Posted on 01/03/2002 11:19:13 AM PST by ArGee
A very rich man decided that he wanted to show kindness to the people of the fair city where he lived. Since he was very rich indeed, he decided to throw a banquet for the entire city. He rented the largest sports arena in the city and began his plans. He planned for huge amounts of the best food possible, making allowances for every religious and medical diet. He advertised the banquet in every possible manner - television, radio, billboard, door-to-door canvassing. Considering that there might be some who could not travel, he arranged for free bus transportation to and from the event, and some special-needs vehicles for all who could not ride busses. He even scheduled the banquet to run for 24 hours a day for several days so that everyone could be sure of being served.
He planned long and hard and finally the big day came. The rich man ate quickly and then went about wishing all his guests well and personally making sure that all had every need met. After a while he went outside to tour the grounds and talk with those who had not yet gone in, and those who had already left. Everyone was happy. Many were profusely thankful. It was a glorious occasion.
At one point the rich man noticed a group of people sitting outside a locked door with most unpleasant looks on their faces. Sensing they were not happy, he went over to them. He did not introduce himself but simply asked them if he could be of service.
"We want to go in through this door," one of them replied.
The rich man explained to them that the hall was arranged to feed a large number of people as quickly and effortlessly as possible. This required order inside, and the entrances and exits had been carefully planned to be as efficient as possible. He then offered to go call one of the golf carts that were avaialbe to help people who could not walk far to take them to the entrance. But the man replied, "We do not want to go in the entrance. We want to go in this door. We don't understand why we can't go in any door we wish. We think the man who set this banquet up is mean and hateful for insisting we go in through the entrance. He has tried to bill himself as a very kind man by offering this banquet, but he is not kind at all if he will not indulge us and let us go through this door.
The rich man was distressed at these words, but still attempted to please these people. He tried once more to explain to them what was behind this particular door, and how if they went in this door they would disrupt the meal service being offered inside. He offered to drive them himself, not only to the door, but inside the hall to their tables if they would only go through the entrance to enjoy the meal. Again the man said, "No, but only a hateful man would keep us from going through the door of our choosing. And we will sit here and tell anyone who will listen to us what an awful man he is until he lets us in."
At that the rich man was enraged and he shouted, "Enough." Then he called a police officer to have them thrown off of the property and ordered that they not be allowed to return until the banquet was over and all the scraps had been hauled away. Then, mourning for their loss, he turned to visit with other guests.
To me, it is clear which version lexcorp paints is correct, and scripture foretells the hucksters who would lead outsiders astray.
But lexcorp's barbs are still valid points. It is the mystery of iniquity.
Hitler, Pol Pot, Stalin, The Crusaders, The Inquisitors, and countless other butchers throughout history, have perverted both reason and religion to accomplish their aims.
But the abuses of Hitler were not an indictment of reason, any more than the abuses of the Inquisitors were an indictment of the teachings of Jesus Christ.
Hitler's actions objectively defied reason.
The inquisitor's actions defied the teachings of Jesus Christ.
Although both Hitler and the Inquisitors thought otherwise, they were both objectively and demonstrably wrong.
You can no more convert someone hostile to Christianity to accept Christ than you can convince a Clinton lover that Clinton may have done something wrong. It takes a miracle to turn their heart around, as mine was. All we can do is share the Good News and let the Holy Spirit do the rest.
It is frustrating sometimes, though. It really is like trying to get people to buy Microsoft stock right after it went public and having people treat you like you're trying to get them to go to an Amway meeting.
Oh well. We are living in skeptical times.
Misapplication of the Bible or any religious text will doubtless always be. However more people were killed last century in the name of no religion by orders of magnitude. 10s of millions in russia and 10s of millions in china. THe question will remain why is that a bad thing. Especailly considering overpopulation. I would submit there is a moral Law, written by God.
Certainly not ;-)
I don't see how anything can be objectively wrong in a Godless world view, but I sense will never be on the same page, so I respectly will allow you the last word if you so desire. Cheers
Beneficial to long term humanity? Is God a socialist? Willing to sacrifice the lives of the few, to the needs of the many? And what of the individuals in question? Doesn't killing them deprive them of any opportunity to repent? That hardly seems like the action of a loving God.
And what about the suggestion on the part of most Christians, that overt acceptance of Jesus Christ is a requirement for entering the kingdom of heaven? Does this mean that someone unlucky enough to have been born a Yak-herder in the backwaters of Tibet, never having heard of Jesus, will be slow-roasted on a lake of fire for all eternity, because he never had the opportunity to even hear of Jesus, much less accept him?
What kind of cosmic practical joke would that be?
There sure are a lot of things that don't make any sense about this stuff.
I'm not sure why objectivity requires God. In fact, it would seem somewhat counter-intuitive.
But nevertheless, I thank you for the warm and cordial conversation, and leave you with the expression that you represent your faith well.
Regards.
Nevertheless, God tells us that in the long run, ALL GOOD MEN GO TO HEAVEN (including those who do not believe as we do).
Pardon my saying so... but I am not only a non-Christian, but a non-believer in ANY god or mythos.
And yet I hold my moral code to be absolute and objective.
Immoral behavior is NOT just fine with me.
The issue is what He says about Himself.
He has been widely quoted, but also so variously that at least some have to be misquotes. Indeed God's agents seem to agree that He is generally misquoted, except by themselves and (most of) their co-religionists. Maybe they are all misquotes? So far no clarifications of the matter have been issued directly from the head office.
That's upper case "H" for Him. Have alittle respect.
Fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. Indeed He is love but He also punishes. Unlike you, I don't want to be on His wrong side.
Understand, it is YOU not me who will pay dearly for disbelief. Go ahead and laugh. Mock me with another reply which I will ignore BUT it is YOU who will pay the consequence for your disbelief. There is more than enough evidence out there for persuasion. You simply chose NOT to accept it and believe in yourself instead. It's just another choice we make in life - belief or disbelief.
While there is time, I reconsider. Things are moving along out there and it ALL matches up with God's Word, the Bible.
Fear is not wisdom.
It is fear.
Actually it is Christians who DO understand non-Christians since they were once NON-Christians. Trust me, you don't hop out of Mom and declare yourself a "Christian" in cooing sounds. It is the NON Chrristian that doesn't understand Christianity and has chosen to REJECT it whether they understand it or not. What buggs NON Christians is the peace of mind that Christians have. Non Christians also get angry about their final fate, hell. Yet, it is a decision they can easily change. I find most non Christians to be self absorbed and very illogical.
If your god is so horrific that he would condemn those he created and claims to love, to an eternity of torment and pain, simply because they did not believe in him, or never heard of him.... Then let him send me to hell.
I want no part of such a god.
for the story to be analagous for non-believers, God would have to reveal himself, reveal heaven, and dialog with humanity in a direct sense. Seeing as how He hasn't chosen to do it quite that way, we're left with imperfect parables to describe the perfect.
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You pre-suppose that God has NOT chosen to do it quite that way!
What do you imagine the authors of the Gospel of John to be saying, when they say "We have SEEN his glory!" ???
You have discounted the ugly (to some) doctrine of ELECTION, where he reveals himself to those of HIS own choosing.
THEY understand the parables PERFECTLY.
And they are PERFECT!
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