I was having a discussion with a coworker of mine the other day about christianity and the bible.

He told me that his god is a loving god. I responded that a god who would sentence somebody to eternal damnation for the simple crime of not believing in him, didn't soud like a "nice" god to me.


His response was that it was similiar to parents having to spank their kids, that god was just trying to put us on the right path. Trying to save us from ourselves so to speak.


This logic didn't make since to me. It would seem to me that the punishment doesn't really fit the crime. If your child were to not clean his/her room, would you break their arm?

I likened what he said to a dictator hanging somebody for jaywalking because it was for their own good not to jaywalk.

He didn't really have much of a response to that.

So is god basicly an egotistical dictator or what?


It would seem pretty harsh to be sentenced to eternal hell simply for being skeptical, and not believing in his exhistance.


Again to me, the punishment doesn't fit the crime.


Not trying to piss anybody off, and I'm no biblical scholar, but it just doesn't make much sense to me.


Am I missing something?

Exactly.

If god is God, then of course He's a dictator.

We simply fall short of teh ability to understand His perfect ways.

A god you can fully understand is NOT God.

Actually, its the HEIGHT of arrogance for teh created being to deny the existence of its creator.

Imagine if you assembled an AR and then it denied your existence.

There is probably no greater crime than for the created being to mock its creator and deny His existence.

No,

BUT I know of a few people around here in my part of the state of Oklahoma who are self appointed "preachers" who think they are dictators and want to run every part of your life, and woe to those who do not bow the knee to them and worship them when they walk into a room.....

The House always wins.

Exactly..

Try to imagne that you are trying to understand a puzzle that is too big to comprehend.  We are finite creatures trying to understand an infinite Creator.  It is impossible for us to do so.

What if...what if we aren't on this planet to make ourselves successful, enjoy pleasures, aquire a lot of stuff, etc.  What if knowing God isn't a "small" part of our lives?  What if knowing and serving Him is the [b]only[/b] thing that matters.

What if He came to earth as a man to live, suffer, and die in our place to pay for our sin and rejection of Him.  And then, what if we decided that we weren't interested in His Salvation.

A recent book about knowing God starts out with an important quote:

"It isn't about you."

Ever consider that?  What if it, (all of the universe) isn't about us.  What if it's all about Him?

God is the most wonderful thing in the universe.  He is totally perfect in all His ways.  And, for reasons that we cannot understand, He [u]loves[/u] us.  Wow!

He has a perfect plan for you and me.  He will not accept a substitute plan.  He has every right to make the rules.  He is the Creator.

And, whether we understand it or not, He is perfectly just.

He told me that his god is a loving god. I responded that a god who would sentence somebody to eternal damnation for the simple crime of not believing in him, didn't soud like a "nice" god to me.


People are not judged for just not believing in God. They are judged for sinning against God. The Apostle Paul states in Romans 1 that God has clearly revealed Himself to all men through His creation and man continually suppresses or holds down the truth of God's existence. The Bible teaches that because of the Fall man hates his Creator. Man knows the difference between right and wrong because God has stamped that on the conscience of man (Romans 1 and 2). Although man knows it's wrong to lie, murder, lust, etc. he does it anyway all the more incurring judgement. So not only is man guilty in his father Adam because of the Fall but also he is guilty because he continually breaks God's law although he knows the difference between right and wrong. God is loving but He is as well holy and just. He will not let sin go unpunished. He will judge the wicked. God has a fatherly relationship with His people and He does discipline them but He does not have a fatherly relationship with all men and all those outside of Christ will be judged by Him.