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.
I simply want to understand what I see as clear rational inconsistencies and irreconcilable paradoxes in the God described by the Old Testament.
I know it causes some people discomfort. And I know that the response to discomfort is all too often a "lashing out" at the source of the discomfort. But the inconsistencies and the paradoxes remain despite the lashing out.
God specifies and defines morality. And yet the actions attributed to God in the Old Testament are often in diametric opposition to the moral code specified. So either God is immoral (a paradoxical impossibility)... Or those who scribed the Bible attributed actions to God, which were not God's.
To be honest, I favor the latter explanation. If God exists, I can scarcely imagine that such a benevolent, wondrous, and loving omnipotent being, would be at all concerned with humans groveling in fear at his almighty feet. And under no circumstances would such a God be prone to insane fits of destructive jealous rage.
These are human qualities (and not exactly admirable ones at that).
What does than mean?
(Of course, if they are following me, they are dreadfully mistaken. Prayerfully and hopefully we are all following Christ. It is also important to note that there is a genuine revival taking place in Southern Baptist circles today. The bitter fights with the "moderates" and "liberals" are almost won, and many SBC churches and pastors are rediscovering our theological roots.
To be honest, if I had to choose between eternal torture, and eternity in the company of a being sadistic enough to eternally torture those unlucky enough not to have heard of him.... I'd take door number one.
How silly indeed.... but the difference between you and I, is that you look at this paradox, and say God must be subject to a different set of rules, which are beyond our understanding....
I on the other hand, look at this paradox, and say that God could not possibly exist as described in the Bible.
If it only included the New Testament, I'd agree.
A Baptist church is an autonomous entity. It does not answer to any denominational or ecclesiastical organization. As such, membership is granted by a vote of the members. In many cases, this consists of someone presenting themself for membership at the end of a service, and a quick voice vote taken immediately (Pastor: Susan X comes on promise of a letter from the XYZ Baptist church, what is your pleasure? Member1: I move that she be accepted for membership. Pastor: Is there a second? Member2: Second. Pastor: All in favor, say "aye". Any opposed?) Hopefully, this is someone who have been visiting awhile, has spoken with the pastor, and has demonstrated the marks of a Christian. However, in the past (the situation I was describing earlier), the emphasis was on racking up those decisions, regardless of the regenerative nature of the candidate.
Now, since the church is autonomous, it has regular business meetings, attended by the membership at large. During these meetings the church can conduct any and all business. Remember "Susan X" from the above paragraph? She came into membership on promise of a "letter" from the XYZ Baptist church. The XYZ Baptist church, meeting in business session, would decide whether to grant this "letter of recommendation" to the requesting church. I was simply speaking in my earlier post of how it is ludicrous to grant a "recommendation" for a person you don't even know (for all you know they are an axe murderer!).
Does this clear things up some? Recognize that in many non-Baptist churches, the process can be even more "exclusive" with comprehensive grilling of the candidate, including, sometimes, the obtaining of a promise from the candidate that they are going to contribute a specific amount to the upkeep of the church.
Excuse me...but is there such a thing?
Becky
Which gives those of us on the outside of all religions nothing to base a decision on. All religions (well almost all, scientology doesn't count) look equally valid and invalid from here. All true believers look equally happy and filled with joy at their relationship with their god. I think it's just something people have to answer for themselves. Me, I grew up Catholic, my family left the Church and later I was born again, but I never liked it. I was never filled with joy in the faith, it was never a comfortable fit. So I walked away, spent a long time studying and seeking. Finally it dawned on me that I was happiest in a world defined without God, that's when I feel whole and understand my place in the world, that's when it all clicks into place and I get the extra bounce in my step.
Plainly speaking, God's judgement of the wicked is performed by self-judgement. We have the Word before us which is primarily: 1. To love God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength, and 2. To love others as we love ourselves.
We are only given the capacity to judge ourselves relative to that word...
Az
Is that really true? I presume you are Jewish and do not accept that Jesus is the fulfillment of the Tanak?
If you are Jewish, know that it is one banquet. I may not be able to convince you in your lifetime that Yeshua is Messiach-el, but the table to which I refer is the one where Abraham will be seated at the head.
Shalom.
I believe G-d has shown that to all. Do you believe otherwise?
Believing as I do, I still don't understand why anyone chooses to stay out.
Shalom.
I do not know you, and I will probably never understand your story well enough to explain what happened from posts on Free Republic. I know for a fact that G-d showed. I can't know why you couldn't see Him.
If you actually desire to see Him when you knock, then I suggest you find a Christian and ask him about what happened to you.
Shalom.
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