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Concerning the One True God:

Buttons*

Glass half Panda'd
Hope we didn't mess it up too much. Not sure where you wanted to go......:)

Yeah, I cant really even remember my point... I think was something along the lines of:

"If there really is only one god... why does God have to prove himself at all? Also, what does he have to be jealous of? Jealousy does not seem like a benevolent emotion. If there really is one and only one god... and if the sinners are going to hell anyway, what does he care if people believe falsely? I have to ask - why would a benevolent God allow a "hell" in the first place?"

... yeah, so i haven't read the rest of everyone's thoughts yet... but these were a few of mine when i created this thread. ;) CONTINUE!
 

sandy whitelinger

Veteran Member
This comes from an earlier thread titled "My Father"

Hope and I were discussing why Christians are not, in fact, Jewish, and through our discussion, we came upon God and his perspective. This, I feel, did not fit the thread, so I've decided to make a new one where we can actually debate the topic. For background, just go to that other thread.

Hope, if you'd rather just discuss it and not debate it, or if you'd like me to erase it, please let me know.
There is a passage in Romans that declares that Christians are Jewish by faith. As gentiles, believers, through rebirth, are adopted into the line of Abraham. The need to follow Christ is pointed out to both the Jew and the Gentile in both the Old and the New Testament so I think to say that those of the Jewish faith need to convert is applicable. Yet there could be an argument made that Christianity is the next step in the continuing faith of Judaism.
 

Buttons*

Glass half Panda'd
There is a passage in Romans that declares that Christians are Jewish by faith. As gentiles, believers, through rebirth, are adopted into the line of Abraham. The need to follow Christ is pointed out to both the Jew and the Gentile in both the Old and the New Testament so I think to say that those of the Jewish faith need to convert is applicable. Yet there could be an argument made that Christianity is the next step in the continuing faith of Judaism.

There's always Mesianic Jews....
 

Overwrite

Member
If I may just throw something into the mix......

Ever thought that there might be a God but there is no religion?
 

Overwrite

Member
Sorry, point I was making was that maybe there is "one true God". The debate only begins when you add the different religious groups.
 

mrsk

Member
"If there really is only one god... why does God have to prove himself at all? Also, what does he have to be jealous of? Jealousy does not seem like a benevolent emotion. If there really is one and only one god... and if the sinners are going to hell anyway, what does he care if people believe falsely? I have to ask - why would a benevolent God allow a "hell" in the first place?"

I don't believe He does have to prove himself, if he did, if he wanted to, he certainly could!
He cares because he loves us!
As for allowing hell.......

I find it easier to understand, at least in part, by looking at it as a parent/child relationship. Just imagine the love we have for our children. Multiply it infinately and that would be The Fathers love for us.

Now, we set positive and negative consequences for our childrens actions. While we thoroughly enjoy giving the positive, sometimes it breaks our hearts to dole out, or even to just sit back and allow, the negative. However, a good parent must stick to the guidelines and let the errant child suffer the consequences. We know that they must learn to make thier own decisions and that sometimes they will be the wrong ones.. (Hence the saying, "This is going to hurt me more than you!")

We also know that we can not force our children to love/respect us. We offer them all we have and hope that someday they will accept it, and us, and all that we tried to teach them.

Whenever I mess up, I picture Him.... heart breaking, shaking His head because I am His child, He loves me, and he wants so much more for me.
God does not send people to hell, it's a choice they make all on thier own. A consequence of thier actions.
 

joeboonda

Well-Known Member
Although people are always aghast that God would set up this horrible creation in which people could end up in a place called Hell or the Lake of Fire forever, an utterly repugnant idea to our human mind, I don't think it is as simple as people make it out. I don't think God thought, hmm, I will make these people and if they don't love me I will roast them, mwoo-ha-ha! I think that although God is Almighty and all, there are certain spiritual laws at play. Sin and a holy God (I wouldn't want an unholy God) can't mix. The result of sin is death, just as the result of gravity is what goes up must come down. I don't think God "set it up" that way, I think it just IS that way and God knows it and God has done everything he can do to protect us from it. Jesus wept when contemplating the destruction of Jerusalem. In Ezekiel God himself says, "I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked."

As a Christian I have no joy over contemplating the end of those who die in their sins. It would be wrong for me not to warn others about these things. I know people are openly hostile and emotional toward one who brings this warning, no matter the amount of theological degrees they hold or studying they have done. But could the most vile sinner be happy in a holy Heaven, which is contrary to all they are? I don't think it works that way. I don't think we should blame God for the position we are in, as he loves us and came to save us. And I don't know why it is this way, or why God could not have done it some other way, but I believe God cannot lie and I take him at his Word. From Genesis to Revelation the plan of salvation of Jesus Christ is woven throughout, the prophecies of his birth and death, it all forms one beautiful, cohesive plan of redemption unfolding through the pages of history. It is the greatest love story ever told.

I am a guilty sinner, I feel guilt, everyone feels guilt when they do wrong, and we all have done and do wrong. To think that a perfectly holy God could love a sinner such as me and provide a way for my salvation as a total gift just blows me away. Amazing Love, that is what God is. Romans 4:6 says: "...God makes...people right with himself. But they don't have to do anything in return." How wonderful to know we can be assured that we are saved, that we have already passed from death to life never to come back under condemnation (Jn 5:24) all because of what the Lord has done for us. God loves us! He really does!

Peace, out, gotta go pick up my kids from school)

Mike
 

joeboonda

Well-Known Member
Deuteronomy 4:35
Unto thee it was shewed, that thou mightest know that the LORD he is God; there is none else beside him.
1 Samuel 2:2
There is none holy as the LORD: for there is none beside thee: neither is there any rock like our God.
2 Samuel 7:22
Wherefore thou art great, O LORD God: for there is none like thee, neither is there any God beside thee, according to all that we have heard with our ears.
1 Chronicles 17:20
O LORD, there is none like thee, neither is there any God beside thee, according to all that we have heard with our ears.
Psalm 73:25
Whom have I in heaven but thee? and there is none upon earth that I desire beside thee.
Isaiah 45:5
I am the LORD, and there is none else, there is no God beside me: I girded thee, though thou hast not known me:
Isaiah 45:6
That they may know from the rising of the sun, and from the west, that there is none beside me. I am the LORD, and there is none else.
Isaiah 45:21
Tell ye, and bring them near; yea, let them take counsel together: who hath declared this from ancient time? who hath told it from that time? have not I the LORD? and there is no God else beside me; a just God and a Saviour; there is none beside me.
John 14:6
Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.
Acts 4:12
Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.
John 10:1
Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that entereth not by the door into the sheepfold, but climbeth up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber.
John 10:7
Then said Jesus unto them again, Verily, verily, I say unto you, I am the door of the sheep.
John 10:9
I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture.
 

Buttons*

Glass half Panda'd
Deuteronomy 4:35
Unto thee it was shewed, that thou mightest know that the LORD he is God; there is none else beside him.
1 Samuel 2:2
There is none holy as the LORD: for there is none beside thee: neither is there any rock like our God.
2 Samuel 7:22
Wherefore thou art great, O LORD God: for there is none like thee, neither is there any God beside thee, according to all that we have heard with our ears.
1 Chronicles 17:20
O LORD, there is none like thee, neither is there any God beside thee, according to all that we have heard with our ears.
Psalm 73:25
Whom have I in heaven but thee? and there is none upon earth that I desire beside thee.
Isaiah 45:5
I am the LORD, and there is none else, there is no God beside me: I girded thee, though thou hast not known me:
Isaiah 45:6
That they may know from the rising of the sun, and from the west, that there is none beside me. I am the LORD, and there is none else.
Isaiah 45:21
Tell ye, and bring them near; yea, let them take counsel together: who hath declared this from ancient time? who hath told it from that time? have not I the LORD? and there is no God else beside me; a just God and a Saviour; there is none beside me.
John 14:6
Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.
Acts 4:12
Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.
John 10:1
Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that entereth not by the door into the sheepfold, but climbeth up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber.
John 10:7
Then said Jesus unto them again, Verily, verily, I say unto you, I am the door of the sheep.
John 10:9
I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture.
The thing that has always boggled my mind is... why did God make people write his message? When I was little, I always pictuered this book coming out of the sky with all of God's divine words inside... only to find out later that it was actually written by fallible men. The "reason" for this, is that God didn't feel like actually taking the time to scribble his holy words, down, so he got his most loyal followers... or people he chose, to write it all down.

Makes a great deal of sense to me.
 

Buttons*

Glass half Panda'd
I want to say RIGHT NOW, because from my past posts, it looks like I have it out for Christians.

That's partly true. I have it out for people who have never questioned their faith. I find that Christians do this quite a bit. As for other religions to talk about, I fear that I don't know enough to actually make a good argument or even question.

Honestly, if you are spiritually filled and blissfully happy with your faith, I do not aim my questions to offend you. I feel that people who have a reasonable mind, look at their faith with open eyes, and a little humor, have the best attitude, and subsequently, learn not to take me seriously as well. I'm sorry if I offended anyone.

Please, continue! :D
 

joeboonda

Well-Known Member
The thing that has always boggled my mind is... why did God make people write his message? When I was little, I always pictuered this book coming out of the sky with all of God's divine words inside... only to find out later that it was actually written by fallible men. The "reason" for this, is that God didn't feel like actually taking the time to scribble his holy words, down, so he got his most loyal followers... or people he chose, to write it all down.

Makes a great deal of sense to me.
The scriptures I posted simply say God is God and there is no other and that Jesus is the only way to God, in answer to the question of whether some religions claim to be the one true religion. Christianity is exclusive in that sense, we do claim that Jesus is the only way. (with the exception of some) What you are doing is throwing doubt on these scriptures which is your right, by saying you are disappointed God chose fallible men to write them but ignoring the Bible says that at a certain time, God directly guided these men through the Holy Spirit to write them. God who cannot lie and foretold the future and it happened so we know he is God guided these men to write his Word for us. It is anyone's right to reject the Bible, thus its teachings, I simply do believe it and what it says. To each their own.
 
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