Atheism - A Different Perspective
CONTENT (clickable list)
First, a respectful note to Atheists:
Please allow me to present some points without looking at it as trying to change you. It's just food for thought.
I truly respect all people and their opinions.
Guaranteed, most of the info on this page you've never seen before.
Many of the tough questions Atheists ask are addressed here from a different perspective.
No useless and hurtful cliché words like what you get from churches - you'll never hear me say things like "I'll pray for you"!
If you grew up going to church, most info you got from churches was flawed and severely misleading.
I'm a humble person but tend to write with passion. I'm driven by love for all people.
1. Is there a God? Who Created Him?
The usual earthly scientific challenge - If something cannot be created from nothing, then who created God? This rule applies to us, creatures on this earth, because this is all we know. No one has been outside this world order then back to tell us about that side.
-We are created.
-God is not created. He exists, outside our world order. He is an infinite Being.
This also aligns with His description of Himself in the Bible. He said His name is "I Am", as in, He exists. How could the early authors of the Bible thousands of years ago, know to come up with a term like "I Am"? It couldn't have possibly been fabricated by these people; it had to be God that said it. Exodus 3:14 God said to Moses, ...This is what you are to say to the Israelites: ‘I Am has sent me to you.’” God also described Himself as, “I am the Alpha and the Omega” - the beginning and the end.
We cannot shrink the creator of this grand universe to our size, and compare Him to our level of knowledge! Then declare Him non-existent! Can any of us create a universe? Therefore we're not even qualified to discuss this subject. If you say, "there is no evidence for the existence of God," do you have evidence for His non-existence?
A true creator can only be outside His creation. He is outside of time and in a different dimension; Both time and space were created by Him. His scientific rules of physics are different than ours.
2. Origins of Existence - The Missing Link Between Bible and Science
The subject of our existence has been debated forever – Bible vs. Science. With opinions ranging from “brute-force creation in days”, to “evolution from cosmic dust”. Both sides provide their undisputable arguments with evidence etc... But at a higher layer, can both Bible and Science be right? This article describes things from a different perspective. A perspective that has never been considered up until now.
The first thing to note is that most people agree there is an intelligent designer of our universe, a designer of both the macros and the micros of it, including us smart complicated humans.
So, most agree we are created. But we continue to take shots at how the universe was created ever since people thought the earth was flat. Let’s face it, all we have to go by, is what is available to us at the moment. Obviously, none of us have the qualifications or knowledge of a Supreme Being. But with today's increased knowledge and all the technological advancements, we’ve become wise enough to understand the biblical explanation of our existence at a more mature level.
The Missing Link - A Compelling New Cosmic-Origins Theory
Let's, for a moment consider the Bible claim that there is a supreme being, and that He did create the universe in days. Now we all know there are many cosmic theories out there contradicting to this claim. But here's one that fits the creation in days:
If there is an infinite supreme being, and He can create such a grand universe, He should then also be able to create another dimension outside ours. A dimension where He does the designing and creating of our universe, call it His personal workspace. The evolving, developing, and fossilizing can take place in that dimension over millions of years, and the appearing in our dimension can be, "in days".
Elaborating more on the New Theory
Let's use a smaller scale analogy from the Bible to prove this point. At the wedding at Cana, Jesus turned water into wine. How did He do that? He's not a magician! From the wedding-guests' reaction, it was clearly a high-quality wine. One that would take years to make - starting with grapes on vines, harvesting, fermenting/aging etc. to become wine. Just appeared instantly?! Only one explanation. The God of the Bible is capable of moving things that were grown and made in His realm, over to ours.
Other comparable events in the Bible that supported this explanation:
- God and angels entered and exited our earth dimension, example, the angel that appeared to Mary then disappeared.
- Jesus’ miracle of feeding thousands from a basket of few fish and bread-loaves.
So, here's one possibility God could create our universe in days, with an earth containing dinosaur-bones and fossils dating back millions of years:
With our universe under construction to be completed in 6 days, and the one in God's “workspace” realm having evolution-matured over millions of years, He moved the parts He wanted, over to our universe. And apparently, He moved them in pieces, and in a controlled way. (*See side-note1 below)
Let's compare some of this to the Bible account:
- On the 4th day He moved the sun from His dimension to ours:
Genesis 1:16, God made two great lights - the greater light to govern the day and the lesser light to govern the night...
**About the light created on day 1, see side-note2 below.
- Also on the 4th day He moved the stars over, and positioned them. Notice the description in Genesis used the exact term “He set them in the vault of sky!!”, as in He moved them from one place to another and arranged them:
Genesis 1:16-17, …He also made the stars. God set them in the vault of the sky... the fourth day...
- And it wasn't a magic-wand action; He was actually tired from all this work! And needed a rest day:
Genesis 2:2, …on the seventh day He rested from all His work.
A home builder builds a home from the outside and can build other homes. God is outside of time, and outside our physical dimension. If He can create one dimension, He can create another, and pass things between them. For God a billion years is an instant, but for us time moves normally as it does from our human perspective. 2 Peter 3:8: But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. So, there is a lot here for us to chew on and try to comprehend. Which would be one reason He didn't burden us with the details.
Look at what God said to Job when Job was challenging Him:
Job 38:4-7
4 “Where were you when I laid the earth’s foundation?
Tell me, if you understand.
5 Who marked off its dimensions? Surely you know!
Who stretched a measuring line across it?
6 On what were its footings set,
or who laid its cornerstone—
7 while the morning stars sang together
and all the angels shouted for joy?
Our scientists figuring out a big bang and an evolution, may possibly have some similarity to what God did in His realm. But they've barely scratched the surface of God's infinite power and wisdom. If we spend time seeking God in the Bible, He may reveal more of this to us, and dazzle us with the real answer!
In fact, scientists are now finding more evidence in-line with my "new cosmic origins theory". Here is one recent science article from “Popular Mechanics” magazine that is effectively saying the same thing: Was Our Universe Formed Inside the Quantum Chaos of Another Universe’s Black Hole?
Excerpts from this article:
"The truth is, we don’t really understand what happens at the center of a black hole. We lack the sophistication in our theories of gravity to grapple with the true nature of the singularity. And some attempts to figure out what might be happening in the center of a black hole have led to some pretty wild theories."
Evolved from Cosmic Dust?
A wise person once said, the chances of us being here by random order are as good as a tornado passing through a junkyard and leaving behind a fully assembled Boeing 787 airplane. That tornado can pass through that junkyard billions of times, and never leave behind anything functional, much less an airplane!
Some believe we are what we are based on an unguided random process that started with a big bang and evolved to what we are today. How is that even possible? Look at the complexity of our human body. Billions of pixels in the eye, a brain with superior intelligence. Our surroundings - The air is perfect for our lungs to breath, the water is perfect to drink, the sun is perfect for daylight without burning our eyes, etc..
*Side Note1: Some may disagree with this theory of creation because of the wording in the Book of Genesis about the forming of earth. But I believe that God mixed in descriptions, some from His realm and some from ours after moving things. The Bible is full of vague language like this, example the Book of Revelation. God said:
Proverbs 8:17
I love those who love me, and those who seek me diligently find me.
Based on the Bible genealogies traced back to Adam & Eve, this appearing of our universe and the rest of the Genesis creations took place around 6,000 years ago. I know I know, researchers and archeologists are “finding human remains from 50,000 years ago”. Things to keep in mind: Noah’s flood did happen and it covered the whole earth for months, skewing carbon dating methods. And God may have had experimental humans on earth in His realm before moving it to ours.
**Side Note2: About the light created on day 1, remember that God did not give us a complete precise writeup of the details of His creation! This subject has been debated forever. God Himself is light (John 1:5). The best explanation is that on the first day, He created the basic structure of day & night, and a rotating earth using a different source of light. There are many mentions of God's mysterious lights in the Bible. Example, the bright light that blinded Paul on the way to Damascus. The bright light when the stone rolled at Jesus’s tomb?!! Both of these were blinding sources of light, not the sun! And when talking to Moses through a burning bush that was not consumed!
3. Thousands of gods! Which One?
It doesn't matter whether thousands or millions of gods out there today, the fact remains, there is one true God and the rest are false. Why? Simply because we humans are way too smart to be here by any random explanation. No matter how your intelligence decides to slice it; only one answer - there is an intelligent supreme Being!
Which One is God?
I agree it’s a huge task to research the various religions of the world. And yes, the intelligent scholars and philosophers of forceful and opposing opinions are all over the place! But this is not a good reason to give up and blow your eternity!! Are you going to let the chaos of the world dupe you into joining them to the wrong place later?
If we can agree there is one true God, then you agree a research into the subject would be the wise thing to do. Presenting here the Bible's perspective as one data-point to consider. The Bible says there is a devil. And he is wreaking havoc in this world.
Question: If you were the devil opposing to God, what creative ways would you use to get people to follow you and ignore the true God?
Answer: Confuse people with thousands of gods!
I know I know, the only real way to get people interested is to continuously see supernatural events, like miracles. But God does not want to do it this way. Why? Because if He did, then it would become proven and confirmed; no need for faith! God chose the faith method. He gave us enough evidence and documented miracles. Then wants us to choose Him by faith. Human superior intelligence, a magnificent universe, etc. is the work of a Creator, not by chance!
The reason Christianity is the largest religion in the world is because early Christians saw miracles before they became Christians! Although deteriorated over time with their unbiblical churches today, it is still a fact - The very first Christians were not converted by force; they saw miracles! Before you get swept in the atheist current and make a careless decision, do a little homework of your own in case you might be wrong and end up in the wrong place, for eternity!
4. The Bible an Antiquated Book? Written by Humans
We use the Christian Bible as our guide. Because as noted at the beginning of this page, if we believe there is an infinite supreme being that could create such a grand universe and everything in it, then it follows that He should also be capable of guiding things to provide us with scripture for our learning about Him! And He did it by spiritually guiding certain individuals, called prophets to write the various parts of the scriptures. In the same way we too, created in His image, build technology and products, and don't leave people in the dark; we provide a user manual.
He did not just have one person write it. He guided several prophets, disciples, and apostles of Jesus to write. One reason He chose multiple authors was to show us the nonconflicting content across writers who spanned hundreds of years, lived in different regions, and in many cases did not know each other. You can be 100% sure that the Bible we have today is from the living God. Because He is a loving God and would not leave us lost without a reference book to teach us about Him. Without this Bible as a reference, Christianity would have been "anything goes", which actually is the dominant way of churches and people today because they ignored the majority of the Bible, and ran things their way by only teaching from a few verses that fit their agendas!
The Bible is the book of the invisible living God; it is not antiquated nor contradicting. Those who say this, have not expended enough time to see clearly. God is awesome; not easy to figure out. Sure there are parts in the Bible still not understood. God will reveal things at the right time. We just have to be patient and keep seeking Him in the Bible as Jesus commanded.
5. The Absence of God - Is Hell
God does not send people to hell - His absence is hell. People's rejections of Him force Him to leave them.
On this earth, the sun shines on everyone. But after death, those who rejected God will find themselves in a dark place of torment. Why? Because God left. He granted them their wish - they rejected Him all their lives. They had a 100 years to see clearly, but instead chose to block their brains. They covered their ears shut and continuously shouted la la la la la la la... They don't want to hear anything about God. What would you do if you were God?! He left them.
God and Satan are at play here in life, exactly the same as it started with Adam and Eve. Any goodness you see around you? is from God. It all comes down to people's choices. You want God out of your life? He will leave. But be careful what you ask for, you may get it and not like the results. You hate child-rapers? And "how could a good God allow this?" You may end up in the same place with them! for eternity! Take a little more time to better understand things before you finalize your decision. Not from churches! From the Bible!! I provide a lot of help in this website.
People's rejection of God comes in many forms. Atheism and paganism is one, but the more dominant one is the majority of so called "Christians" today, following their church teachings. They also don't know God, and therefore effectively rejecting Him.
Leave the churches? Yes, highly recommended. They are all misleading donation-collecting businesses.
Leave God? Before you finalize your answer, take a look around on this website. I show the true God of the Bible in a different light. You may decide to reconsider. Start with this page: Are We True Christians?
6. The Bible and Slavery
Obviously, the term "Slaves" has a bad connotation among black people worldwide, which drives many to misunderstand, and dismiss the Bible as "a white-people book" and as, "this can't possibly be from a loving God". I understand, and would like to clarify the misunderstood parts.
First note that the slaves in Old Testament times were a mix of white middle-easterners and black Africans. The line separating slave and free was financial status, not skin color. Many blacks use this as an excuse to reject the God of the Bible and become Atheist or join some other pagan religion! Here are some examples of large numbers of non-black slaves:
Deuteronomy 6:21
[Moses talking to the Israelites:] “...then you shall say to your son, ‘We were Pharaoh’s slaves in Egypt. And the Lord brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand.”
Deuteronomy 15:12
[God speaking to the Israelites:] “If your brother, a Hebrew man or a Hebrew woman, is sold to you, he shall serve you six years, and in the seventh year you shall let him go free from you.”
In the old-testament God did have a few mentions about slaves, example "be nice/fair to your slaves". But He did not tell people to have slaves. Although an undesirable trait, He tried to work with the culture as is at the time focusing on accomplishing His main objective first, which was to establish His sin-redemption plan. Jewish people having slaves was not the only thing God did not like and had to live with at the time. Some Jewish people were also doing other detestable things, but God looked the other way. Example, men with many wives (Abraham, Jacob, king David, king Solomon). And some worshipping other gods.
So please study this well before you become an Atheist for the wrong reasons! There is no "oops!" later after death.
7. Homosexuality LGBTQ and the Bible
I guarantee you, straight people are more habitual sinners than gays. Forget what churches say, I'm telling you what the Bible says!! I have a separate detailed link on this, here. Bottom-line, God defined a sexual norm, and homosexuality is not in it. And adultery is also not in it! The world is full of people who can't stop adultering. Most people commit the sin of adultery daily, just by watching TV or social media for example. It's full of lustful images perfect for the adultering minds. Homosexuality and adultery sins are almost the same in God's eyes, as shown in the Bible references in my detailed link. So no need to hate God and become atheist if you're a homosexual. In the same way those committing adultery aren't becoming atheists. It's all the same category of sin.
But Christianity provides a compassionate forgiveness to all sins, including homosexual. So instead of protesting and leaving God, stay with Him, accept His rules, and humble yourself. He will forgive you! But He cannot forgive you when you reject Him. Or proudly force a gay marriage in church for example.
Forget what the churches say. The Bible says, "it is not about minimizing your sins to maximize your chances for heaven!". Christianity is about becoming forgiven! So, it is not "one less sin to worry about!!" We are all equally guilty of all kinds of sins in the eyes of God! True Christianity is about knowing how to become forgiven of our sins!
Don't become an Atheist for the wrong reasons! And please don't become a churchgoer! See my pages, Are We True Christians? and How to Be True Christian.
8. God-Driven Killings in the Old Testament
Why would a "loving God" give us a "Shall Not Kill" commandment, yet order the Jewish people to annihilate and kill whole civilizations?
Answer: Most people only view things from an earthly humanity perspective - in terms of the social well being of humans in their few years lifetime here on earth, as if there is no life after. But God has a different view that we don't see. He sees it from an eternal perspective. God's main objective is the end-result - to maximize the number of people that make it into heaven later. He knows how bad hell is, and He tried His bestest to keep us from ending up there!!
In other words, He created us free to make our decisions. Then found that only 0.00001% chose to accept Him and His rules. Example, Noah was the only one who chose God. The rest rejected Him, thus, the flood. And Lot was the only one that chose God. The rest rejected Him, thus, the destruction of Sodom & Gomorrah. This was why He sent His only Son to suffer and die miserably on a cross! To provide us an easy path to heaven!!
God is the only one who can see the big picture across time and space. His visibility is not available to us; He is not obligated to consult with us before every move! He makes painful decisions to preserve the final objective. We, in our limited capacity, are like someone sitting next to a brain-surgeon and continuously complaining - "why did you cut here, why did you insert a needle there, that's painful, etc..."
And another analogy - It is the same principle used today on people with cancer. They undergo chemical therapy and kill both good and bad cells in the body, in order to save the whole body.
Summarizing the Reasons for God's Actions in the Old-Testament
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Rid the world of horror civilizations, sacrificing their babies in the fire to false gods, that would have otherwise continued growing to this day.
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Avoid their influence on God's Jewish people in those days, paving the way to the coming of the Messiah - Jesus Christ.
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Other mass killings like the flood and Sodom & Gomorrah. These were ungodly people that received their judgement earlier in life. Only God knows the hearts, and He knew they were sinful with no hope of turning to God for forgiveness. So He ended it early to give a better chance to the Godly ones to thrive.
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The firstborns of the Egyptians in Moses time. This was God siding with the Jews and showing His powers and ability to free them from an impossible situation. Which helped the launch of His 1st-born, the Jewish nation, who became loyal and followed His commands.
Note, when babies unavoidably die in these actions, they go to heaven. Because they are not mature enough to reject God. Jesus said let the children come to me, for theirs is the kingdom of God. In the case of the first-borns of the Egyptians, not all of them were babies. And those that were, the painful penalty was targeting their parents; the babies went to heaven.
Continued with more details and references at the bottom of this page.
9. The Right Reasons & Wrong Reasons to Become an Atheist
The right reason to become an Atheist:
--> Being incapable of having faith.
If you are someone who must have all the questions perfectly answered and also witness some miracles, before you believe, then it's not belief anymore, it's proven and confirmed. Then Atheist is all you can ever be. God in His wisdom did not choose to do it this way. He chose the "belief" system. It is acceptable to ask questions; it's human nature; we are created this way. But "believe" means we don't have all the answers; just enough answers to become interested then seek further.
The wrong reasons to become Atheist:
All the other reasons discussed on this page. If these are your reasons to become an Atheist, I urge you to look again closely at the sections above and below, and reconsider. But whatever you do, please don't become a church goer! See my pages on Are We True Christians?, and How to Be True Christians.
If you die an atheist, there is no turning back. You've permanently cut the cord with God. God could not save you at that point. You've sentenced yourself to eternal torment in darkness.
I asked this question to a friend who is atheist. What if you're wrong; what if you find out there is a God, after death? What is your contingency plan?
He said, and I quote: "I’m sure God will let me in anyway because I wasn’t horrible in my life. And if he thinks I’m deserving of hell then I don’t care to be with him anyway."
People think it's a game. And they'll just be ok in the end. They mishmash various religions' teachings in their head, and march forward with that. Not knowing that Christianity is an exception to that rule. The Bible says it's not about how good or horrible you've been in your life. All people on earth have been bad at one point or another and fall short of the requirements of God. The Bible says it is about who humbles themselves, turn to God, and ask for forgiveness. If you turn to God while alive, He will accept you with pleasure. Do it now while alive!
There is a God! An infinite supreme being, master designer and creator of heaven and earth, and everything in them. And a whole history of miraculous events recorded both in the Bible and in some public records. Just because it happened a long time ago, doesn't mean we can forget it now and call it a fairy tale! Many saw Jesus after He rose from the dead. But so many now are skeptical. This is because humans always go for the "it's a hoax" rumor.
We feel we've advanced so far in knowledge and technologies that now popular and intelligent people decided there is no God, and we should all follow. So we declare it a "fairy tale" and become atheist! But the reality is, the "intelligent people" lack "wisdom"!! We're still only barely scratching the surface in knowledge and technology. Look for example at the recent discoveries of the James-Webb Telescope. It's having scientists baffled, scratching their heads, and re-writing the books on their theories. Actually wait another 20 years; it's guaranteed there will be yet another completely different view on the origins of the universe and our existence.
Do you see the big picture? You're making eternal decisions based on today's view which is now fast becoming obsolete. I highly recommend that you reconsider the Bible. It's not antiquated nor full of contradictions, it's as alive and perfect as God Himself. Your best start is My home page. I point out a lot of the myths created by churches that drove people to abandon Christianity.
True Christianity is salvation made easy by God through the sacrifice of His Son. There are no requirements; even the worst sinner is accepted by God and saved.
10. God is Evil? And Satan is Good?
People want to be gods themselves. And Satan who himself was an angel in heaven and wanted to be god, then was cast out of heaven, has been enticing people into it since Adam & Eve. And people are buying into his craftiness and lies!
For those scouring the scriptures looking for any parts that may incriminate God to post on the web and get a few pathetic "Likes", have you noticed the story of Adam & Eve in there? That world, was the perfection of God. Remained so until Adam & Eve succumbed to Satan and brought him into their lives. Then things went downhill from there, causing God to take drastic actions throughout history to keep humanity from sending itself to hell. Jesus' redemption sacrifice was the perfect design from God to save us from hell, while He maintained His holiness!
We all heard there is nothing impossible for God. But the reality is, there is one thing impossible. God cannot in His Holy nature unite with evil in any shape or form. This is the only impossible thing for God. And so, when people reject Him, He can only stay-away. Resulting in the devil taking control, and bad things continue to happen!!
James 4:8
Come near to God and he will come near to you.
Proverbs 8:17
I love those who love me, and those who seek me diligently find me.
2 Chronicles 15:15
All Judah … sought God eagerly, and he was found by them. So the Lord gave them rest on every side.
When people are not doing the right things towards God - atheism, Satanism, paganism, or Christianity their preferred way, it is the same as rejecting Him, which is also the same as allowing the devil in. And so, God cannot force Himself on them to bless them. Today's people pick & choose and tweak the Bible to fit their lifestyles. But the reality is, God expects it the other way around. And if they don't care for God's ways, and want to criticize and veer from His Scripture, He does not care for them either:
2 Chronicles 15:2
… The Lord is with you when you are with him. If you seek him, he will be found by you, but if you forsake him, he will forsake you.
God created us with freedom to choose. It is all about our choice! Having true peace in our lives, is a direct consequence of our choice!! If you say you chose Him, do you know Jesus' commands and keep them? Is it Christianity your way? Or His way? Look at all the links on my homepage. You'll see what I'm talking about.
Isaiah 57:21 “There is no peace,” says my God, “for the wicked.”
The term "wicked" in the Bible always meant the person who rejected God. This includes the majority of so called "christians" / churchgoers today!
11. Why All The Pain and Suffering on Earth?
Shouting the word “god” when in trouble, is meaningless! Which god are you shouting to? There are thousands of false gods in the world; all strongly and faithfully defended by different groups of people!
If you want to be in God's blessings, you need to know the true God of the Bible!
Proverbs 8:17
I love those who love me, and those who seek me diligently find me.
2 Chronicles 15:15
All Judah … sought God eagerly, and he was found by them. So the Lord gave them rest on every side.
James 4:8
Come near to God and he will come near to you.
How many people on earth follow and pray to God, His way?
A very small number! The Narrow Gate
How many people on earth follow and pray to God, their preferred ways?
The majority! The Wide Gate
What is God's way?
It is in the true message of the Bible (not in any churches of today)
What are the people's preferred ways?
Churches, non-Christians, and Atheists.
So now we know the reason for all the pain and suffering on earth! Can we change it?
Obviously it is impossible!! And therefore, pain and suffering will continue on earth!! But we can change things for us individually!
You ask, what is the fault of babies?
God is with them and eases their pain. And if they die, the Bible says they go to heaven. Which is actually saving them from hell had they grown up in this world's corrupt environments, then made their own decision to reject Him like the rest.
God does not cause pain and suffering on earth. The devil does.
It is the work of the devil, and is getting worse now as the world is becoming more and more rejecting of God. Look on social media, the majority of the young generation has become athiest. They'll mock you if you mention Jesus or the Bible. And even the so called "Christians" today, many are on the verge of spiritual death. This is a sign of fast approaching end times. More on this here: End Times.
You ask, "why doesn't God stop it? Isn't He in control?" Yes, but this is earth, not heaven. The devil's grip on people keeps them separated from God. Perfection will be in heaven.
Luke 2:14
“Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom He is pleased!
This is what the angel said when Jesus was born. And notice, "peace for those God is pleased with". Who are those God is pleased with? They are definitely not the churchgoers. They are those who know Jesus' commands and keep them. So despite the no-peace on earth today, there are some who are having true peace in their lives.
You want peace in your life? Learn Jesus' commands and keep them. If all people do this, then there will be peace on the whole earth.
Bad Things Are Not "God's plan"!!
When bad things happen, people say "it's God's plan". It is not!! The real problem is, most people (including "churchgoers") don't really know God. And therefore are not truly with God; they are kept separated from Him by the devil's creative ways. As a result, God is not with them, and cannot bless them! Resulting in "bad things happening"!
"God's plan" is when true believers ask God for something, and He does not give it to them, but instead He gives them something much better. For the rest of the people on earth, it is a world in random motion - good and bad things happen randomly to unbelievers.
More on this subject here: Why All The Pain & Suffering On Earth
12. Why Did We Choose to be Christians?
We did not choose to be Christians. We're Christians because our parents are Christians.
I have heard this question asked often, usually by non-Christians who may be unhappy or suffering where they are, and want to try something different, seeking blessings from a real God. I have genuine respect for all people and their beliefs; I don't condone criticizing other religions. And I feel for the atheist, who thought it was so cool when they chose to become atheist, but when tragedy hit they didn't know what to do. They get the urge to get on their knees to pray, but find themselves in a dire dilemma. To this person I say, there is nothing wrong with turning back to the only true God of the Bible.
Why do we Feel so Strongly about a Religion we Inherited? And what if we weren't Born to Christian Parents?
Let's face it, most Christians today are Christians because their parents are Christians. They did not research the subject or look at other religions, then decided to choose Christian. Obviously, it is the same with all other religions; they all follow their ancestors’ choices. Then the next question becomes, how is it that we feel so strongly about a religion we inherited? And what if we were born to non-Christian parents, what would be our position then? Very valid question. Here's my answer:
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Most Christians are actually not true Christians as I detailed in my link Are we True Christians. They're mostly there for the social aspect of it, not truly seeking God. Therefore, one answer to this question is that these people are there as in a social or political group - with an "us and them" attitude. So they'll defend their parents' choices regardless.
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As for the few truly genuine Christians, the Bible says God foreknew them. Romans 8:29, For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, as in, He foresaw our hearts and our attitude towards Him before we were born. Then placed us in the right environment to nurture our tendency towards Him. This Bible verse says God first "foreknew" us before we were born, then He acted accordingly, He did not mysteriously choose us.
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This does not mean all Christians are souls placed there by God. Remember, not all Christians are genuine Christian believers nor will they all go to heaven later! In fact only a small percentage of them will - See my page on The Narrow Gate. And with the same token, not all non-Christians will go to hell. God will guide those who seek Him, albeit a small number of non-Christians may. Finding Him means finding God in the Bible, not becoming a church member! There is a huge difference.
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Yes I do feel blessed by God for being born to Christian parents, which gave me an early start in life on reading the Bible.
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I have done a lot of studying of other religions; not all of them, but most of the major ones. And I did look at things from an unbiased view. Since it is all based on faith, I can tell you Christianity and the Bible made the most sense to me. A very consistent Bible throughout its thousands of pages that I have read many times and read it in two languages. So no problem with translations. But most importantly a clear redemption plan to reconcile us with God. "Christian" is the only religion with a prophet that rose from the dead, and is alive in the flesh today, the Messiah Jesus Christ. And many saw Him after He rose from the dead. But so many are skeptical. This is because humans always go for the "it's a hoax" rumor. Look for example at what happened with the Sandy Hook elementary school mass shooting massacre in December of 2012. A few weeks after the massacre, a guy started a rumor that it was a hoax. And people believed him!!! A massacre with many dead people with pictures and grieving school and parents. And the "hoax" message prevailed! So, "Jesus rose from the dead" is a hoax? Don't follow the herd. Do your homework before you send yourself to hell.
Not all Christians are from Christian Parents
Let’s go back in time to a period when people converted from whatever they were in, to Christianity. There were two types of conversions:
Converted to Christians By Force
Like many other religions, the Christian religion had its own shameful chapters in history, where certain people, churches, and governments hijacked the name of Christianity to accomplish their agendas. So force was used to convert people, historical examples in South America and the Crusaders. I agree it was not proper Christian behavior; nowhere in the New-Testament Bible does it mention or encourage this type of behavior. In fact it was the exact opposite. Jesus instructed us to "love our enemies".
Peaceful Conversions to Christianity
And we also had peaceful conversions of people to Christianity. One perfect example was in the days of the Apostle Paul. Paul was a Jew who became Christian shortly after the death and resurrection of Jesus. He traveled all across the Mediterranean from Israel to Rome, passing through the coastal countries along the way, example Greece, preaching the good news about Jesus. Most of these places at the time believed in a variety of gods: gods of Olympus, sun, moon, stars, statues, hand-made figurines, etc.. But after Paul explained to them the story of the invisible only true God of the universe and His son Jesus who’s sacrifice on the cross saved all who believed in Him, many converted to Christianity.
That was a very significant vote for Christianity! Who converts from the religion of their ancestors to another? And conversions in masses! Don’t take my word for it. Check public records and history books. Note that if you look at history books, you will also see violence and government-mandated Christian converting by force in those regions at that time. But careful, let's not mix things up! When Paul started his mission, and arrived on the scene in ancient Greece for example, there were only pagans who had been worshipping the twelve gods of Olympus. And had been in that pagan religion for more than 1000 years. He talked to them, and many converted. But the violence started some time later, when the conversions reached government officials. Then they started mandating Christianity by force, etc.. A similar chronology of events happened in the rest of the region, including Rome.
You may say, but I read that Paul performed miracles to them, which obviously helped in that mass conversion. Good point! Yes, he did. And he was not a magician; people would have seen through that. That leaves only one explanation. Paul proclaimed the story of Jesus and backed it up with real miracles. This had to be the only explanation of why people denounced their cherished ancestors’ religion, and followed Christianity. What other religion can do this, peacefully? It is impossible.
More details here: Why Did We Choose to Be Christian?
13. What Does God Want from US?
A genuine relationship, where we truly get to know Him as our God who is unseen but well described in the Bible, love Him, and worship Him. And And in return He forgives our sins, brings us into His Family, pours His blessings on us, and give us eternal life in Heaven. He wants us to mature in the knowledge of Him to get this relationship to a meaningful level. You can get started now with the Lord's Prayer and talk directly to "our heavenly Father".
God, in His Holy nature, has rules that He Himself cannot bend or break. Example, He cannot be in relationship with evil, which is us when we are sinful. Who among us is without sin? So knowing this, He devised a way to forgive us our sins - renewed day by day - to restore the relationship with Him. But first you have to ask for it, the proper way, by learning all about Jesus' commands and keeping them! Thus, seeking God in the Bible.
God Himself cannot break His rules, but He can forgive us when we do!
What is His biggest concern? It is the risk of losing us. For example, become lost in this world's riches, worries, social media of today, or atheism. The worst sins of the flesh? He can forgive when we turn to Him with the right attitude. But leaving Him? means we've cut the cord; He can do nothing for us at that point. We'd be doomed to eternal torment. When you reject Him, He can only move away. And when He moves away, you have nothing left but darkness, desolation, depression, and every negative thing you've ever experienced in life magnified by multiples.
-You ask: "Why would a loving God want to send us to hell and torment us just for rejecting Him?"
-Answer: He does not want to send us to hell - The state of hell and torment would be the result of His absence!!!
Note1:
No, God is not sending people to hell for His glory! as some churches teach. NO!! He is a loving God. He did everything He could to reconcile us to Him. He sent Jesus, a part of Himself, to earth to suffer miserably and die on the cross in our place, so we have an easy path to heaven!!! But no one wants it!!! No one is interested!!! People think it's a fairy tale. They are rejecting God and sending themselves to hell! The Bible says angels in heaven cry over every lost soul!!! NO, God is not a "cosmic killjoy" as some so called "christians" portray Him to be!
Note2:
God gave us full freedom to choose, hoping that we choose Him. And choose Him the biblical way, not the churches' way, which is unfortunately the dominant way in the world today. Our 100-year span on earth is a test-ground for us, to either converge on Him or diverge away. Converging on Him in this life translates to the true and meaningful eternal life with Him. But people treat life here as final; most mock any talk of afterlife!! God is so loving that He did provide us a very easy path to Him. It is not what churches preach. Look here for the real biblical path: How to Be True Christians.
Rejecting God comes in many shapes and forms; it's not only atheists. When people reject His redemption plan through Christ and instead turn to dead people like Mary and saints. Or when people become so arrogantly callous, stick to the high-level lip-service belief, "by faith alone & nothing else", refusing to learn Jesus' commands and parables or obey them! Or when they declare, "sit back relax, He already decided"! All of these are other forms of rejecting God. And the irony is, these people are throwing stones at atheists all over the internet!! I see more hope for atheists than for them.
The Bible says we are created for God’s pleasure and for relationship with Him. Created for God’s pleasure does not mean we are made to entertain God or provide Him with amusement. God is a creative being, it gives Him pleasure to create. And He is a personal being; it gives Him pleasure to have other beings around for a genuine relationship with. Example, these Bible verses clearly describe God desiring a relationship with us, if we're willing:
James 4:8
Come near to God and He will come near to you.
And the opposite is true, move away from God and He moves away from you. Then we ask why all the pain and suffering on earth.
Proverbs 8:17
I love those who love me, and those who seek me diligently find me.
And this verse, which churches don't talk about, but keep asking people to donate, when all that God really wants from us is get to know Him!!
Hosea 6:6
I don’t want your sacrifices - I want your love; I don’t want your offerings - I want you to know me.
The God of the Bible is complicated for us to fully understand. He would not be the awesome God that He is if we, His creation, can easily figure Him out. The Bible says He is one God but consists of 3 Persons as revealed in scriptures: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. We can think of this as 3 personalities of the one God, that can be manifested in different forms. All three persons of God existed eternally past and will remain for eternity future. This is why God says, He is "I Am". So, Jesus did not come into existence when Mary gave birth to Him. Jesus became human for a period on earth to accomplish God's redemption plan.
He created us male and female, in His image. This means physical appearance as well as personality. He gave us free-will to choose our ways. Best example of the free-will was in the Adam and Eve story. He gave them the choice to eat or not eat from the tree. And they chose to eat. He did not make them eat from it; they chose. In reality the Devil lured them into it. Which was the precedent for the human behavior throughout history. Look around you today. The devil is luring us into some type of a sin. But no worries, God provided the perfect redemption plan through Jesus to reconcile us to Him. To be in this plan we have to humble ourselves and turn to Him. And He will forgive us of all our wrongdoings. Keep looking at this website.
God's redemption plan requires a person perfect in every way to die in our place to atone for our sin. This is the main basis of the Christian religion. God saw that there was no one among humans qualified to perform this substitutionary atonement death, and that if He didn’t do anything about it, all His creation would send itself to hell. So, He found that the only way to provide salvation was through His own self. And this was where Jesus came in. This was prophesied by the prophet Isaiah thousands of years before Jesus came to earth:
Isaiah 63:5
I looked, but there was no one to help; I was appalled that no one assisted. So My arm brought Me salvation, and My own wrath upheld Me.
The Bible says Jesus is God’s begotten son, the only one of the trinity manifested in the human form. Jesus is the only sinless human that walked the earth, which qualified Him to be the perfect redemption sacrifice. God sent Him to earth to be physically born of a woman. Then pay the price for all our sins, by substituting Himself to die on the cross for us. This was the only way for God’s creation to have a path to salvation, to eternal life. God Himself had to physically-suffer on the cross, and physically-die miserably. He is God; He didn’t have to do this! But He did, out of love for us, to provide us an easy path to eternal life. Jesus rose from the dead on the 3rd day, and many people saw Him and talked to Him. Then He ascended to heaven and is now alive in the flesh in a real place and seated at the right-hand of God. Now that you see the grand image clearly, do you see the magnificence of God’s grace and love for us? All we have to do now is believe in Jesus Christ as the Son of God who died for our sins. And we are saved to eternal life.
So how do we accomplish this relationship with God in our daily life?
Do:
1. Seek God always. How? God is in the Scriptures of the Bible. God's personality is consistent throughout the Bible. The more we read, the more He reveals Himself to us. Dedicate "spiritual" time for this. There is no hard rule. Once a week is ok, but if you can, daily is better. It is all about your personal interests. You determine how strong you want your relationship with God to be. I provide help on this here: How to Be True Christians.
2. Jesus taught us how to pray daily (the Lord's Prayer). Most important to note, the "daily Bread" we ask for in this prayer, is the redemptive sacrifice of Jesus, the spiritual Bread of life that God gives for the forgiveness of our sins; we are renewed day by day. This is how we become "righteous" in the eyes of God and receive all His blessings. See The Lord's Prayer is Severely Misunderstood for more details.
3. Love all people, of all ethnic groups, religions, races, and financial status. They're all God's creation, His children, and He loves them all. Therefore, we also love them all.
Don't:
1. Don't learn Christianity by watching movies, shows, or read books about it. Learn it from the Bible. Many Bible apps offer audio now. So you can listen to it any time, like when driving, and set the audio speed to 0.75.
2. Don't become a churchgoer. Churches are businesses. Don't become a Catholic nor an Evangelical, Baptist, etc. Christian denominations are more like social clubs. See my page on Are We True Christians?
3. Don't treat your spiritual duties of praying and reading the Bible as burden. You may feel this at first. It's ok because with time you'll see God more clearly and become more and more genuinely interested in getting closer to Him and knowing more about Him.
4. Don't let the misleading internet fluff push you off-track. Remember, all people have an agenda driving them. You say, "well what about you?" I'm driven by passionate love for the true God and for people; no agenda, no hidden motives, no denomination, and no financial gains. The main difference between me and the rest out there bashing Christianity, is that I don't criticize other religions. I only point to the facts from the Bible to help you in your search for the true God.
That's it. Start moving in this direction, and you secure yourself through Jesus Christ to eternal life in the next age. Where we will have a perfect life on the new earth (the Bible tells us of a new heaven and a new earth). So many perfect things there, new order, and new way of life not yet revealed to us by God; It is not floating ghosts with harps as Hollywood portrays. We will have physical bodies, just as Jesus was after resurrection. And it will be forever.
1 Corinthians 2:9
But as it is written, what no eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no human heart has conceived - God has prepared these things for those who love Him.
The alternative is, you separate yourself from God and convince yourself there is no God. And you secure yourself with the devil to eternal darkness where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth. You have the choice while you are alive. But once you die, there is no “oops can I change my mind?” Now is the time. But if you declare to separate yourself from God, and die in that state, you will go to hell. God cannot save you in this situation. You’ve effectively cut the cord with God.
Continued from Section 5 - "God-Driven killings"
Tribes Performing Abhorrent Rituals
It was in the days of the 12 tribes of Israel. They left Egypt with Moses when he performed all those powerful miracles. Then years later when they arrived at the promised land, the land was occupied by pagan civilizations with all kinds of detestable practices and sinful rituals, example burning babies in the fire as sacrifice to their gods. God ordered the Jewish people to eliminate them and take their place.
In those days, thousands of years BC, the world was still in the early stages of forming civilizations. And there were several societies actively worshipping idols and presenting their babies to them as sacrifices in the fire. Check history books for yourself, and the Bible references below. Look at the Canaanites for example, they aggressively performed this abhorrent practice to idols. How would you like it if that civilization grew to a big country today, protective of their ancestral religious rights and are still practicing burning babies in the fire to their gods! A what-if scenario that could have happened!
God saw it, and put an end to it, right then and there. Yes some innocent people had to die, and some remnants survived (today's Lebanon), but no chance of this cancer to re-grow. Then at the same time, the Jewish people He was nursing, took their place and prospered in God's direction. And the end result today, although not a perfect world, a much better world compared to what it would have been otherwise. And the most important result of all this is, we have a sin-redemption plan through Jesus. All we have to do is see it clearly and accept it to become forgiven, and reconciled with God.
Bible References to "Horrible Civilizations that Sacrificed their Babies in the Fire to False gods"
Deuteronomy 12:31
“You must not worship the Lord your God in their way, because in worshiping their gods, they do all kinds of detestable things the Lord hates. They even burn their sons and daughters in the fire as sacrifices to their gods.”
Deuteronomy 18:9-12
“When you enter the land the Lord your God is giving you, do not learn to imitate the detestable ways of the nations there. Let no one be found among you who sacrifices their son or daughter in the fire, who practices divination or sorcery, interprets omens, engages in witchcraft, or casts spells, or who is a medium or spiritist or who consults the dead. Anyone who does these things is detestable to the Lord; because of these same detestable practices the Lord your God will drive out those nations before you.”
And here, God explaining that He did not give the land to the Jews because they were cute!!
Deuteronomy 9:4-5
”After the Lord your God has driven them out before you, do not say to yourself, “The Lord has brought me here to take possession of this land because of my righteousness.” No, it is on account of the wickedness of these nations that the Lord is going to drive them out before you. It is not because of your righteousness or your integrity that you are going in to take possession of their land; but on account of the wickedness of these nations, the Lord your God will drive them out before you, to accomplish what he swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.“
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