From: http://www.infidelguy.com Questioning God, Gods, and Spirituality Please send your questions to infidelguy@aol.com for review. Also make requests why you think a particular question should be removed or improved. All unsigned questions are by yours truly. "No question is a dumb question." - unknown ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 1. Why would God entrust the spreading of 'His' word to one of his 'fallible' children? He knows men are sinners and are untrue. I doubt a professor would allow one of his students to teach a class if all the other students' futures were at stake. If God loved us so much and he wants us to be with him, why would he put our eternal souls at risk like that? 1A. You began by asking a good question. Why would God entrust His word to fallible human beings that are sinners and that are untrue? That is a good question that I am positive God can answer far better than I can. I can only take shots in the dark and make guesses. Since God is the one who knows what motivates a person, and I do not know that, I am not qualified to answer that question in the way you have asked it. So all that I can say is that from what I personally believe, my only responsibility is to live at peace with all people as much as it is possible for me to do so. To try to be available when others require assistance. To be kind to everyone I meet and treat them the way I would like to be treated; even if I never get treated that way by anybody. To help where i can. And to share His word if I am asked what I believe. 2. If Satan is the ultimate trickster, how do we know that Satan hasn't tricked Christians into worshipping him as God (Yahweh) and are actually rebuking the "real" God in his own name? - Inspired by Cice Mool 2A. I used to ask this myself and then I realized that Satan is selfish and everything that he does is motivated by selfishness. Christianity is about being selfless. Giving of yourself or your time or as much of your income as you can reasonably afford, to help other people. Volunteering to help your community. Refusing payment for helping someone. If I know that a neigbor is planning to move, I ask if they will be needing any help. I do not wait for them to ask me. I volunteer my time to help them, but I do not insist that they take it. I make myself available as much as I am able to, so that I can be there for another person. When a new neighbor moves in I try to greet them and welcom ethem to the neighborhood. I let them know that if they do not have their phone hooked up yet, that they can use mine. I let them know that I am avialbale to assits them should they require any assitance. I try to remain friendly and available. Satan is all about by greed and lust and hatred. God is all about Undeserved Love and acceptance and giving of ones' resources for the benefit of other poeple. And since Satan has a reputaion for being the ultimate trickster, it is safer to draw closer to God than to risk being tricked. 3. If god cast the devil into hell and hell is a place for eternal punishment from which even god cannot grant a pardon, then why do the preachers tell us the devil is walking up and down the hallways of high schools tempting teenagers to do drugs and have pre-marital sex? A warden who allows his prisoners the freedom to go out and kill and rape would be terminated for incompetence. - jshanahan@austin.rr.com 3A. God did not cast the devil out of heaven into hell. That will not happen until the Great White Throne of Judgement. Hell is not a place of eternal punishment. Hell is also called Ghenna. It is a place in Jewish mythology where the Jewish Myths say that the dead go when they die. It is not a real place. It is just part of a story about the afterlife. The Lake of Fire is where God will send everyone who is not found written in the Lamb's Book of Life. And everyone that is sent to the lake of Fire will be destroyed. They will not burn forever in torture and anguish. The punishment is eternal but not the suffering. Think of it like this, A judge sentences a person to life and a day in prison with no chance for parole. The judeg could grant that prisoner a pardon, but refuses to. God made getting into heaven so easy a young child can do it. The trouble is that God made it so easy, that the church started to lose some of it's power and control over the masses. That is why there are so many churches that teach so many things that can not be found in the Bible. Unless they take a Scripture out of context. The Bible does teach that Fornication is a sin unless the male and female are married to each other and are fornicating with each other. Fornication is "any" sexual activity outside of marriage. The preachers likely tell you that the devil is walking up and down the hallways trying to get you to do drugs, because it is the fastest and easiest way to try to get you to behave according to the way they want you to. However, a warden that allows one prisoner to rape or kill another prisoner will not get in nearly as much trouble. All that warden would have to do to get out of it is claim that he has been having some internal security problems but that they are getting better. 4. I have often heard from many believers that even Satan has a presence in the church, which is why even in church people can still have impure thoughts. If Satan can find his way in the church, how do Christians know that Satan didn't find his way into the Bible and twist the whole book? - The Infidel Guy 4A. Satan can not tempt people, if there is nothing within the person he is trying to tempt. Satan can only tempt a person in one of three areas. 1)In what we sense with our five senses. 2)In what we think about. 3)And in what we want to do. Satan can not tempt anybody that is not willing to be tempted. If Satan has a presence in a church it is because he was invited in by one or more people who have secret sins that they are not willing to give up practicing. A church is not a holy place unless the people who attend it are holy people. Otherwise, it is just a building where people of like beliefs gather to worship and praise God. But it can also be a place where people gather to compare themselves to each other. Or to gossip and backstab other people. Or to spread rumors. or to talk about people when they are not present. Or to try to out give or to out do someone else. Or to flirt or to find a quiet corner to have a quicky. Or to sneak off together to make out, away from prying eyes. Satan will go to aeas where people are sinning or hidding sins they do nto want to let go of. If those people happen to be in a church, then that is likely where Satan would go. 5. If the Universe is everywhere by definition, why do theists ask where it came from? How can there be anywhere for the universe to come from if the Universe is already everywhere by definition? - Chris and The Infidel Guy 5A. The Universe is made of Matter. We live in a Material Universe. It is tangible and can be experienced with one or more of our senses. God is Spirit and therefore exists independantly of Matter. Picture the Universe as a large box. Everything that is inside the Box, is what we call the Universe and all that it contains. God is outside of the box. And just as you or I could take the lid off of the box, so can God. If I had a living creature inside the box that would realize it is in a box and so be traumatized if I removed the lid, I would turn the lights down so that when I took the lid off of the box, the creature inside the box wouldn't notice. That is a ver simplistic idea, but pretty much conveys the way I understand the Universe and how God fits into it. 6. Does God think? If so, he cannot be all-knowing. Think about it. - The Infidel Guy 6A. All knowing is not achieved by a lack of thoughts. If you do not think, you cannot know something. Therefore, in order to know something, you have to be able to think. You could know what you wanted to say, but not how to say it unless you considered the meansing of the worsds you put together to form your question and that process involves thnking. Also, I do not have the same definition of "All Knowing" as you seem to imply in your question above. To me, All Knowing means that God knows all of the consequences of every choice that will ever be made. God would even know what would happen if a person chose not to choose. Because even the decision to not choose is a choice in and of itself. 7. If a soul is non-physical and the human body is physical, how does a soul stay in our bodies? 7A. There are no Scriptures in the Bible that say that human beings have a non-physical soul. The Body with the breath is a living Soul. The body without the breath is a dead Soul. The soul has no consciousness of its own. The soul is the body. The body is the soul. Picture an incandescent light bulb. Incandescent light bulbs are composed of two main parts. The glass bulb and the filament. When an electric current is supplied to the bulb it heats up the filament and causes the filament to grow hot. The filament eventually gets hot enough to cast off some of that heat as light. The light shines out of the glass bulb. If you remove the electrical current the bulb goes out, as the filament cools down again. The human body of flesh is represented by the outer glass bulb. The internal organs and central nervous system are represented by the filament. The breath that is breathed in and that is breathed out is represented by the electrical current. As long as the human being is breathing air in and letting it back out, the human being is alive. If you stop breathing you will die. We will not be immortal until Jesus come back to give us immortality. 8. If God is all-knowing, how could he be disappointed in His creation? -- Pm453ca@aol.com 8A. God is all Knowing but not emotionless. Disappointment is an emotional response to some form of stimulous that was not desired. BUt ourt ability to make decisions about thigs is caled Free Will and What would be the point of giving us Free Will if He never let us use it? God has simplified Salvation down so much, that all anybody has to do is believe that Jesus is the Only Begotten Son of God Who died to take away the Sins of the World. That's it. If you truely believe that in the core of your self, then God says you are saved. Man says you have to do more, but God says you are Saved if you believe that Jesus is the Only Begotten Son of God Who died to take away the Sins of the World. So God would be disappointed because He made it is so easy to do that not doing it means that you don't care. 9. If God is unchangeable (immutable), how is there evidence of a god when everything else around us is changing? - The Infidel Guy 9A. It requires Faith to know that God exists. How does a person get Faith to believe. They read the Bible everyday and pray that God will reveal Himself in such a manner that it is beyond any explanation. God will answer your prayer. God doesn't change because He is perfect. The things around us change all the time because they are not perfect. God is not something you can distill and put in a box. God can only be known to exist if a person is willing to believe that He does exist. In other words, you just decide that you want to believe that He exists and you then decide that you are going to believe it no matter what. You are simoky going to reach out in Faith and take it for granted that Goid is real even thoug He is not tangible in the conventional senses. 10. Why did God flood the earth to remove evil? It didn't work! Evil came right back, God should have known that would happen! So why did He bother? - PhineasBg 10A. I have found that sometimes, God does things because we do not know what He knows and we would not believe Him even if He just told us instead. How many of you think that your parents don't understand you? Or that they don't appreciate what your life is like? Keep in mind that your parents weren't always the age they are now. At some point they were like you and didn't think that their parents understood them either. And if any of you ever become parents, and have children of your own, they will think along the same lines you do now. Your parenst most likely do understand more about you than you think. Remember, they knew you "before" you became self aware. Just because God knows everything, doesn't mean that people would necessarily believe HIm if He just explained things to them. The chances are actauult pretty god against any of us actually believeiung whatever He had to say. Most of us would try to change the parts we didn't care for. Besides, God didn't senf a flood to rid the world of evil, He sent the flood because He had wrarned the people that were doing evil that if they didn't stop doing their evil tigs that He was gong to drown them. They ahd been warned. Noah spent almost 100 years building that Ark. Scriptures says that the people teased him about it and said that he must have lost his mind. If I had been in Noah's shoes, I would have taken that time when they were gathered around to taunt me to tell them why I was building the Ark and to warn them about the coming flood waters. I think that is what he did at some point because one of the taunts was that they saw no evidence of water falling from the sky. 11. Why is it that theists tell me that I have to examine every part of the universe and not find God anywhere in order to say that there is no god, when in fact all I need to do is not find God in one location since he is supposed to be omnipresent? - Chris 11A. Theist probably tell you as a means of winning the argumnent or trying to frustrate yo the way they most likely feel frustrated when they use that tactic. . I equate it with children trying to out do each other when they play. "Did to", "Did not", "Did to!", "Did not!", "Did to to infinity!", "Did not even more than infinity and anything else there could ever be including anything you could ever say!" It is childish and Un-necessary. I don't care what someone esle thinks about my relationship with Jesus. Mainly because it is just that....my relationship. If you want Jesus in your life, that is no skin off me, and I would be glad to have someone else to share my faith with. But I don't require it. So I don't require a soap box and a megaphone and rope to tie people into the handy chairs provided for my preaching enjoyment. (that last line was dripping in sarcasm) 12. If the garden of Eden was a perfect paradise as xians claim, then why did Eve even want to eat the apple? Wouldn't a perfect place provide everything a person would want or desire and thus she would want nothing? - keyser soze 12A. The garden of Eden was a real place as far as I am concerned. According to the story Eve was curious. She displayed curiousity. She wondered about this tree in the midst of the garden. Alkthough I can't find any Scriptures that actaully state that, I have no reason not to atribute it to curosity. Adam didn't seem to notice that she had wandered away from him and didn't seem concerned enough to go looking for her, so that would imply to me that there were no dangers in the garden. Most preachers claim it was an apple tree because of the Adam's Apple in a male's throat. But Eve was the first to eat the fruit, so why don't female's have that protrusion as well? As I came to learn much later in Sunday School. the type of fruit was irrelevant. It was a test of loyalty. God already knew what they would do, but they did not. Just as Jesus had told Peter, that Peter would deny Christ 3 times before the rooster crowed twice. And Peter vehemently swore to Jesus' face that he would never do such a thing. Then later Peter did exactly what Jesus told him he would do, and Peter realized that yet again, Jesus was correct. It strengthened Peter's Faith in God, because he had been told ahead of time what would happen, and he was convinced that what he was told would never happen. And yet it happened anyway. This caused Peter to trust Jesus even more, because it meant that Jesus knew Peter better than Peter knew himself. Eve wanted what she was told she could not have. Adam wanted Eve more than God, because Adam sinned intentionaly. Eve was tricked because she didn't fully understand what God had told Adam about the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. Adam never botyered to explainit to Eve. So that after Eve ate the fruit, she did not realize that she was naked yet. It only occured to her after Adam took a bite. And then it sayds that God came down from Heaven to walk with Adam as was their customary practice at that time of the day. And God called out to Adam and asked Adam where he was. It wasn't becasue God din't know, it was God attempting to give Adam a chance to repent. God ended up giving Adam a total of 4 different chances to confess that he had done wrong by disobeying God and eating the fruit from the tree that God had told then not to eat from. God didn't force Adam to confess, he offered Adam 4 outs. Adam didn't take even one of them. So God confronted Adam with what he had done and Adam shifted the blame to Eve and to God who had give her to him. 13. Romans 6:23 says "For the wages of sin is death" Does this mean animals sin as well? Or uni-cellular organisms? Do plants sin? Because they all die as well, not just humans. Why does an animal die, if it doesn't know the moral difference between right and wrong? - Nef 13A. Animals and human beings are the same, in that we al die. The animals die and the plants and cellular organisms die because Sin entered into the World through the disobedience of Adam and Eve. And because they sinned, their Sin relinquished their authority over all the Earth to Satan. Thus Satan became the principality and power of the air and the lord of this World. Animals can be involved in Sin by Man. Animals don't actually sin, but they can be made to sin when they are used in Sinful ways by humans. It is the presence of sin in the world that causes death. The animals, plants, cellular organisms, etc., are all collateral damage in a world filled with sin. 14. Why would an all-powerful god become flesh in order to sacrifice himself to himself so that his creation might escape the wrath of himself. Couldn't god, in his infinite wisdom, come up with something a little more efficient? - Omphaloskeptic2@aol.com 14A. It was extremely efficient within the context of why He did it that way. The 10 Commandments are 10 Moral Laws. These 10 Moral Laws are universal. There isn't a human being anywhere that I can think of -that is sane- that enjoys being lied to, murdered, robbed, disrespected, slandered, cheated on by their spouse, falsely accused of something, etc. The Authority of God had already said that the 10 Moral Laws were perpetual and must be observed a certain way. The only way to forgive Sin was Sacrifice an innocent life (read: animal) ands shed it's blood. The intent behind this was that it was supposed to be so traumatic that it would instill a sense of preservation for life and help people to avoid sinning, so that they could preserve the life that was taken to correct what they had done in the firts place. God had said, blood for blood. And He said that because that was all mankind could understand. An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. You hurt me, so I get to hurt you back. And because God never goes back on what He says about the way things are to be handled, He couldn't get around His own Moral Laws which required that death would be the result of dsiobedience to the Moral Law. That ius why Jesus had to die. Jesus is also the Creator. The Creator had to die in order to settle the debt once and for all. A sinless perfect sacrifice had to be made to attone for the sins that His Creation had committed. They (us/we) could not do that becauae all of the poeple born after Adam and Eve were born tainted by sin. And that was why the plan was carried out the way it was. The animal scarifices were a temporary solution until the fulness of time had come. That was when the Savior of Mankind was born and grew up to be Jesus the Christ and then at the proper time He was sacrificed for His Creation to save us from our sins. The plan is foolishness to those who do not want to understand. 15. If we are the children of god, and yet we have never seen him, does that make us the bastards of god? Not to mention my mom didn't marry God- hyasynth_vii@yahoo.com 15A. A child is usually called a bastard or a bitch if they are born to a single Mother that is not and has not been married. Children that are adopted are not referred to as bastards or bitches because the the person that is adopting them is not their biological parent. God adpts everyone into His family that believe s that Jesus is the Only Begotten Som of God and the only way to Salvation. Thus, no bastards and no bitches. no illigitimate children because we are all adopted. 16. After 9/11 a lot of people have been tossing around "god bless america". Why do they keep saying this? From the looks of it god hasn't blessed anything. If god had blessed america, the 9/11 event would've never happened. Theists seem to give the answer of "everything is part of gods big plan". If everything is part of gods big plan, why are we after Bin Laden? Wasn't he and other terrorists just carrying out gods desired plan? So it seems that Bin Laden/ terrorism isnt our enemy , but god. - rsri13@hotmail.com 16A. They keep saying it because it is felt by those who say it, that the reason that America is doing so poorly is that it has forgotten to give God the proper level of praise He is due. And also because it makes them sound patriotic if they say it. Saying that if God blessed America that the September 11 attack would not have happened is like saying that if a butterfly flutters its' wings in China, there will be a Monsoon in Thailand. It is not as simple as a cause and affect. If doctor is qualified to perform surgery, does that guarantee that he will never lose a patient? I find many things to be in gross error about what Theist's say. I do not agree on a great many Theological points! I agree that we should not go after Osama Bin Laden under the guise of World Sovereignty. GWB needs to cool his jets. ( as in slow down a little ) 17. Christians say that God is NOT the author of confusion. Can you say, Tower of Babel? - The Screaming Monkeys 17A. The meaning of Author of Confusion has noting to do with languages, but more to do with doctrine. God teaches only one thing when it comes to doctrine. "Everybody should find whatever way they can to be as much of a blessing to other people as they possibly can be and do so because each person genuinely wants to be a blessing to other people without the need or desire to be thanked or congratulated or applauded, but only doing so, because in and of itsself, it is the right thing to do." 18. Christians will tell you that if a baby dies it goes to heaven. Why then are they so against abortion? All the child is being deprived of is the opportunity to go to hell. Either that or god expects unborn fetuses to accept Jesus. - dissolvedego@satannet.org 18A. There is another unSCriptural teaching. When a human being dies, aborted or not, they do not go to heaven or to hell. They do not go anywhere, unless they are placed in theground or cremated. The body without the breath is a dead soul. The teaching is to comfort people who do not want to think of their loved one as still being here on Earth with them, but just buried instead of sitting at the table or watching TV, or etc. 19. Why does God have emotions (jealousy, anger, sadness, love, etc.) if he is omnipotent, omniscient, and omnipresent? Emotions are reactionary, how can God react to us if he is all-knowing and has a divine plan? 19A. God made human being sin His own image. That means that God gave us the emotions that He has. He also gave us the ability to make choices, like He does. That does not mean that we are going to make the same choices or feel the same way He does. It is like going on a trip. You have all the maps, the route is all planned out and you have traveled this way hundreds of times before. There are no suprises and nothing unexpected happens. But you really like the spot you are going to because it is so relaxing and tranquil. When you get there you are not disappointed because it is exactly the way it has always been. You can relax abd luxuriate. Ominpotence = All Powerful. Omniscience = All Knowing. Omnipresence = Everywhere at Once. If you have a Hampster in a cage and you are larger than it is. The Hampster is in the cage and that is the extent of it's world. Unless you extend its' reach, it will not know that there is more to it's world than what it's cage holds for it. To that Hampster you are Omnipresent because you occupy its' entire world. To that Hampster you are Omnipotent because it can't begin to figure out how you make the clean water out of the dirty water or make the food appear from nowhere. To that Hampster you are Omniscient because that Hampster is not able to understand where you go or what you do when it can't see or hear you. Perspective is sometimes required when trying to understand something. 20. If Jesus Christ is allegedly the omnipotent god made flesh.....how is it that he did not inherit Original Sin? Remember, he is allegedly Man and god in union, and if truly man, as well as god, he must have inherited Original Sin. ???- His Lordship, Lucifer 20A. Sin came into the world through Adam. Jesus is sometimes referred to in Scriptures as the second Adam because He did what Adam failed to do. Adam had no Sin after Eve ate that fruit. Adam inherited Sin when He ate that fruit Eve held out to him. Sin entered int the world through one man and Adam and Eve were the first two human beings. That being the case, all people cam eout of them, and they were sinful when that happened. So that everyone born from the successful union of a male and a female inherits Original Sin (Disobedience) Sin = Disobedience. Mary was a virgin. Joseph was not yet her husband, when he found out she was pregnant. Jesus was the Father of Himself. All things were made by Him and nothing that was made, was made without Him. That means that Jesus caused one of Mary's eggs to drop down into her Uterus, where it began dividing and 9 months later she gave birth to Jesus. Because Jesus had not human father, He could not have inherited original sin through Joseph. And because He did not inherit Original Sin because he had not human father, He was born without Original Sin. He was born sinless. 21. If God is the father of Jesus, what is Jesus' DNA like? Does God have sperm? If he doesn't, where did Mary get the DNA from that was needed to make Jesus? This would make Mary asexual and Jesus would then be a girl. No Y chromosome. - chris_crispy@hotmail.com and Rebe2amble@aol.com 21A. God doesn't require Sperm. God the Creator is the Only Begotten Son of God the Father. Jesus is the Only Begotten Son of God the Father. Jesus DNA was whatever it was. But becasue He was a man, I can only assume that His Genetic Structure was XY. The Earth was spoken into existance. I hardly think that the "X" or the "Y" Chromosomes would be very hard considering that the Chromosome pairs were already in place without Eve or Adam being born. They were both created as full grown adults. They also probably didn't have belly buttons because their was no Embilical cord involved. 22. I never got the remote controlled car I prayed for as a child, but if I want to go to hell, will God grant my wish? .... Gee, thanks God! - dissolvedego@satannet.org 22A. You seem to have been hurt by those claiming and blaming Christians out there. God deos not give you what you pray for when you would satisfy your own lusts with it. Often times we don't get what we ask for because we ask with selfish motives. As far as whether or not you will go to the Lake of Fire (Hell is Ghenna, a Jewish fairy tale), that will be entirely between you and God and nobody (even if they are very pious and say that you will) can decide what will happen to you. That is a personal thing that is only between you and God. 23. In the "Last Days" Jesus is supposed to appear in the clouds. How are the Christians on the opposite end of the world going to see him? Are there going to be millions of Jesus'? What about people that work underground? - Rebe2amble@aol.com 23A. The seeing of Jesus will not necessarily have to be eye witness accounts. What makes anybody so dead sure that it won't be a televised event. News Centers broad casting the event world wide.? 24. A true Muslim man is not supposed to do anything that the prophet Muhammad didn't do. If one remembers there was a big debate over whether or not Muslims should eat Mangoes. If this is true why in the Hell were these Islamic Fundamentalists flying airplanes? 24A. I guess they must have justified it in their own minds. Also part of the Muslim belief is that if you die in a spectacular manner that takes many of the infidels with you that you will reach the after life and have many wives and many pleasures. I am not Muslim so I can't say why they could justify flying an airplane that obviously Muhammad had no access to. 25. If the earth was covered by a complete global flood, every living creature killed except those surviving on the ark, why are there many completely unique animal species in Australia that are found no where else indigenously on the earth? - mitch@mchsi.com 25A. Well...lets see. Noah builds a ship that can not be capsized regardless of which way the waves hit it or how big the waves are or how strong the waves hit. He does this without modern machinery or tools. It floats on the water for about 6 1/2 months finally coming to rest on Mount Ararrat. Well, maybe he passed along the instruction for ship building to his sons and they to their sonms and so on and so on, and the animals ended up being carried to that spot. Or purhaps all of the naturally occurring animal species that would ever exist (except those which are genetically altered in a lab) where on board the Ark and those animals thus survived. You have to remember that Sea creatures wouldn't have been adversely affected by a world wide flood. 26. If god is omniscient and "god is love," why would he allow a child to be conceived, knowing that that child would one day reject him and spend eternity burning in a lake of fire? If I were god, I wouldn't allow it; I have more love for humanity than he does. -- TiredTurkeyProd 26A. Are you willing to forgive someone that definitely does not deserve it? Will you forgive the person that cold bloodedly murders you family in a slow and painful manner, if that person asks you to and promises they will never do that to anybody else? If a child molester rapes and tortures an 8 month old infant to death, can you forgive that person if they ask you to do so? Would you? And what if that person was at large and went on a spree of killings and rapes against children under the age of 2 years old, and then was finally caught and sentenced to death. Would you cheer and rejoice and camp outside the wall of the prison on execution day? Would you pray and ask God to have Mercy on that man? If you said that you would not or could not forgive or pray for thsoe kinds of people....then you do not have the capacity to love without conditions. God has set down 10 Morals Laws and summed all of them up into one Universal Law. If you have underserved selfless love for others regardless of how they treat you or what they do directly or indirectly to you or you can find within you the compassion to pray sincerely and compassionately in their favor, that they wind up in heaven, even if there was a possibility that you would not, you fullfill the requirements of the Law and you are Christ-Like. Praying that God have Mercy on such terrible people is not the same thing as condoning what they do. 27. How can Heaven be utter bliss when you know that people you love and care about are burning in Hell? -- The Infidel Guy - ANSWER: - When we get to Heaven there will be no pain. God erases our memories of our loved ones that may be in Hell because he doesn't want to experience pain. 27A. That is one possibility. Of course the othe rpossibility is that by the time we get there and everything is aid and done, everyone will fully understand why things have to be carried out in a certain way. And also because nobody that ends up in the Lake of Fire will be there ignorantly. Those that go there will know that they had many chances and decided for one reason or another not to take advantage of them. They will not be able to blame anybody, or pass the buck. They will fully understand and realize that this is their rightly deserved reward based upon their choices before they died. And also that they will not be tortured for all eternity, but that their mortal bodies will be consumed by the fire. The fire never goes out, but the mortal bodies in it are eventually destroyed never to reanimate or exist again. 28. Revelations takes place on Earth. What if we colonize the moon or Mars or inhabit a self-sustaining space station? Do we escape "judgement"? -- Ray Sommers ANSWER: God will get them too. - Jim 28A. Nobody is going to have anyplace to hide or escape Judgement. 29. Many people believe in ghosts. My question is, "Why is it that people see only ghosts of people or pets? Why not Neanderthals or better yet dinosaurs? That would be one hell of a ghost to see a Brontosaurus parading downtown. 29A. My own beliefs on what Ghosts are is not in keeping with what others say they are. I believe they are all fallen angels pretending to be what they are not for the purpose of watering down what the Bible says about the afterlife and mortality and immortality. 30. If god did open the sea so that Moses and the jews could run away from Egypt, why didn't he open the concentration camps gates? -- Guilherme Hoffmann 30A. The only reason I can think of is that where Egypt was concerned, He had sent Moses back to Egypt to free the Israelites from Slavery and to bring them to a Land flowing with Milk and HOney (prosperity. Other than that, I can't begin to guess. I do find it amusing that God is never thanked when something goes well for people, but is the first to blame whe things go bad. 31. Why are we granted free will if our duty in this life to our god is to do as we are told? We are to follow rules upon threat of punishment. Is that free will? -- Gandalfs Nephew 31A. If we decide not to follow God's rules, we will be following Satan's rules. Either way, the Free Will we were given was so that we could make a distinction between one or the other. We have the capacity to weigh the options. Weighing the options involves making a list of the pros and cons and deciding which things we want the most. If we work we have a boss who tells us what to do, and what will happen if we fial to do it. The ounishment might be a loss of employment. If we are the boss, we have suppliers, and customers, and property managers, and sales representatives, etc. Life is filled with do's and don'ts. This choice or that choice. This rule or that rule. Even anarchy has to have rules or it couldn't function. The rules in Anarchy are be random, chaotic, as unpredictable as possible and destructive. God gave us a Free Will because He wants us to love him because we want to and not because we are afraid not to. 32. Isaiah 40:28 says, "...the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is he weary?" If this is true, why did God rest on the seventh day? 32A. Because it was to be a time when those who believe what He said to do was the right way to live, would have a special day on which to gather toigether and worship Him. And whe ittalks about Rest, if you will recall, rest is not always the same for everyoine. Whe I rest, I sit in a lazy boy recliner and listen to classical music. When my roomates rest they go out and play a sports related game. Jesus healed people on the Seventh day because healing was not considered work, but it did bring God Glory andthat is why it was okay. As long as God is Glorified, what you aredoing is okay. Consider this scenario: You decide to have a house warmimg party. You invite a few of your friends and one of them brings a frind without asking you if it is okay. At first this friend is okay. But after a few drinks they get loud and obnoxious. Do you feel that under the circumstances that you should have the right to ask that person to leave? What if this person thought you were being a rude and inconsiderate host, and told you so loudly to your face so that everyone could hear? Would you be justified in asking that person to leave? If you answered yes to any one of these, then there should be no difficulty understanding why God can rest on any day He wants to. It is His Creation. He can do as He wants. And just as that obnoxious guest has not right to dictate to you what you can do in your house, we as Creations have no right to dictate the way God should act in His house. 33. Everytime I go to a funeral the preacher and guests always say that "God" has called that person to Heaven or they say, "God said it was time to come home", or some such variation. If God is calling these people "home", why are we putting the murderers of these victims in prison? How can we punish a man or woman for doing God's will? 33A. The statement is meant to sooth the loss of a loved one and is not meant to be taken literally. Although there are some preachers that do believe it and teach it. Even though the Bible does not support that teaching or claim. 34. Did Adam and Eve have belly buttons? 34A. No. They couldn't have; seeing that they were the full adult versions made from dirt and a rib (respectivcely). 35. Traditional Jews utilize Yahweh or (YHWH) as Gods name because his true name is supposedly unpronounceable. My question is, how can it be possible that people are using the Lords name in vain when nobody really knows what his name is? 35A. Using the Lord's name in vain is not cussing. That is just rude. The actual origin means not to make an oath or a pledge or to promise or to swear to God that you will do something and the not doing it. Or to swear to God and while doing so, just be doing it to get this annoying person or situation over as quickly as possible so you can get back to what you were doing before getting interrupted. Using the Lord's name in vaiun means to make a promise "as God is my witness" that you are gong to do a specified thing and then not do it. 36. Why is God predominately called a "he"? 36A. I don't actually know this one. I would suppose that it might be tied to the concept of a male dominated society or Monarchy and that might have someting to do with it. 37. If you are born retarded, then does that mean your "soul" is retarded as well?-- Matt Edwards 37A. If you had a soul (which the Bible does not say anyone does) more than likely not. Retardation is a physical impairment. That is, it occurs in the tangable areas of the brain. Places that have been subjected to Cerebro-mapping. Whereas the soul is suppose to be an insubstantial entity that is prevented from leaving the body by means of a silver cord of energy that allows the sould to travel to the astral plane with the right types of training and discipline. 38. Planet Earth, we are reliably informed, is several billion years old. The last dinosaur expired some 70 million years ago. Homo sapiens, the only form of life according to christian doctrine, that is of any interest to their god is not more than 100,000 years old. How in the name of all that is reasonable did the judaeo-christian god occupy himself for all those millions - billions of years until humankind came along to keep him so busy ? - Trish Huesken /John Perkins 38A. The only answer I can give is one that you have already predetermined that you will not accept. But I will give it anyway, because you did ask, and there is always the tiniest percentile of chance that I could be mistaken about your unwillingsness to accept all the information available before making a final conclusion on the matter, as Scientist are always saying they do. I do not believe that the Earth is older than about 10,000 years old at the oldest. I believe that all of the Dinosaurs and other fossilized records existed at the same time as man. But that man has always been in his present form of Homo sapiens. That Neanderthals did exist and were most likely mongoloids or the result of inbreeding. I realize that the fossil record is Carbon dated as being a specific age, but a "live" freshly caught Mullousk was also carbon dated to be over 50 million years old. So I don't put much stock in the methods that rare used for dating, as they are grossly inaccurate enough of the time to make me a skeptic of the Flat Earth Sciences that "seem" to be employed by those who worship Evolution. 39. If man is modeled after "God" does that mean "God" has a penis? -- Terry Clark 39A. Man is not modeled after a corporeal flesh and blood God, but after a Moral and Emotion feeling Perfect Savior and Creator that Loves without conditions. The church is the usual culprit that attaches a ton of rules and regulations onto the observance and worship of God. Whereas God is only interested in sharing His love unconditionaly with all people everywhere and everywhen. God is a Spirit and those who worship Him must worship Him in His Spirit and in His Truth. 40. Why can't we wait until we get to Heaven to worship God? 41A. Ask yourself a different question. If you don't want to worship him now, while your life span is drastically shorter, then what will suddenly make you look forward to worshipping Him for eternity when you do get to heaven? 41. What is the purpose of prayer? What can a finite being on Earth possibly tell an omnipotent, omniscient deity that he doesn't know already? 41A. Prayer is not for God, but to discipline the one who prays so that the one who prays will get stronger in Faith by reaching out in Faith and saying prayers for other people. When a persom prays for another person, it causes that person praying to alter their perspective a bit so that it becomes possible to see the situation for a different point of view. Prayer strengthens the prayer and helps to discipline the prayer so that they can endure whatever life or Satan tries to throw their way. Doing it a lot also has the fringe benefit of making the person who prays more caring and compassionate because they have gotten into the habit of thinking of the needs of others before their own needs. 42. If God has a plan for you, and his plan cannot be thwarted, do you really have a free will? 42A. Yes. I will attempt to explain it this way. You have come into an inheritance. You want to use some of the money to remodel your newly inherited estate. In college you took a smattering of archetechture. You decide to save money by doing most of the remodelling yourself. A famous archtecht finds out that you are intedning to remodel an old estate. He finds out abit the structural plans and draws up an even better design which has taken into acount areas that you could not afford to include in yours. However after looking over his plans, you realize that not only has he designed a plan which incorporates everything you had planned to do, but also includes many areas you simply could not afford and at a fraction of the cost that your plans would have cost. After a few days deliberation, you decide to use your own plans. God made a plan. You can reject it if you want to. But try to keep in mind, that He knows more about things than anybody and it is highly likely that it is the doctrines and traditions of some church denomination that has clouded your perceptions of what a real follower of Christ is supposed to be like. If you have met Christians who were real jerks (to be polite) and you just couldn't stand them, and have decided to avoid being a Christian because it turns out bad for those who do so, don't let that be why. It would make about as much sense as sayng that because I I once bought a pair of brand A shoes and had a bad experience with brand A, I will never again buy brand A. 43. If the "soul" is everything that is you (the essence) then how come when someone gets into an accident, they lose memories, functions and can be paralyzed? Why should "brain damage" matter if this "soul" is so important? -- Matt Edwards 43A. Exactly! The reason is rather simple. The word in the Aramaic is Genesis that is translated as "soul" is a word that literally means flesh. So it should literally read: "...And the Lord God breathed into his nostrils the breath of life and man became living flesh." 44. Christians like to talk about what Jesus sacrificed. If Jesus was the all-knowing God, then when he died" didn't he know he'd be in heaven in less than 3 days to rule? If Jesus is alive and ruling today, what did he sacrifice? -- Cyndy Hammond 44A. Jesus is the Creator. Jesus made Mankind. Jesus laid down His life for what He had Created and died to save us from original sin. It does not matter if Jesus knew what would happen. Those He died for did not. Jesus told Peter that Peter would deny Him 3 times before the roster had crowed 2 times. Peter swore to Jesus that he would nevere do such a thing. BUt when the time came for Petere to stand with Jesus, he was to frightened and he ended uo denying Jesus 3 times and after the last denial to save his own hide, the rooster crowed 2 times. Peter realized that Jesus had been correct and that strengthend his Faith in the long run. Sin is exactly the same thing as Rebellion and also the exact same things as Disobedience. Adam didn't listen to God way back then and very few people listen to God now. I can't speak for anybody else, but as far as I am concerned Jesussacfriced Himself for me to demonstrate the endless Love He has for me and I appreciate Him all the more for it. 45. If the omnipotent God wants us to know him, why doesn't everyone know him? 45A. Because not everyone wants to know Him. And God will not violate a person's Free Will to dominate their thoughts and force anyone to know Him if they do not want to. 46. Where is Hell and Heaven? It was believed that heaven was in the sky until modern astronomers showed otherwise. 46A. Hell is in a few Jewsih fairy tales and Mythologies that deal with the state of the dead after death. Heaven is in the Nothern sky. Astronomers have stated that in the Northern sky there is a section of darkness that they have been unable to explain. It is devoid of stars and that it measures about 2-3? Light Years across. It appears to be empty. 47. If God's design is so great, why do men have nipples? 47A. I would guess that it is because God made Adam that way and Adam had nipples before Eve did. But I suppose the simplest reason is that the lack of or presence of nipples or other anatomical characteristics has nothing what-so-ever to do with His plan of Salvation. You sound like you have a nipple fetish. 48. How did Adam and Eve know it was wrong to disobey God if they hadn't eaten of the tree of knowledge of good and evil) yet? You can't blame them if they didn't know. 48A. At first, God didn't blame them. God came down to walk with Adam in the cool part of each day (the morning). After Adam had taken a nite from the Fruit, Adam suddenly realized he was naked. [think of how you feel when you get caught doing something you know you shouldn't have been doing and were trying to get away with] most people just want to get out of there or hide. Well, Adam had just taken a bite out of that Fruit. Both of their eyes were opened and they knew good from evil. God actually gave Adam about 4 opportunities to admit that he had disobeied God. Finally God simply asked him why he ate the fruit from the forbidden tree. That was when Adam blammed Eve and God. But Adam didn't admit that he had done anything wrong. Like a cvhild caaught misbehaving, Adam was intent in trying to get out of punishment. Remember that Adam's eyes were open now to what he had done and he was afraid. Also, keepo in minmd, that the serpent was able to trick Eve, but the Scripture states that ADam was not tricked. Adam sinned intentionally, and then passed the buck instead of admitting when he was in the wrong. 49. If God has such a tremendous problem with uncircumcised penises, why did he make man with foreskin in the first place? 50A. I don't know, but because He later told Abraham to circumcise himself to seperate himself from those who were not part of a new covanent, I can only assume that it has something to do with seperating your skin signifying a cutting away of old ways and a replacing with new ways. And even though most circumcisions are done when children are very young, Abraham's was self done when he was in his 80's. It probably took a while to heal and was probably very painful and/or uncomfortable so that Abraham couldn't push the new covanent out of his mind until it had a chance to get into his long term memory. 50. If God is all-knowing is there anything we can do to shock him? If not, why does he react so often to what we do? 50A. I do not believe that the term "All Knowing" means what preachers have said it means. I thnk it simply means that there are no choices that can be made for which God is unaware of the Consequences. Also, think of a father and mother with a new born baby. They know that their child is probably going to crawl for a while until the child learns to stand. And eventually learn to walk. The parents already know that the child is going to have moments where the child gets hurt. So the parents will try to minimize the damage sustained as best as possible, to protect their child. When that child takes that firdst step, Mom and Dad knew it would happen but they are encourageing to that child so that the child will continue to take more steps. I look at God that way, He tries to guide me and He rejoices when I get something right because He wants me to be the best that I can in Him. So by rejoicing and/or reacting God is encouraging me to reach farther and achieve more. 51. If reincarnation is real, why is it that our population is growing? Where would the extra "souls" come from? -- Matt Edwards 51A. I do not believe in Reincarnation because if we reincarnate than we have more than one chance to live a righteous good life and be pleasing to God. If that is real, then Jesus died in vain. So I reject reincarnation because it goes contrary to what Christianity teaches. 52. Why does the omnipotent, omnipresent God need help from man or angels to spread his word or do acts? 52A. He doesn't. God uses Men and Angels because the spreading and sharing of His word in unconditional passive love, changes those who spread it in a postive and uplifting manner. 53. How did Jesus ascend to Heaven in the Flesh when Paul says that flesh cannot inherit the kingdom of Heaven? (1 Cor.15:50) 53A. Jesus did not ascend to Heaven in the flesh. Jesus was solid whle acended, but His body was Glorified. It had been transformed. If you will recall the Disciples were gathered together in that upper room with the door locked and the windows bared, and Jesus was suddenly there with them. How did He get in there? He has a very different kind of body. 54. If God wants us to live right and choose "the good," why did he create evil? (Isaiah 45:6,7) Not to mention he already knows which people are not going to choose "the good" so why create those people in the first place? It seems that many people are born to go to Hell. 54A. God didn't cReate anybody but Adam and Eve. Everybody that has been born since Adam and Eve are the result of men not being able to controil where their groins went and women not kicking the men in their packages. A whole lot of fornication going on. Take that Scripture you gave above an dmake sure that what yu are saying applies. I read that reference and the "evil" it refers to is that the the Lord God allows certain things to occur in order to show the nations of the Earth that He is Sovreign and has no equal. 55. I hear Christians all the time speaking of a war between Heaven and Hell, if this is true does God have limitations of power? Man only conducts wars because of our limitations of power and foresight. God has both all-power and all-knowledge, no reason for war. 55A. If you had studied before you made such a declaration, you would have seen why there was a war. God gave Lucifer (Satan) several chances to come to Him to be forgiven. Lucifer corrupted Himself because of his beauty. God knew that there were risks and He knew the risks involved in granting Free Will to finite creatures. God wanted His Creations to love Him and worship Him because they wanted to and not because they were afraid not to. 56. The Bible is full of phrases beginning with, "and the lord saw". Didn't he know before hand? 56A. Those phrases wewre so that mortals would know what they Lord saw. God is infinite, we are finite. The Bible was not written for God but for believers. 57. The Bible states that in the beginning God created the Heavens and the Earth. It says nothing about the Universe. Some would say "the Heavens" was space, if so, when did God create Heaven? If "the heavens" is the spiritual Heaven, when did God create Space? 57A. The heavens are all things that are not the Earth except for Heaven because it was and is where ever God is. 58. If Christians say they know God exists and that he will work miracles, what do they need faith for? Faith is not knowing. 58A. Faith is the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen. Without Faith it is impossible to please God, for to please God you must first believe by Faith that He is God. If faith were not knowing then Scientists would never know anything, as at some point they must extend a small amount of faith toward an experiment in order to repeat the steps and varify the resulting claims for that test. 59. Brain transplants will eventually be possible, where would the soul be then? 59A. If the body of John Doe had a healthy brain and it was a donor match to Joe Shmoe. The Soul of John Doe would be on the operating table while the brain of John Doe went into the skull cavity of Joe Shmoe. Then the doctors would most likely take the Soul of John Doe downstairs to see if he had any other parts they could harvest from his Soul. The Soul is the flesh and blood body. The solid corporeal mass. It is not a non-substantial entity or consciousness that departs the body at death. 60. If God really wants us to know him, why doesn't he place the knowledge of him in our minds at birth? The same way many theists believe that God implants our sense of right and wrong in us a right birth. 60A. He does. It is called Faith. But by the time we get old enough to be self aware, sin is already wreaking havoc on most of us. God does put Himself in our minds at birth. But that is not a guarantee that we will automatically lock step and fall into line like good little automatons as soon as we become self aware. So God gently tries to guide us rto places wher e we can get to know Him better. Places, areas, circumstances, and people. 61. If God was Jesus' father (not Joseph), then why is Jesus' family tree traced through Joseph? -- Cyndy Hammond 61A. Because the promise of a Savior was made to Eve back when they were still in the Garden of Eden. and God kept reminding the Israelites about the Messiah all throughout their lineages and history. And since the time line of human development was traced through family lines when settling disputes the family line was also proof of inheritance rights. The Jews would not have accepted Him even as a holy man or teacher or scholar if he did not have the family tree that He claimed to have. Some of the things He spoke could be attributed only to people of a specific family lineage and in order for him to say those things with the proper amonut of authority He had to be a member of that lineage. 62. Christians say that since we and our universe are an intelligent design, that we must have been created by god. But then god is an intelligent design also, so who created him? -- Rathish Sriparavastu 62A. The problem with your question is that it assumes that God has a beginning. Mankind is incapable of imagining the existance of anything without the prior existance of what brought it forth. And the reason for this is because that is all humans have ever known. If followed back far enough there has always been something that was before something else. Our mental processes are so engrained with this concept that it is next to impossible to rethink or refocus our mind in a new direction which would provide the most likely answer. Mankind is Linear and finite. God is infinite and beyond measure. This is the way I see it. God is THE source. He is the start of all things. The beginning literally. There is nothing that brought Him into being, because He is all powerful. Meaning that if anything had brought Him into being, then God would not be all powerful. 63. Why does almost every description of God also equal non-existence? (i.e. incorporeal, immaterial, ineffable, unfathomable, incomprehensible, etc.) 63A. Because God exists independant of all thet we are capable of comprehending. 64. Why can't God appear before everyone at the same time? Everyone in the world would then know he exists and not believe. And please, don't say he already tried that. Surely a God knows exactly what to do to convince a measly human of his existence. 64A. God can not convince a Free Willed mind that is closed to the possibility that He exists. It would make no difference to those who refused to believe in parlor tricks and clever Computer Graphics and Special Effects. And if God did appear, it would negate the need for Faith. In other words, the question you are asking sounds like a subtle way of dodging the issue for whether ot not He exists. I believe He does, but I am not the average so called Christian who slams my faith down your throat. I am just trying to answer your listed questions. 65. According to the New Testament Matthew 5:17 says "Do not suppose that I have come to abolish the Law and the prophets; I did not come to abolish, but to complete. I tell you this: so long as heaven and earth endure, not a letter, not a stroke, will disappear from the Law until all that must happen has Happened." So since Jesus has not returned the "Law" is still in effect, so why aren't we still burning witches, stoning adulterers and disobedient children, killing homosexuals, ostracizing people that work on the Sabbath (nurses, doctors etc.), flinging blood onto the horns of the alter, pulling off the heads of small birds, and don't forget human sacrifice to God (Leviticus 27 P.28 )? -- Sheila L. Chambers 65A. 66. If believers can accept that a God has always been here. Why can't they accept an equally plausible argument that the non-conscious Universe has always been here in some form? 66A. The only reason I can think of, is that the plausible argument that the non-conscious Universe could have always been here in some form would remove a portion of the events that those who believe in the Bible say happened and that the sequence of events would be thrown out of kilter as well. 67. If the story of Noah's ark is true. What did Noah do with all the feces? There wasn't even adequate ventilation. Hell, what did the meat-eating animals eat? And where were the dinosaurs and Unicorns in all this? 67A. Well according to the Scriptures themselves, God brought the appropraite numbers of animals to Noah to put into the Ark. Then at some point, I don't understand why God couldn't simply have them sleep alot reducng their frequency of eating. As far as the Dinosaurs are concerned they were already where they were going to go and any aquatic ones would swim around a bit. 68. What loving god accepts sacrifices of his own creations? especially his son? -- Reverend Heresy 68A. A God that Loves unconditionally and would sacrifice a part of Himself to have us to where we are capable of living the way He says we can if all we learn to do is Love without prejudgment. Animals are for food and clothing. Domesticated animals are often times made into person prisoners and we call them pets. 69. Was Jesus God in human form? If so was God saving us from himself. Kinda selfish eh? That's what the Christians unknowingly proclaim when they acknowledge that Jesus is God. 69A. According to Scriptures alone and not any other source material, Jesus is the Word made into flesh to dwell among us in our form. Now, the Word is interesting because God spoke all that exists into exitance. Was Jesus God in humn form? No. Jesus is the Only Begotten Son of God full of Grace and Truth. The Word was made flesh and dwelled among us and He was called Jesus, by Mary. I don't say that Jesus is God, I say that Jesus is the Creator. God is the Father, Jesus is the Son and the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of Christ. 70. Many Christians claim that man can't judge God's actions as evil because he has a divine plan and is GOD. This being the case, then it would stand to reason that one cannot judge whether God is good either. Wouldn't God be ammoral? It appears that morality is a subjective concept that varies from culture to culture. Therefore, how we judge God either way? 70A. Anybody can judge God if they want to, But what purpose does judgement serve if the sentence can't be carried out against the one found guity? If mankind Judges God and declares that God no longer exists does that mean that God must now disassemble Himself and cease to exist? All I am asking is, even if a person or group Judgeded God and found Him guilty as charged, How would any kind of sentence be carried out when He will be around long after everyone who judged Him is dead and gone? 71. Why would a god make non-believers and punish them for being what he made them to be? -- Cyndy Hammond 71A. God doesn't make people. people make people. God hasn't made anybody since He made Adam and Eve. They were the first and only two He made, until He formed Jesus in Mary's womb. He then granted them teh ability to procreate and that is how the rest of the people got here. The question you asked above is one that I asked once. Not in so many words but about the same. Non-believers have the capacity to choose between variables. Thus they could choose at some point to believe that God is real. Why would God punish a non-believer if they refused to accept the free gift that coimes form what Jesus did on that cross? Well, because for ne, God made every effort that could be made "within" the framework that He set in motion to carefully construct a precisely engineeered timeline for the sole purpose of creating a generational family lineage and time line so that Jesus could be introduced on time and according to specific prophecies. non-believers must call themselves that for a reason. What do they not believe in? Is it the nature of Jesus that they deny. That would imply -if it were true- that They are denying His afilliation with the God head and what He did. I am not qualified to make those declarations. 72. What is God's plan? The omniscient, omnipotent God doesn't need plans. Plans are a limitation of power. We make plans because we are not all-knowing nor all-powerful. In order for God to have a plan, or design, is to make him as humanistic as you or I. Limited. 72A. God makes plans for those who believe in Him and follow Him. The plans are His design shown to us, and then put into ptactice by those who believ. The plans of God are revealed as we grow and become better acquainted with Him. 73. Many people believe there is a soul. If you can supposedly see, smell, taste, touch and hear without a body then why do you have one? Wouldn't a body be a waste? Why aren't we just "souls" floating around in the first place? -- Matt Edwards 73A. I used to believe in an intangible soul, but I was reading about the last days, and how when Jesus returns a second time He is coming to get the people who have died believing in Him, and gather together all the inhabitants that have not yet died and take them into the clouds to live with him 1000 years. Or some such thing. Any way, my point is that what convinced me that the Body does not contain a soul is that the main stream teaching about a non corporeal consciousness teaches that when you die your body goes into the ground. And the breat goes back to go d who gave it. 74. How could the all-merciful/loving God watch billions of his children burn over and over again for eternity? 75A. He doesn't. That is a doctrine perpetuated by Hell Fire and Brimestone,scare them into heaven preachers. The Lake of Fire is called the second death because it is a final end all solution. The fire will never die, but what was in it will. 75. Before reading and writing were invented (5000BC), on what basis did God use to judge the people who died before the Hebrew and Greek text (BIBLE) were written? -- agent2g@aol.com 75A. The Umin and the Thumin. A single smooth black stione and a single smooth white stone. The white stone was "Yes" he black stone meant "No" 76. How could souls burn? Aren't souls non-physical entities? I've heard of spiritual burns before. Sheesh, God sure goes through a lot of effort just to torture the children he loves. How can one hold to the barbaric belief that something has to DIE in order to appease a god for a bad deed? -- Nickolaus Wing 76A. They are made of flesh and blood so they can burn. No; souls are not non-physical entities. Death and rebirth is the way of nature. A seed must die before it grows into a fruit tree, or stalk of corn. I do not expect a person who has decided that God tortures His children to be able to undertsnd what I am saying, so I do not expect you to. 77. Christians always say that everything is part of gods big plan. If everything is already planned out by god, what difference does it make if they pray or not? -- Rathish Sriparavastu 77A. God knows more than I do. I pray so that I can gain self discipline and strengthen my Faith in Him. 78. Why does SIDS (Sudden Infant Death Syndrome) occur? Why would God allow a baby to live for such a short period of time? Why not just let them not be born in the first place? -- Terry Clark 78A. God didn't hold the mother down while a man impregnated her. A baby is the result of biological factors that can not normally be avoided when people engage in unprotected sex. If you have decided to not believe in God because the millions of daily choices have consequences and you can't pin the blame on someone around you for fear of a law suit, ask your self why God tolerates your existance. I'll tell you why. He loves you and the baby with SIDs and everybody else. 79. Why didn't god forbid Adam & Eve to eat from the other magic tree? - damon@internetwis.com http://www20.brinkster.com/atheology/news_and_updates.htm 79A. The Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil was not magical. The Fruit was simply fruit of some kind. But the fruit it self was not magical. Had it been magical, Adam would not have needed to eat of it for Eve to realize she was naked. God only required one Tree to test their loyalty. God gave them dominion over the planet and everything on it. God gave them an easy life. God gave them 99.9% of everything asking that He be allowed to retain only one tree for himself. He then told them that if they ever ate any fruit from it that they would die. .