>>>MOD WARNING<<<Part 33 of Post Your Tough Questions Regarding Christianity

Isn't being a "Christian" supposed to mean being a disciple of the teachings of Jesus the Christ?

 

Why yes! But that doesn't mean all Christians on the day they confessed to being a Christian meant they stopped from sinning entirely.

Christians struggle with sin as does everyone else but with the help of the Holy Spirit we are able to do away with our sinful past. A Christian must be born again, being born again spiritually. Essentially being born again means to invite the Holy Spirit to come into one's life so they could be guided by the righteousness and power of the Holy Spirit.

We read in Scripture:

"This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!"---2 Corinthians 5:17 NLT

"Thank God! Once you were slaves of sin, but now you wholeheartedly obey this teaching we have given you. Now you are free from your slavery to sin, and you have become slaves to righteous living."---Romans 6:17-18 NLT

And so as believers, we are new. We are no longer bound to our sinful natures but we are in the process of sanctification. The coming of the new usually takes time and discipline. Even mature believers struggle with impulse control (sin), but the Bible provides ample hope that we can overcome.

 

In other words; Only infidels, protestants, and renegades to the teachings of Jesus the Christ have any problem with His teachings.

 

Two thousand years later, Saint Pete; and, we still haven't acquired and possessed sufficient moral of goodwill toward men to actually bear true witness to our own laws.

 

This is where I disagree with you, for the most part I like most of your posts but not this one here where you're saying God created evil. The reality is, God did not create evil but He does allow evil. Here.... below is a thorough explanation coming from my favorite Christian website that explains evil was not created by God:

At first it might seem that if God created all things, then evil must have been created by God. However, evil is not a &#8220;thing&#8221; like a rock or electricity. You cannot have a jar of evil. Evil has no existence of its own; it is really the absence of good. For example, holes are real but they only exist in something else. We call the absence of dirt a hole, but it cannot be separated from the dirt. So when God created, it is true that all He created was good. One of the good things God made was creatures who had the freedom to choose good. In order to have a real choice, God had to allow there to be something besides good to choose. So, God allowed these free angels and humans to choose good or reject good (evil). When a bad relationship exists between two good things we call that evil, but it does not become a &#8220;thing&#8221; that required God to create it.

Perhaps a further illustration will help. If a person is asked, &#8220;Does cold exist?&#8221; the answer would likely be &#8220;yes.&#8221; However, this is incorrect. Cold does not exist. Cold is the absence of heat. Similarly, darkness does not exist; it is the absence of light. Evil is the absence of good, or better, evil is the absence of God. God did not have to create evil, but rather only allow for the absence of good.

God did not create evil, but He does allow evil. If God had not allowed for the possibility of evil, both mankind and angels would be serving God out of obligation, not choice. He did not want &#8220;robots&#8221; that simply did what He wanted them to do because of their &#8220;programming.&#8221; God allowed for the possibility of evil so that we could genuinely have a free will and choose whether or not we wanted to serve Him.

As finite human beings, we can never fully understand an infinite God (Romans 11:33-34). Sometimes we think we understand why God is doing something, only to find out later that it was for a different purpose than we originally thought. God looks at things from a holy, eternal perspective. We look at things from a sinful, earthly, and temporal perspective. Why did God put man on earth knowing that Adam and Eve would sin and therefore bring evil, death, and suffering on all mankind? Why didn&#8217;t He just create us all and leave us in heaven where we would be perfect and without suffering? These questions cannot be adequately answered this side of eternity. What we can know is whatever God does is holy and perfect and ultimately will glorify Him. God allowed for the possibility of evil in order to give us a true choice in regards to whether we worship Him. God did not create evil, but He allowed it. If He had not allowed evil, we would be worshipping Him out of obligation, not by a choice of our own will.

http://www.gotquestions.org/did-God-create-evil.html

 

Sorry but that's not what I said. Try reading what I said again this time more slowly then maybe perhaps you will have a better grasp in understanding what I said.

 

What don't you understand about the fact that mankind is inherently evil...sinful? We will never ever acquire 100% goodwill toward all men. So even another 1,000 yrs into the future which would make it 3,000 yrs. later mankind will still be the same...evil & sinful.

 

No; but that is what it means.

- - - Updated - - -

In other words; Man is just a hypocrite who is unable to follow the teachings of Jesus the Christ. Why bother with Religion?

 

You may want to contact the publisher of this book and get them to correct it so it agrees with your assertions!

 

The claim was never made to answer questions truthfully or even with accuracy.
The website so often used to answer questions is run by folks who know nothing about the bible.

 

Why would I need to do that? There is nothing wrong with the verse, the problem here is your misinterpretation of the verse. So instead of me contacting the publisher why don't I just present a thorough explanation of the verse to help you to interpret it properly.

And so below I present to you a thorough explanation coming from my favorite Christian website that explains what the verse in Isaiah 45:7 is really about. The bottom line is that it would be unwise to assume that "I create evil" in Isaiah 45:7 refers to God bringing moral evil into existence.

Isaiah 45:7 in the King James Version reads, &#8220;I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the LORD do all these things.&#8221; How does Isaiah 45:7 agree with the view that God did not create evil? There are two key facts that need to be considered. (1) The word translated &#8220;evil&#8221; is from a Hebrew word that means &#8220;adversity, affliction, calamity, distress, misery.&#8221; Notice how the other major English Bible translations render the word: &#8220;disaster&#8221; (NIV, HCSB), &#8220;calamity&#8221; (NKJV, NAS, ESV), and &#8220;woe&#8221; (NRSV). The Hebrew word can refer to moral evil, and often does have this meaning in the Hebrew Scriptures. However, due to the diversity of possible definitions, it is unwise to assume that &#8220;I create evil&#8221; in Isaiah 45:7 refers to God bringing moral evil into existence.

(2) The context of Isaiah 45:7 makes it clear that something other than &#8220;bringing moral evil into existence&#8221; is in mind. The context of Isaiah 45:7 is God rewarding Israel for obedience and punishing Israel for disobedience. God pours out salvation and blessings on those whom He favors. God brings judgment on those who continue to rebel against Him. &#8220;Woe to him who quarrels with his Master&#8221; (Isaiah 45:9). That is the person to whom God brings &#8220;evil&#8221; and &#8220;disaster.&#8221;

So, rather than saying that God created &#8220;moral evil,&#8221; Isaiah 45:7 is presenting a common theme of Scripture &#8211; that God brings disaster on those who continue in hard-hearted rebellion against Him.

http://www.gotquestions.org/Isaiah-45-7.html

And so I hope this thorough explanation helps you to understand the verse in Isaiah 45:7 more clearly and to interpret it correctly. Have a nice and wonderful day!

 

Correctly? C'mon, scripture is so riddled with ambiguity and contradictions you can make just about anything you want out of it.
What fascinates me is this idea of the Bible ( and other holy books) as being the word of God. If so the Almighty is very challenged when it comes to writing clear, unambibuous text. And don't come the old crap of God works in mysterious ways etc.

 

Just as I suspected the old "you're not reading it right" defense.

This defense always makes me laugh because I find it extremely funny how when it suites the needs of the defenders the verses they like are to be read literally and the the verses they don't like are to be read metaphorically.

I always have the same answer for them concerning this little word game they play... this can't be the word of an all knowing god because if it were this god would know that his little book is confusing in this respect and if this were an all loving and caring god it would have cared enough to not make it confusing to the ones it claims to love!

 

That's right, you're not interpreting it correctly. You read one verse without considering the rest of the context of where this verse came from and right off the bat you make an unwise assumption it must mean what you think it means, which in this case is wrong.

Evil is in this world because of disobedience. It all started when our first parents Adam & Eve disobeyed God. And so mankind has this flaw, it's called the sinful nature. We are all responsible for our choices that we make as individuals whether they be good ones or bad ones and so you can't blame the Creator Almighty God for that. He gave us the free will to choose, to choose to do what is righteous or what is wrong (sinful).

You know right from wrong. If you decide to do wrong (sin) then it was your choice/decision and you can't blame anyone else but yourself for your shortcomings.

>>>MOD EDIT Flamebait Removed<<<

 

Only according to you and your web site of idiots who make the same claims.

Face it the truth is that if you like what the verse says literally then the literal reading is what you and your apologists promote.

But if the literal wording doesn't suite your agenda then is front row seat on the "interpretation" train!

 

As you well know I do like most of your posts but when there is a post of yours that I'm in disagreement with I like to tell you why I disagree with it. This now I believe is the 2nd post of yours that I'm in disagreement with.

This statement above that you've made is not entirely true. Some of them will go to heaven but not all automatically like you've mentioned. It really depends on God's judgment of them. There is a passage in Scripture in the Book of Romans that confirms what I'm saying. Below is that passage:

"When the Gentiles sin, they will be destroyed, even though they never had God&#8217;s written law. And the Jews, who do have God&#8217;s law, will be judged by that law when they fail to obey it. For merely listening to the law doesn&#8217;t make us right with God. It is obeying the law that makes us right in his sight. Even Gentiles, who do not have God&#8217;s written law, show that they know his law when they instinctively obey it, even without having heard it. They demonstrate that God&#8217;s law is written in their hearts, for their own conscience and thoughts either accuse them or tell them they are doing right. And this is the message I proclaim&#8212;that the day is coming when God, through Christ Jesus, will judge everyone&#8217;s secret life."---Romans 2:12-16 NLT

Essentially what this passage in Scripture (as far as in regards to people not knowing of Jesus Christ or of God's laws) is saying is that these people will still be judged by God and so it depends on God judgment of them and so some will be saved but not all like you believe it to be. As the verse says the ones who instinctively obey God's written law even without having heard of it, they demonstrate that God's law is written in their hearts for their own conscience and thoughts either accuse them or tell them they are doing right. And so they will still be judged accordingly by God, as I've mentioned some will be saved and others not saved. So in other words there is really no free pass, there is still judgment from God for people who never heard of Christ/God's written law.

The only people who get a free pass are babies and children.

 

Why is it that card carrying members of the Establishment may bear False Witness to our own laws in any office of Public Trust?

 

Ahura Mazda created 2 spirits - Spenta Mainyu and Angra Mainyu (Ahriman). They were given the chance to choose between 'light and good' or 'dark and evil'. Spenta chose 'light and good' - Angra chose 'dark and evil'. Judaism, and therefore Christianity, were influenced by Zoroastrianism during the Babylonian exile. Therefore god made good and evil.

Any interpretation in todays terms is not necessarily what was meant 2600 years ago.

 

Why didn't the god who wrote the book know that 2600 years later people would still be reading the book and get confused?

 

Don't know, I'm agnostic. The real truth is that the OT was never meant for anyone but the Jews. That's why the Jews do not read the 'Bible which includes the NT.. Christianity - in terms of Paul and the disciples - wrongly interpreted OT scriptures to refer to Jesus. This is completely wrong - to anyone who has studied the Tanakh (OT). Christians always deny this as it would bring their beliefs crashing down.

 

We have a First Amendment.

Job 34:30 applies as a moral defense.

 

You're preaching to the choir you and I are of the same opinion on the issue.

The question was rhetorical and asked in hopes of stimulating just a little common sense and practicality in the ardent believers of christian dogma. I'm beginning to think it would be easier to catch the moon and put it in my pocket.

 

The bible does tell us about what God did to all those people who lived prior to Jesus Christ. Because God was being fair and just He pardoned all those people that lived prior to Jesus Christ.

We read in Scripture:

"For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God&#8217;s glorious standard. Yet God freely and graciously declares that we are righteous. He did this through Christ Jesus when he freed us from the penalty for our sins. For God presented Jesus as the sacrifice for sin. People are made right with God when they believe that Jesus sacrificed his life, shedding his blood. This sacrifice shows that God was being fair when he held back and did not punish those who sinned in times past, for he was looking ahead and including them in what he would do in this present time. God did this to demonstrate his righteousness, for he himself is fair and just, and he declares sinners to be right in his sight when they believe in Jesus."---Romans 3:23-26 NLT

 

When are the People going to Insist Persons of Religion, are taught and practice their religion?

There are six things that the Lord hates, seven that are an abomination to him: haughty eyes, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked plans, feet that make haste to run to evil, a false witness who breathes out lies, and one who sows discord among brothers.

 

So Caligula, Tiberius, Xerxes, and the rest of the truly scumbag murderous rulers of the ancient world, got a vip pass to eternal bliss? That's being fair? sounds more like a lot of apologetics applied to a small problem of logic and timing.