Does your belief / religion ect offer a better deal ?

[Rival]

No most religions are about the after life and how to get there . So this is about which one is the better option .

So you're shopping around for the religion that gives you the best hope of going to Heaven? Not the one that makes the most sense, or gives you the best connexion to God, or has a Scripture you agree with, or such, just which one gives you a ticket to Jannah?

Still shallow, imo.

 

[John1.12]

Umm...

Matthew 4:17 'From that time Jesus began to preach, saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”'

Matthew 5:16 "In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven."

Matthew 5:27-28 "“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart."

Matthew 5:34 "But I say to you, Do not take an oath at all, either by heaven, for it is the throne of God,"

Matthew 5:48 "You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect."

And so on.

Yes ,the OT .

 

[John1.12]

Um...aren't all gifts free? Isn't that the definition of "gift?" I mean, if it it came at a price, it wouldn't be a gift now, would it?

As an aside, try walking into a gift shop and announcing, "I'm here for my gift!"

Yes you have to recieve a gift. And yes its free if its a gift. But you would be surprised by how much within Christianity how this fact gets twisted .

 

[John1.12]

So you're shopping around for the religion that gives you the best hope of going to Heaven? Not the one that makes the most sense, or gives you the best connexion to God, or has a Scripture you agree with, or such, just which one gives you a ticket to Jannah?

Still shallow, imo.

Again I never said that .

 

[Rival]

Again I never said that .

So there are reasons you chose Christianity other than this? I'd like to know them. You're essentially trying to make the case that Christianity is the best religion because it gets you to heaven, and that sounds really terrible.

 

[Polymath257]

So your ' good news ' is no eternal life after ? No assurance and more questions than answers to life and death ? Sounds more bleak than good news.

Eternal life sounds like torture to me. After a few million years, it would be boredom. After a few billion years, it would be enough to produce insanity.

I would much rather have a limited lifespan than to live forever. To me, living forever isn't 'good news'; it is terrifying in the extreme. The *good*
news is that it might not be necessary to endure such.

And I happen to *like* the fact that there are always more questions. I *like* figuring things out and testing my ideas. To *not* have all the answers would make an *extended* life more tolerable. Maybe it would be enough for a few hundred thousand years. But to have all the answers *and* live forever seems like a version of hell to me.

 

[John1.12]

God requires atonement.

Many Christians don't get it. They think that they only need belief that Jesus existed. For example, Mafia hit men (like all Mafioso) believe that there was a man named Jesus, and further believe that he could perform miracles, and believe that his ability to perform miracles came from the powers of God. Yet, though they believe in Jesus, they also believe that God will forgive them for anything. They even think that they can plot to kill someone later in the day and ask God for forgiveness before their heinous crime.

Forgiveness comes with a price tag. The price is atonement. Atonement means that one is sorry that one did a heinous act, and that one will strive to never do that again. Only the good get into heaven (or it would be a hellish place is this is not so). Who would want to go to a hellish place?

Christians are not allowed to judge.

"Judge not, lest ye be judged"--Jesus...Sermon on the Mount.

Only God may judge.

Yet, we must judge Satan in order to avoid Satan. That is, we must recognize his human form. We must also recognize those who are using Satan's tactics to gain unfair advantages or to create a Satanic hell here on earth.

Satan rules by fear, greed, and deception. Satan pretends to be God to gain followers. Satan wants to destroy God's wonderful creations (the environment, the beautiful souls of mankind).

So, how do we recognize Satan? Look for greed (politicians handing huge piles of money to the rich, so that they can get richer while hoards of homeless people freeze and starve....with the promise that someone economic benefits will TRICKLE down to the poor). Look for war and torture camps. God said thou shalt not kill. Revelation (chapter of the bible) said that we must not attack Babylon, Iraq, or face God's wrath (such as Revelation 15 (seven plagues, of which COVID is undoubtedly one)). Look for diseases. Look for a lack of compassion as the needy continue to need. Look for environmental destruction (logging roads into pristine forests, funds to clear brush removed which cause vast forest fires, extinct species).

If you want to find Satan, look for a lack of humility (not humble) while the rich get richer, the poor suffer, the world is embroiled in unnecessary wars, diseases ravage the world, and fires destroy our forests, and our animals permanently die off (whole species dead).

This is what you already have (war, starvation, fires, diseases), and you say that you don't think that anyone can offer you more than this (Satan's tribulations).

It isn't enough to believe in Jesus. You must atone. You must do the things that Jesus would have done. Jesus would have tended to the poor, the infirm, the hungry.

In order to have the blessings of Jesus, you must make sure that your elected politicians do Christian things (no wars, tend the poor, help the environment, don't lie). Instead, we got politicians who pretend to be on the side of Jesus, they tell us (brag) that they are humble. They tell us that they are "fightin' evil" and "fightin' the Axis of Evil." But obviously they kill in their wars, and their wars are started without evidence of terrorism, and they make torture camps.

In order to vote for Christians, we have to judge that they are Christian. Judge not lest ye be judged.....so how do we judge politicians without becoming judgemental? We always must recognize Satan. We must recognize phony Orange Alerts that were designed to lie us into wars, otherwise, we follow Satan. We must judge Satan and his minions or risk supporting them.

Smugly, some Christians tell the world that there is no finer religion, but they cannot be humble while bragging. Nor can they claim that they have the best faith if their faith is not following the teachings of Jesus (helping the poor, not lying, not killing).


The world is a mess (COVID, economic collapse, fires, pollution, global warming, homelessness). Don't brag that you have the best belief while ignoring all of that.

No the prerequisite is not ' believing he existed ' . No Jesus atoned. We simply recieve the atonement by faith. Believing the Gospel ( 1 cor 15 .1-4 )is the prerequisite. 1 cor 1.21 kjv

 

[Polymath257]

No most religions are about the after life and how to get there . So this is about which one is the better option .

Which is why most religions have nothing to offer me. The offering of an after life isn't a big plus in my book. An *eternal* afterlife would be a *huge* negative.

 

[John1.12]

It offers to make my intrinsic identity with God/Brahman clear to me. It offers to do this right now, in this life, if the path is followed. After that I basically become merged with God forever.
If I fail in this life, I literally get an infinitely many second chances in other lives to get it right.
Hard to see how you can top this....

I have eternal life right now. Yes my body will die . But I will receive a new glorified body and live in heaven eternally . No more death , disease , pain, loss , lack, tears ect . I have this guranteed now . So I'm not working towards it . I don't have a endless progression towards the potential for it . I maintain who I am . I don't merge into God ect like a drop of water into the ocean ect .

 

[John1.12]

Which is why most religions have nothing to offer me. The offering of an after life isn't a big plus in my book. An *eternal* afterlife would be a *huge* negative.

I would agree with that if it was like how life is now .

 

[John1.12]

Then follow your path because it's the one that most appeals to you.

I wouldn't just accept or believe something based on what's appealing .

 

[John1.12]

So you're shopping around for the religion that gives you the best hope of going to Heaven? Not the one that makes the most sense, or gives you the best connexion to God, or has a Scripture you agree with, or such, just which one gives you a ticket to Jannah?

Still shallow, imo.

Not shopping . When someone is sharing their religion with me ,I often say ,if your religion offers more than what I currently have, I.ll listen ..I've not heard anything yet. So I thought I.d ask on here .

 

[Polymath257]

I have eternal life right now. Yes my body will die . But I will receive a new glorified body and live in heaven eternally . No more death , disease , pain, loss , lack, tears ect . I have this guranteed now . So I'm not working towards it . I don't have a endless progression towards the potential for it . I maintain who I am . I don't merge into God ect like a drop of water into the ocean ect .

You only have a guarantee *if* your particular interpretation of your particular religion is correct. If it isn't, you have nothing AND have given up experiencing many joys of life.

 

[John1.12]

Eternal life sounds like torture to me. After a few million years, it would be boredom. After a few billion years, it would be enough to produce insanity.

I would much rather have a limited lifespan than to live forever. To me, living forever isn't 'good news'; it is terrifying in the extreme. The *good*
news is that it might not be necessary to endure such.

And I happen to *like* the fact that there are always more questions. I *like* figuring things out and testing my ideas. To *not* have all the answers would make an *extended* life more tolerable. Maybe it would be enough for a few hundred thousand years. But to have all the answers *and* live forever seems like a version of hell to me.

Eternal life would be torture if it was like this life .

 

[Polymath257]

I wouldn't just accept or believe something based on what's appealing .

And yet, that seems to be *exactly* what you are arguing: asking which religion offers the best cookies seems to be precisely looking for what is most appealing.

 

[John1.12]

You only have a guarantee *if* your particular interpretation of your particular religion is correct. If it isn't, you have nothing AND have given up experiencing many joys of life.

But its not based on that . Again were discussing IF its true as a given ,for arguments sake .

 

[Rival]

Not shopping . When someone is sharing their religion with me ,I often say ,if your religion offers more than what I currently have, I.ll listen ..I've not heard anything yet. So I thought I.d ask on here .

The offers may look good, but that doesn't make the religion true. What are you looking for?

 

[Polymath257]

Eternal life would be torture if it was like this life .

It would be torture eventually no matter what. Even continual bliss would be torture eventually. Or soul-crushing.

 

[John1.12]

And yet, that seems to be *exactly* what you are arguing: asking which religion offers the best cookies seems to be precisely looking for what is most appealing.

The discussion is not ' do you believe what you believe because it was the most appealing to you ' .

 

[Polymath257]

But its not based on that . Again were discussing IF its true as a given ,for arguments sake .

And, from what I can see, what is offered by most religions is pure torture. No thanks.