Doesn't everyone have some form of faith.  Perhaps not faith in a deity, but faith in say your friend delivering a message to another friend or a scientist having faith that expermintation will prove his hypothesis. 

Since faith is not based on logic, then why should we feel threatened if that belief is not logically?

What does this list have to do with theism?  A great number of the points are specific questions to Christians, and therefore irrelevant in the greater debate of Atheism vs Theism.

 You should strip this list down to only those questions which are relevant to the theist that believes in an omniscient, omnipotent, good (benevolent) creator of the universe, but says little more.  That would be relevant for a forum like this.

Non-Abrahamic god questions would be better. I have a few questions about Hinduism and Buddhism, but I have to sleep so that I may actually be rested and not make a blunder in my sleep deprived state. 

No matter all the so called proofs that there is no God, still atheists have no choice but to submit to a theist controlled world. This is because God rules through the theists. How clear is that?
Christians write beautiful songs about the God they love. They heal the sick using God's name of Jesus. They sit in the White House and senate, congress, etc. It is the theist who decides what goes for the world.
In a word, they rule the world.
Why do atheists think they're right when they have no control on what goes in the world? By that I mean no athiest can take over and say and convince anyone there is no God.
The world since the dawn of time understands there is a God. Atheists have had millenniums to prove otherwise, but as it stands theists still control the world that there is a God. Even the terrorists of Islam know there is a God. I hope the atheists don't try and convince them there is no God.
There is a God and theists prove it by their up front seat on the planet.

You're going to have to do better than that, even though you can't.
You may call it what you want, but the fact remains theists rule. It tells that theists obviously know something the atheist doesn't.
It most certainly proves we are smarter than athiests. We have "something" which gives us power to rule.
That something is There is a God.
Armed with that power, theists rule.
Theists even put on the money atheists are forced to use in the US..."In God we trust"
Theists do not let atheists decide anything for the world.
Nothing.
Atheists must submit to a theist controlled planet.
Appeal to popularity? Nope. It is called power.
God's power.
Try again.

Say All You Want, Believe All You Want, You Amongst All Will Bow Before God One Day, & You Will Be Judged Like Everyone Else.

I Believe In God, His Son Jesus, The Holy Spirit...

Your Time Is Short In This Life.

Think of it this way:In ancient times, monotheists were highly outnumbered by polytheists. They had the power. If you were living then, you'd be "ruled" by polytheists. They had more power. Did those who believed in many gods know something monotheists didn't? Did Zeus or Jupiter or Marduk or Odin give them power?

Really, I don't need to do better, because your argument is totally flawed. What of Communist China? The Communist Party there basically outlaws your religion, while allowing traditional Chinese religions. Do they know something you don't? Maybe the spirit of Mao gives them power?

I guess I can call this an appeal to popularity AND an appeal to authority. (not in the traditional sense, but more "We are authority figures because theists rule the world, so we're right," thing) Normally, logical fallacies lose the argument right away. Here, you're using two.

Pride? It has nothing to do with pride, but obvious truth and undeniable facts. Atheists have no world, no planet, no governement to back up their statement There is no God, whereas theists have a world, an entire planet in the cosmos to back up their statement There is a God, and by his power we rule the world.

Look what theist found....12. I have often heard from many believers that even Satan has a presence in the church, which is why even in church people can still have impure thoughts. If Satan can find his way in the church, how do Christians know that Satan didn't find his way into the Bible and twist the whole book? After all, men did vote on which books would make the Holy Bible. - The Infidel Guy

You need to understand that it is what God says that is truth. His WORD. nd the Bible is God's written word. Satan is judged already. And he has no word. What he says is a lie. Jesus said he beheld him fall from heaven as lightning. It is not about Satan "finding his way" which is impossible since Jesus is the Way. And Jesus said Satan has nothing in him. Satan doesn't "have a presence" anywhere. He is a fallen angel who has been judged. It is not possible for him to find anything. He is the power that destroys, not seeks for a way. The Scriptures are closed and nothing can be added not then, not now, not ever. He cannot go to church and change anything. He is the tempter now as he was to Eve, suggesting, offering, but never can he get into the church or into God's word.

You seem to see the devil as a thinking entity. He is not. He is a fallen angel, an angel who wanted to be God. He has no power to think, reason, or cause to come into being. He is the tempter, the destroyer, the waster, the liar, theif, murderer who is not capable of doing any of the things you suppose he might have done.

God is a God of laws. Satan is a created and anointed fallen cherub whose only desire for you is total destruction and he will do it any way he can as in the lie that God to whom you will give an account to does not exist. The devil gets no credit. God gave the world his word and he gave His Son. Jesus said the gates of hell WILL NOT  prevail against his church.Your argument that maybe Satan found his way and twisted can not be reconciled to the Bible and an ordered universe created by God who created Lucifer.

Why do you need a world, planet or government to back up your statement if it's true? Why don't you answer the question about  ancient polytheists, or the point that this is SACRILEGE according to your church? 

You know the Ugaritic texts are a good proof that christianity  and judaism ripped off other religions in that area, right? Again, why does an entire country agreeing make what they agree on right?

1: Please give proof that these miracles have happened in the modern world.

2: I'm not angry at god, I don't think he exists. 

II Corinthians 11:14-15

14And no wonder, for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light. 15It is not surprising, then, if his servants masquerade as servants of righteousness. Their end will be what their actions deserve.

How do you know that it isn't Satan masquerading as an angel of light telling you your god wrote the bible? Or even him masquerading as god himself?

Next, the devil is depicted as a thinking entity in the bible, else he'd never trick anyone. One cannot trick someone without thinking. No mention of him as a fallen angel is in the bible. In fact, the one verse in Isaiah about the morning star falling, which is the only proof that he was a fallen angel, refers to Israel falling from grace, NOT Satan.

Hi...

New here, only recently came aware of you. First of all, let me get this out of the way - I am a theist (Christian I suppose, but non-practicing; generally speaking, I don't really espouse organized Christianity and think religion, or lack thereof, is an article most people would be better served to keep amongst themselves). That being said, I'd like to completely go against the grain of that previous sentence by sharing some of my takes on the first 20 points here. I may (or may not) attempt to take on a few more of the questions, but for now, I'll keep my first post extremely long and annoying. Hopefully nobody will mind TOO much...hopefully it proves somewhat intelligently written, or, if nothing else, a pleasant enough distraction from your daily activities, even if for only a few moments.

Take care!

********

Questions about God... theists answer these!

1. If Jesus fulfilled all the OT prophecies so well, why didn't the Jews recognize him as the messiah?

- For the same reason people run stop signs, drive drunk, speed, weave in and out of lanes or otherwise drive like an idiot. Just because something's there and there's apparently a reason for it being there doesn't necessarily mean everybody's going to get behind the idea of it. No big mystery.

2. If Gen 3:24 is true, why hasn't anyone found the Cherubims and the " flaming sword which turned every way"?

- A. Regarding Cherubims, I have no answer. - B. Due to it's implicit description. It's not something that can be physically located. Most Christian scholars agree that it's description is metaphoric but essentially translates into a spiritual/metaphysical barrier that humans cannot pass.

3. It's been proven that modern humans originated from Africa. Yet, the Adam and Eve story claims the first Humans lived in a garden in Eden, near 4 rivers. ( Most of which no one can find). One of these rivers mentioned is the Euphrates, which runs through Iraq, Syria and a portion of Turkey. What's the truth? Did man come out of Africa or near the Euphrates River?

- There's some scientific standard that continents have a tendancy to separate over time; it's unlikely, but possible, that it all sort of blended together. The world at the dawn of time (so to speak) didn't look like it does today, and judging it as such is somewhat of a reach.

4. When the believer gets to Heaven, how can Heaven be utter bliss when people they love and care about are burning in Hell ? - The Infidel Guy - [Note: Some say God erases your memories of them, but if God erases your memory, you as Mr. Joe /Jane Smoe ceases to exist.]

- Human connections are severed in the afterlife; for the old things are passed away. EVERYBODY in Heaven becomes family, and although immediate (human/Earthly) family connections still will exist, the pre-eminent connection is with God first and everyone else secondly. We are all children of God. By it's very nature, Heaven cannot allow sadness or regret or loss. Does that mean spiritual control? I can't answer that, but most written religious works are pretty specific about a dismissal of Earthly cares - I assume that extends to immediate family and friends here. They probably become more like ex-employees. You can still, of course, be on friendly basis with them all, but your real family (God) is elsewhere.

5. How can a God have emotions, i.e. jealousy, anger, sadness, love, etc., if he is omnipotent, omniscient, and omnipresent? Emotional states are reactionary for the most part. How can God react to us if he is all-knowing and has a divine plan? - IG [Note: Indeed, many religious texts display their gods this way . Listen to the An Emotional Godshow.]

- Being omnipotent, omniscient and omnipresent doesn't necessarily preclude having emotions. While it's true that emotional states are reactionary for humans, you can't judge emotional states on an infinite status unless you examine that from the perspective of omnipotence, omniscience, and omnipresence. You can only examine them from a human perspective. Same rules obviously can't apply. You can't put limits on an infinite.

6. Why would God create a place such as hell to torture sinners forever when he foreknew who would disappoint him? - IG [Note: Some say you have a choice, but this misses the point. If God hates sin so much, why create Adam and Eve when he knew they'd sin? The only conclusion I can come up with, if Yaweh exists, is that he wanted sin to enter the world.]

- A. Of course He wanted sin to enter the world. Why wouldn't he? Think about the planet. Now think about the planet filled with NOTHING but exact copies of you, forever. Wouldn't it get slightly boring? Uninteresting? What would be the point in creating humans if we were just created as mindless worshipping automatons? He already had that in the angels and found it dissatisfactory. Insertion of a choice to sin and turn away from Him would be the only reason to even bother creating a planet and human beings in the first place. A being with the qualities God has wouldn't waste His time with such trivialties.

- B. The concept of a "Fire and Brimstone/Place of Torture" Hell has been discounted many times by religious scholars. Fire and Brimstone concepts of Hell basically applied as scare tactic fare - most accounts of Hell now agree that, based on actual definitions of the word, it's a place of removal from the sight of God, a place of isolation. Not a place of being poked in the rear by little red devils with pitchforks.

7. "God is all merciful," we hear quite often. Wouldn't it be more merciful of God to simply snap sinners out of existence rather than send them to hell? Or better yet, since he's all-knowing, not allow them to be born at all? - IG ON GOD'S LOVE & HELL 1.) God's love is superlative. 2.) God's love of man exceeds man's love of self. 3.) Man's love of self prohibits torture. 4.) Considering God's greater love for us, Hell (eternal torture) is illogical.

- No, it would not be more merciful. In fact, it would be worse because it would defeat the notion that God is all merciful. Snapping you out of existance would not give you the opportunity to change your mind, and doing such would make God tyrannical in nature. Not allowing sinners to be born is honestly a parallel to the debate of letting sin enter the world - it's basically a parallel question. Again, why would God create a free-thinking, intelligent, self aware human being and then say "BUT you MUST worship me - of that you have NO choice in the matter at all, hahahah!"? Because creating such a thing like a human being at that point would be, essentially, pointless in practice due to the fact that angels operate in much the same manner. The fact that human beings exist, when taken in conjuction with this argument, lends credibility to the argument that God was looking for something a little more interesting.

8. Muslims are supposed to pray 5 times a day towards Mecca. Each prayer includes a variety of ritualism and posturing. If a muslim astronaut were to land on Mars. Prayer to Mecca would be ritualistically impossible due to the rotation of Earth and Mars. Are Muslims stuck here in Earth? IG [Note: Since this was first posted, a Muslim astronaut was faced with this very dilemma. The authoritative clergy informed him to pray as he normally would. I see this no where in the Koran. You see? Religions must change, or die out. It's interesting to note that, in the Koran, the moon is believed to be in the lowest Heaven, the level for those that barely made it to Heaven. Surah 71:15-16. One problem, no man can supposedly get to Heaven until they die. Yet, we've been to the moon. Our satellites beyond that.]

- I'm not a subscriber to the Muslim faith, so I cannot comment on this. I would assume that a Muslim on Mars would be able to pray in whatever direction so long as the faith was well placed, however. Intent can (and should) take up the slack of physical impossibility. I would assume any God would be able to say "Well, that's close enough" for special occasions.

9. Why haven't we seen God reattach severed heads, restore someone who was burned alive or regrow amputated limbs? Surely these would be miracles difficult to deny. - Adam Majors and IG [Note: The typical answer is that man doesn't dictate God's actions. The conundrum here however is that, if God wants us to "know" him, then surely feats such as those mentioned above would be happening all over the world. Until they do, I'll remain an atheist.]

- Once again, it's the issue of free will that's being overlooked here. Let's say God came down, made his presence known, did a press conference, performed like a circus animal and impressed everybody enough to say "OK, I believe, there IS a God! Hallelujah!". What, then, would be the point? All knees would bow, and the pursuit of everyone's daily life would amount to nothing more than...forced servitude. As I've postured several times already, God already had automatic, 24/7 worship with the angels. He gave mankind a choice NOT to believe in Him, and loved his creation above and beyond all other things BECAUSE He gave them that choice. On top of that explanation, restoring the dead to life en masse (for example) would create food shortages, employment problems, natural resource crises, pollution issues, and a plethora of other problems unlike the world has EVER seen. I'm sure it would create a faith in God worldwide, but mankind would be ill-equipped to handle the overpopulation. Of course, one could argue that God could immediately fix all those problems, sure; but really, where would it end? What if the people whom He restored life to suddenly demanded that He also bring back their mothers, brothers, friends and co-workers? And what if THOSE people demanded that He bring their dearly departed back? Death exists for a reason and it's a very good one when you stop to consider it.

10. Why does God entrust the spreading of 'His' word to sinners? Why doesn't he do it himself? - IG [Note: Surely God would have known that not everyone would be convinced by the reality[sic] of his Bible. If God loves us so much, we are all going to Heaven. If God knew that I would be an atheist, and he doesn't like atheists, he shouldn't have allowed me to come into existence. But he did. Therefore, I must be serving the will of God, for I exist. ]

- You ARE serving the will of God. Free will, remember? NOW you're getting it.

11. In II Kings 2-23/24 we read about God sending 2 she-bears to attack children for calling the prophet Elisa bald, which he was, the bears killed 42 of the children. Was this a good thing to do? -- Brandon and IG [Note: I have heard some argue that the boys were a gang. So?! I didn't read anywhere in that passage where they laid a finger on the guy . Also, what kind of bears are these that can kill 42 kids? Super Bears? Surely the kids had to be running away.]

- This is most likely parable; the "children" in question could very well be cities or tribes, potentially political leaders who denounced Elisa (calling him bald could well equate to denouncing Elisa - "killing" them could also mean other things than actual physical death, as it does in any deck of tarot cards). The bible often times speaks in parable and Jesus Himself (and many other scholars of the time, not all of whom espoused religion above all else) used parable extensively as a means of teaching. The common words and depictions of language today are FAR removed from what was common in the days that the scrolls which became the bible were written. I would need further actual study to authenticate this, but I have seen numerous examples, which allow me to make a "leap of faith" that this is most likely the case.

12. I have often heard from many believers that even Satan has a presence in the church, which is why even in church people can still have impure thoughts. If Satan can find his way in the church, how do Christians know that Satan didn't find his way into the Bible and twist the whole book? After all, men did vote on which books would make the Holy Bible. - The Infidel Guy

- Not a question I can answer, because I don't personally know the extent or influence of Satan in the church. I would speculate that, if Satan had influence in the writing of the bible, he would have at least taken the time to portray himself in a slightly better light, however...?

13. Why did God allow Lot and his daughters to escape from Sodom and Gomorra when he destroyed it only to later have Lot and his daughters engage in incestuous fornication. (Genesis 19:30-36) - Disillusioned [Note: To have intercourse with daddy dearest of course.]

- This is a GREAT question! Sadly enough, I have absolutely NO answer and am not ashamed to admit it.

14. Genesis 1:28-29 shows that man and all the animals were first created herbivorous. Most young-earth Christians (ones that believes the earth is less than 10,000 years old) say that the fall of man resulted in carnivorous animals (hence death of animals). So, why did God punish the animal kingdom, making animals kill and devour each other because of man's mistake? Or, if you're an old-earth Christian (one that accepts that animals existed on earth for billions of years before man came on the scene) then how come fossils show carnivorous animals existed before man? -

- I fall into the old-Earth catagory, so I'll answer it from that perspective. Simply put, the Bible is obviously incorrect. Now - saying that, I know many will say "Well, if it's incorrect THERE, than it could be incorrect EVERYWHERE!". I suppose there's an argument for that. Ever read a Stephen King book, though? Often times, Mr. King goes into description of certain areas that actually DO exist - sometimes even history behind a specific event that has actually occured at some point. It's hardly ever 100% accurate, but there's no denying that the events/location actually DO exist and/or DID happen; it doesn't always need 100% accuracy for the point to be made. Essentially, carnivorous animals CAN exist before humans and that shouldn't be damaging to anybody's faith. If it is, well...forgive me for saying it, but it seems like a rather LARGE leap to make...

15. Many Christians believe that God is a thinking being, that he solves problems and makes a way for them when troubles come. Does God Think? If God is thinking, did he know his thoughts before he thought them? If so, again, where is his freewill and how is God thinking at all if everything seems to be one uncontrollable action/thoughts. - The Infidel Guy [Note: I'd say a God cannot think at all. To do so, would strip him of omniscience. Thinking is a temporal process.] ON GOD'S ATEMPORALITY 1.) God, an atemporal being, created the Universe. 2.) Creation is a temporal processes because X cannot cause Y to come into being unless X existed temporally prior to Y. 3.) If God existed prior to the creation of the Universe he is a temporal being. 4.) Since God is atemporal, God cannot be the creator the Universe. [Note: I guess I should also note here that a timeless being would be without the proposition of past, and future. But to be omniscient, God must know the past and future. Hence a God that is atemporal and omniscient cannot logically exist. ]

- Does God know His thoughts before He thinks them? To answer yes or no conclusively, I'd need to be on par with God Himself in terms of mentality, and I certainly won't make that claim. Erego, there's no conclusive answer to be made or inferred either way. Thinking is indeed a temporal process, when you apply it to humans. Humans are, by definition, finite creations. You can't apply finite descriptions and modifiers on something that is, by definition, infinite. Scientifically, that would not be accurate and would ruin the test. If, however, you use infinite modifiers to examine an infinite subject, than your conclusions would be accurate. By scientific definition, however, the accepted/common parameters for testing do not allow for the comparison of mortal/finite and immortal/infinite because of the very nature of the difference between the two. This is, of course, very hard to qualify, but then you come right back to square one, which is - religion is an article of faith alone and cannot be proven or disproven using any known scientific method. To think otherwise is folly. Debate on the existance of a God is engaging and often times thought provoking, but the assertion that God can be either proven or disproven using scientific evidence is simply inaccurate on both counts. Thus, using thought-process evidence in humans and applying the same parameters to a being who does not have to necessarily subscribe to them simply doesn't work at all towards disproving (or proving the existance of) God, and that much, at least, is indeed scientifically provable.

16. I have often heard that faith is all that is neccessary to believe in God and accept the Bible as true. If this is true aren't all supernatural beliefs true since they also require "faith"? - IG ON FAITH 1.) A prerequisite to believe in a Faith is faith. 2.) Having faith is all that is required to accept a Faith (belief) as true. 3.) All Faiths are true. [Note: Of course all Faiths aren`t true, but this is the only logical conclusion that can be drawn from a person that states that, "Faith" is how one knows God.]

- Religion is a matter of faith. As I've already asserted, the existance of a God cannot be proven or disproven using any scientific method because the same factoring processes cannot be logically used, otherwise the conclusions drawn are inherently flawed. The beauty of all this is that, in the United States, you're legally free to believe in anything you want.

17. Why didn't God just kill Adam and Eve after the Fall and start from scratch? Actually, if God is all-knowing wouldn't he know that man would need to be killed eventually anyway, (the biblical flood)? Why create Adam and Eve at all? - [email protected] and [email protected] ON THE GARDEN OF EDEN 1.) God is omniscient (all-knowing). 2.) God knew that before he created man that they would eat of the tree of knowledge. 3.) God placed the tree of knowledge in the Garden anyway. 4.) God wanted sin to enter the world. [Note: If God didn`t want sin to enter the world, why create Adam and Eve at all? He knew what would happen. Why place the forbidden trees in the Garden in the first place?]

- Adam and Eve were perfect "in concept". That is to say they were exactly what He was looking for when He created mankind. They had free will and the ability to make their own decisions, as do the human beings of today. The creation of Adam and Eve gave God pleasure because He had created something with free will, the ability to learn from it's mistakes (or not) and choose it's own destiny. Did God know what would eventually happen with the flood? Perhaps. Is it too much of a stretch to say that, while omnipotent and infinitely powerful, maybe God can elect to use those abilities selectively in order to avoid infinite boredom? I would say that, out of a God easily capable of accomplishing the infinite, that would be very easy to do. As to God wanting sin to enter the world, I've already covered that above.

18. If a spirit is non-physical but the human body is physical, how does a spirit stay in our bodies? - IG ON SPIRITS 1.) Spirits are not physical entities. 2.) Brains are physical entities. 3.) Past experiences are stored in our physical brains, we call that, Memory.. 4.) Injury can damage portions of the physical brain that store memory and can alter or erase memories completely. 5.) If human spirits exist... after death, spirits can have no memory. [Note: Some will say the spirit stores physical memories as well, but if true, the spirit would have to be physical at least to a degree. How could a non-physical spirit store, physical memories?]

- This goes back to answering why there would be no unhappiness in Heaven if your friends/family were in Hell, doesn't it? Look at point 5 (after death, spirits can have no memory) and there you have your own answer to both points. "The former things are passed away"...I personally believe that the spirit (mentally stored) will retain some memory of it's Earthly life/connections (all faith on my part, I can't prove any of that), but overwhelmingly you go back to your TRUE family - God Himself.

19. Does God know his own future decisions? If God is all-knowing he actually shouldn't have any decisions to make at all. Nor can he choose anything over something else. For that would mean that he is neither omniscient nor omnipotent. In fact, he can't even think if this is the case. Since he can't DO anything, he might as well not exist. - IG ON GOD'S IMMUTABILITY - Unchangingness 1. If God exists, then he is immutable. 2. If God exists, then he is the creator of the universe. 3. An immutable being cannot at one time have an intention and then at a later time not have that intention. 4. For any being to create anything, prior to the creation he must have had the intention to create it, but at a later time, after the creation, no longer have the intention to create it. 5. Thus, it is impossible for an immutable being to have created anything (from 3 and 4). 6. Therefore, it is impossible for God to exist (from 1, 2, and 5) - Theodore M. Drange

- This is the same question as #15, simply reworded. Same answer applies - you're putting physical/human limitations on a non-physical/non-human limitless. Erego, the "regular" rules can't apply and thus the answer cannot be found scientifically. If God is capable of infinite, than quite frankly he can make and break rules of human limitation as He sees fit to do so. Therefore, points 1-6 above can either apply, or not, whichever suits His needs at the time in question.

20. If God is all-knowing, how could he be disappointed in His creation? -- [email protected] [Note: Indeed, wouldn't God know that before the creation of our Universe what creatures would disappoint him? That being the case why create those creatures at all? Also, in knowing absolutely the behavior of humans before creation, God cannot be disappointed either... for this world is exactly as he has planned it to be. If it's not, why create us at all?]

- He could have known before the creation of our universe what creatures would disappoint Him. But, since He was busy with the creation of a creature that had free will as well, I would make the basic assumption that He probably made some effort not to examine the eventual outcome of what creatures/people would disappoint Him. Otherwise, there would logically be no reason for Him to create free will at all. Since God, as an article of faith, is ascribed to being infinite, He could choose not to see the future as He saw fit. Why create anything? Free will and the fun of being surprised. How many days would you personally enjoy if you knew everything that was going to happen before it ever did and you were NEVER surprised? This is not a hard concept to grasp. But yes, this world IS exactly how He has planned it to be - both extremely satisfactory and highly disappointing, and...maybe even a surprise. Free will is what it comes back to, over and over again. If God was honestly interested in the final outcomes and nothing else, than He would have had to look no further than His angels, because their destiny is manifest from start to finish. They lead existances of servitude and nothing more. My basic ideal is that He (God) first attempted concepts of free will on angels (e.g. Lucifer), and after the revolt and casting out of Lucifer and his legions, God created the concept of free will for human beings who could do far less damage with it. This might insinuate that God made a mistake with giving free will to angels - it also might not, but I'll examine that angle next time around.

Thanks guys!

I'm going to try to answer number 10, albeit from a Jewish perspective. If I understand the question correctly, you want to knwo why god does not speak reveal himself directly to the entire world, rather than using individual prophets to convey his words. According to Jewish tradition (which you are welcome to reject) HaShem did exactly that at Mount Sinai: he spoke directly to the People of Israel. They were terrified by the experience, as recounted in Exodus 20:15-16, and demanded that Moses be an intermediary between HaShem and the people, lest the people die from the experience. There is a Midrash (which I've been researching in my library this morning, but can't find the exact source) that says that they actually did die, and were resurrected after hearing the first two of the Aseret HaDibros, and they didn't want to repeat the experience. The rest of the Torah was given to them by Moses.

 I think virtually every single question is appropriate in that a creature that has the power to reason, has every right to ask these questions of its Creator. The fact that the questions are being asked at all, shows that we are not products of random processes.

If applied to the honest reporting written down and collected into what we call "The Bible" (The Torah, The Writings, The Prophets, the Gospels, the Epistles and Revelation), we see the very same amount of questioning.

 All the questions seem to point to the Creator for the answers. Fine tuning the truth is a noble endeavor.

Woah that is a LOT of Questions. I haven't seen quite this many before. Okay here goes...

1. If Jesus fulfilled all the OT prophecies so well, why didn't the Jews recognize him as the messiah? - Francois Tremblay

It's the self same story in all ancient wisdom, the devout don't know what they are on about in their prophecies. They expect the actions of God to match their ideas formed from the abstract knowledge which they have, but their ideas don't match the God that promised them those things. It's the good part in its own way. Would you like it if real God has the same ideas as all his followers? Nah... I didn't think so.

2. If Gen 3:24 is true, why hasn't anyone found the Cherubims and the " flaming sword which turned every way"?

Because Gen 3:24 is an archaic knowledge handed down in verbal tradition for thousands of years before it was ever written down. The Seven Days and the Garden of Eden are an ancient dissemination of the primeval physical parts of earth and heaven. There are seven days to creation, and it is made quite clear from the start of the story that 'days' are the separation of light from darkness, aspect from void, and that the sun and moon are a symbol of this. So then this ancient knowledge of the Genesis of the universe, basically, tells us that something was split from nothing seven ways. Each way opening up new possibilities for life in God's omnipotent universe. The seventh way, the last way, is sacred. Why would it be sacred, why would the sign of the end point of creation be something we would be asked to remember? because it is the new beginning point, it is, in terms of the eminent process of life becoming, the preordained cusp of where a new day must, by definition, be. The seventh day, not the fifth... but we can look for the fifth if you so wish.

The ancients who spoke Genesis contend that the Garden of Eden was created in terms of a previous emergence of life from void. This is not unreasonable even to the rational mind, there are yet even to us in our sophistication of knowledge and logic, still underlying physical laws, which we don't yet, but do seek diligently to, understand. And so the Genesis speakers further contend that Eden is closed in by cherubim (young messengers) with swords of fire (truth). What is implied by young messengers here is that the wings of these angels (which you will come to find, through study of the ancient languages of mythology, represents a non absolute state in physical terms known as 'astral&#39 are of a youthful part of the evolution of time. This non absolute state holds a flaming (that means dual) truth. In other eastern teachings this is called 'not this, not that'. This is what is meant by these swords turning each way. And so I am saying we will find them, we simply must look in the right way first, if we care to. 

3. It's been proven that modern humans originated from Africa. Yet, the Adam and Eve story claims the first Humans lived in a garden in Eden, near 4 rivers. ( Most of which no one can find). One of these rivers mentioned is the Euphrates, which runs through Iraq, Syria and a portion of Turkey. What's the truth? Did man come out of Africa or near the Euphrates River? - The Infidel Guy

Isn't it more likely that the Euphrates was named after the creation myths and is not the river in them? After all Noahs great deluge should erase any possibility that the same rivers stood in the same place between the eon of eden and more recent days of the world, even if we did take this archaic grandfather tale literally. As for original people coming from Africa, I was under the impression that even older remains had been found in other places of the world in the last couple of decades. But anyway besides that, it is only fair to give the first book due credit on its own terms. It does appear to get a few empirical things right with surprising coincedence such as woman being made from but one part of man. This could be a quite accurate reference to chromosomal differences, and the concept of light being the heart of all matter. Before this there was simply void. And please before you argue this point with gen 1:1 do the right thing and throw that deplorable millenium translation in the bin where it belongs and read the literal words. It does not say God created heaven and earth before light, it introduces the story by saying in the beginning OF God creating the heavens and earth there was nothing, just polarities of being and void reflecting upon each other.

4. When the believer gets to Heaven, how can Heaven be utter bliss when people they love and care about are burning in Hell ? - The Infidel Guy - [Note: Some say God erases your memories of them, but if God erases your memory, you as Mr. Joe /Jane Smoe ceases to exist.]

This question is easy to answer from a Gnostic Christian point of view. Such things are not overlooked there, the Bodhisattiva reaching the heavens of blissful union with God does not merely feel compassion for loved ones condemned by their unknowing, but for all humanity equally. anyone who has less than this, the divine human would forestall his bliss for. however long it takes for humanity to get there with him.

5. How can a God have emotions, i.e. jealousy, anger, sadness, love, etc., if he is omnipotent, omniscient, and omnipresent? Emotional states are reactionary for the most part. How can God react to us if he is all-knowing and has a divine plan? - IG [Note: Indeed, many religious texts display their gods this way . Listen to the An Emotional Godshow.]

There is not a one emotion that an omnipresent God would not experience. You have answered your own question. Imagining the turmoil of omnipresent being's emotional state seems a little ridiculous, but that is the concept we are dealing with here. Such a God feels the sadness of a lonely child as equally as the joy of a prosperous collective. Each of these empirical realities are the reality of emotions which an omnipresent God is feeling.

6. Why would God create a place such as hell to torture sinners forever when he foreknew who would disappoint him? - IG [Note: Some say you have a choice, but this misses the point. If God hates sin so much, why create Adam and Eve when he knew they'd sin? The only conclusion I can come up with, if Yaweh exists, is that he wanted sin to enter the world.]

No, it does come down to choice. Your being is not local, you are not uninvolved in this heaven/hell thing, your self is not separate from your world. We have been wrong about that. We did choose this, we did choose the world under these laws, they are not imposed on us. We are much more more involved in the whole of our reality than we ever gave ourselves credit for. You are not local to your llittle self's time and space at all, soon this will become quite clear. In the mean time imagine the universe you are in as a fractal image, it follows its function indefinitely, all possible paths of the pattern emerge from the same function, you emerge from the same function. The choice between heaven and hell is quite simply a part of the same function. You emerge from it, and hence so do these dual realities apply to you. If the universe is a function, then that function must have a solution equalling YOU and all other solutions of that function be they heaven or hell are not to your detriment no matter how you look at it. They are other solutions of the one function that equals YOU, hence if they weren't there, neither would you be there. THink about that.

7. "God is all merciful," we hear quite often. Wouldn't it be more merciful of God to simply snap sinners out of existence rather than send them to hell? Or better yet, since he's all-knowing, not allow them to be born at all? - IG
ON GOD'S LOVE & HELL
1.) God's love is superlative.
2.) God's love of man exceeds man's love of self.
3.) Man's love of self prohibits torture.
4.) Considering God's greater love for us, Hell (eternal torture) is illogical.

Mans love of self does not prohibit torture. You are mistaken. The road to pain is burdened down with all kinds of self love in man's terms. Ambition, gratification, the inevitable neurotic end of too much hedonistic virtue leading to an irrational fear of lack, for millenia we have lead ourselves down a garden path of self love in the past humanity has let it gratify itself with bloodlust and conquest, to this day we are not that different and our current self torture is the the destruction of mans habitat . These things are quite real. The whole idea that man doesn't know how to torture himself with his ideals is just a falsity. I refute your third, sorry.

xxxxoooo

Eloise

You seem to be making huge assumptions about the thinking of God. Do you have any evidence of how an omnipotant being thinks other than a theory?

1. He didn't.

2. Gen 3:24 isn't true.

3. Africa.

4. No such thing, silly.

5. God neither has emotions nor is omniscient, omnipotent, and omnipresent.

6. No such thing, silly.

7. God isn't all-merciful, isn't all-knowing, and doesn't have a gender.

8. It would appear that if a Muslim wants to pray in a way that is proper to Islam, then Earth would be the place to do it.

9. God neither wants to heal amputees nor has a gender.

10.  No gender, no "word," no sin.

11. Not my God. Also, probably didn't happen. Also, children should respect their elders.

12. Irrelevant. My God doesn't use books. Or churches, for that matter.

13. Not my God. Also, probably didn't happen. Also, put your sister to the test.

14.  Genesis 1:28-29 never happened.

15.  God neither thinks nor has a gender. Also, God is not omniscient, and did not create the universe.

16. An irrational mind is an acceptable substitute for "faith," it would seem.

17. God is neither all knowing nor possesses a gender.

18.  "Spirits" do not exist.

19.  See 17.

20.  See 17. Also, God is incapable of disappointment.

21. God did not strike down any tower. God is incapable of anger.

22. Watches and universes are fundamentally different. It would be impossible for a being which lived inside a watch and had no method of detecting anything outside of said watch to determine the existence of a watchmaker.

23. God did not flood the earth.

24. No such thing.

25. God is not all powerful. God does not posess a gender. God did not create human beings. God is not all wise.

26. It makes them feel more patriotic. God does not make plans.

27. God is not an author, period.

28. Never happened.

29. See 28.

30. No objective paradise exists.

31. Not going to happen.

32. The Bible is incorrect. God is incapable of jealousy.

33. Perhaps they were motivated more by something other than religious beliefs. Perhaps they assumed that, had airplanes existed during Muhammad's time, he would have flown in one. There are many possibillities.

34. Never happened.

35. God is not omniscient. God is not love.

36. Not going to happen.

37. Isaiah 40:28 is wrong. Also, God does not have a gender.

38. God does not have a home. God does not call people. God does not have a gender. 

39. God does not have a gender.

40. No such place.

41. To focus one's thoughts and desires. God is not omniscient. God is not omnipotent. Also, see 39.

42. Jesus was not God. God is not all-knowing. Jesus is not in heaven. Heaven does not exist.

43.  Sin does not exist. God does not have a "word". Eternal souls do not exist. Also, see 39. 

44. God did not give men nipples.

45. Didn't happen.

46. God does not care about penises. God did not create foreskins.

47. No.

48. God is not omniscient. God is not omnipresent. Also, see 39.

49. Jesus did not ascend into heaven. Heaven does not exist.

50. God did not create evil. God is not all knowing. Also, see 39.

51. Heaven and Hell do not exist. God is not all powerful. God is not all knowing.

52. God is not all knowing. God does not have eyes.

53. People are placed involuntarily into psychiatric wards when they pose a danger to themselves or others. 

54. They are lying.

55. Souls do not exist.

56. God doesn't want all of us to know It. Also, see 39.

57. God was not Jesus' father.

58. Man was not made from an image of God.

59. God does not desire to convince everyone of Its existence. Also, see 39.

60.  The New Testament is wrong.

61. There is no free will. There is no heaven.

62. God does not have a plan. God is not all knowing. God is not all powerful. God is finite. Also, see 39.

63. God is not all-merciful. Hell does not exist. Also, see 39.

64. God does not judge people. God does not use written text. Hell does not exist. Also, see 39.

65. Souls do not exist. Hell does not exist.

66. Because one is barbaric, I presume.

67. God neither causes nor prevents SIDS.

68. Never happened. Ironically enough, neither did the story of Jonah and the whale.

69.  Hell does not exist. Also, see 39.

70. God does not have a plan. God does not cause miscarriages.

71. Heaven does not exist.

72. The Bible is wrong.

73. There is no heaven.

74. I don't believe to begin with.

75. No.

76. Biblical literalists are wrong.

77. The Bible has nothing to do with my God.

78. God is neither metaphysical nor sentient (to my knowledge).

79. Leviticus is not a reliable source of morality.

80.  God is not omniscient. God does not have a plan. Also, see 39.

81. There is no eternal torment. Jesus was not God.

82. If we want to get technical, there is no "true" Christianity.

83. God is not the creator of the universe. God is not concerned with human sexuality.

84. The Christian God does not exist. The Holy Spirit does not exist. Also, see 39.

85. One is not obliged to follow the teachings of the Bible.

86. Never happened.

87. God did not create humans. God is not omnipotent.

88. The word you are looking for is "omniscient." God is neither omniscient nor omnipotent.

89. Mine is made of frozen yogurt, sugar, and the juices and pulp of strawberries, raspberries, and blackberries. 

I hope that my answers were satisfactory.

I'm not gonna spend a lot of time answering all these questions, not that I really could answer ALL of them. I'm going to focus on one of them though. Number 42. Keeping in mind that Jesus was a Jew, he was bound by the Jewish laws and rituals. The one that concerns Him more than any other is the festival of Passover. This is the festival where the Jews celebrate their freedom from Egypt. It's also where the High Priest sacrificed a lamb, a perfect lamb, and doves in many  cases, to cleanse the sin of all of Israel. Jesus was crucified during the Passover festival. Thus he became the lamb of God, ie the perfect sacrifice, to cover all of man's sin. You asked what he sacrificed. In short, he sacrificed sin, which we all know can be fun, so that all men, not just Jews, can know God. He gave up lust, comfort, and power so that men could live within the grace of God. What man now would sacrifice as such? What man would give up his loins for the good of the people? And priests don't count. We all know they aren't really giving up that. I don't believe in doctrines, but I believe in a risen Saviour.

"39. Does God have a gender? In most churches, God is predominately referred to as a "he"? - IG [Note: The Bible says God is male, but what does this mean? Does God have a penis? Does he have hormones that dictate his gender? "]

 Good Questions, I'll answer some later, but this one seemed the easiest to answer so i'll start with this.

The answer is that God has NO gender! At least thats what my religion Judaism teaches (and I am fully aware that the OT refers to God as he). my own personal belief, did not learn this next part from Judaism ---->This is because culture effects religion. When the Torah(Old Testament) was written it was a very patriarichal society therefore to them God must be a man.

"37. Isaiah 40:28 says, "...the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is he weary?" If this is true, why did God rest on the seventh day?- IG "

Rest doesn't always mean that someone is tired. Rest can mean the cessation of activity.

"64. Before reading and writing were invented (5000BC), on what basis did God use to judge the people who died before the Hebrew and Greek text (BIBLE) were written? -- [email protected] [Note: They are all roasting in Hell. ] "

They are not roasting in hell. In the begining the laws were passed orally, meaning being taught by teacher to student. And I do not believe that God faults people for breaking rules they are unaware of. And as a side note the Torah laws were not the first laws given, according to Judaism Noah was told laws by God to live by, As you all probably know and have read them they are called the Noachide laws. These are the laws that non jews are supposed to live by.

1. Romans 1 teaches that the knowledge of God and sin have been made plain to all men and that they are without excuse if they choose to sin, which invariably leads to Hell.

2. When we make a choice, we select the option, from a set of multiple options, that we believe will lead to the most desirable outcome.

3. Hell is, by definition, the least desirable outcome.

4. Sin, which leads to Hell, can only be chosen by those who are ignorant of #3.

5. No one is ignorant (from #1), therefore, Hell is perpetually empty.

So the question is, are you aware of this fact, and if so, why bother preaching about Hell if the bible requires that it be empty? If you think people can go to Hell, then which part of Romans 1 do you reject?

It is worth noting that Romans 1 goes on to contradict itself by claiming that man freely chooses to be tortured for all eternity when there are other options on the table, all of which he is fully aware. When we freely choose, we choose what we want to, not what we don't want to. Since Hell has been defined as the epitome of what we don't want -- we cannot very well choose it. We will, by definition, choose any other available option.

Hi,

Hope this helps. These are my thoughts and I don't represent my 1 Billion brothers/sisters. But I can at least share my findings...

8. Muslims are supposed to pray 5 times a day towards Mecca. Each prayer includes a variety of ritualism and posturing. If a muslim astronaut were to land on Mars. Prayer to Mecca would be ritualistically impossible due to the rotation of Earth and Mars. Are Muslims stuck here in Earth? IG [Note: Since this was first posted, a Muslim astronaut was faced with this very dilemma. The authoritative clergy informed him to pray as he normally would. I see this no where in the Koran. You see? Religions must change, or die out. It's interesting to note that, in the Koran, the moon is believed to be in the lowest Heaven, the level for those that barely made it to Heaven. Surah 71:15-16. One problem, no man can supposedly get to Heaven until they die. Yet, we've been to the moon. Our satellites beyond that.]

The basis of the laws of Islam are formed by four ways in order of priority

1. Quran (The Book)
     2. Sunnah (The sayings of the Propeht PBUH)
     3. Fatwa's (I know this has always had a bad press but it's basically scholars making informed decisions on new things. The "informed" part is not always true.)
     4. Community Sensus (kinda like democracy).

As you can see from point 3, this can be done. That's how we can make decisions on new things.

"This day I have perfected your religion for you, completed My favor towards you, and have chosen for you Islam as your religion."  (Quran 5:3)

God (Allah) has given us the tools (mainly the above four) to live our lives. I'm not sure why there is belief that the religion cannot change. What cannot change is belief/acts of worship. For example, there is 5 daily prayers not 4 because we have less time of the day that before and so on.

Quran 71 - 15:16

See you not how Allah has created the seven heavens in tiers? (15)
And has made the moon a light therein, and made the sun a lamp (16)

Here is quite a logical explaination that i found from someone..

 "Heavens" in Quran means stars. The seven heavens, which Qur'an talks about are, to my understanding, parallel universes (as Qur'an says one over the other) But only our Universe has stars in it and these stars are supporting other Universes. According to String theory, only gravitational particles leave one dimension and goes to the other. Remember, if Quran says that there are seven heavens, then it should be taken literally, not some pseudo-explanation. Verse 71:16 is saying that moon shines and sun burns, which is 100% scietifically correct. 

 If this is not good enough, i'll do more research if need be.

30. What do Muslim women get in Paradise? - IG [Note: Some Muslims I have interviewed about this say that Muslim women will get the same thing men get or equal value.  Oh really? So Muslim women will get 72 virgin men? lol. If Muslim men get 72 virgins, where are all these virgin women coming from? What of their freewill? Is Allah creating these women to be slaves to the men in Paradise?]

Tough one but i'll do my best. Whenever things are mentioned in the Quran/Sunnah, sometimes a gender is associated with it. For example, the height of honour of a mother over a father. Now this quote above is specific for Muslim Men martyrs. The beautiful thing about the afterlife is that you will get what you deserve. You reap what you sow. So when you get to Heaven, you will happy with what you have. There is no competition. It is between you and God. You do what you can and you will pay/get rewarded for what you done. Paradies is supposed to be eternal/endless and you will have everything you want. You won't be looking at others to see what you got. No jealousy or anything.

33. A true Muslim man is not supposed to do anything that the prophet Muhammad didn't do. If one remembers there was a big debate over whether or not Muslims should eat Mangos. If this is true, why in the Hell were these Islamic Fundamentalists flying airplanes? - IG

I think the answer Question 8 satisfies this. Muslims eating mangos...that's funny...

 I hope there is sex in heaven?

 Ok, I'm not a theologian or Biblical scholar, but I don't think I need to be in order to demonstrate the absurdity of the questions below. I'll go as far as I can untill I get bored:

Many of the Jews did. Acts reports 500 eye witnesses of his resurrection and they were believers. The priests were the ones with the problem because they had in mind a valiant King who would overthrow the Romans, but they forgot about the OT passages speaking of Messiah as a suffering servant. Paul states that "blindness in part has happened to Israel." (Romans).

That no one has found them, does not prove they didn't exist (argument from silence). Sometimes it takes centuries for archaeologists to find things that were previously disputed to exist. Its also possible that the swords were assumed in heaven with the Cherubim. The latter are angels. They wouldn't be hanging around earth. 

The Fathers of the Church say that Paradise (Eden) actually extended above the ground near Iraq. That the first reports point to Africa, cannot logically be concluded that Africa was the place of origin. Adam and Eve had many descendents who migrated all over the place. Genesis even talks about this. 

When a person is in heaven, they are so absorbed in the mind, bliss and glory of God, that they have transcended the things of this earth. The last thing on their minds will be people of earth. The "love" you refer to them having for people, is an illusion compared to the lofe they have for God and God for them.

The answer is very simple. God speaks in what is called anthropomorphic language (language in human description). If God did not relate to us in this way, we would not be able to relate to Him.  

God does not create Hell. Men create it by abusing the greatest gift they could receive, free will. They use their will against God. God knew there would be consequences to men having free will, but much more goodness comes from free will if we use it to acquire God. Hell is man's choice. Not Gods.

Actually, existance in hell is better then no existance at all. And God allows them to be born to have the choice to chose Him. Yes, He knew they wouldn't chose Him, but that's their fault not His. You have to understand that God's mercy, knowledge and wisdom far trascend anything you can imagine. He knows alot more than you and I. He knows exactly what He is doing.

God doesn't torture anyone. Man tortures himself! Hell is nothing but God granting the sinner and/or atheist what they wanted: a world without God. Hell is absence of God. That's what atheists want so God is merciful by granting them their wish.

I can't answer for Islam, but my Church improvises when necessary. We have a thing called "economia" where if a person is sick and cannot observe a fast, the Church blesses them not to fast. God is not all about rules and regulations. The ritualistic actions we do only serve as mechanisms and/or vehicles to help us aquire the right religious frame of mind and to aspire toward God.

That question is a generalization in that it assumes that none of those things have ever occured in history. But there is no way to prove they haven't, so they cannot falsify the possibility. Second, we see in the NT that Jesus only healed people who had faith. Todays society does not have the kind of faith necessary for those kinds of miracles (with a few exceptions). And we are too sinful of a society to be blessed with that measure of grace. But we see those kinds of miracles occuring in the lives of the saints. For example, Saint John of Damascus had his arm cut off. He prayed all night before an icon of the Virgin Mary to heal him. He awoke the next morning fully restored. There are many examples in Church history, and even some in modern times of things like this happening. We have spontaneous cures from Cancer and other diseases.  Just because the atheist doesn't get around and see what's going on in the world, does not prove his argument.

God could not do it Himself because that would negate faith. Hebrews tells us that without faith we cannot please Him. All who love the truth will hear His voice, whatever the mechanism of spreading the Gospel be. If God would have had a prophet or an angel die on the cross for us, you then would argue that if God loved us so much why wouldn't He die for us Himself? These are silly questions. God does not want us to be forced into heaven because that would violate free will. He wants us to chose and desire Him. If we do this, we will be rewarded greately and more then the angels.

God knows what is good and just. If He does not exist, then what you think is goodness is only a convention of your own mind. Sometimes God will take people out early in their life in order to prevent them from engaging in worse sins that would be even more damming. 

Nonsense, the argument assumes the existance of Satan. If Satan exists than so does God. Since God exists, He is fully capable of protecting and preserving His Word from the claws of Satan. Jesus promissed that He would be with the Church untill the end of time. He's not going to let the devil destroy His Word or His Church. The books received were handed down through tradition. They were safely guarded not only by man, but by God Himself. 

Ok, I'm bored. The questions are so silly, reminiscient of something a Sunday School child would ask.

Oh, the carnage!

Should we carry Apotheon out on a stretcher or just hose what's left of him out of the arena?

Nice work, Tilberian. 

Why would God choose a single man and a single geographical location to spread his word?