Do we need to fear God?

[ding]

I very seldom report anything.
I think it's in all Christians' best interests to keep this religion section clean. And as an atheist it's in my interest too.

I think you should report it. Then we will both find out. The reality of the situation is that you want to attack the religious beliefs of others. Since you have no religious beliefs the only thing anyone can attack is your motivation to attack the religious beliefs of others. And that's exactly what I will continue to do.

Robber birds who only defend their nests from attacks of other robber birds are at a considerable disadvantage. Which is why they don't do that. I'm afraid you have to defend your nest just like I have to defend my nest.

 

[Stann]

As it SHOULD be.

If you're not HATED by the he world, you are part of this world. A Christians citizenship is in the coming Kingdom of God

That is crazy. You are a physical being in this world and if you are a Christian you were appointed a caretaker of this world. Like it or not, government protects us from one another; otherwise there would be chaos, literal hell on earth. I know that is what some crazy Christians want, but are you one of those crazies ?

 

[ding]

That is crazy. You are a physical being in this world and if you are a Christian you were appointed a caretaker of this world. Like it or not, government protects us from one another; otherwise there would be chaos, literal hell on earth. I know that is what some crazy Christians want, but are you one of those crazies ?

Everyone is called to be good stewards, not just Christians. Many aren't which applies to everyone, not just Christians. Government at best is a necessary evil and sometimes they are an unnecessary evil.

 

[Ace Nova]

The following text proves we are to fear Almighty God with a terrorizing fear that compels us to obedience. Fear and love cannot be separated. If we love, we fear doing anything that would separate us from the object of our affection. If an earthly father is a strict disciplinarian, children fear him because they fear to displease him and they fear the punishment or chastisement he will enforce. God is a strict Disciplinarian and He demands obedience. This is the generation of apostasy--people are unrepentant, walking in their own ways because they have no fear of God.
There is no fear of God before their eyes. (Rom 3:18)
Heb 12:25-29 KJV
25 See that ye refuse not him that speaketh. For if they escaped not who refused him that spake on earth, much more shall not we escape, if we turn away from him that speaketh from heaven:
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26 Whose voice then shook the earth: but now he hath promised, saying, Yet once more I shake not the earth only, but also heaven.
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27 And this word, Yet once more, signifieth the removing of those things that are shaken, as of things that are made, that those things which cannot be shaken may remain.
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28 Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear [G2124]:
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29 For our God is a consuming fire.
G2124
εὐλάβεια
eulabeia
yoo-lab'-i-ah
From G2126; properly caution, that is, (religiously) reverence (piety); by implication dread (concretely): - fear (-ed).

"Fearing God" meant "Respecting God" and his Laws.

The OId Testament dates back to 4000 BC, the dawn of Civilization. Why do they call it "civilization"? Because it's when mankind went from being "uncivilized" beings to "civilized" beings. How to you speak to an "uncivilized" people? In a language they can understand, no?

Every human being understands and feels the emotion of fear. It's embedded into our primal, survivalist, animalistic instincts. So when the early prophets spoke of God, they would speak in a tone that would agitate the emotion of fear in the people of that time. By agitating that emotion, the people would (by default) respect what the prophet was saying.

Imagine you're raising a child. The child walks over to the hot stove and begins to reach for it. You yell at the top of your lungs, "No"! The child immediately stops. Why did the child stop? Did it stop because you said no? Or did it stop because you alerted (scared) the child by screaming at it at the top of your lungs? Does the child now "fear" the stove? No, obviously not or else it would cry every time it sees the stove. Does the child respect not going near the stove when it's turned on? Probably.

That's the difference between fear and respect. The way it is spoken about it the Old Testament may have begun as "fear" when the first uncivilized people were instructed but has evolved to respect, reverence and praise among most.

 

[Jessica-stormlover]

No, he gave us power over our own future and ability to live our lives without having to live in fear. Only fundies that want to control everyone think differently.

 

[K9Buck]

No, he gave us power over our own future...

Not really. God commands us to follow him. Take the story of Jonah, who defied God and was swallowed by a whale.

Bible Gateway passage: Jonah 1 - English Standard Version

Jonah Flees the Presence of the LORD - Now the word of the LORD came to Jonah the son of Amittai, saying, “Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and call out against it, for their evil has come up before me.” But Jonah rose to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the LORD. He went down to...

www.biblegateway.com

 

[Stann]

"Fearing God" meant "Respecting God" and his Laws.

The OId Testament dates back to 4000 BC, the dawn of Civilization. Why do they call it "civilization"? Because it's when mankind went from being "uncivilized" beings to "civilized" beings. How to you speak to an "uncivilized" people? In a language they can understand, no?

Every human being understands and feels the emotion of fear. It's embedded into our primal, survivalist, animalistic instincts. So when the early prophets spoke of God, they would speak in a tone that would agitate the emotion of fear in the people of that time. By agitating that emotion, the people would (by default) respect what the prophet was saying.

Imagine you're raising a child. The child walks over to the hot stove and begins to reach for it. You yell at the top of your lungs, "No"! The child immediately stops. Why did the child stop? Did it stop because you said no? Or did it stop because you alerted (scared) the child by screaming at it at the top of your lungs? Does the child now "fear" the stove? No, obviously not or else it would cry every time it sees the stove. Does the child respect not going near the stove when it's turned on? Probably.

That's the difference between fear and respect. The way it is spoken about it the Old Testament may have begun as "fear" when the first uncivilized people were instructed but has evolved to respect, reverence and praise among most.

We are social animals, civilization is the result. Religion did not help, actually it detracted from the process.

 

[K9Buck]

There is a false teaching that God will not violate anybody's "free will". That is FALSE. It is God's will that ALL will come to him, regardless of any person's will.

The message of this evil, cursed, world is that one can be anything and that one can do many things deemed by God to be sinful.

Who is sending this message? Satan and his fallen angels and demons.

Why does the world say that it's "ok" for a healthy woman to abort her healthy offspring? They say it's "her choice". It's not about what God wants, it's about what the woman wants.

The world says it's ok to get divorced for any reason or no reason at all, in spite of what God says.

People believe that they can change their gender, in spite of how God created them. It is defiance against God.

We're not called to be perfect; we are called to repent (change) from our sinful ways and to follow, or at least try to follow, God. We are NOT supposed to just "live your life however you like". We are supposed to live a life that honors and pleases God so that he can be proud to call us his "child".

It's sort of like you and your own children. You want to hear from the teachers and others in their lives about all of the "good" things that they do and how they are respectful and considerate, never say a bad word about anyone else, and are friendly, respectful, and loving to all. Right? God is no different. He wants us to be good.

 

[K9Buck]

Religion did not help, actually it detracted from the process.

Tell that to 20th-century humanity.

Stalin, Hitler, Mao, Pol Pot, the Kim dynasty, Castro, etc., etc., etc., were all Godless people that murdered tens of millions. Oceans of blood and mountains of dead bodies were the gifts of the "irreligious" leaders of the 20th century.

 

[Stann]

There is a false teaching that God will not violate anybody's "free will". That is FALSE. It is God's will that ALL will come to him, regardless of any person's will.

The message of this evil, cursed, world is that one can be anything and that one can do many things deemed by God to be sinful.

Who is sending this message? Satan and his fallen angels and demons.

Why does the world say that it's "ok" for a healthy woman to abort her healthy offspring? They say it's "her choice". It's not about what God wants, it's about what the woman wants.

The world says it's ok to get divorced for any reason or no reason at all, in spite of what God says.

People believe that they can change their gender, in spite of how God created them. It is defiance against God.

We're not called to be perfect; we are called to repent (change) from our sinful ways and to follow, or at least try to follow, God. We are NOT supposed to just "live your life however you like". We are supposed to live a life that honors and pleases God so that he can be proud to call us his "child".

It's sort of like you and your own children. You want to hear from the teachers and others in their lives about all of the "good" things that they do and how they are respectful and considerate, never say a bad word about anyone else, and are friendly, respectful, and loving to all. Right? God is no different. He wants us to be good.

As long as you have demons enough to blame, at least you're not attacking other people trying to lead their lives as they see fit for them. That's good.

 

[Stann]

Tell that to 20th-century humanity.

Stalin, Hitler, Mao, Pol Pot, the Kim dynasty, Castro, etc., etc., etc., were all Godless people that murdered tens of millions. Oceans of blood and mountains of dead bodies were the gifts of the "irreligious" leaders of the 20th century.

There will always be injustices in this world, most are caused by organized groups, wether they be religious or not. Individually people reflect their better nature's. It's whenever people get organized for a cause that they cause great damage and far too infrequently great good.

 

[K9Buck]

...at least you're not attacking other people trying to lead their lives as they see fit...

It is not my place to "attack" anyone. I am called to LOVINGLY share the word of God with others, but not to beat them over the head with his word.

In this and previous ages, people have been given latitude to obey or disobey God. Many do, indeed, live their lives in total denial of God and his commandments, to their own detriment.

Have you ever seen cop shows where they use "bait" cars with hidden cameras? The viewer can laugh knowing that the unwitting thief has already been caught as he gleefully drives the car away because we know what's in store for him - capture and justice. Well, I think God feels the same way as he "laughs" at the wicked.

Psalm 37:13 esv
but the Lord laughs at the wicked,
for he sees that his day is coming.

 

[K9Buck]

As long as you have demons enough to blame...

Ephesians 6:12 esv
12 For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.

We are ALL being tempted constantly by dark, spiritual, forces but, ultimately, it is US that chooses to sin or, hopefully, chooses to do what is pleasing to God.

 

[Stann]

It is not my place to "attack" anyone. I am called to LOVINGLY share the word of God with others, but not to beat them over the head with his word.

In this and previous ages, people have been given latitude to obey or disobey God. Many do, indeed, live their lives in total denial of God and his commandments, to their own detriment.

Have you ever seen cop shows where they use "bait" cars with hidden cameras? The viewer can laugh knowing that the unwitting thief has already been caught as he gleefully drives the car away because we know what's in store for him - capture and justice. Well, I think God feels the same way as he "laughs" at the wicked.

Psalm 37:13 esv
but the Lord laughs at the wicked,
for he sees that his day is coming.

You keep quoting the multiple catch-22 phrases incorporated into your religion. I realize the game isn't on a level playing field, it never was. They've had centuries to perfect their strategies.

 

[Stann]

Ephesians 6:12 esv
12 For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.

We are ALL being tempted constantly by dark, spiritual, forces but, ultimately, it is US that chooses to sin or, hopefully, chooses to do what is pleasing to God.

And you believe that's what your religion is doing. You're willingly doing this to yourself, or so you believe.

 

[K9Buck]

And you believe that's what your religion is doing. You're willingly doing this to yourself, or so you believe.

What I've seen with my own eyes has only confirmed what the Bible tells us; there are evil, spiritual, entities at work in the world.

The never-ending hatred and attacks on God's chosen people and Israel, from seemingly the beginning of civilization, is a testament to me that evil, spiritual, forces have been misleading people into hating Jews and Israel and continue to do so to this day.

But, if no such dark spiritual forces exist, how do you explain the obsessive world hatred of Jews and Israel that has existed "forever"?

 

[Ace Nova]

We are social animals, civilization is the result. Religion did not help, actually it detracted from the process.

Eh, not really.

The first humans kept together within their extended families, smaller packs, smaller tribes, etc. If anything, they would attack/fight other humans that were not a part of their "circle". The ones that would not attack each other, would at the most trade with other smaller tribes - and most were nomadic, hunters and gatherers.

The first civilizations began at the same time in history that we find the first religious stones/artifacts, etc. Coincidence? I think not.

 

[Stann]

What I've seen with my own eyes has only confirmed what the Bible tells us; there are evil, spiritual, entities at work in the world.

The never-ending hatred and attacks on God's chosen people and Israel, from seemingly the beginning of civilization, is a testament to me that evil, spiritual, forces have been misleading people into hating Jews and Israel and continue to do so to this day.

But, if no such dark spiritual forces exist, how do you explain the obsessive world hatred of Jews and Israel that has existed "forever"?

All of mankind's problems stem from the 7 deadly sins. We believe we are individuals and are willing to forsake others to gain something. No one wins with those types of behaviors.

 

[Stann]

All of mankind's problems stem from the 7 deadly sins. We believe we are individuals and are willing to forsake others to gain something. No one wins with those types of behaviors.

We can believe whatever we wish, that is the beauty of possessing a physical form, and having time to spend as an individual.

 

[K9Buck]

All of mankind's problems stem from the 7 deadly sins. We believe we are individuals and are willing to forsake others to gain something. No one wins with those types of behaviors.

My brother, it is not my intention to argue with you, let alone "win" an argument. I simply want to encourage you to ponder some things, such as what I suggested in my post above, which I will again share here with you.

The never-ending hatred and attacks on God's chosen people and Israel, from seemingly the beginning of civilization, is a testament to me that evil, spiritual, forces have been misleading people into hating Jews and Israel and continue to do so to this day.

But, if no such dark spiritual forces exist, how do you explain the obsessive world hatred of Jews and Israel that has existed "forever"?