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Why Christians Don't Understand Non-Christians
ArGee | 1/3/01 | ArGee

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.


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To: Elsie
Then God said, "Let us make man in our image..."

that's a fair response, i just tend to feel it was the other way around.

721 posted on 01/04/2002 11:51:19 AM PST by jethropalerobber
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To: stuartcr
See #700...
722 posted on 01/04/2002 11:52:01 AM PST by L,TOWM
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To: ArGee
Re: All good men go to heaven.

If a Jew believes in an after life (not all Jews do - particularly the partially secular ones) the above belief is universal including the Orthodox, Conservative and Reform. My religiously well educated Orthodox son-in-law believes this, as I do (I attend a Reform synagogue), and I'll ask him where the source of this belief lies. My guess that it comes from the Talmud, which includes the rabbinical commentaries on the Bible.

By the way, unless one knows what is in the Talmud, which is twenty times the length of of the Holy Scriptures, one is hardly equipped to challenge the origin or validity of most Jewish religious beliefs.

723 posted on 01/04/2002 11:54:31 AM PST by Magician
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To: ArGee
I think this analogy is flawed. You need to throw in a few more ingredients. Continue with the rich man providing the dinner but instead of people demanding to enter through the door of their choice, you have groups running around saying follow me to the banquet. When you try to follow your would be guides you end up running all over town but never arriving at the banquet, then your guides proclaim that you need to tithe some of your money in order to demonstrate to the rich man your goodwill. When you look closer you find that those who promised to show you the way were leading you around for their own benefit and spending the tithes for their own enrichment. After dealing with the hypocrites that pretend to speak for the rich man and never seeing the banquet, you begin to wonder if there really is a banquet or if the rich man is anything more than a figment of someone’s imagination.
724 posted on 01/04/2002 12:01:57 PM PST by Fish out of Water
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To: Celtjew Libertarian
Which denies a person the right to believe in what he has experienced, unless he can verify that he experienced it. Sorry, but your materialism denies the evidence of the senses.

Wrong again. They have every right to believe whatever they want to believe. Just because somebody tells me they had a personal experience where they "saw" the "Great Sky Fairy" does not make it true, no matter how much they [want to] believe it. Sorry, but you have presented no evidence, only hyperbole.

After that, people who hear the story have a responsibility to judge it, based on what they know about the teller -- his closeness to the person who originally experienced it, his reputation for truth, etc. It may not be proof, but it is evidence.

Incredible claims require incredible evidence to back them up. I would not care who told me about "The Great Sky Fairy", I would need more than anybody's testimony, regardless of who that "anybody" is, to accept that claim.

725 posted on 01/04/2002 12:06:36 PM PST by LuvItOrLeaveIt
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To: Boxsford
May the Lord visit your heart and reveal Himself to you in a mighty way.

Father, I echo the prayer of Boxford for LuvItOrLeaveIt. May it be so quickly. Amen.

Shalom.

726 posted on 01/04/2002 12:07:18 PM PST by ArGee
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To: the_doc
Just an observation but, it would appear to me that if people seek, but do not end up thinking as you do, then they didn't seek hard enough.
727 posted on 01/04/2002 12:07:36 PM PST by stuartcr
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To: ArGee
Father, I echo the prayer of Boxford for LuvItOrLeaveIt. May it be so quickly. Amen.

I've just proven one of your statements wrong. This prayer has not been answered.

728 posted on 01/04/2002 12:09:27 PM PST by LuvItOrLeaveIt
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To: ArGee
And, of course, if I love someone, I will tell them of the goodness of the feast, the excellence of the wine, and the divinity of the fellowship.

And what about people who were unlucky enough to live at a time when there were no invitations sent out?

I'm talking about my ancestors who never heard a word about Christ or the "good news" of the gospel. According to some Christians, my ancestors will be consigned to hell, because they didn't "profess a belief in Christ." They weren't even given a chance to accept or reject. Why are they being excluded?

I'm sorry, but isn't that kinda unfair? Even if I make it to the feast, I cannot celebrate the "divinity of the fellowship" with those I love, because they won't be there.

729 posted on 01/04/2002 12:09:56 PM PST by wai-ming
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To: ArGee
But more, how the lost blame G-d for holding to His simple plan of salvation rather than accepting their plan as superior...

Yes, very well said... I'm reminded of Matthew 7:14 - "For the gate is narrow and the way is hard, that leads to life, and those who find it are few." Not gates, but gate. Singular. This was an excellect thread...

I'm not sure what the record is, but more than 700 replies has to be close to a FR record??

730 posted on 01/04/2002 12:10:19 PM PST by vrwinger
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To: ArGee
Great story. Very simple and profound. Many are saying that it doesn't cover all of the bases, but I don't think that you meant for it to.

I have read many posts on this thread of people complaining that they don't agree with having to take the front entrance to the banquet, or "why can't an omnipotent God just take everyone in?" What they don't understand is that not only is Jesus "The Way" into the banquet but he is the banquet and the food itself. It is like someone saying that they want to go swimming without getting wet.

Ultimately the definition of Heaven is eternal fellowship with God. I know that for most unbelievers that does not sound real great, but when we begin to understand the true greatness of God (which we never fully will in this life) we can begin to understand why Jesus is The Way. We cannot have fellowship with God (i.e. heaven) and reject Him at the same time. Just as when you go swimming you are going to get wet.

731 posted on 01/04/2002 12:10:43 PM PST by nattyman
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To: WonderBob
In order for you to understand how the non-christian feels, you merely have to be willing to do a little thought exercise. Just imagine if your essay was written by a buddhist, and the banquet was called "nirvana" and not "salvation".

I have not named the banquet. In the names you have given, you suggest the banquet is an after-death banquet.

The banquet is a life banquet. I am eating of it now. The food is good. The wine is excellent. The fellowship is divine!

Come to the Table.

Shalom.

732 posted on 01/04/2002 12:10:43 PM PST by ArGee
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To: savedbygrace
You've refused to accept God's conditions and definitions, and then you've made your own set instead.

I have refused to accept the existence of God, and therefore have no choice but to make my own set.

733 posted on 01/04/2002 12:10:52 PM PST by OWK
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To: Elsie
Well, Elsie, it's like this. The title of this article is amusingly backwards. We understand Christians very well. It is you who refuse to understand yourselves or us, but that's okay because it isn't one of the Commandments. So NOBODY gets it right, but all G-d requires from us is that we never stop trying to be the best *I* we can possibly be. I don't know why you stopped in the middle of the road and explored none of the beauty without, but it is to your detriment that you were taught never to question or think for youself.
That said, there is no condemnation here. I honestly believe that righteous Christians and righteous Jews must ineveitably devide to stick very close together. We are about to have an all out frontal assault from the very far left that will test us in ways we have not been tested before. It will require Conservatives of every stripe, ethnicity, and religion to become the army that defeats them at their own game. It won't happen if we are tearing at each others' throats.
734 posted on 01/04/2002 12:11:04 PM PST by Syene
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To: Anamensis
You seem to be in it for the long haul, whereas ArGee gave up trying to answer all the responses long ago.

I hope by now you know me better.

Shalom.

735 posted on 01/04/2002 12:14:28 PM PST by ArGee
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To: L,TOWM
If it was part of a plan, where does this free-will stuff come in?
I guess some people were lucky enough to get eaten so love could be expressed?
Still have a hard time understanding something that could compel someone to let themselves get eaten, but I guess missing the banquet would be compelling enough for you?
736 posted on 01/04/2002 12:15:38 PM PST by stuartcr
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To: Hagrid
But they never returned and no one really knew (except by faith) that the banquet ever happened.

I am at the banquet now. The food is good. The wine is excellent. The fellowship is divine.

Come to the Table.

Shalom.

737 posted on 01/04/2002 12:16:49 PM PST by ArGee
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To: L,TOWM
see #706
738 posted on 01/04/2002 12:18:06 PM PST by stuartcr
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To: ArGee
Father, I echo the prayer of Boxford for LuvItOrLeaveIt. May it be so quickly. Amen

Practicing your piety in public?

739 posted on 01/04/2002 12:18:56 PM PST by gdani
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To: ArGee
Excellent thread.

Why assume that to look is to see?

740 posted on 01/04/2002 12:19:02 PM PST by mac_truck
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