I bring prosperity and create disaster; I, the Lord, do all these things

[Wildswanderer]

That would completely defuse your question: why does God favor some, but not others, if He loves all equally?

What we think is favor maybe the exact opposite... For example wealthy, successful people are often miserable people, and people that have nothing but believe mightily in the power of God are often happy.

 

[viole]

What we think is favor maybe the exact opposite... For example wealthy, successful people are often miserable people, and people that have nothing but believe mightily in the power of God are often happy.

Well, good so. If the latter might not be happy enough with Jesus, they might be after the wealthy ones. And that is the main reason Jesus promise of the last ones being the first ones, has been made up. Don’t you see it?

ciao

- viole

 

[KWED]

God hurts no one,

Have you read the Bible?

Our physical body had an expiration date the day it was created because within that DNA was programed free will

Are we able to alter this expiration date, or is it fixed and inevitable?

so our bodies are ...made in the likeness of God to choose good over evil.

So if we choose evil over good it means that god does that as well - otherwise we are not in his likeness.

God chooses Good, love other people as you love yourself, those that do not are not of God, not God's people.

So god din't create everyone in his likeness, only those who are "good".
So, why did god create people not in his likeness at all? If he wants people to choose good, he shouldn't have created anyone not in his likeness who he knew would choose evil.

All this suggests that either god is incompetent, or the person who invented him is. Which do you think is more likely?

 

[Wildswanderer]

Well, good so. If the latter might not be happy enough with Jesus, they might be after the wealthy ones. And that is the main reason Jesus promise of the last ones being the first ones, has been made up. Don’t you see it?

ciao

- viole

No I see that Jesus was right.

 

[viole]

No I see that Jesus was right.

Good for you. And for the wealthy ones, too.

ciao

- viole

 

[Wildswanderer]

Good for you. And for the wealthy ones, too.

ciao

- viole

How is it good for them if they're miserable?

 

[viole]

How is it good for them if they're miserable?

I am wealthy, and not miserable at all. Actually, I love doing what I want without any fear about financial independence. That myth that wealthy people are miserable is a myth so that you keep quiet and happy with your Jesus delusion, that you will be the first in some imaginary kingdom.

isn’t that obvious? Religion has always been a political thing. Even K. Marx clearly saw it.

don’t you see it?

ciao

- viole

 

[Trailblazer]

Nope. But that is the point. What we need to endure is sometimes easy, sometimes hard. But whether it is easy, or hard, is independent of God, it is just due to purely naturalistic, and therefore amoral and unintentional contingencies. Luck, basically.

That would completely defuse your question: why does God favor some, but not others, if He loves all equally?

It would diffuse that question, because there would be nobody to blame or thank, but I don't think that many believers concern themselves with the questions that I do. They thank God for everything and they don't hold God responsible for the bad things that happen. I consider that illogical so I cannot do that. If God is responsible for the Good things that happen then God is also responsible for the Bad things.

the answer to that is obvious: because there is no God. Especially if He is assumed to be good and fair.

It would 'seem' that a just and fair God does not exist given that the prosperity and disaster that come upon people is not evenly distributed at all, but I try to accept what I cannot understand, knowing it is beyond my understanding. Moreover, what seems just and fair to us is just an ego projection, not necessarily reality.

 

[KWED]

No, no..
There is only One G-d that the Bible refers to, and that is the Creator and Sustainer of the universe and all it contains.

So you claim.

It is people that claim that G-d is this or that ..

Indeed. You just did that

or that we should believe this or that.

So, you think that the Quran is from people, not god?

satan encourages division, for obvious reasons.

What "obvious reasons" are those?
And why did Allah create satan if he knew he was only going to throw a spanner in his works?

G-d belongs to nether 'east' nor 'west'.
Wherever you see the titles of nations in 'a church', then beware

Church of England .. Russian Orthodox Church etc. etc.
G-d does not look at our tribe, but at our hearts.

So all this stuff about having to understand Arabic to understand the Quran, taking Arab names, wearing Arab dress, etc is just a human affectation which god considers pointless.
But good to know you accept Shia, Sufis, Ahamaddiya, Quranists, etc as your brothers in Islam.

 

[KWED]

I am wealthy, and not miserable at all. Actually, I love doing what I want without any fear about financial independence. That myth that wealthy people are miserable is a myth so that you keep quiet and happy with your Jesus delusion, that you will be the first in some imaginary kingdom.

isn’t that obvious? Religion has always been a political thing. Even K. Marx clearly saw it.

don’t you see it?

ciao

- viole

Indeed.
Money itself may not make me happy (why would it?), but it allows me to do things that make me happy.
If a person struggles with happiness issues, being financially independent is just one less thing to worry about.

 

[Trailblazer]

What we think is favor maybe the exact opposite... For example wealthy, successful people are often miserable people, and people that have nothing but believe mightily in the power of God are often happy.

I am wealthy and successful but I am not always happy according to most people's standards of happiness, but I have an Inner spiritual happiness that nobody can ever take away from me. Moreover, I do not seek to love life in this world because I know it is only temporary.

John 12:24-26 Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit. He that loveth his life shall lose it; and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal. If any man serve me, let him follow me; and where I am, there shall also my servant be: if any man serve me, him will my Father honour.

 

[Triumph]

That makes no sense.
Do you mean that Jesus told us to hide inside the mountains, not just go up into the mountains?
Even then, there is thick soil and rock in other regions.
And lead is better than rock, so why didn't he tell us to build fallout shelters?

You can't outrun the blast radius of a nuclear weapon. If you are not already in a shelter when it starts, you are toast. Jesus should have told us to live underground in preparation. His advice is pretty useless.

Why is it called "The Sea Beast"? That doesn't really fit.

China is not in any position to launch an amphibious attack on Taiwan. They don't have the resources.

Hide in the mountains is hide in caves I assumed people would realize that to be under thick dirt then one is in a cave but glad you pointed that out because it is advantageous for people to know the closest cave in their area. Hide in rocks is go deep in a sheltered area of rocks/ concrete, for example, which is like a fallout shelter.
Houses/cities will be targets so sitting in a fallout shelter will not help a person in a direct hit because as the house is destroyed in a nuclear blast so will be the shelter.
Thermonuclear weapons are vastly more powerful than a puny atomic bomb. A "sea of burning glass" described in scripture is what happens to a desert city when hit by a thermonuclear missile. The city just evaporates with the heat, nothing left of it and the sand surrounding the huge pit left, melts and fills in the void creating a sea of glass so hot it still has flames flickering on it.
Fallout has a distinct radius in the beginning. True, if one is in the direct hit area life is gone so fast, the Bible calls it an "instant", that people won't even feel it. But if outside the blast people have about a half hour to get out and seek safety before where they were standing is saturated with unsurvivable fallout. Jesus said do not try to take your stuff with you before you flee and that is because time won't allow it. Jesus said do not go back for your stuff and that is because a radiated area can not be seen but to touch the stuff in it can kill you. What did have value is now completely worthless so leave it.
World War 3 is fought in 2 areas of the world for completely different reasons like WW2 was.
One area of WW3 is called the BEAST and that is fought over religion and ownership of the world. This part of WW3 is fought over differences in Abrahamic religions each sect /religion and there are 3 of them, Jews/ Muslims and Pauline Christians each believe their God has the plan that they will rule the world.after a great war. Abraham lied about establishing an eternal kingdom on Earth but they do not believe it because they refuse to believe Jesus Christ, Son of God that said Abraham lied.
The other part of WW3 is fought in the Pacific area like WW2 as Japan will be involved fighting against China this time. Nuclear war in the South China Sea called the SEA BEAST to show the difference between the cause of this part of combat from the reasons nuclear war, the BEAST, started in the middle east after Israel is attacked with a nuclear weapon.
China is the red dragon, dragon is their national symbol and red represents communism. This part of world war is fought over ownership of the South China Sea.
China's high hand is advanced computer code. And do not underestimate the amount of recent build up of their advanced technology and military.
They have even created a new island in the ocean just to put an airstrip on it as a military base.
China is going to attack Taiwan and the island nations in hopes to take their sovereign rights away and take their land and resources. This is going to be horrific combat as people will fight for their life and rights.. The sea has so much dead in it that it is said "a third of the sea becomes blood". The missile blasts do not just kill people it also kills sea life in the ocean creating massive loss of life .

 

[John53]

I am wealthy and successful but I am not always happy according to most people's standards of happiness, but I have an Inner spiritual happiness that nobody can ever take away from me. Moreover, I do not seek to love life in this world because I know it is only temporary.

John 12:24-26 Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit. He that loveth his life shall lose it; and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal. If any man serve me, let him follow me; and where I am, there shall also my servant be: if any man serve me, him will my Father honour.

How miserable and depressing is that verse. A God who creates us so we can hate living... what a guy!

 

[muhammad_isa]

God speaks with Jesus but God did not speak with Abraham..

You are totally confused.
You don't need a Bible .. you just need "love" and a cross
You aren't interested in Divine guidance .. just some belief that means you can do what you like .. man-made law is OK to you, but not G-d made law.

 

[KWED]

God's approach is to warn man creates the extinction of his specie in Thermonuclear WW3, the end of days war, knowing in advance none will prevent it from happening, what to do when it starts and what people start the war and how it unfolds and the result of it.

A seraphim like a F-35, flies with Distributed Aperture System in twain. It has coals of fire beneath it's wings= missiles, fully loaded it looks like a candlestick.
It comes in clouds including a vapor cone on the wings when breaking the sound barrier it sounds like thunder. It is a burner, a reaper of men.
The fighter jet never marries as it does not change sides in battle and even though there are thousands of them it can not reproduce itself. Genesis 1 tells us heaven is the sky above our head where birds fly. Fighter jets are called hateful birds and the cage of everything unclean when they carry a nuclear payload.
The Lord of Hosts is the commander in chief of the air force. When a coal of fire is on his lips, the command to kill, the pilot= angel= messenger with the message follow our laws or die, takes that coal in his hand and fires those missiles.

I'm invoking Poe's Law here.

 

[KWED]

After all, if there are no foxholes, what is belief in God good for?

Nicely put!

But to go back to your question, I think it is simple to answer. Either He is neither just nor fair, or He simply does not exist.

This is the inescapable conclusion when god's actions are scrutinised objectively. Either he is incompetent, a psychopath, or he doesn't exist. Whichever it is, he certainly is not worthy even of respect, never mind worship.

 

[Trailblazer]

How miserable and depressing is that verse. A God who creates us so we can hate living... what a guy!

I do not think you understand the meaning of that verse.
If we love this life so much that we live only for the things of this world then we lose eternal life, which is nearness to God, because all we think about are the things of this world (eat, drink, and be merry) and we lose sight of God.

That does not literally mean we should hate this life and not enjoy what there is in this life to enjoy, it only means that we should not be so attached to life in this world that we lose sight of God.

Baha'u'llah explained this in the following passage. "The world" means this material world but it also means that which comes in between us and God, since it is the material world that comes between us and God. The "life to come" means eternal life, which is nearness to God. Eternal life gives us a safe approach to God in the next life which is really just a continuation of our life in this world.

“Know ye that by “the world” is meant your unawareness of Him Who is your Maker, and your absorption in aught else but Him. The “life to come,” on the other hand, signifieth the things that give you a safe approach to God, the All-Glorious, the Incomparable. Whatsoever deterreth you, in this Day, from loving God is nothing but the world. Flee it, that ye may be numbered with the blest. Should a man wish to adorn himself with the ornaments of the earth, to wear its apparels, or partake of the benefits it can bestow, no harm can befall him, if he alloweth nothing whatever to intervene between him and God, for God hath ordained every good thing, whether created in the heavens or in the earth, for such of His servants as truly believe in Him. Eat ye, O people, of the good things which God hath allowed you, and deprive not yourselves from His wondrous bounties. Render thanks and praise unto Him, and be of them that are truly thankful.” Gleanings From the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh, p. 276

 

[KWED]

Lots of people are converted as adults.

Relatively few, and statistically insignificant. And most converts seem to be either damaged in some way or serial converters, hopping from religion to religion, looking for an "answer" to a non-existent question. Cases of well-educated, well-adjusted, happy, comfortable atheists converting to religion are so rare as to be essentially non-existent.

 

[Trailblazer]

This is the inescapable conclusion when god's actions are scrutinised objectively.

But since "God's actions" can never be observed they can never be scrutinized objectively.
Logic 101.

 

[John53]

I do not think you understand the meaning of that verse.
If we love this life so much that we live only for the things of this world then we lose eternal life, which is nearness to God, because all we think about are the things of this world (eat, drink, and be merry) and we lose sight of God.

That does not literally mean we should hate this life and not enjoy what there is in this life to enjoy, it only means that we should not be so attached to life in this world that we lose sight of God.

Baha'u'llah explained this in the following passage. "The world" means this material world but it also means that which comes in between us and God, since it is the material world that comes between us and God. The "life to come" means eternal life, which is nearness to God. Eternal life gives us a safe approach to God in the next life which is really just a continuation of our life in this world.

“Know ye that by “the world” is meant your unawareness of Him Who is your Maker, and your absorption in aught else but Him. The “life to come,” on the other hand, signifieth the things that give you a safe approach to God, the All-Glorious, the Incomparable. Whatsoever deterreth you, in this Day, from loving God is nothing but the world. Flee it, that ye may be numbered with the blest. Should a man wish to adorn himself with the ornaments of the earth, to wear its apparels, or partake of the benefits it can bestow, no harm can befall him, if he alloweth nothing whatever to intervene between him and God, for God hath ordained every good thing, whether created in the heavens or in the earth, for such of His servants as truly believe in Him. Eat ye, O people, of the good things which God hath allowed you, and deprive not yourselves from His wondrous bounties. Render thanks and praise unto Him, and be of them that are truly thankful.” Gleanings From the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh, p. 276

Like all bible quotes... oh that bit isn't literal but the other bit is. Religion is the ability to force square pegs into round holes.