Questions with death

[ChickenHawk]

okay so when GOD made Adam and Eve, they being the first two people, had two children Cain and Able, Cain kills Able then God sends him out to the world but he is afraid, because ANYONE who sees him will kill him, WHO THE HECK IS HE TALKING ABOUT?, Moses does not say any thing about another people, but clearly there are, for he takes a wife and has kids. and he already says he is afraid of others killing him.
 
 Cain and Able where twins, Cain being the offspring off Satan Abel being the offspring of  Adam.

The Bible says Adam had sons and daughters and lived eight hundred years.  I'm sure there was quite a population boom and there were many people.  Moses does not specify when Cain killed Abel and there could have been quite a number of people at that time.

They were not twins:
Genesis 4:2
Then she bore again, this time his brother Abel
Abel was born later.

I must confess as to being a little confused as to why you would disregard the plain speech of Genesis 4:1 in favor of your idea that Cain was the offspring of Satan, for which there is no Biblical basis?

[lazs2]

Ink.. I read your testimony..  I have heard worse.. I rode with worse.  I have listened to their stories and came up with a few of my own.. I bet I could tell you a couple from the bad old days that would make you weep for me.

None of that matters.. we are what we are and what we make of ourselves.  I believe that there is a god that gives us the strength to do this.   Some can't or won't ask for the help.

In the end... one can only guess and "feel" (a word I don't use often) what their god wants for them.  When someone quotes this book or that or this person or that to tell me what god intends for me... it leaves me cold.

lazs

[falcon23]

1Corinthians2:11..For what man knoweth the things of a man,except by the spirit of man which is in him?Even so,the things of God knoweth no man,but the spirit of God.

12.Now WE have recieved NOT the spirit of the world,but the spirit which is of God;that WE might know the things that are freely given to us of God..

13.Which things also we speak,not in the words which mans wisdom teaches,but which the Holy Ghost teaches;comparing spiritual things with spiritual.

14.But the NATURAL man recieveth NOT the things of the Spirit of God:for they are FOOLISHNESS to him:NEITHER can he KNOW THEM,because they are spiritually discerned.

The best reply you or I can give anyone who does not believe,is the word of God.The word makes an impact.

I like to say God does not call the equipped,he equips the called.

 God does not send anyone to hell,they make the choice to not trust and have faith on Jesus as Lord and saviour..Saved from what??? The wrath of God is what..

Hell was not originally made for humans,it was only made for lucifer and the angels that rebelled with him..

 And again,I see it coming up that satan had sex with eve,and this is just not true..As chickenhawk has posted..

 As far as the catholics moving the sabbath from saturday to sunday ink, is really a moot point..In the NT Paul spoke to this...Does not matter if one "worships" on saturday or sunday,or any other day of the week for that matter,God accepts it the same.

                                                                Falcon23


                               

[SD67]

This makes me wonder...
HOW would people here react if someone started to post verse from the Koran promoting their version of the afterlife?

[Xasthur]

In the end... one can only guess and "feel" (a word I don't use often) what their god wants for them.  When someone quotes this book or that or this person or that to tell me what god intends for me... it leaves me cold.

lazs

All of the 'sacred' texts were stories passed on before reading and writing was well established. A hand-me-down wives' tale should be given just as much credibility as the bible and all other 'sacred' texts.

Obviously some people find strength and meaning in it (and more power to them, whatever makes you happy and gives your life meaning) and clearly I'm different, or perhaps suffering from a 'sickness of the soul', because the bible and all other pompous texts claiming authority over life fill me with nothing but vicious contempt.

Then again, I've been on the warpath against religious dogma since I can remember. I was schooled in Catholic schools for my entire education and I saw nothing but lies and false promises the whole time. Some of my teachers were fools and some of them were outstanding people who I genuinely enjoyed speaking to.... but in the end the message they put forward did nothing but insult me. It was through my Catholic schooling that I learnt that morals were best established without any faith influencing their formation. In my opinion, a truly great man acts because he thinks he should, not because he thinks others think he should.

Food for thought, perhaps.

God is a creation of man, not the other way around. Regardless of that, put your faith in god.... it doesn't matter if god exists or not, it doesn't matter if the god you put your faith in exists inside yourself or he exists in all that is around us. Where you draw that 'divine' strength from is not important, it achieves the same end. Put your faith in your 'god' and forget the Bible, forget the Torah, forget the Qur'an. They are the work of man and man cannot be trusted particularly when he seeks to control the way you act. 

[SD67]

They are the work of man and man cannot be trusted particularly when he seeks to control the way you act. 

The single most important line in this entire thread!

[lazs2]

xasthur... thank you for proving my point.. most athiests are so because of bitterness and resentment against a god that they were forced to know or who had let them down.

This is unreasonable to me.   I too was raised in catholic school and have felt the bitterness.. I have lost people and things and blamed god and denied him.

I think that much of the teachings of religion are man made but that they are divinely inspired.  I think that most believe in god not because of some brainwashing but because they feel his presence all around them and seek to understand what he wants from them.

The reason so many believe in god is not because of books but in spite of the books..  only a few.. the athiests..  reject god completely..  only a few are so bitter or self centered or depressed. 

Athiesm is in itself a religion based on faith.  it is one that ignores all the things one sees and feels based only on faith..  athiests are agenda driven and preach every chance they get.

It is not bright and witty and hip to me to here an athiest spout off..it is just one more preacher spouting his fear and bitterness.

lazs

[Xasthur]

Lazs, it seems that you are not really reading what I've typed here. How can you be bitter against something you do not believe in? It is not possible. I've not been forced to know or let down by a god. There is nothing there to be let down by.

I'm sure that most true believers do believe what they believe because they 'feel something'. That does not mean that one's most personal feelings cannot be found in an ancient story book. If you erased the bible from existence such that it never existed I am certain that if you interviewed every person who 'felt god' you would get very different accounts on the nature of 'his' power. The bible is just a story that provides a list of symptoms that the spiritual exhibit and as such, can identify with it. This can be likened to diagnosing someone with cancer when they present with nausea, vomiting and a headache. The bible is just an easy answer to a most complex question.

God is a human creation, if there was no book there would be no 'god' as we understand it. People may feel spiritually stimulated without the book but it is only when people sit around and start fantasizing that the book and thus the 'god that you seek to understand and know what he wants from you' comes to be.

I preach nothing but a willingness to explore existence! I adhere to no singular belief as that is the root of what I despise about organised religion.... willful closed mindedness. It is akin to a child jamming its fingers in its ears and yelling "la la la la, I'm not listening, la la la". It is easy to see how the Christian tale came to be... life was very hard when the story began. Even now bad things happen to good people and good things happen to bad people.... The bible allows people to believe that it will all be ok in the end. The bible is a comfort for the downtrodden which has followed man through the ages.

I am no atheist, I am a man with a brain who won't accept the answer without proof...particularly when the answer is provided by rambling men.

[ink]

i am not sorry to say this,

BUT the only and i do mean only TRUTH in this world today is The HOLY BIBLE

i will no more " throw my pearls of wisdom before swine "

[xNOVAx]

i am not sorry to say this,

BUT the only and i do mean only TRUTH in this world today is The HOLY BIBLE

i will no more " throw my pearls of wisdom before swine "

I'm not sorry to say this either..

1 + 1 = 2
The only real truth in the world lies in what you can measure.. Not the words of man..

Here's a question for you.. Do you believe the Earth is round or flat??

[Guppy35]

One of the ongoing battles of my life has been the notion of 'God'.  Watching my father die at age 45 a month before my son was born made me question what kind of God would do that to such a good man as my father.  Having now lost my son and one of my daughters, it's made it even more difficult.  I don't know what i believe about God and 'his' role if any.

What I do know, is I believe I will see my kids again.  It's about all that keeps me getting out of bed some days when the grief is overwhelming.  I have to believe that, or there is no point.  They were proof to me of something bigger then all this.   I guess that's faith, and how a person defines their faith is up to them.  And to me that faith is far seperate from 'religion'.   I have no faith in religion as in my mind it's been corrupted and abused by man forever.

If I didn't have that faith in seeing the kids again, I'd have gone off the cliff 2 years, 10 months and three days ago.

[AKIron]

Hang on to that faith Guppy. I've struggled with grief since my son died about 15 months ago. I have so much wanted to be reassured he is well. Since then I've come to the realization that it is only my faith which allows me joy in knowing he is well. When I experience that joy I have on a few occasions gotten a sense of his presence. It is brief and fleeting but I feel it is real. When I despair I feel alone, everytime, without exception.

[Guppy35]

Hang on to that faith Guppy. I've struggled with grief since my son died about 15 months ago. I have so much wanted to be reassured he is well. Since then I've come to the realization that it is only my faith which allows me joy in knowing he is well. When I experience that joy I have on a few occasions gotten a sense of his presence. It is brief and fleeting but I feel it is real. When I despair I feel alone, everytime, without exception.

My wife has that happen often.  We knew they were gone before it was official as she all of a sudden had them right there in her chest.  Now and then she'll get a warm feel on her cheek and she know's which kid it is.  It's very reassuring for her during the worst times.  I've not had that happen, but I trust what she's feeling.  Probably a strange way to think, but each new day is one day closer.

[Angus]

I was sleeping when my dad died. Witnessed it through the dream I was having. Anyway, he's around every now and then.
Not looking forward to meeting him though.,...although I have many friends gone that I miss, I'd rather stay on this side and look on the living for as long as I can.
It's also not all about receiving,it's being there and giving! Don't want to see my kids too young when I take the final bend....

[Druss]

I've been questioning death lately, and quite frankly, it scares me.

I can't believe in heaven, no matter how hard I try... I find it impossible, that when we die, we go to a place where we're constantly happy... forever, and ever, and ever. 

God is the same way for me.  There is NO way that some being, figure, or whatever you want to call him, could have created everything we see today. 

Plus, there are many different faiths and religious beliefs all over the place.  The Indians, for example, believe in many gods, along with reincarnation.  The Christians believe in only one god, and when we die, we go to Heaven with a fresh body.   
But, if all religions believe they are right, then all but one of them are wrong, if not all of them.  Because they can't all exist.

In my opinion, God, Heaven, and every other religion to date, was made up so that life would have meaning.  The Greeks had a god for allot of things.  A goddess of love and beauty.  A god of the sky, and a god of the sea.  But today, we somehow have discarded all that information, and we all somehow "know" that it doesn't exist.

If you ask multiple people what heaven is like, they will always have a different oppinion, and it's always some ridiculous story of how we "dematerialize" and end up naked in heaven...   

If you ask a christian if god exists, they will say "yes".  But ask them what proof of his existence is there, they will probably say "because he is in our souls." or something like that. 

So, in summary, as much as it pains me to say it, I don't believe in heaven or god. 

So, when we die... we die, forever, and when our loved ones die, we will never see them again.

Please, someone, help me change my mind.  I want to believe, but I just can't. 

I pity you, dude.