compare people who dont love God, to wives who dont love their husbands

i was actually wondering how you resolve the contradiction you presented. when you give someone the option of choosing or not choosing something, you gotta be prepared to live with the results of that choice. if the choice is do it or else, there's no volition involved.

But you also didnt die for her so that she could live forever. God did

let's say we both agreed that to be the case. why would god have to die to do anything. he could as easily just forgiven and forgotten the events in the garden of eden.

For those that can see what God did, love is a side affect of realizing that he died for all, so that ALL could enter heaven. But only those who see this, and ask for forgiveness of their sins are the ones who will enter.

love is a side effect? and you really mean all who were alive during the time jesus was on earth and those who were born afterwards in those geographic areas where it was possible to learn about his death. my guess is far, far fewer than half of 'all' whove ever been born would meet those criteria.

Since I opened my eyes and turned my life around, I have a new peace and feel stronger in many different aspects of my life.

Ignorance is bliss.

worship is when you really sit down and spend time with him, listening to what he has to say

You hear voices in your head? But seriously, it's just your conscience.

Those who constantly try to prove God doesnt exist are the ones strangling for answers.

You have it backwards. Since there is no prove God exists, those who don't believe challenge believers to prove he DOES exist.

You have it backwards. Since there is no prove God exists, those who don't believe challenge believers to prove he DOES exist.

That is why it is called faith.  One cannot prove or disprove the existance.  You can only go so far with logic, before you either aceept he does not exist, or make the 'leap of faith'.

"Once you've convinced people that there's an invisible man living in the sky, you can convince them of anything." - George Carlin Anyway, this article isn't about whether or not I believe God exists. I've already stated that I believe he at least used to exist. It's those of you who are arguing that twisted it.

The free will means you don't have to be manipulated to follow and love God. You pay for it, but you're not being forced to

Some choice.

"if the choice is do it or else, there's no volition involved"
its not a choice of do it or else...its a this is the right choice...this is the wrong choice thing. You cant choose not to choose...because that is also a choice.

"he could as easily just forgiven and forgotten the events in the garden of eden"
Not really...this was before he gave the option of asking for forgivness. At this time...you had to listen to what he told you. He said they could do anything, but do not touch the tree. They did. They didnt even ask for forgiveness, and tried to hide from God because they knew what they did was wrong and there was, at that time, no punishment for not following God. These people went away from God and paid the price.

"Ignorance is bliss"
I bet you say that every time you look in the mirror, dontcha? Im ignorant because my life has turned around and Im a much better person because of the things that have changed me?

"You hear voices in your head? But seriously, it's just your conscience"
No I dont, and no its not......*sigh...ignorance is bliss for some people*

Did I say I heard voices? No...nice way of twisting what i said though to fit your style of attempts to prove God doesnt exist.

"Those who constantly try to prove God doesnt exist are the ones strangling for answers."
"You have it backwards. Since there is no prove God exists, those who don't believe challenge believers to prove he DOES exist."
Actually, No I dont have it backwards. I know he exists because of what is evident in my life and from what I see. You think he doesnt exist because of what you dont see.

"Some Choice"
So...youd rather not have the ability to choose?
or..
You just think its a bad thing because you get punished for not following God.
or...
you think it sucks that someone is telling you that you have faults and arent perfect and you need to ask for forgiveness.
which one is it?

You just think its a bad thing because you get punished for not following God

That one.

you think it sucks that someone is telling you that you have faults and arent perfect and you need to ask for forgiveness

This is one of the most ridiculous things I've ever heard. Why should anyone have to ask God's forgiveness for not being perfect?
WE'RE HUMAN! GOD MADE US THIS WAY! He should ask our forgiveness for such an asinine law.

If you didn't make a bad choice, you wouldn't need to be forgiven. It really is quite simple and expecting anything from God is asinine.

Actually, God did say you should not test him as well.

But I agree with Helix. You are not asking for forgiveness for being human and imperfect, you are asking for forgiveness for your mistakes. and it is as much asking God as it is forgiving yourself.

It is all psychological.

You are not asking for forgiveness for being human and imperfect, you are asking for forgiveness for your mistakes.

We make mistakes because we're human and imperfect. In the Bible, did God not ask someone's forgiveness and he promised not do it (whatever it was) again? He gave us free will. He made us imperfect. For him to punish us because we are what he made us is asinine.The choices we make shouldn't have anything to do with it.

I still think faith is like love, you can't force either or experience it just because you want to. I think faith and love are things that come from within. I would love to believe in Christianity (BTW, you can believe in God without being Christian) but I just don't feel it. There isn't a meld of heart and mind that results in faith like I suspect a lot of people who are on here testifying have.

There is no proof. Christians can quote the bible with every last breath they have and still not convince a person if that person simply hasn't "seen the light" and felt the unconditional love that is religious faith. I'm still open but it hasn't happened for me. I here ya Iconoclast.

you can't force either or experience it just because you want to

Or because someone else wants you to.
Thanks, Jill.

Link

I've never thought of the bible as a concrete source of proof anyway. In my opinion, it is a resource God made to set his ground rules for man. So for all people who say "God doesn't exist/Genesis could have never happened because the theory of evolution contradicts with the possibility of there being an Adam and Eve," yeah, you're probably right; about the Adam and Eve part. Most of Genesis probably never happened. It was probably just s story written by whoever (it is not clear who wrote Genesis, but it is generally accepted that the Holy Spirit was the one who "wrote" it) to get man, in basic terms, to understand what God has given to man and what God wants of man. This is probably true for alot of other books of the Bible as well, but don't get me wrong, I believe there's a God. I'm just a sort of Agnostic/Deist who does not worship God for (probably) alot of the same reasons Iconoclast doesn't.

There are some scary people out there (Ziggystyles and Dr). You ever notice how people are commenting here as if they have first hand knowledge. These people are so convinced they are right they are willing to try to influence someone else to thier belief. Are you willing to take responsibility for that and the possible consequences. How far are you willing to go in this endeavor. Are you sure you are right or is this your interpretation. Becareful that you don't hurt yourself on your own commandments, I mean views......... Better make sure your house is in order or stop preaching......

We make mistakes because we're human and imperfect. In the Bible, did God not ask someone's forgiveness and he promised not do it (whatever it was) again? He gave us free will. He made us imperfect. For him to punish us because we are what he made us is asinine.The choices we make shouldn't have anything to do with it.

Not being perfect is forgetting to set the alarm and getting up late.  You need to ask for no forgiveness for that.  But making a mistake is not robbing a bank.  That is wrong, and you knew it before you did it.  That is what you are asking forgiveness for. Not being human, but making wrong decisions.  Free Will, remember?