I spent a long time as a Christian. I’m able to look back on much of that time very fondly. I loved my fellow brethren, and I truly wanted to learn more about God’s will and do my best to follow it. But there was also a deep fear tied to my belief. I think that’s fairly common among fundamentalists, but it may apply to more moderate Christians as well.
Where did this fear come from? There are certainly a number of passages that talk about God’s love for mankind:
For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. – John 3:16
What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? – Rom 8:31
For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. – Rom 8:38-39
The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance. – 2 Pet 3:9
But despite his love, God can get angry too. And you wouldn’t like him when he’s angry:
For if we go on sinning deliberately after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a fearful expectation of judgment, and a fury of fire that will consume the adversaries. Anyone who has set aside the law of Moses dies without mercy on the evidence of two or three witnesses. How much worse punishment, do you think, will be deserved by the one who has trampled underfoot the Son of God, and has profaned the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has outraged the Spirit of grace? For we know him who said, “Vengeance is mine; I will repay.” And again, “The Lord will judge his people.” It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. – Heb 10:26-31
The scariest thing about this is that facing God’s wrath will be a complete shock to some people. There are those who think they’re doing what God wants, but are completely missing the mark:
“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’” – Matt 7: 21-23
What if you believe in Jesus and love God, but aren’t doing God’s will? Is your sincerity enough? This was a thought that plagued me when I believed. If some people would get to Judgment Day only to find that they weren’t acceptable, then why couldn’t such a thing happen to me? How did I know my beliefs were the correct ones? My brother and I used to talk about this a lot. Through study, he and I both began to think that a couple of the doctrines we had always been taught in the Church of Christ were incorrect. Coming to that conclusion was extremely difficult. Were we reading and understanding our Bibles correctly?
As an illustration, consider a minor passage: 1 Corinthians 11. The beginning of this chapter says that women should have their heads covered when they pray. But the passage is confusing. Paul says that since women have long hair, they should also wear a covering when they pray or prophesy. He spends several verses giving reasons why a woman should cover her head, but then in verse 15, he also says that her long hair is given to her as a covering. So do they still need a separate one? Most confusing at all, verse 16 says:
If anyone is inclined to be contentious, we have no such practice, nor do the churches of God.
What does that even mean? Does it mean there’s not a practice of being contentious? That sounds like a crazy thing to have to say. So maybe he’s saying that the head covering is not supposed to be a practice if anyone makes a fuss over it. But that doesn’t make sense either. I mean, what other doctrines are given that caveat? Did any of the 10 Commandments have such an escape clause? The whole passage is confusing. What are Christians supposed to do? Either God wants the covering, or he doesn’t, but that passage can be read any number of different ways.
And of course, that’s far from the only vague passage. When you’re raised in a denomination, you’re taught to read the Bible a particular way. “Predestination” means something very different, depending on who you’re talking to. Who’s right? And what if you were raised in one of the groups that thinks they’re right, but to whom God will say “depart from me, I never knew you”? My brother and I realized how difficult it is to unpack all those preconceptions in order to clearly see the scriptures for what they really say. It’s scary.
Here’s the Point
But eventually, I realized that my fear was needless. The Bible says that God is fair, he doesn’t play favorites, he loves us, and he wants us to find the truth. Jesus said “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you” (Matt 7:7). If those things are true, then there’s no reason for us to be so worried about getting it wrong, as long as we’re sincerely seeking the truth.
It’s important to realize how significant that point is. If we’re really looking for the answers, then no question is going too far. So if we dig into the Bible and think “it doesn’t make sense to me that God would send people to Hell,” we shouldn’t run from that thought — we should investigate it. It’s okay for us to ask why God would command genocide in the Old Testament. It’s okay to wonder why he seems so hidden. It’s okay to ask why he would inspire people to write a message, but not protect the originals or ensure its accuracy. If God supports our search for truth, then all of these questions are valid. In fact, the people who pursue these questions obviously take the issue seriously. Wouldn’t that be more pleasing to God than those who never question what they’ve been told?
If you believe in God, then have faith in his character. Have faith in his promises. And take him seriously enough to challenge those who claim to speak for him (the writers of the Bible). Don’t let people tell you that you can’t question God whenever you express doubt about a passage. The Bible is not God. So show God the respect he deserves and critically examine the Bible before you accept the claim that he inspired it. If he’s real, he’ll be much more pleased with an honest seeker than with someone who’s too scared to ask the tough questions.
Finding Truth 
Did I somehow miss your examples?
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Arch,
I stated a fact. Get off your lazy butt and go get your own examples if a simple scientific fact isn’t enough for your.
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It would appear that the idiot has left the village —
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You really don’t know the first thing about carrying on an intelligent conversation, do you? You made a statement – I said, give me some examples, backing up your statement. Your response was to tell me to get my own examples to back up your statement, and since your statement was nonsense in the first place, I can’t do that, and neither can you, which is why you tried throwing the responsibility to me, for proving your nonsense. Sorry, won’t work – if you’re going to make a statement, be prepared with evidence to back it up – in other words, put up, or shut up.
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@Silence of Mind.
Here you go.
I have borrowed these three very succinct questions (I’ll provided the link if necessary but do not want you slagging off another blogger just yet) and if you are able to answer them then it will clear up a lot of things for those whom you interact with. Of course, if you are not prepared to answer them this too will clear up a lot of things and I hope Nate is lurking on the sidelines.
Lets’ see if you are truly committed to your religion of merely full of hot air.
1. Did humanity actually, historically, experience a physical/spiritual fall from a pristine initial state to its present corrupt state? If so, provide support.
2. Did humanity suffer a relatively early annihilation in a global flood, such that all living people are now descended from eight survivors of this catastrophe? If so, provide support.
3. Who wrote Genesis, and how do you know? If we do not know, or do not know with good support, from where comes the claim of divine authorship or inspiration?
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Ark – you can expect him to tell you that you need to provide your own support for his assertions, that’s the way he operates. He calls it debate.
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Arch,
You are asking questions that are as finely tuned as a prostate exam.
Ask questions that aren’t examples of raw, unattenuated atheist imbecility and I’m game.
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@ archaeopteryx1
Well, maybe he is the type that continues to enjoys mass debate, believing it is better than the real thing?
If this is his worldview , its already made him go blind.
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Apparently you have a much greater knowledge of prostate exams, than I – whether giving, or getting, or do-it-yourself, I have no way of knowing.
*Translation: “Any questions I can’t or don’t feel like answering, I will term, ‘unattenuated atheist imbecility,’ any questions I can answer to my advantage and your disadvantage, I’m game.”
I think that “game” is the key word here, and I’m getting tired of playing with you and providing you with your much-needed attention, that apparently you’re not getting anywhere else, which, judging by your personality, is certainly understandable.
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@SOM
Does this mean you can’t answer the questions or wont?
I suspect it is the former, as you demonstrated more than enough times that a Neanderthal approach to Catholicism/Christianity is pretty much all you are capable of.
Come on….give the questions a shot. Show us you are man enough to stand up and be counted.
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Oh, no doubt he’s a master at debating, mentally at least —
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@silenceofmind: I’ve been loath to enter into the fray here, especially as a Christ-follower myself, simply because you’ve dug yourself a deep enough hole that no size of shovel is going to help at this point. Whether your intent was to debate or convince, you’ve abandoned those intentions long ago when your arguments devolved into mere name calling and poor attempts at ridicule. (“a finely tuned prostate exam”, “atheist imbecility”, really?!!) You’re not going to convince anyone on this site anyway, yet several people here are always up for a good debate. Read GOOD debate.
My point in writing to you at all is to echo kcchief1’s statement earlier: “… if you have God’s Grace, why doesn’t it show in your comments here ? I would never want to serve a God if the evidence was to act like you.”
If you truly are a person of God, how can that statement sit well with you, REGARDLESS of who utters it? I urge you to either quit while you’re behind, or engage more civilly and thoughtfully. A lot of patience and grace HAS been shown so far…just not by the one who is called by his deity to do so. And if you wonder why I’m even getting involved at all, Silence, I ask that you read Ephesians 4.
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That was very kind of you, Kent – Merry Christmas to you, and that lovely lady beside you!
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Arch & Kent,
You prove the saying that birds of a feather flock together, in the prehistoric world of atheism.
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@SOM
Yo, Dickhead. You going to have a shot at answering those questions or what?
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Arch,
Your verbal abuse and bullying demonstrates the psychotic nature of atheism and being an atheist.
The cure for your grave spiritual and psychological sickness is Jesus Christ.
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Here is a quote from Kent’s blog, SpiritualDrift.com that seems appropriate for the discussion that has been taking place here on Nate’s blog:
“Buddhists, Muslims, Atheists . . . I love you guys! Though I may not agree with you on faith and belief, I’m not called to agree with you. I’m called to love you. And that includes my Christian brethren who think that name-calling, hell-baiting, hate-spewing picket signs and replacing perfectly good beer with “less filling” is going to get people to change their ways.”
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Oh, God , Yes! Jesus I’m coming….
So , I take it you are too much of wimp and you are not going to answer the questions?
Just in case I have misinterpreted, I shall post them once more.
1. Did humanity actually, historically, experience a physical/spiritual fall from a pristine initial state to its present corrupt state? If so, provide support.
2. Did humanity suffer a relatively early annihilation in a global flood, such that all living people are now descended from eight survivors of this catastrophe? If so, provide support.
3. Who wrote Genesis, and how do you know? If we do not know, or do not know with good support, from where comes the claim of divine authorship or inspiration?
Come on SOM, strap on a pair and have a crack at them. What do you say?
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And a Merry Christmas to you, too, Silliness of Mind – a special Xmas gift, just for you:
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Arch,
Let me translate my last comment seeing as my allusion to the ever loved by man prostate exam tripped your light fantastic.
You are a sophist.
In the New Testament, the Pharisee hypocrites were cast as the sophists.
Plato and Aristotle hated the sophists because they peddled stupidity.
By not letting you suck me into your atheist imbecility, I am continuing the tradition of the Western Heritage begun by the ancient Greeks.
I’m not trying to be cruel and insulting like you are.
I am attempting to illuminate the nature of atheism by describing it accurately.
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Ark,
My comments are written in English designed to by simple and easily understood.
My meaning is therefore very clear and you asking me to repeat myself is a failure of intellect on your part.
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Just keep telling yourself that, Si – over and over, for as many times as it takes for you to believe it.
Now I’m going to take a little after-lunch nap, so you just keep doing by yourself, whatever it is you most like doing by yourself, until I get back, OK?
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Ah…I appreciate your consideration and acknowledge that i have a failing in intellect.
Please , feel free to dumb down your response, but please answer the questions.
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Ah, derived from the Greek word, “sophos,” meaning, “wise” – don’t you wish you were as sophisticated as I am?
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Arch,
Since I addressed my comment to you, it was meant for you.
The atheist’s inability to comprehend the obvious is yet another reason why atheism is such a crippling disaster.
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