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Belief in God in U.S. dips to 81%, a new low

Do you believe in God?

  • Yes

    Votes: 77 43.3%
  • No

    Votes: 74 41.6%
  • Unsure/Maybe

    Votes: 27 15.2%

  • Total voters
    178
There's plenty of historical data for Jesus.

Why not make a choice rather than sitting on the fence forever?

Any evidence he was God's son from a virgin?

Till we have any evidence that an omnipotent God even exists, why even worry that he/she/it is going to judge you for what you think?

A certain Epicurus quote comes to mind
 
Those are actually kind of interesting.

Seems that in the Jehovah's Witnesses' world, people die in pretty much the same way that they die in the atheist's world.

Except for some of them.
The big difference is that Jehovahs witnesses believe in a resurrection from the dead as Jesus taught(john 5:28,29) Also Acts 24:15 .
 
Any evidence he was God's son from a virgin?

Till we have any evidence that an omnipotent God even exists, why even worry that he/she/it is going to judge you for what you think?

A certain Epicurus quote comes to mind

Because for billions of years we didn't exist. In a few decades from now, we won't exist again, for billions and billions of years.

Nothing is more real than this.

I think it's irresponsible to not be concerned with one's ultimate fate.
 
Jesus literally says "everlasting fire."

I'm going with that and not the Jehovas Witness theology.
That does not support the idea of a literal place of fire and brimstone where souls suffer endlessly for eternity. When Jesus spoke of “hell,” it was almost always Gehenna—a literal place where trash was being burned and where child sacrifices once occurred. Jesus is quoted as saying to fear God who can destroy both body and soul in Gehenna.

Look at Revelation where damned souls are eventually cast into the lake of fire. That is the final or second death. Only Satan, the beast, and false prophet will suffer eternal torment.
 
Any evidence he was God's son from a virgin?

Till we have any evidence that an omnipotent God even exists, why even worry that he/she/it is going to judge you for what you think?

A certain Epicurus quote comes to mind
I’m actually very curious about your thought here. Is there a specific reason you question God’s existence?
 
That does not support the idea of a literal place of fire and brimstone where souls suffer endlessly for eternity. When Jesus spoke of “hell,” it was almost always Gehenna—a literal place where trash was being burned and where child sacrifices once occurred. Jesus is quoted as saying to fear God who can destroy both body and soul in Gehenna.

Look at Revelation where damned souls are eventually cast into the lake of fire. That is the final or second death. Only Satan, the beast, and false prophet will suffer eternal torment.
Spot on . Exactly what he was referring to. And the eternal torment the devil and his angels will suffer is their complete destruction as well .
 
That does not support the idea of a literal place of fire and brimstone where souls suffer endlessly for eternity. When Jesus spoke of “hell,” it was almost always Gehenna—a literal place where trash was being burned and where child sacrifices once occurred. Jesus is quoted as saying to fear God who can destroy both body and soul in Gehenna.

Look at Revelation where damned souls are eventually cast into the lake of fire. That is the final or second death. Only Satan, the beast, and false prophet will suffer eternal torment.

Hell is vast.

There's plenty of room for fire, Gehanna and every other type of suffering.
 
@the24fan I will let others debate what Hell is and what it isn't. Either way, I live with the belief that I am loved by God and I choose to accept His gift of Jesus Christ. I want to be in His Heavenly Kingdom regardless of what Hell is or isn't. Not because I fear Hell, but because I want to be with God for eternity.
 
What’s your understanding of “hell”?

FWIW, I’m a fairly new Catholic. I’ve struggled with the whole concept of “hell” for a long time, though.


 
Why do so many still confuse a church with God? And why do so many still confuse faith with religion? And why still do so many confuse man's work with God's? And also, why do so many men strive to change God's word to suit their desires?
Very well said!
 
Yeah, I imagine those visions would be scary. Obviously, though, that’s not dogma.
 
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@the24fan I will let others debate what Hell is and what it isn't. Either way, I live with the belief that I am loved by God and I choose to accept His gift of Jesus Christ. I want to be in His Heavenly Kingdom regardless of what Hell is or isn't. Not because I fear Hell, but because I want to be with God for eternity.
Having an understanding of who will and will not inherit heavenly life is key.
The Bible does say a small number of people will have immortality in heaven with Christ , but it’s a limited number. Jesus referred to them as a little flock. (Luke 12:32) This small group is identified in number at Revelation 14:1 . They would have the privilege of ruling with Christ and ruling as Kings over the earth (Revelation 5:9,10)
To rule over the earth it would make sense they would have subjects to rule over right?
Jesus identified This group of faithful mankind as the “ other sheep” (John 10:16)a much larger unnumbered group that would live on earth under paradise conditions. (Revelation 7:9-11;13-17)
 
What’s your understanding of “hell”?

FWIW, I’m a fairly new Catholic. I’ve struggled with the whole concept of “hell” for a long time, though.
I am a cradle catholic. I struggle with it as well (How could God who loves us unconditionally ever send a soul to Hell?), but I realize free will is the only way. God won't make us love Him. I decided to just live with my certainty that I will be in Heaven and that I want everyone to be there too.

I keep it simple. God loves us unconditionally. When I stop there my life is better than when I try to make sense of everything else.
 
I honestly don’t know what it is. I believe in damnation but am not sure “hell” is a literal place.
It’s not. Hell is the common grave of mankind. The faithful man Job actually prayed to go to Hell or Hades(Job 14:13-15). He recognized it nothing more as the common grave of mankind. He knew God had the power to bring his faithful servant back to life. Which he fully intends to do . Job recognized it as relief from the suffering he was under.
I honestly don’t know what it is. I believe in damnation but am not sure “hell” is a literal place.
No it does but it’s from a water trash site based on a super outdated book.
Once again you’re not looking for facts . Feel free to try and get that answer someplace else if you can
 
Having an understanding of who will and will not inherit heavenly life is key.
The Bible does say a small number of people will have immortality in heaven with Christ , but it’s a limited number. Jesus referred to them as a little flock. (Luke 12:32) This small group is identified in number at Revelation 14:1 . They would have the privilege of ruling with Christ and ruling as Kings over the earth (Revelation 5:9,10)
To rule over the earth it would make sense they would have subjects to rule over right?
Jesus identified This group of faithful mankind as the “ other sheep” (John 10:16)a much larger unnumbered group that would live on earth under paradise conditions. (Revelation 7:9-11;13-17)
I really appreciate you taking the time to share this post. It helps to hear from others who are more well versed in the Bible and Christianity. I don't spend a lot of time reading the Bible. I love reading Paul's letters.
 
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It’s not. Hell is the common grave of mankind. The faithful man Job actually prayed to go to Hell or Hades(Job . He recognized it nothing more as the common grave of mankind. He knew God had the power to bring his faithful servant back to life. Which he fully intends to do . Job recognized it as relief from the suffering he was under.


Once again you’re not looking for facts . Feel free to try and get that answer someplace else if you can
Yeah, I think you rightly point out the fallacy in translating Hebrew and Greek to English when it comes to “hell.” I believe in the Old Testament the word is sheol, which literally means pit or grave. In other words, dead. Unfortunately, English has only one word for it, “hell,” the same as there is only one English word for love.
 
I know there are some in this thread are more interested in debating the existence of God. I am going to turn off the computer. All my kids just arrived at our home and I want to spend time with them.

Thank you to everyone who shared their knowledge and their thoughts on God, Heaven, Hell, Faith, etc. There is so much good in this thread.

Happy Father's Day to all of the father's out there.
 
It’s not. Hell is the common grave of mankind. The faithful man Job actually prayed to go to Hell or Hades(Job 14:13-15). He recognized it nothing more as the common grave of mankind. He knew God had the power to bring his faithful servant back to life. Which he fully intends to do . Job recognized it as relief from the suffering he was under.


Once again you’re not looking for facts . Feel free to try and get that answer someplace else if you can
“Facts” lol.
 
Personally, I believe we are all going to Heaven. My view is God loves us unconditionally. This is the only sermon we need to hear. He loves us so much He sent Jesus to be crucified to pay the ransom of all sins. His Resurrection destroyed death.

I like this methodology, personally believe the fun stuff, kind of a choose your own adventure sort of thing. It's all based on faith anyways as opposed to anything observable or evidence based so why not make it better?

69 virgins or experienced pron stars - whatever your preference - waiting for you in heaven.

Have a favorite sports team? Include them if you like.

There's no "wrong" choice, believe whatever is satisfying and pleasurable to you.
 
I like this methodology, personally believe the fun stuff, kind of a choose your own adventure sort of thing. It's all based on faith anyways as opposed to anything observable or evidence based so why not make it better?

69 virgins or experienced pron stars - whatever your preference - waiting for you in heaven.

Have a favorite sports team? Include them if you like.

There's no "wrong" choice, believe whatever is satisfying and pleasurable to you.

There has to be a wrong choice though.

Atheists vs. Christians. One side is wrong. :)
 
Why do so many still confuse a church with God? And why do so many still confuse faith with religion? And why still do so many confuse man's work with God's? And also, why do so many men strive to change God's word to suit their desires?
Can you define God’s word for me?
 
There has to be a wrong choice though.

Atheists vs. Christians. One side is wrong. :)

No there doesn't. Not in my Christianity beleifs, everyone is right, no one is wrong, everyone gets to go to heaven and have good times and good feels.

You're of course free to believe there has to be a wrong choice and that there is a match of Athiests vs Christians. It's all faith based thoughts, logic need not apply.
 
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I get it you don’t have any respect for the Bible. Have a good day
I respect it but to believe in everything that is in there is lunacy. Then you are trying to sway a debate on what happens by just quoting the Bible to change my mind. I just don’t have respect for someone like you tbh.
 
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No, just the main ones.

Pagan, Islam, Christianity, Judaism, Mormonism, Scientology.

Most of their founders were either myths (Zeus, Thor, Odin) or charlatans (Joseph Smith, L. Ron Hubbard.)
You’ll find that Christianity co-opted many pagan customs and mythology to fit Jesus in.
jesus was a man that little is known about and there is little contemporaneous writings about.
it’s easy to write a story after the fact and customize it to other pagan stories so it seemed legit.
 
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