Why is religion correlated with birthplace and birth time?

[Rational Agnostic]

1 Timothy 2:3-4 states "This is good and pleasing in the sight of God our savior, who desires all people to be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth."

Now, why would an omnipotent god who wants everyone to know him struggle so greatly with bringing his knowledge to people, and use such inefficient methods? I've discussed this before, but I think it's worth focusing on a more specific aspect of the problem, namely, that one's religion is so strongly correlated with birth location and the period of history in which one was born. For instance, if a person was born in the Americas prior to the arrival of Columbus, we can guarantee that that person would have never heard of Jesus or any of the events recorded in the bible. Now, supposedly the biblical god is omnipotent and wants the entire world to know about him and have a relationship with him so that they can go to heaven. Yet no one in the North or South American continent had heard of this god before the arrival of Europeans. So my question for Christians is: Doesn't it strike you as odd that an omnipotent god who wants everyone to know about him and could use any method possible to convey this knowledge to people was completely silent toward people in non-Christian cultures prior to the arrival of Christians? What makes more sense to you: The existence of a god who wants everyone on the planet to know he exists and yet never reveals anything about himself to cultures that have not had contact with Christians OR The Christian god is simply another manmade god that was developed by men in the middle east and whose knowledge spread gradually across the world as the people from this region spread across the world? Which of these scenarios explains the utter silence of God in cultures that had not yet been introduced to Christianity by other people?

 

[Terry Sampson]

Yet no one in the North or South American continent had heard of this god before the arrival of Europeans

Well, you're obviously not a Mormon.

 

[Rational Agnostic]

Well, you're obviously not a Mormon.

If South Park is correct, on Judgment Day we will all tremble in fear while the "hell director " welcomes us to Hell telling us that "Mormonism was the correct answer."

 

[Secret Chief]

I'll take the second answer, please, Hubert.

 

[sun rise]

The title is about religion in general but the OP about Christianity.

My answer to the title is cultural conditioning. People tend to adopt the religion of their birthplace and when they're born.

 

[Sw. Vandana Jyothi]

Hmmmm, I want to know how you know that God was "completely silent" prior to the Europeans' arrival?! I mean, you even bolded it. God has been communicating with His people since time began. Christians make the mistake to think He sent His manifestation to earth for the first time only 2,000 years ago. Folly it is to think that. Mankind has been stomping around in the spiritual dark for millennia, and God the Merciful has been there to succor, advise, raise up and incarnate in divine form for just as long.

 

[Rational Agnostic]

Hmmmm, I want to know how you know that God was "completely silent" prior to the Europeans' arrival?! I mean, you even bolded it. God has been communicating with His people since time began. Christians make the mistake to think He sent His manifestation to earth for the first time only 2,000 years ago. Folly it is to think that. Mankind has been stomping around in the spiritual dark for millennia, and God the Merciful has been there to succor, advise, raise up and incarnate in divine form for just as long.

I know this because when Columbus arrived in North America, the Native Americans had never heard of Christianity (in fact sadly he forced it upon them).

 

[Rational Agnostic]

The title is about religion in general but the OP about Christianity.

My answer to the title is cultural conditioning. People tend to adopt the religion of their birthplace and when they're born.

That's true. But if a god wanted a relationship with people and said god was omnipotent, why would history and geography prevent him from revealing himself to everyone?

 

[Sw. Vandana Jyothi]

That's not actually responsive, Hubertji. As sun rise opined, you said "religion" in your title, not just Christianity. Native Americans had and have a rich relationship with God. Likewise the Asians, etc., long before the missionaries arrived on their shores. You appear to be naming Jesus as God and it limits your understanding of God's omnipresence.

 

[Rational Agnostic]

That's not actually responsive, Hubertji. As sun rise opined, you said "religion" in your title, not just Christianity. Native Americans had and have a rich relationship with God. Likewise the Asians, etc., long before the missionaries arrived on their shores. You appear to be naming Jesus as God and it limits your understanding of God's omnipresence.

You're correct, the post is generally directed at people who believe in the Christian concept of god. If you believe that everyone worships the same god, then the problem doesn't apply as much to your beliefs (although we would still be left with the same question of why atheism exists if God exists).

 

[Koldo]

That's not actually responsive, Hubertji. As sun rise opined, you said "religion" in your title, not just Christianity. Native Americans had and have a rich relationship with God. Likewise the Asians, etc., long before the missionaries arrived on their shores. You appear to be naming Jesus as God and it limits your understanding of God's omnipresence.

How do you figure it was the same god?

 

[Sw. Vandana Jyothi]

How do you figure it was the same god?

LOL, there's only one God, Koldo, called by different Names. Whether you call it water, jal, pani, uji, wasser, maa, djour, amane, voda, agua... it will still slake your thirst.

Edit: Tee hee, I have to add vand to the list for mikkel_the_dane.

 

[Sw. Vandana Jyothi]

You're correct, the post is generally directed at people who believe in the Christian concept of god. If you believe that everyone worships the same god, then the problem doesn't apply as much to your beliefs (although we would still be left with the same question of why atheism exists if God exists).

I believe atheism exists or is a view held by an atheist merely because that person has yet to experience God.

 

[mikkel_the_dane]

You're correct, the post is generally directed at people who believe in the Christian concept of god. If you believe that everyone worships the same god, then the problem doesn't apply as much to your beliefs (although we would still be left with the same question of why atheism exists if God exists).

Well, for my God there is no way to God, only One way and many ways, because the way to God depends on the given human.
And if you have found no way to God, than that is how that is.

BTW if nature is natural, then how come there are religious people? Is religion natural?

 

[Koldo]

1 Timothy 2:3-4 states "This is good and pleasing in the sight of God our savior, who desires all people to be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth."

Now, why would an omnipotent god who wants everyone to know him struggle so greatly with bringing his knowledge to people, and use such inefficient methods? I've discussed this before, but I think it's worth focusing on a more specific aspect of the problem, namely, that one's religion is so strongly correlated with birth location and the period of history in which one was born. For instance, if a person was born in the Americas prior to the arrival of Columbus, we can guarantee that that person would have never heard of Jesus or any of the events recorded in the bible. Now, supposedly the biblical god is omnipotent and wants the entire world to know about him and have a relationship with him so that they can go to heaven. Yet no one in the North or South American continent had heard of this god before the arrival of Europeans. So my question for Christians is: Doesn't it strike you as odd that an omnipotent god who wants everyone to know about him and could use any method possible to convey this knowledge to people was completely silent toward people in non-Christian cultures prior to the arrival of Christians? What makes more sense to you: The existence of a god who wants everyone on the planet to know he exists and yet never reveals anything about himself to cultures that have not had contact with Christians OR The Christian god is simply another manmade god that was developed by men in the middle east and whose knowledge spread gradually across the world as the people from this region spread across the world? Which of these scenarios explains the utter silence of God in cultures that had not yet been introduced to Christianity by other people?

Not just Christianity.
I have brought up these maps in the past. The first one shows the areas where the islam conquests happened. The second shows the countries where most muslims live today.

https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQXMS3jsWyoFT4WhO-tRDlEdgFQD-vZlSdSJw&usqp=CAU

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a0/World_Muslim_Population_2018.png

Look how they resemble each other. Almost as if islam spread from the early conquests.

 

[Koldo]

LOL, there's only one God, Koldo, called by different Names. Whether you call it water, jal, pani, uji, wasser, maa, djour, amane, voda, agua... it will still slake your thirst.

Edit: Tee hee, I have to add vand to the list for mikkel_the_dane.

How do you figure there is only one god that goes by many names?

 

[Sw. Vandana Jyothi]

How do you figure there is only one god that goes by many names?

It's the only way to reconcile all the scriptures of the major religions declaring the same thing, that there is one and only one Supreme God!

It's the devotees of a particular religion who claim that their God (who goes by Name X, Y or Z) is the only God. God never said it.

 

[VoidoftheSun]

1 Timothy 2:3-4 states "This is good and pleasing in the sight of God our savior, who desires all people to be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth."

Now, why would an omnipotent god who wants everyone to know him struggle so greatly with bringing his knowledge to people, and use such inefficient methods? I've discussed this before, but I think it's worth focusing on a more specific aspect of the problem, namely, that one's religion is so strongly correlated with birth location and the period of history in which one was born. For instance, if a person was born in the Americas prior to the arrival of Columbus, we can guarantee that that person would have never heard of Jesus or any of the events recorded in the bible. Now, supposedly the biblical god is omnipotent and wants the entire world to know about him and have a relationship with him so that they can go to heaven. Yet no one in the North or South American continent had heard of this god before the arrival of Europeans. So my question for Christians is: Doesn't it strike you as odd that an omnipotent god who wants everyone to know about him and could use any method possible to convey this knowledge to people was completely silent toward people in non-Christian cultures prior to the arrival of Christians? What makes more sense to you: The existence of a god who wants everyone on the planet to know he exists and yet never reveals anything about himself to cultures that have not had contact with Christians OR The Christian god is simply another manmade god that was developed by men in the middle east and whose knowledge spread gradually across the world as the people from this region spread across the world? Which of these scenarios explains the utter silence of God in cultures that had not yet been introduced to Christianity by other people?

You're literally just plagiarizing an argument that God makes in the Qur'an:

they say, ‘We will rather follow what we have found our fathers following.’ What, even if their fathers neither applied any reason nor were guided?! The parable of the faithless is that of someone who shouts after that which does not hear [anything] except a call and cry: deaf, dumb, and blind, they do not apply reason.
(Qur'an, Surah 2:170-171)

Quite often I see atheists (and Christians too) using Quranic arguments, it's quite amusing.

 

[1213]

... was completely silent toward people in non-Christian cultures prior to the arrival of Christians? ...

The problem with that is, I don’t know any reason why I should believe God has not done anything for them.

Also, by what the Bible tells, all modern people are offspring of those who were in the ark. They knew God and then later many of them have rejected God, should God force His message to those who don’t want to hear?

Jesus was sent to declare forgiveness, I think it has worked well this way also. but, the main point is to be, or to become righteous. That is possible, even if one has not heard of Jesus yet.

These will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.
Mat. 25:46

For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Romans 6:23

People who have not heard of Jesus, can be counted righteous by this:

For as many as have sinned without law will also perish without the law. As many as have sinned under the law will be judged by the law. For it isn't the hearers of the law who are righteous before God, but the doers of the law will be justified (for when Gentiles who don't have the law do by nature the things of the law, these, not having the law, are a law to themselves, in that they show the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience testifying with them, and their thoughts among themselves accusing or else excusing them) in the day when God will judge the secrets of men, according to my gospel, by Jesus Christ.
Romans 2:12-16

 

[Koldo]

It's the only way to reconcile all the scriptures of the major religions declaring the same thing, that there is one and only one Supreme God!

It's the devotees of a particular religion which claim that their God (who goes by Name X, Y or Z) is the only God. God never said it.

Who said all the scriptures must be reconciled though? There is no basis for this.