i am lost (Jesus, Creator, Torah, beliefs, doom)

[bradleykavin]

I put my post in this science vs religion only because i have this debate with myself all the time. I am 17, and currently have divorced parents. my father is jewish, and mother is christian. neither of them are very religious, we celerbate the more popular holidays and never ever attend church or temple. a girl that im very close with, just recently became a very religious christian due to some events in her life. regaurdless, seeing her having a religious awakening has sparked me into finding my beliefs. i have a very hard time believing in jesus, that hes the son of god for many reasons. i do though, believe in god,and that he created humans, not nessessarily though adam and eve but possibly created the big bang, thus, humans. i believe in aliens, and that we are definitely not the only intelligent life in this universe. someone help me please, i hope i have come to the right place. my real question is, could someone argue how jesus is the savior, and why he, did things and is more special than any other man that has healing abilities. how could we not be the only life out there? how does the bible interpret the big bang, or evolution? how does the bible work with a time period such as ours now, where we have cell phones and computers, child pornography and constant swearing in movies? if we are all sinners, and so few that are true to their religion, are we all doomed for an eternity of fire and burning in hell? is there a hell? lol my questions could go on forever. i hope i came to the right place

[MdmSzdWhtGuy]

Well sir, I would say you are definately in the right place. Lots of religious and atheistic/agnostic ideas floating around this website. I grew up in a very religious household and went from confused to skeptical to eventually agnostic, then athiest for a host of reasons. Feel free to look around and ask any questions you want.

B.

[Abdul Latif]

Just let me tell you something buddy:

'When you're thinking about religion, keep it simple, logical, and straight-forward...'

[Draka]

Originally Posted by bradleykavin

I put my post in this science vs religion only because i have this debate with myself all the time. I am 17, and currently have divorced parents. my father is jewish, and mother is christian. neither of them are very religious, we celerbate the more popular holidays and never ever attend church or temple. a girl that im very close with, just recently became a very religious christian due to some events in her life. regaurdless, seeing her having a religious awakening has sparked me into finding my beliefs. i have a very hard time believing in jesus, that hes the son of god for many reasons. i do though, believe in god,and that he created humans, not nessessarily though adam and eve but possibly created the big bang, thus, humans. i believe in aliens, and that we are definitely not the only intelligent life in this universe. someone help me please, i hope i have come to the right place. my real question is, could someone argue how jesus is the savior, and why he, did things and is more special than any other man that has healing abilities. how could we not be the only life out there? how does the bible interpret the big bang, or evolution? how does the bible work with a time period such as ours now, where we have cell phones and computers, child pornography and constant swearing in movies? if we are all sinners, and so few that are true to their religion, are we all doomed for an eternity of fire and burning in hell? is there a hell? lol my questions could go on forever. i hope i came to the right place

The questions could go on forever because they will. There will always be questions that you will feel the need for answers for. You may never have them and that is fine. You ARE 17 and there is no rush in nailing down particular belief system to follow. Many here are much older than you and still have no definite way of looking at these things. Nothing wrong with that.

You came to the right place to learn of other beliefs though. Don't limit yourself to certain lines of thought. You may just find something that "clicks" with you that you never expected. Try not to worry about nailing down a religion yet though. It will come eventually.

[Ori]

You kinda remind me of me when I was your age, except I was a bit more psychotic.

Anyhow, I think you've come to the right place and although I don't believe in the Abrahamic version of God, I do believe in a God.

There are many here who will be able to help you better then I can, I hope you find some answers that will comfort you.

[NoahideHiker]

If we examine all the religions of the world we find that nearly all of them contain the same themes. "Treat others as you would want to be treated." or in other words, "don't do anything to someone else you wouldn't do to yourself." My personal faith which follows Judaism in a way and one thing I have heard from Judaism is that when the Creator created the light much of it went into Torah. But there were thousands of sparks of light that went all over the world and into all the other religions. This is why we find little bits of truth and common themes in nearly all religions. Then when the universal knowledge of G-d comes all these little sparks will be reunited with the light from all the other religions which will bring complete revelation.

Even within the Jewish writings I follow there is no one true religion that we are commanded to follow. There is also no dire need to "get right with G-d right now or burn in hell". I believe G-d created everything. He created good and evil and He created all the wonderful cultures of the world including the different religions. All the Creator desires is for us to seek Him and have a relationship with Him. Don't set up stumbling blocks for yourself that may keep you from experiencing the Creator. If you believe in life in writings, so what? That won't keep you from G-d if you look for Him.

Start learning all you can about all religions. Ask G-d where He wants you. Cry to Him. Hell, yell and scream at Him if you feel like it. You'll start to get things answered.

[Peace]

Originally Posted by bradleykavin

I put my post in this science vs religion only because i have this debate with myself all the time. I am 17, and currently have divorced parents. my father is jewish, and mother is christian. neither of them are very religious, we celerbate the more popular holidays and never ever attend church or temple. a girl that im very close with, just recently became a very religious christian due to some events in her life. regaurdless, seeing her having a religious awakening has sparked me into finding my beliefs. i have a very hard time believing in jesus, that hes the son of god for many reasons. i do though, believe in god,and that he created humans, not nessessarily though adam and eve but possibly created the big bang, thus, humans. i believe in aliens, and that we are definitely not the only intelligent life in this universe. someone help me please, i hope i have come to the right place. my real question is, could someone argue how jesus is the savior, and why he, did things and is more special than any other man that has healing abilities. how could we not be the only life out there? how does the bible interpret the big bang, or evolution? how does the bible work with a time period such as ours now, where we have cell phones and computers, child pornography and constant swearing in movies? if we are all sinners, and so few that are true to their religion, are we all doomed for an eternity of fire and burning in hell? is there a hell? lol my questions could go on forever. i hope i came to the right place

Welcome to the forum bradleykavin hope you will find your way. Religion is so simple and it is only complicated for those who want to complicate it.
Believe in the One God who created whatever exist in this universe, resort to Him, ask Him for guidance and trust Him and He will certainly guide you to His way and you will find your way to happiness and peace of mind.
I wish you all the best in your quest!!!

Peace

[Fade]

Originally Posted by bradleykavin

my real question is, could someone argue how jesus is the savior, and why he, did things and is more special than any other man that has healing abilities.

Yes, people could argue and debate it till they are blue in the face. However, without definitive proof it's all moot.

Originally Posted by bradleykavin

how could we not be the only life out there?

How? Well if life has evolved elsewhere in the universe. That's how.

Originally Posted by bradleykavin

how does the bible interpret the big bang, or evolution?

It doesn't. It was compiled quite a long time before the Theory of Evolution and Big Bang Theory were developed. Don't be fooled by Creationists and IDers into thinking that the bible has any scientific merit what so ever.

Originally Posted by bradleykavin

how does the bible work with a time period such as ours now, where we have cell phones and computers, child pornography and constant swearing in movies?

It doesn't and can't. That is one of the many reasons why many rational and enlightened thinkers view the Bible as irrelavant to modern society.

Originally Posted by bradleykavin

if we are all sinners, and so few that are true to their religion, are we all doomed for an eternity of fire and burning in hell?

No

Originally Posted by bradleykavin

is there a hell?

No

[Endless]

bradleykavin,

It's a good thing to question your existance and the possiblity of a God, it shows a level of maturity in my own opinion
As you will no doubt have guessed, there are a load of religions and admitably one can feel abit lost as to how to go about finding the truth. Why not be a Buddhist, why not be a Muslim, why not be a Christian, why believe any of it at all? Those are the sorts of questions that you will no doubt encounter the more you search.

Having parents who are Jewish and Christian respectively, means that you have a good starting point with those two. Since you have a close friend who has gotten serious about Christianity you have an even better oppurtunity to find out about Christianity and find out why your friend got serious about it. Since she has gotten serious about it recently, no doubt she is still exploring it for herself and i'm sure she will be open to share with her what she is learning. Just let her know that you are interested in finding out more and regarding Christianity i'm sure she'll be able to answer a lot of your questions.

Now, i am biased, since i am a Christian. I believe Jesus when he said that he is the way and the truth and the life - and that no-one comes to the Father but through him. I believe there is only one way to God because of what the Bible teaches about sin, and therefore only through Jesus are people saved. This of course excludes the other major religions and the thought that all roads lead to God.

my real question is, could someone argue how jesus is the savior, and why he, did things and is more special than any other man that has healing abilities.

Yes, i could share my views on this. Either PM me or start another topic/one to one debate and i'll be happy to give my thoughts.

how could we not be the only life out there?

We aren't. Angels are life forms, as much as God is a life form. It's just a different type of form. As to whether there are other physcial life forms in our universe...who knows. The Bible doesn't deny or support it - it is irrelevant as far as the Bible is concerned.

how does the bible interpret the big bang, or evolution?

There are a lot of problems with the big bang theory and it is not universally accepted in the scientific community - but it's the best they have at the moment. In any case, the Bible teaches that there was a beginning, and science supports that there was indeed a beginning to our universe.

The Bible does not mention evolution. It does however support evolution in terms of animals changing - but not change such as from 'goo to you' over millions of years. It's an interesting subject - and contrary to what Fade said, evolution from 'goo to you' is not watertight, and for those reasons it does not contradict the Bible. However many evolutionists are not willing to objectively look at the problems and follow the logic of them. I've debated with Fade before and when it reaches it's conclusion there is no comeback.

how does the bible work with a time period such as ours now, where we have cell phones and computers, child pornography and constant swearing in movies?

It works exactly the same, because the Bible deals with Moral issues and these don't change with the times. Bible teaches that sin is rebellion against God - doing things against him. Therefore what is and what is not sin cannot change - because God does not change. That make some sense? Stealing has always been wrong, murdering has always been wrong - the ten commandments, those things are still wrong today thousands of years after they were written.

if we are all sinners, and so few that are true to their religion, are we all doomed for an eternity of fire and burning in hell? is there a hell?

The Bible teaches that anyone that does not come to Jesus for forgiveness of their sins will be doomed to hell. Jesus also clearly teaches a literal hell - some people deny this, but you can read the accounts in the Bible and make up your own mind. Is God a tyrant to send so many people to hell - how could a God of love do that?
It's because you leave God no other choice - all have sinned, the punishment for sin is separation from God for eternity (that is how serious the Bible teaches sin is). However God is a God of love as well as justice, and he died on the cross for our sins - meaning that Jesus was punished for our sins so we wouldn't have to be punished. Now, all that remains is us to accept Jesus as our sinbearer and ask God to forgive us our sins - turning from our old life of sinning and living in the freedom of knowing we will no longer be punished for our sins. However, if we do not accept Jesus as our sinbearer, then we bear our sins ourselves and hence we also must accept the punishment that bearing our sins requires - separation from God for eternity. So when someone refuses to believe in Jesus, he sends himself to hell because he leaves God no other choice. God has done everything, but the final choice remains with us.

I'd be happy to explain things further from a Christian perspective, drop me a PM or start a one on one topic and i'll do my best to give you everything from a Christian perspective. It would also give you an oppurtunity to raise what i tell you with your close friend and she would probably be able to explain it more.

[Fade]

Originally Posted by Endless

However, if we do not accept Jesus as our sinbearer, then we bear our sins ourselves and hence we also must accept the punishment that bearing our sins requires - separation from God for eternity. So when someone refuses to believe in Jesus, he sends himself to hell because he leaves God no other choice. God has done everything, but the final choice remains with us.

But that means all those people who haven't even heard of jesus, i.e. died before missionaries got to them or simply haven't been exposed to christian dogma, will go to hell. That seems a bit unfair.
At anyrate, I'd rather go to hell than have to spend an eternity with the sick mutha that is the Abrahamic god. Vengence and Jealousy are not what I would attribute to "merciful" god.