+68 By giving us the tool to deny Him (critical thinking) and neglecting to give us the key to accept Him (strong evidence), God forces us to rely on faith rather than the natural tendencies He gave us. Why make salvation more difficult for your creation, amirite?

by Anonymous 12 years ago

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=urlTBBKTO68

by Anonymous 13 years ago

It doesn't make salvation more difficult, those reasons just means we have to be absolutely committed-God's way of revealing who truly loves him. And why shouldn't we be so unwaveringly committed after the incredible sacrifice that Jesus made for us?

by Anonymous 13 years ago

Are you saying that if God provided us with stronger evidence then we would not be able to reach the same level of commitment?

by Anonymous 13 years ago

Don't you think it's kind of fucked up that we are born indebted to someone we've never met, for something we never asked for? The people I know who do things like that, I call manipulative.

by Anonymous 12 years ago

Good thing God's not a person, eh?

by Anonymous 12 years ago

Not exactly. If God was just plainly, physically in front of us, having a normal conversation with us-why would we need faith? We wouldn't. And faith is the basis for commitment. If we were to ask God physically, in person for something, and He said "Okay here," that would not build our trust and love for Him as much as praying for something and patiently waiting to receive the answer. When that answer comes, it is a much more momentous occasion than the scenario above. Though personally, I believe the evidence for God's existence as well as the legitmacy of the Bible is there, some people just refuse to take a closer look.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

If God was as tangible and concrete as you just described, we could be just as committed to spreading and upholding the Word of God and being as good as a Christian as you can possibly be. You do not need faith in His existence to have in faith in His goodness.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

You make a good point, but i don't think you know the definition of faith well enough. Because if i knew anything was absolute truth, then i would have no faith in it. If God was my grandpa for example, i would have no need for faith in his existence because he is right there and i would know that he was good because he is my awesome grandpa. therefore, i have no faith that he exists and i have no faith that he is good, because i know for a fact that he exists and that he is good. So if God directly revealed himself, there is no faith. Salvation yes, because it would be brutally obvious and you would have to be retarded not to believe in God if he directly revealed himself. But NO faith is involved... so in summary, faith does not equal salvation.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

The problem is that the bible and most other holy books are filled with contradictions, so how is someone supposed to believe the in something when the only evidence is filled with holes?

by Anonymous 12 years ago

You do have to believe He exists to believe in His love and goodness towards us. But it sounds like we're both Christians (you were saying "we") so why waste our time on this earth arguing about this? (:

by Anonymous 13 years ago

You misunderstood me. By "you do not need faith in His existence," I was referring to the hypothetical situation in which God was tangible and concrete, thus rendering faith in His existence unnecessary. And I'm atheist. I use "we" because I'm speaking generally, not solely to you, and using "you" sounds somewhat aggressive. But, yes, our debate shall stop here, because it is now irrelevant to the post.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

Ah okay I see your point now, I did misunderstand that phrase. And oh. Well in that case I genuinely pray that you might see God and His amazing love for you and accept His gift of salvation while you still have time.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

Reminds of this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hk41Gbjljfo

by Anonymous 12 years ago

To see who actually deserves salvation, probably.

by Anonymous 12 years ago

Why bother making a faith-based test for salvation, or any test, when He already knows who will be joining him in heaven anyways?

by Anonymous 12 years ago

Because he's god you idiot

by Anonymous 12 years ago

What's the point of life then? How would God know who deserves salvation? Faith tests who will love God unconditionally and throughout all things good or bad. If we all knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that God existed life would just be a test of who fears him the most. That's not christian.

by Anonymous 12 years ago

Why debate? Why can't we just live together not caring about what other people believe in? Why not just respect other people for their beliefs? Faith is difficult and its admirable to pull it off. The absence of faith is just as admirable because you're using what you know to prove or disprove something. So if somebody believes something different than you, just respect it and move on.

by Anonymous 12 years ago