesn't exist.
The thought of heaven affects the way people think about their lives and actions from day to day. It can create self-consciousness - a feeling that every action and thought is being watched and assessed and recorded. Many things may be done not for the sake of their real consequences - but for the sake of earning an entry ticket to paradise.
Belief in a better afterlife is often closely linked to rejection of the body and of sex as sinful or inferior - because it's the soul that really matters. It is the soul that will go to heaven, and the body's urges that may stop it from reaching its goal.
In the West this trend became prominent with Plato. He was reared in Athens at a time of siege, plague and famine during the Peloponnesian war. After the death of his beloved Socrates, Plato began to believe that the soul was trapped in the body as in a tomb. At death the philosopher's soul would be released to unite with God - though other people's souls would have to go through several reincarnations first. This negative attitude to the body had its roots in anxiety about death. It spread in the Greek and Roman world as insecurity and warfare spread, and was particularly strong in Christianity right up till the Renaissance.
​

Heaven awaits: why bother setting things right on earth?

Belief in heaven also affects the way people feel about social and environmental action and change. If this earth is no more than a staging post, a launch platform, a starting point from which we pass on to the real destination - then it doesn't ultimately matter all that much if society is unjust, or if the environment is being destroyed. It is not so crucial to preserve it or to change it for the better. Whatever life on earth is like, however oppressive, unfair, insecure, polluted, or barren it gets, we don't need to worry: there is a far far better world to come.As Paul writes:

We know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands. [2 Cor 5:1-4]​

The raising of heaven above earth might not be so serious if each religion made social or environmental concern a condition for entry into heaven. Judaism and Christianity do make social concern a condition - but not environmental concern (see The Bible and Environment).
From Paul onwards the promise of heaven was also used to shore up inequality and to discourage rebellion:

"I do not permit a woman to teach or to have authority over a man; she must be silent," he writes in 1 Timothy [2.12-15] "Women will be saved through childbearing, if they continue in faith, love and holiness with propriety."​

The secular authorities should be obeyed, Paul insisted:

He who resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgement . . . One must be subject, not only to avoid God's wrath, but also for the sake of conscience. [Romans 13:1-7].​

He also condoned slavery: "All who are under the yoke of slavery should consider their masters worthy of full respect." On one occasion Paul even sent a runaway slave, Onesimus, back to his master Philemon [Epistle to Philemon].
​

If God will destroy this earth, why struggle to preserve it?

Belief in an apocalyptic end to the world, common to Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, is more dangerous still. Jesus warned about the last days:

The sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will be falling from heaven. [Mk 13.24-25]BR> On the day when Lot went out from Sodom fire and sulphur rained from heaven and destroyed them all - so it will be on the day when the Son of man is revealed. [Lk 17.29-30]​

Mohammed warns in similar vein:

When the stars are extinguished
And the skies are riven asunder;
When the mountains blow away like dust,
And the messengers' time is fixed;
When is the time appointed?
On the Day of Decision.
[Koran 77.8-13]​

If God himself will one day roll up the heavens like a scroll and burn the earth to a cinder, then why should we struggle to preserve it? Some fundamentalists believe that the environmental destruction we are wreaking today is God's way of bringing about his plan for the end of the world.
​

The terrors of hell.

If there is no heaven, some people ask, where's the hope? Why shouldn't we sink into despair?The beliefs in heaven, hell and apocalypse do not relieve despair. The Last Days promised by Old Testament prophets, by Jesus and Mohammed can be a cause of massive despair. They mean the end of all normal life on earth, the end of the passage of generations, the end of love between humans, the end of raising families. They mean the end of time and of history. And they could, so we are told repeatedly, arrive at any time. Many lives are blighted and distorted by apocalyptic beliefs.
Heaven is no free lunch. Rarely is it promised without a companion hell - and fear of hell is a potent source of despair and depression. As Lucretius, the Roman poet-philosopher, remarked, the fear of Hell after death can actually make life Hell:

But there in this life is fear of punishments for our misdeeds, a fear enormous in proportion to their enormity, and by the penalties imposed for crime - imprisonment and horrific precipitation from cliffs, the lash, the block, the rack, the boiling pitch, the firebrand and the branding iron. Even though these horrors are not physically present, yet the mind, conscious of its own deeds, in terrified anticipation torments itself with its own goads and whips . . . It is afraid that death may serve merely to intensify pain. So on earth the life of fools becomes a Hell on earth. [De rerum natura, iii: 1013-1022.]​

Hell is a human invention, too. In the three major Western religions Hell begins as a threat used against people who betray old faiths or reject new ones. Later it is generalized to wider categories of sin.The Jews invented their own Hell at the time of the Seleucid ruler Antiochus Epiphanes, for Jews who followed Antiochus' injunctions to renounce their religion. The imagery of hell was based on Gehinnom - the valley of Hinnom, where the Jerusalem's refuse was burned.
Jesus repeatedly stresses the threat of hell:

Hell, where their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched. [Mk 9.48].
The angels will come out and separate the evil from the righteous, and throw them into the furnace of fire; there men will weep and gnash their teeth. [Matthew 13.49-50]​

Mohammed promises fire and meals of molten copper burning the entrails. In the Western Middle Ages life was dominated by the terror of damnation and the fear of demons.Even today, how many Christians can say they have never sweated with fear of Hell?
​

If heaven exists, it's better if we don't believe in it.

There is a viable alternative to belief in heaven and survival after death. It is belief in natural death. In natural death we are resolved into our elements and recycled in nature. We are re-united with the whole from which our consciousness has temporarily separated us. This belief can relieve anxiety about death much more thoroughly and surely than belief in an unprovable heaven - with its attendant hell.If we don't believe in an afterlife, then this life and this body is all we've got. We must be positive about them and make the most of them responsibly while we're here. This world is all we've got, this nature is our garden of Eden, and this one life is the only chance we'll have to try to make it better for ourselves and our children.
No just God would punish us for adopting these beliefs. No just God would send people to Hell for disbelieving things for which there is no solid evidence. So even if there is a heaven, it would be better for this earth if we didn't believe in it.
​

PANTHEISM

is the belief that the universe is divine and nature is sacred.
It fuses religion and science, and concern for humans with concern for nature.
It provides the most solid basis for environmental ethics.
It is a religion that requires no faith other than common sense,
no revelation other than open eyes and a mind open to evidence,
no guru other than your own self. ;-)

 

[bigape]

Hi scratch

It's nice to be here.......I think.

When I found this website, it was called, a "Christian discussion forum".

-Did I make a mistake?-

bigape

 

[hermanntrude]

it's more of a general discussion forum with a christian section within it. Atheists also tend to wander in and try and "talk some sense" into the believers from time to time.

 

[bigape]

Hi hermanntrude

Thanks for the information.

 

[dirtylinder]

Assumptions that if one doesn't believe there is no eternity for them...it's more about who you are...are you spiritual? Are you connected to people? Are you someone who takes time to help people? My Higher Power is one that doesn't condem for not believing in a book! I decided to join our local Eagles club to help them out and the last question on their app. was "do you believe in God" ...I answered NO and may not be permitted to join! I thought, this is discrimination, but hey, if they want me to believe in God to be a member than, just give me my $ back and I'll be on my way. I believe in People, in People helping people, in connection of People and in Spiritual awareness, which in my case does not include a guy with a beard in the sky!

 

[bigape]

Hi dirtylinder

Glad to hear from you. The God that I believe in, doesn’t shove his Book down anybodies throat, and neither will I.

Bigape

 

[lone wolf]

It's just one of those things that happen here at CanCan.... No matter what forum you enter, the latest entry gets up on our main board. Top of the list gets looked at by everyone. Religion can get touchy here sometimes. Some minds aren't exactly the most open....

 

[quandary121]

It's just one of those things that happen here at CanCan.... No matter what forum you enter, the latest entry gets up on our main board. Top of the list gets looked at by everyone. Religion can get touchy here sometimes. Some minds aren't exactly the most open....

Take your dying with some seriousness, however. Laughing on the way to your execution is not generally understood by less advanced life forms, and they'll call you crazy.

Messiah's Handbook: Reminders for the Advanced Soul​

 

[scratch]

Hi

Life’s most important question, is “Are you saved”.

This question, is important, because it will determine where you will spend eternity;

Oh, by the way, the source of all this information, is the Holy Bible(God's Word), so it can be trusted!

The first thing that you must understand, is that "you are a sinner" : Now before you get mad, let me explain, that I am a sinner also; The Bible says in Romans 3:23 etc., that we are all sinners, in need of forgiveness. "For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;" (Romans 3:23) Until you face this fact, you can't go any further. All that, "being a sinner" means, is that some time in your life, you have sinned! We must be honest with ourselves about this, or we will die and go to Hell.
Next, you must understand, that "God knows, that you are a sinner": And as a result, you have already been judged as guilty before Him. The Bible says in Romans 6:23 etc., that sinners, will have to face eternal death, if they don't get their sins forgiven:

Secondly, you must be motivated to be saved(God won't save you, unless you really want to be saved). This brings us to our next Scripture:
"For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord." (Romans 6:23)
The "Death" being talked about here, is Eternal death in a lake of fire; This is pretty serious business. Rather than debating, weather or not God is right, for sending unbelievers to hell, you aught to first make sure that you aren't gong there. Hell is real, and after you get saved and start studying the Bible and going to Church, you will quickly learn that God is right, in sending people there.

Also notice, that the second line in this verse, gives us a clue, about the true way of salvation, "but the gift of God is eternal life": God has set things up, so that the only way to get our sins forgiven and be saved, is to accept it, as "a gift": That is, we can't work our way to heaven, by doing good things: We must receive Salvation, as a gift!

Now, you are ready, for the good news: The one fact about the meaning of life, that makes all the difference: The fact, that makes Christianity different, from every other religion on earth: And that is the fact, that our Savior died in our place, so that we wouldn't have to. The Bible says, in Romans 5:8, that God, demonstrated his love for us, by sending His Son, to die for us: "But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." (Romans 5:8) This verse is from the Bible; and that means that every word of it, is important.

This word "commendeth", simply means "Demonstrated"; But the really good part about this verse, is where it says, "while we were yet sinners". This means, that in order to get saved, we can't be helping God to save us; We must be sinners, in need of His Salvation! Until you realize that your are a sinner, and need God's Salvation, you can not be saved.

One more important point about salvation, is that our Savior Jesus Christ, not only died for us on the cross, but was buried and spent three days in hell, and then rose from the grave, to prove that He was God: "And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures:" (1 Corinthians 15:4) This is important, because it reminds us, that our Savior conquered death, and that by Him, we will also gain a victory over death. This is the eternal life, that is promised to every one that gets saved.

The last thing that I have to say to you is......if right now, you realize that you are a sinner: and You believe that God knows about it, and has judged you guilty: and You also believe that God loved you enough, to send His only Son to earth, to die on the cross for you, and then to rise again, three days later: Than you are ready to get saved, right now!
The Bible says, in Romans 10:13, that real salvation, is as simple as, asking Jesus to save you:
"For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved." (Romans 10:13)

If right now, you are convinced in your heart, that you are a sinner, and that you need to get saved, then you are ready for salvation, at this very moment!

You don't have to wait until Sunday, you can get saved right now, by asking Jesus to save you. He promised in the Bible(John 6:37), that He will never say no, to anyone!

So right now, you can get saved, by simply talking to Jesus in prayer and asking Him to save you:

"Dear Jesus, I know that I am a sinner, and I believe that you died and rose again, to save me; please save me now, and help me to live for you!" Amen

-That's it!-

If you understood this message, and believed the Bible truth that is contained in it, and asked Jesus to save you, than you are saved, and I will see you in heaven, one of these days! And from now on, you will be praying to your Heavenly Father, in Jesus’ name.

P.S. If you have gotten saved, you need to find a Bible believing Church, and join it by water baptism; So you can learn of all the other wonderful truth's, that the Bible has to offer!

What if I do not want to be saved or care what happens to me after I am dead?

 

[MikeyDB]

If there's an ultimate question...a "life's most important question" doesn't that set the table for delivery of some ultimate answer?

Until you can prove that your answer is the only absolutely correct answer for all time and all possible worlds....remember....it's just your idea.

 

[bigape]

Hi scratch

The way that you should look at this, is what if it was 3am in the morning, and I was driving by your house, and saw that it was on fire.
-Would you want me to wake you up?-

Regardless of what anybody says, this is life’s most important question, because eternity, will last forever!

Bigape