Discussions

There's a lot to respond to, but here's my rationale  
 
So what if there was no God?  
If there is no God, there is far less accountability for one's immoral actions. No justice when things go horribly wrong. Life is then miserably and utterly unfair. There is no objective reason for our own personal existence. No reason some are born with far more or less than others. There is no meaning to our suffering. There is also no life after death. Perhaps a true atheist would be content with that explanation. But I would wager to guess that most people would not be.  
 
With Christianity there is a soul, and every person has it, and with that soul there is accountability and justice. There is a God who created each individual person, and it is because of God's love for that person that each person was created. We know that the greatest meaning in our lives comes through our suffering and death to our pride, so as to live truly for love. With God there is justice, with God there is love, with God there is meaning and eternal life. With atheism there is no ultimate justice, no reason for our existence, and no life after death.  
 
We know that the universe was created somewhere around 13-14 billion years ago. We also know that one of Newton's laws of physics states that matter cannot be created nor destroyed, therefore it begs the question, why did matter exist in the first place? A true atheist would say there is no reason, but do any of you really accept that?  
 
So if matter exists, and if we suggest there is a reason for that, then what is that reason? Religion suggests an answer, but even if you were to look into and choose one of those religions which one might you choose?  
 
Why Christianity the reader then asks? I agree it's not enough that Christianity is the largest religion in the world, Surely it would require more. Do any of the religions explain for the others? Do any of them make extremely bold claims that God actually came to earth as a person? If any of those religions did, what does it say about that person? Do any of them provide meaning for our suffering?  
 
Christianity has the answers. With Christianity (and Judaism) there is a history that the Jewish people were chosen to be the people who God (the Messiah) would come amongst. They had to be prepared for the coming of God among them, and they had to be kept separate from their neighbors. Christians and Jews alike believe that Abraham and the Jewish people were not the first in the world to know God, and in the Bible it explains that there were other religions before Abraham, but with Abraham God revealed Himself to the world once again after the world had forgotten God and set His people apart for His coming.  
 
What of the other religions? Do many of them not also claim to have miracles? Do most of them not also have explanations for the creation of history? Aren't a lot of them similar at least in some ways to Christianity? The reader might ask, maybe they don't believe in a soul, but what's wrong with reincarnation?  
 
With Christianity and Judaism. there is a history and an understanding for those religions too. For the Christian acknowledges that those religions may also have power. One need only look to the Bible to learn of the separation of the Angels, and that the gods of the pagans are demons - certainly not all, but ultimately many.  
 
Christianity would not be a good religion if it's claims concerning Jesus were untrue. If Jesus was not truly the Son of God, and of God, then he was a liar or crazy, and if he was either a liar or crazy, why would anyone want to follow the words of a chronic and habitual liar or crazy person?  
 
I would argue that no religion answers the questions of the meaning of life as fully as Christianity. I would also argue that few religions make statements as bold as Christianity. I would argue that no religion is as just or as loving as Christianity.  
 
Some in these posts have argued that because the Bible doesn't make sense to them, that Christianity must not be real. Those individuals should probably know that one cannot fully understand the Bible unless one understands it in context, in particular from the context of a Jewish person who is familiar with the meaning behind the words. Many Christians have a good understanding of it because they have studied it in context.  
 
One individual who posted a message suggested that Jesus is incompatible with Jewish theology and did not fulfill Jewish prophecy. I could not possibly go into all of the arguments for and against that suggestion, but I will point the reader to one prophecy in particular that suggests otherwise, it comes from the book of Daniel chapter 9 versus 24 to 27 of the Bible. This was a book written some 600 years before the time of Christ. In those passages when read it context, it predicts the time of the coming of the Messiah and His death. If Jesus was not the Messiah, and the Messiah did not come when Jesus did, then the book of Daniel was wrong, and then the Jewish people could not trust it to be divinely inspired, which would then lead to other significant problems.  
 
The evidence for God is all around us. If one is an atheist then one cannot properly atone for immoral acts. The subjective truths that people apply to religion are not truths at all. Not all religions are created equal, at least some of them are lying if any of them are to be true. You cannot have an objective sense of morality without God.  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Edited by Committed2Brandon, 2015-06-10 22:29:44