How To Get To Heaven When You Die

[centrehice]

Posters and their imaginary friend.

[habsheaven]

Nothing better than a child with an active imagination.

[Paddington]

i am not sure even where to start with those answers, nor if i have time to.

i will start by saying you seem to think everything that is written and not in the bible is a lie.

The Bible is God's word. God cannot lie.

the sumerians have similiar stories, such as noah, and they have some of the earliest writings in recorded history and yes it predates any biblical finds. these are not faked

Actually, there are stories of the flood in different cultures around the world. It actually affirms the story as true, so I'm not sure what your point is here.

and most of what you are pointing out is based on speculation, you can't even prove mark, john, luke, or mathew existed outside of the bible, i am sure you will argue this, but you cannot show any proof, because there is none.

Yes, you can go by secular history, church history and other writings, so you can affirm these writings as true, just as you can affirm the History of George Washington as true.

again, faith is great, but it can also put someone on the edge

You say I have faith, but so do you. My arguments are backed up by the facts.

and i need to also state, God has a plan? really? why would He need to plan anything, He already knows the outcome?!!!

For His purposes and for us.

My responses are in bold.

[habsheaven]

My responses are in bold.

Your arguments are backed up by facts??? You cannot be serious.

[shrewsbury]

Your arguments are backed up by facts??? You cannot be serious.

thanks, at least someone understands what i am saying

paddington,

i never said anything in the bible is a lie, i said you think everything NOT in the bible is a lie

and you still want to say, you can prove these peple existed and the time the books were written, but you can't and you provide nothing to say you can

where are the facts?? not scripture, but facts outside of the bible?

[theonedru]

My responses are in bold.

*The Bible is God's word. God cannot lie.*

The bible is Mans INTERPRETATION of Gods words. God can lie, he invented the whole concept of lying, sure man has free will but remember if you truly believe in the bible does it not state that God created ALL things...

[mrveggieman]

thanks, at least someone understands what i am saying

paddington,

i never said anything in the bible is a lie, i said you think everything NOT in the bible is a lie

and you still want to say, you can prove these peple existed and the time the books were written, but you can't and you provide nothing to say you can

where are the facts?? not scripture, but facts outside of the bible?

I often ask those same questions and get blasted by some of the of more conservative christians on here whever I do.

[shrewsbury]

i am christian but i guess i am not conservative

[pspstatus]

My responses to your responses are in blue. Thanks for taking the time to respond to my questions.

Remember that slavery was VOLUNTARY back then usually to pay off a debt. It was limited to 7 years I believe, however, the slave could choose to be a slave for life if he wished. Anyone caught stealing other men or placing them in slavery were to be put to death. It wasn't like forced slavery that you are thinking of. It was very different.

Ex 21:16 And he that stealeth a man, and selleth him, or if he be found in his hand, he shall surely be put to death.

Exodus 21:1-4 "If thou buy an Hebrew servant, six years he shall serve: and in the seventh he shall go out free for nothing. If he came in by himself, he shall go out by himself: if he were married, then his wife shall go out with him. If his master have given him a wife, and she have born him sons or daughters; the wife and her children shall be her master's, and he shall go out by himself."

Deuteronomy 15:12-18 "And if thy brother, an Hebrew man, or an Hebrew woman, be sold unto thee, and serve thee six years; then in the seventh year thou shalt let him go free from thee.And when thou sendest him out free from thee, thou shalt not let him go away empty: Thou shalt furnish him liberally out of thy flock, and out of thy floor, and out of thy winepress: of that wherewith the Lord thy God hath blessed thee thou shalt give unto him."

Exodus 21:7 "And if a man sell his daughter to be a maidservant, she shall not go out as the menservants do."

Exodus 21:20-21 "And if a man smite his servant, or his maid, with a rod, and he die under his hand; he shall be surely punished. Notwithstanding, if he continue a day or two, he shall not be punished: for he is his money."

Exodus 21:26-27 "And if a man smite the eye of his servant, or the eye of his maid, that it perish; he shall let him go free for his eye's sake. And if he smite out his manservant's tooth, or his maidservant's tooth; he shall let him go free for his tooth's sake."

Selling someone does not sound like voluntary slavery to me.

God didn't allow those things, men just did them. God hadn't dealt with it yet. Sometimes He waits to deal with things to prove a point later. Women are considered unclean during menstration because of the blood. Blood spreads disease as you should know. They coudn't have known that back then without God. Regarding kidnapping women If you are referring to conquering of nations, the reason for them making the women their wives is so that they would be taken care of instead of left to die. I don't follow you on when a baby is called impure. I would need a verse.

Deuteronomy 21:10-14 "When thou goest forth to war against thine enemies, and the Lord thy God hath delivered them into thine hands, and thou hast taken them captive, And seest among the captives a beautiful woman, and hast a desire unto her, that thou wouldest have her to thy wife; Then thou shalt bring her home to thine house; and she shall shave her head, and pare her nails; And she shall put the raiment of her captivity from off her, and shall remain in thine house, and bewail her father and her mother a full month: and after that thou shalt go in unto her, and be her husband, and she shall be thy wife. And it shall be, if thou have no delight in her, then thou shalt let her go whither she will; but thou shalt not sell her at all for money, thou shalt not make merchandise of her, because thou hast humbled her."

Deuteronomy 20:14 "But the women, and the little ones, and the cattle, and all that is in the city, even all the spoil thereof, shalt thou take unto thyself"

It doesn't sound to me like their soul concern for these women was their well being.

The Bible is merely re-telling history of what actually happened. A better question would be "why were the people so violent back then"? The answer would probably be that they weren't as civilized back then as we are. God isn't controlling, the devil is. God leads gently, the devil tries to force his way in while accusing God and His people of doing exactly what he himself is doing. God wants us to fear Him, not in an AFRAID type of way, but it's more of a RESPECT of His authority and who He is as KING of the Universe.

Fear does not equal true respect. It is forced respect.
Many of the wars described in biblical times were sanctioned by God. Therefore it seems that God was more than willing to let violence get his message acrossed.


4. Why does God say to honor your mother and father, then ask you to forsake them and anyone else for him?

What God wants is for us to place Him above everything else. If we place God above all else, including our parents, family, ect. Everything else will fall into place. You WILL honor your Father and Mother, ect.

That doesn't make sense to me. My parents have been the most important people in my life. I think it means basically that if your family doesn't believe in God the way God thinks they should that you turn from them. I will forsake them for noone.

5. Why does God need to be constantly worshipped and glorified?

Because that's why He created us. Because He is King. With that said, He is worthy of this worship.

He created us to worship him? Whether he is worthy of that worship or not it baffles me that God would really need to create humans to worship his greatness.

Why does he demand such intense devotion?

Because He cannot lead His Kingdom with people who aren't faithful to Him. As long as sin is in the world, there will be pain and suffering and chaos.

So did he create us to help him lead his kingdom or for us to worship and glorify him?

Why would he let Satan destroy Job's life just to prove how devoted he was to him?

Because God doesn't just look on this life as we do. He sees all the way into eternity. He knew that Job would exist for all of eternity and was actually demonstrating what a great man Job was to Satan. Remember that God and Satan are in a war for the souls of men and the devil would love to steal God's glory. My question is that are you asking questions about the devil? Why does the devil want to trick people into going to hell forever? Why does the devil try to steal God's glory, Kingdom and worship? Why does the devil try to control everyone while accusing of God of doing it, when God doesn't do it?

That's exactly what I'm saying. Satan challenged God and instead of telling satan to kiss his butt he let him destroy Job's life to prove satan wrong.

Why did he feel it was so important to prove Satan wrong? Why was God so easily tempted?

Because He is in a war with satan for the souls of men. God wants to give you eternal life in heaven and make YOU personally ROYALTY with Him. It's a HUGE deal. Satan wants you to worship him and be destroyed with him in hell forever. satan knows his fate. when the unsaved die, the demons are the ones pushing them into hell. Did you know that? They LOVE it when people go to hell.

How does satan have so much power if he's supposed to be sitting in a huge chunk of ice?

6. If the only way to reach God is through Jesus what happened to the souls of people born before Jesus?

They were under the law. They sacrificed animals to cover their sins. It was a symbol of Christ's blood that would be shed to not merely cover our sins, but cleans them forever. Yes, they could be saved. They went to paradise at that time, which was located in the center of the earth. They could actually see hell from where they were. It is believed that when Jesus rose from the dead, that paradise it's self went up into heaven. I believe that there are different cities in heaven. Paradise is now located there. The New Jerusalem is another city, which is where Chritians go when they die at this time.

I have no response to this.

7. Why are some of the stories and persons from the Bible so similar to the stories and persons from other ancient civilizations?

They aren't. There is a hoax out there that the story of Jesus was copied from earlier stories. If you look at the actual writings, it's a lie. They have nothing to do with the biblical story. Horus is one example of a huge hoax. Don't buy into it. There ARE stories written AFTER the bible that parallel the biblical ones. Those were merely copied from the bible and twisted up. Look at the actual writings yourself, not what some liar says in a book.

Where is your proof of this? Your proof can come from a book but mine can't?

8. Why does God seem so concerned with human sexuality? If I believe that homosexuality is not a chosen lifestyle through the experience of having a gay friend and knowing him since he was very young how can I reconcile that with what the Bible says?

God has a plan and purpose for everything. He created man for woman, not man for man or woman for woman. The purpose of sex is pro-creation, you cannot have pro-creation with homosexual sex. It's just self centered and pleasure centered. With that said, God does LOVE gay people and desire them to repent and be saved. Look, it's also a sin to commit adultry. I am tempted to look at women and have sex with those who are not my wife, but I don't because I know that that would be a sin. Just because someone is tempted with a certain type of sin, doesn't mean that it's no longer a sin.

If science ever proved that homosexuality isn't a choice would that ever change your opinion on this?

9. Why do so many of the views and messages conveyed in the Bible seem to directly reflect widely held human views of the time it was written? That is to say why do views on things such as slavery, women, sexuality seem as though they are period specific and not timeless?

There are times when God deals differently with man to prove a point and set groundwork for His ultimate message. I believe that the ultimate message is that Man cannot rule himself, he fails time and time again and that we need God to rule over us. There are what's called different dispensations or ways that God deals with men. The first was concience, then the law was one...there were like 7, but I don't remember them all right now. We are currently under Grace, which means unearned favor.

All I can say is that that seems pretty convenient.


10. Is it possible that the Bible is a collection of some factual evidence, stories, and beliefs of its writers produced as a tool to gain control of the masses?

Absolutely not. There is no way that the stories could all fit together as if written by one man the way that they do. There were 40 writers, living in different parts of the world over a 1500 year period, many of whom didn't know each other or have access to the others writings, they were from different walks of life. Some were rich, some poor, some educated and some not. It's truly God's word.

As far as I can tell from the research I have done is that these stories do not all fit together. Furthermore I believe I have seen so many contradictions from different books that it's very hard for me to believe this all came from one source.
Why are there so many versions of the Bible?

There is actually only one version of the bible. The bible has many different Translations from the original language into English. Not all of them are equal. Some of them were translated specifically for the purpose of twisting it up to form a doctrine that isn't really in the original writings. Jehovah's Witnesses are a classic example of this. They have their own twisted translation of the bible, which was translated specifically to manipulate and change the meaning of the scriptures. You have to be careful which version you choose. The KJV is the most widely accepted, accurate translation of the bible by most all denominations. That's why it's so popular.

Why were people or institutions such as the Church of England able to produce new translations that seemed to fit beliefs more akin to their religious structure?

I just addressed that above. I told you that some do that. You have to be careful.

So is the KJV right or wrong?

11. If I disagree with one of God's views on something because of what I truly believe in my heart what does that mean?

That means that you are not fully trusting in the Lord's judgement. If He is able to create all things that exist from nothing, create all men from nothing and hold all things together, see everything past, present and future, don't you think that He knows best? He's not trying to be mean or controlling.

I will fully admit that I am not fully trusting in the lord. My best friends brother happens to be gay. I knew he was gay when he was about 7 years old. I believe it was not a lifestyle choice but a natural instinct for him. I do not believe he is a sinner and I love him like a brother. If God believes that because this man is gay that he belongs in hell then no i do not think God necessarily knows best.

[Paddington]

[quote=pspstatus;11359583]

That doesn't make sense to me. My parents have been the most important people in my life. I think it means basically that if your family doesn't believe in God the way God thinks they should that you turn from them. I will forsake them for noone.

The point is that we are to place God above all else, including our family. God does command you to be good to your parents. By placing God first, you WILL be the best son you can be to them. God isn't asking you to forsake them.

So did he create us to help him lead his kingdom or for us to worship and glorify him?

Yes! You have no idea the blessings that are in store for His people.

1Co 2:9 But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.

That's exactly what I'm saying. Satan challenged God and instead of telling satan to kiss his butt he let him destroy Job's life to prove satan wrong.

Because through Job's suffering, He glorified God in heaven among the angels and proved satan a liar among the demons. How demoralizing for the enemy. Job was blessed greatly for his faithfulness.

How does satan have so much power if he's supposed to be sitting in a huge chunk of ice?

I don't know why you think satan is sitting on a huge chunk of ice. he currently rules in this world because Adam gave him the power. God hasn't taken it from satan yet because God is using satan to see who will choose to serve God and who will choose to serve satan. FREEWILL.



Where is your proof of this? Your proof can come from a book but mine can't?

Frankly, the burden of proof is on the accuser. If you look at the actual writings and not what some liar said that wrote a book, you will find that it's not in the actual writings. It's a huge hoax.


If science ever proved that homosexuality isn't a choice would that ever change your opinion on this?

I would equate it to this. Is is ok for me to cheat on my wife or have sex before I'm married? No. But I desire those things. So what, it's still a sin. Just because you are tempted to do something or struggle with it, doesn't make it not a sin. God does NOT hate gay people.


As far as I can tell from the research I have done is that these stories do not all fit together. Furthermore I believe I have seen so many contradictions from different books that it's very hard for me to believe this all came from one source.

It DOES all fit together and it wasn't written by one man, it was written by 40 men over a 1500 year period in different parts of the world and many of them didn't have access to the others writings. God inspired them. God controlled what was written. There is no way that it isn't God's word.




So is the KJV right or wrong?


I believe that it is right, yet not perfect. Sometimes you need to look at the meaning of the original greek/hebrew words to get the most accurate translation of the word.


I will fully admit that I am not fully trusting in the lord. My best friends brother happens to be gay. I knew he was gay when he was about 7 years old. I believe it was not a lifestyle choice but a natural instinct for him. I do not believe he is a sinner and I love him like a brother. If God believes that because this man is gay that he belongs in hell then no i do not think God necessarily knows best.

No one is going to hell because they are gay or a sinner. They go to hell because they reject Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. If He will repent and turn his life over to Jesus Christ, he will be saved like anyone else.