To believe, or not to believe....?

[Ana.J]

The issue is, you've only one chance, actually irreversible chance
One shouldn't let it go.....

Believe in the Creator and afterlife is a good step but it's not enough to be saved "If there is an afterlife"


To increase your chances, you need to know : Who is the Creator ? What he needs from you ? What you shall do ?

Do you know the answers?

 

[Ana.J]

Which actions?

Just everyday actions, choices etc.

 

[Ana.J]

It depends. If the God you meet at the pearly gates does not like the god you used to believe in, or does not like people who believed without evidence, you are going to reap what you sow, as well.

Ciao

- viole

I think it does not matter what god you believe if the faith gives you hope and makes you a better person.

 

[Ana.J]

I wonder why they say that. For what we know, God could be evil. There is no reason whatsoever that prevents God from being evil and hating, given the available evidence.

And this is not because of the problem of "evil", since an evil god would have a similar problem with the existence of "good". But because we have no evidence whatsoever of what He is, if He existed.

The fact that people tend to break the symmetry in favor of loving and good, seems to increase the odds of Him being the product of imagination, emotions and wishful thinking, and not rational analysis, I am afraid.

Ciao

- viole

If God the creator is the beginning of everything and he created what is good and what is bad then he has both concepts in him. He is everything: good, evil, consciousness, love.

 

[Kelly of the Phoenix]

So do you agree that a person who believes in God and the one who doesn't live a different lives?

We all live different lives.

Just a person who believes in supreme being/ the Creator and afterlife? Because most religions do imply the existence of afterlife.

Not sure how gods and afterlives relate. You can have one without the other.

So if we live our life believing in God and in the end we will find our that there is no afterlife, we will not care because we will cease to exist. No disappointment

Again, it doesn't follow.

But what if we live our life not believing in God (After us the deluge) and in the end we will find out that there is afterlife and you shall reap what you sow? Won't that be devastating?

I believe lots of atheists will go to heaven over many religionists because at least they did moral things out of moral sensibilities, not to kiss butt.

Just because you might regret what you have done if you will have to correct those mistakes in the next life..

If you murder someone and repent and go to heaven, how will "growing up" in heaven help the murder victim?

Suppose Zeus was who you met in the afterlife and he punished you for believing in Allah.

Would such a thing really happen, though? I mean, isn't it common for polytheistic cultures to "equate" similar gods/goddesses? Storm gods are storm gods, after all...

Geez, they don't even know what Hell is like.

A lot of us have lived it.

I had nightmares about Hell.

So do I, though Satan's kind of annoyed with me as his schtick is rather old by now.

 

[viole]

I think it does not matter what god you believe if the faith gives you hope and makes you a better person.

Do you think you will turn into Hannibal the cannibal, if you lose your faith tomorrow? If yes, then keep believing, by all means

Ciao

- viole

 

[Ana.J]

Do you think you will turn into Hannibal the cannibal, if you lose your faith tomorrow? If yes, then keep believing, by all means

Ciao

- viole

Of course not, but I will think twice before killing a living creature if I know that God is everything.

 

[viole]

Of course not, but I will think twice before killing a living creature if I know that God is everything.

I wonder why. Would you be more concerned about what God thinks about it than with the fate of that creature?

Mosquitos and Ebola viruses are not part of the discussion, obviously. Unless Ebola is also part of God, of course.

Ciao

- viole

 

[Smart_Guy]

A lot of us have lived it.

So do I, though Satan's kind of annoyed with me as his schtick is rather old by now.

Believe me, no hell in this life compares to Hell as described in Islam. At least in this life when someone dies, it is the end of it. In this life no one gets their skin burned little by little until their sense disconnect then directly gets healed instantly without rest, to get the same thing happen to them again.

In Hell, no ones dies (only leaves it to Heaven if it was a limited sentence) and no one lives (no aspects of being alive can be experienced there).

It's Hell I tell ya!

Say, what's a schtick?

 

[Etritonakin]

Generally, the same good thoughts and actions which would make any afterlife worth living would make this life a paradise as well -so it is best to think and do them, regardless.
Even if there were no afterlife, one should make this world and life the best they can for all.

The difference between this life and the afterlife in the bible specifically is that those who are willing to think and do correctly will receive eternal life -and those not willing will be separated until they become willing.

I Cor 3:13Every man's work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is. 14If any man's work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward. 15If any man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire.

 

[lewisnotmiller]

Just everyday actions, choices etc.

Like which coffee to drink? Whether to discipline my children over some incident? Whether to disagree with a decision made at work?

I literally have no clue what your context or hypothesis is.

 

[leibowde84]

Hello Guys,

Just a few thoughts on the faith in God.....

So do you agree that a person who believes in God and the one who doesn't live a different lives? I am not talking about fanatical dogmatic religious followers. Just a person who believes in supreme being/ the Creator and afterlife? Because most religions do imply the existence of afterlife.

So if we live our life believing in God and in the end we will find our that there is no afterlife, we will not care because we will cease to exist. No disappointment

But what if we live our life not believing in God (After us the deluge) and in the end we will find out that there is afterlife and you shall reap what you sow? Won't that be devastating?

So is it better to have faith then?

Since there is no correlation between belief in God and living a good life (being a good person), I don't think it matters all that much.

 

[leibowde84]

Just because you might regret what you have done if you will have to correct those mistakes in the next life..

But, lack of faith in God doesn't make one any more or less of a good person.

 

[4M17]

But what if you are believing in the wrong god? What if, say, Thor is the one true god. You've wasted your time praying tote wrong god and are damned anyway

lol...thts a risk I agree...but I think we should abide with the scriptures..its a best way to learn the truth..and we may escape from being trapped like that ..

 

[Willamena]

Better to be on the safe side where there is no afterlife and no punishment.

 

[Deeje]

The question to ask is not whether we "believe" in God, but whether God believes in us?
Do we want to know him?....or are we happy to just know a little about him? He actually invites us to get to know him personally.
He reveals his name and personality to us in the hope of attracting free willed hearts in love. (Matthew 22:36-39)
He will never force us to love him and he will only choose those who respect his sovereignty. The reward is everlasting life in paradise...but its not in heaven for the majority.

The Bible says that "the demons believe and shudder" so "believing" is not all we need to do at all. It's only the first step on a long journey....one that will never be easy. (Matthew 7:13-14; John 15:18-21)

There is no "heaven or hell" as opposite destinations taught in the Bible, and never was. Humans do not have an immortal soul that lives on after death.....these are dubious doctrines adopted from false religions fused with Christianity in the early centuries and taught as gospel truth down through church history. The Bible's message is simple.....humans were created to live a mortal, but unending life, right here on earth in paradise conditions. Adam was not given a soul, but "became" one when God started him breathing. He was told that he would die from only one cause...disobedience.
When he disobeyed, he brought death, not only upon himself, but on all of his children. (Romans 5:12)
Adam paid for his sin with his own life....Jesus Christ came to pay for ours and give us back what Adam lost.

At the end of an allotted time, every human will have made their choice as to whether they desire to obediently serve their Creator forever, or not. Those who choose God, (to worship him in the way that he instructs us to) will in turn be chosen by him as citizens of his Kingdom. (Matthew 6:9-10) A selected few have been assigned rulership with Christ in heaven, but the majority of humans will live on a cleansed earth, with all the former things that cause pain and suffering...gone forever. (Revelation 21:2-5)

We cannot 'take out insurance' with a God who reads hearts and counts motivation as important as actions.
Its about love, respect, and rightly motivated obedience....not blind belief and mindless performance.

 

[sayak83]

Hello Guys,

Just a few thoughts on the faith in God.....

So do you agree that a person who believes in God and the one who doesn't live a different lives? I am not talking about fanatical dogmatic religious followers. Just a person who believes in supreme being/ the Creator and afterlife? Because most religions do imply the existence of afterlife.

So if we live our life believing in God and in the end we will find our that there is no afterlife, we will not care because we will cease to exist. No disappointment

But what if we live our life not believing in God (After us the deluge) and in the end we will find out that there is afterlife and you shall reap what you sow? Won't that be devastating?

So is it better to have faith then?

Regardless of whether there is an after-life or not, I have found it better to act as if there is not. Consider this:-

1) Assume you are really and truly aware that your death and end of existence is only a relatively few and finite heartbeats away (whether tomorrow or a few decades later).

2) Now ask yourself the question:-
How many of these finite heartbeats do you wish to spend being miserable by
(i) Being hateful or being jealous to or angry with someone
(ii) Spending countless miserable hours viciously competing against others and sacrificing family health and happiness to chase after material wealth, possession and fame over and above what you need to sustain you and your family through this limited number of finite heartbeats.
(iii) Wasting the present moments by worrying about the future or lamenting the past when the final future is set in death and the past is unrecoverable?

3) Thus (as both Hindus and Buddhists agree), true awareness of mortality leads one away from both Tamas (delusion and lazyness) and Rajas (being in the grip of intoxicating fever of desires and aversions) and into Sattva (reflective truth awareness of life in its proper context of ethics, duty and eudaimonia). As both Buddha's life story or Hindu analysis of the above characteristics note, unless you have properly stilled the flame of your consciousness awareness in such a fashion...a truth-directed investigation about questions of transcendence cannot even begin.

Hope that helps.

 

[Ana.J]

I wonder why. Would you be more concerned about what God thinks about it than with the fate of that creature?

Mosquitos and Ebola viruses are not part of the discussion, obviously. Unless Ebola is also part of God, of course.

Ciao

- viole

I think that the problem with killing other creatures lies with the fact that we feel separated from others. If faith gives me feeling of the unity of everything, then I start to crea more about other creates and value their live equally.

 

[Ana.J]

Like which coffee to drink? Whether to discipline my children over some incident? Whether to disagree with a decision made at work?

I literally have no clue what your context or hypothesis is.

Yes, or whether to gossip about people, or bear a grudge or be angry or cook other animals for dinner, for example.

 

[Ana.J]

Better to be on the safe side where there is no afterlife and no punishment.

Not sure this side can be safe if it turns out that there IS afterlife and consequences