Just because you don't understand something does not mean it isn't true.
Yes, we have free will even when it comes to God's law. We have free will to choose between good and evil.
No one on earth chooses to follow the complete Law of the Bible. Do you consider all people evil or is it OK just to pick and choose certain passages in the Bible?
Of course that doesn't mean there aren't consequences.
Consequences for what? Be specific.
Virtue is the greatest organizing principle known to mankind.
Yet in traditional Christian angelology, Virtue is the seventh highest order of the ninefold celestial hierarchy.
It promotes order and harmony. Successful behaviors will naturally lead to success. Lack of virtue, not so much. Failed behaviors will naturally lead to failure.
Ones interpretation of success and failure are different from others. There are people on this planet who are ruthless, corrupt, greedy and irresponsible and yet they are idolized by many.
So while we are free to choose between the two, our actions will have consequences.
Like I said. the consequences are always different. Look at it this way. Most people consider slavery to be wrong. Today owning a slave would be considered a failed behaviour. There was once a time for a lot of Christian devotees when owning a slave was considered a successful behaviour.
He would not give us a way to figure out when we were doing good versus doing bad and rationalizing we were doing good.
But you do know when you are doing good without God. How many people throw rocks at people for growing improper rows in their garden. Do we stone to death anyone who works on Sunday? Of course not. We as humans figured that these bible laws were wrong on our own.
Of course, I can understand your confusion in reading the Bible. The Bible is effectively a how to Book. How to live and how not to live. It can be confusing. It is also an account of a people who cycled between remembering His ways and forgetting His ways and what happens to them as they bounce back and forth.
Get back to me on this when you cover the part above about working on Sundays.
Birth is a forgetting and death is a remembering.
No. Birth is the beginning of life and death is the end of life. It's really that simple.
As you approach death, it will be made clear to you that He was always the matrix. Science tells us that the energy and matter that make up you was created when the universe was created.
Of course I will keep telling myself that because I believe it. It isn't your time yet and it may never be your time. No one knows but God.
I'm not here to change your beliefs. In fact I'm happy that you are comfortable with your beliefs. Most atheists were once religious themselves, so to say it may not be their time in condescending.
Of course not. It is not possible to follow God's Ways. His ways are higher than our ways. We are imperfect broken creatures trying to become adopted sons. The real problem is people not reading the Bible in its proper context. They read it like it was written yesterday with yesterday's knowledge and worldview. But if they read it in its proper context of 3000 and 2000 years ago, it would be different. Additionally, people do not appreciate that the Bible was written by men who were inspired by God. The nearest I can come to understanding that is that they were given visions which they did not fully understand and were allowed to put in into words and ways that man 3000 and 2000 years ago could understand. They were given great latitude in recording the laws which were not to the standard of God's laws but were heads and shoulders above their contemporaries of their day. So to say it is the infallible Word of God is probably not entirely true. So even though I do not believe that all of the laws written in the OT were what God necessarily intended, the reality is that what intention He did intend for us still challenges us today to meet. One final thought on the OT. Historians will tell you that the continued 3000 year existence and success of a people disproportionate to their numbers is inexplicable. When asked for the secret of their success, they give all credit to God. They don't see anything special about themselves. So their "chosenness" is the least arrogant answer they can make. I attribute their success to their standards which naturally lead to success. It is very Darwinian in that regard. Yes, they have cycled between remembering and forgetting God and His ways, but their journey and consequences are meant to serve as an example of how to live and how not to live for all.
I am not talking about afterlife consequences. I am talking about consequences of the here and now. Man knows right from wrong and when he violates it rather than abandoning the concept he rationalizes that he didn't. There is a law of compensation at work that allows man to tell the difference between doing right and rationalizing that he is doing right when he is really doing wrong. That law of compensation is called outcomes. We are allowed to make whatever errors we want, but since error cannot stand, it will eventually fail, and when it does if we are honest and paying attention, we will come to know the error of our way and repent which is really just a fancy word for transforming ourselves and progressing as human beings. It is very Darwinian. Consciousness is evolving just like every other phase of the evolution of matter before it and they are all controlled by the Laws of Nature which came into existence when space and time and the matter that makes up you came into existence. Violations of physical laws are immediate. Violations of moral laws are not, but just like there are consequences for violating physical laws of nature there are consequences for violating moral laws of nature.
I don't care what Christian angelology says. I don't even know what Christian angelology is. What I do know and what you should know is that two honest people will always have a better relationship than two dishonest people. Not some of the time... all of the time. The same goes for thankful versus thankless and loving versus hateful and humble versus arrogant or kind versus cruel or forgiving versus vindictive, etc. No some of the time all of the time. So you tell me if you don't believe that virtue is the greatest organizing principle or not.
Do you really believe it matters what other people believe is the measure of success. I can tell you this with absolute scientific certainty... success does not lead to happiness. Happiness leads to success. Like I said before, virtue is a successful behavior. Doing the right thing, the right way for the right reason will naturally lead to success in all things. Mind you I did not say utopia. There's no such thing in a world of broken human beings. There will always be trials, tribulations, obstacles, challenges and storms. The question is whether one will have peace through the storm.
I believe that the spirit of God is within everyone, so I don't dispute people can do good. I dispute they can do good without God. I have already explained to you the OT and context. I don't need to do it again. You are free to see them anyway you want. I seriously could not care less.
I explained what I meant in more detail to CA in post # 414 on the slight differences in the form of God in the major religions, but similarities on the teaching of His Ways. If you can't figure it out from that I doubt I can help you understand it, but to suffice it to say asking us to understand the nature of God and all see it the same way is akin to asking ants to understand us.
You are absolutely right that just wanting something to be true does not make it true. Most people don't believe what they do because they believe in what they do, they believe it because they believe that they can't be wrong. There are very few exceptions to this. The only way to see objective truth is to die to self and have no preference for an outcome or consequences to one's self. This is the 6th stage of the morality progression as defined through science. Only then can someone see reality for what it is. We're great at seeing the reality of others but no so good at seeing our own. This goes back to the whole rationalization thingee I spoke of earlier.
The Commandment to keep the Sabbath holy was written for men, not God. We were told to do as the Original Worker did, to create for 6 days and then rest. We are supposed to get so much satisfaction from creating that we would need to be told to take a break from it. Unfortunately, most people see creating as a chore, a drudgery, something they do for money, something they do to get to the weekend. Those people are dead already. No wonder they hate living.
Believe what you want but conception is the beginning of life and death is the end of life. The matter and energy that make up who you are was created 14 billion years ago. That is a scientific fact.
Condescending is a term that has a negative connotation. That's not how that word was first used. Yes. I am condescending to you, but not how you believe I am.
