I had believe 10 years that the Bible is true . Now i am not so sure . Here are some of the problems that i found:
The story of Creation - in the Bible it says God created the universe and life in just 6 days in this order first
the Earth, then the Sun,Moon,the stars and finally life but science tells us a different thing
first was the Big Bang, then the stars ,then the earth and moon,then life, all of this took billions
of years.The question is how can both science and bible be correct?
MY REPLY:
The bible uses a great many literally forms, so while everything is in a n=manner of speaking" true; NOT EVERYTHING is literally FACTUAL.
1. For GOD time does not exist, everything is "present" {past, present and future}, so it could have been 6 days, seconds, years are centuries. God's Creations flows from His THOUGHTS, NOT some sort of labor as we know it.
2. My friend have you ever been exposed to the One Infallible Rule for right understanding of the Bible? Which BTW is a Catholic Book.
Never Ever; can, may or DOES
One verse, passage or teaching have the power or authority to
Invalidate, make void or override another
Verse, passage or teaching:
Were this even the slightest possibility;[it’s NOT!] it would render the entire Bible useless to teach or lean Christ Faith”
2Peter 1: 19-21
And we have the more firm prophetical word: whereunto you do well to attend, as to a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts: [20] Understanding this first, that no prophecy of scripture is made by private interpretation. [21] For prophecy came not by the will of man at any time: but the holy men of God spoke, inspired by the Holy Ghost.
[Douay Bible explanation]
[20] No prophecy of scripture is made by private interpretation: This shews plainly that the scriptures are not to be expounded by any one's private judgment or private spirit, because every part of the holy scriptures were written by men inspired by the Holy Ghost, and declared as such by the Church; therefore they are not to be interpreted but by the Spirit of God, which he hath left, and promised to remain with his Church to guide her in all truth to the end of the world. Some may tell us, that many of our divines interpret the scriptures: they may do so, but they do it always with a submission to the judgment of the Church, and not otherwise. End Quotes
“Whenever something is good it does not depend on us getting our way, but on God getting His way, and whether we do God’s Will depends on us [
humbly] loving God. Moreover to love God we must [
actually] know God, [
not just know OF God].” Bread of Life booklet January 9, 2016”[
Mt 7:21]
2[SUP]nd[/SUP]. Peter 3: 14-18
“Therefore, beloved, since you wait for these, be zealous to be found by him without spot or blemish, and at peace. And count the forbearance of our Lord as salvation. So also our beloved brother
Paul wrote to you according to the wisdom given him, speaking of this as he does in all his letters. There are some things in them hard to understand, which the ignorant and unstable twist to their own destruction, as they do the other scriptures. You therefore, beloved, knowing this beforehand, beware lest you be carried away with the error of lawless men and lose your own stability. But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be the glory both now and to the day of eternity. Amen”
2. So here's what we as Christians MUST believe about the STORY of Creation:
That GOD is, and God Did ALL of Creation {WHY God choose to do this can be found in Isaiah 43: verses 7 & 21}
That the Created Universe exist for a very precise reason, and that reason reason being so that ALL of humanity [none excluded} COULD know of God's existence
That "Adam & Eve" {our 1st parents who may have been called something other than A & E?} were in FACT Created by God for the possibility of His Glory.
That Adam {co-opted by Eve} DID choose to sin grievously
That God knew that they would
That God planned the Incarnation {birth of the God-MAN} from all eternity
Because ONLY God could off-set the sins of Adam
NEXT POINT
The story of Adam and Eve -Adam and Eve were like small children : innocent , naive and with no knowledge of right and
wrong.God punished them for breaking his only rule by banishing them from a life of bliss,abundance,
immortality and no pain in Eden to a life of struggle, pain and mortality. They were bound to make
mistakes and not listen to their father because they haven’t experienced yet the consequences of
doing that. Also we must not forget that God didn’t explain what death is. If they had known that
for their transgression the punishment would be so severe they probably wouldn't have eaten the
forbidden fruit. So the question is how an all loving, just God in his infinite wisdom and mercy
could punish his beloved children so drastically at their first mistake?Isn't God's justice perfect?
No, This is a Moral impossibility:
READ Genesis 1:26-27 "
[FONT="][[/FONT]26[FONT="]] Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, after our likeness; and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth." [/FONT][FONT="][[/FONT]27[FONT="]] So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them"
[/FONT]THIS part of the "Story" is Literal. If anyone would like to know exactly how this is fulfilled {READ John 4:23-24} to see WHY I ask the question, please let me know, bot so as to not change the topic at hand, I will simply sate that it is impossible that they were innocent of right and wrong, They like God had freewill's and were able to choose RIGHT & Wrong AND THUS SIN. They may NOT have known the consequences, BUT were able to discern and choose right and wrong.
Genesis 2:16-17 "
[16] And he commanded him, saying: Of every tree of paradise thou shalt eat: [17] But of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat. For in what day soever thou shalt eat of it, thou shalt die the death."
WHILE they had yet to experience the consequences they WERE nevertheless told that they would be HARSH!
And while God did not expand on the consequences; they WERE aware that they would be severe {Divine Justice DEMANDED such knowledge}
It is significant that THEY were tempted by Satan, NOT unmotivated-inclined to sin.
God had provided for them VRY possible want. They literally had NO {Zip needs}. ALL that they were lacking was to actually be GOD
Gen. 3:5 "
[For God doth know that in what day soever you shall eat thereof, your eyes shall be opened: and you shall be as Gods, knowing good and evil."
As to your last question: How Could God do such a thing?
Divine Justice is exactly that: Divine-Godly and unable to error {literally} judgment
It was precisely because A & E COULD Sin, HAD knowledge of Right & Wrong, that God HAD TO in Divine Justice, punish their sinful act. Again God HAD provided for their Every want and need except actually being God. Amen!
NEXT point:
The story of Noah- Men have became more corrupt and violent except Noah and his family who were righteous. God gets angry and decides to destroy the world through a flood.Tells Noah to build an ark and bring 2 of every land
animal in the ark in 7 days .We know that the circumference of the Earth is about 40,000 km and for
example the distance from the Middle East and Australia is ~ 11,000 km .So the question is how he
managed to covered hundreds of thousands of km and gather all the animals from every corner of the
earth in just few days?
MY REPLY
OK? So God can {and DID" Create the entire Universe, its Natural and Its Moral Laws, BUT God can't do this simple thing?.... So where dear friend is faith and understanding of God's unlimited ability to do ANY Good thing?
Continued
- God spared Noah and his family for being righteous,yet he killed at least one small child in the flood.
Jesus said small children in the eyes of God are innocent,righteous and not corrupted .So wouldn't an
all loving God in his infinite wisdom and mercy would have spared also all the children may they have
been in the thousands,hundreds or just one? Isn't God's justice perfect?
MY REPLY:
Isaiah 55: 6-10 6] Seek ye the Lord, while he may be found: call upon him, while he is near. [7] Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unjust man his thoughts, and let him return to the Lord, and he will have mercy on him, and to our God: for he is bountiful to forgive. [8] For my thoughts are not your thoughts: nor your ways my ways, saith the Lord. [9] For as the heavens are exalted above the earth, so are my ways exalted above your ways, and my thoughts above your thoughts End Quote
So now mortal ma, God's creation is somehow empowered to TELL GOD what is right and what is NOT?
Continued:
- God created the rainbow after the flood implying that there never was a rainbow before the flood. This
contradicts the scientific definition of what rainbows are because if you have light,refraction of
light and rain you have rainbows.This leads to the only conclusion that there are only three possible
scenarios that create an environment where rainbow would not form:
1.There is no sunlight. But terrestrial life is dependent on sunlight, in this scenario all life
would have died.
2.There was no rain but the Bible tells us of rain before the supposed creation of the rainbow.
3.Light did not refract but if light did not refract, sight would be impossible. It is light
refracting in the lens of the eye that allows sight by focusing the light onto the retina.
The question is how can both science and bible be correct?
MY REPLY:
The reference of a rainbow is a metaphysical LESSON, that TEACHES us that God freely choose to make another covenant with humanity. It does NOT deny the possibility of previous rainbows.
CONTINUED:
The concept of Hell- Hell is a place where men go if they disobey Gods rules and not repent before their death, a place
of eternal torment and torture.How could an all loving God in his infinite wisdom,mercy could
torture billions of people forever for a finite numbers of sins committed in their finite life.
MY REPLY
A Reasonable question, BIT ONLY SO if, and only IF we understand how to explain Gen 1:26-27 verses John 4:23-25, AND if we have a right understanding of BOTH the Divine Nature of God and all that it implies AND also the Natures of Sin.
Gen 1:26-27 "[26] And he said: Let us make man to our image and likeness: and let him have dominion over the fishes of the sea, and the fowls of the air, and the beasts, and the whole earth, and every creeping creature that moveth upon the earth. [27] And God created man to his own image: to the image of God he created him: male and female he created them."
John 4:23-24 " [23] But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true adorers shall adore the Father in spirit and in truth. For the Father also seeketh such to adore him. [24] God is a spirit; and they that adore him, must adore him in spirit and in truth"
In order for God to be justifed in His Decision to Create Heaven Hell & Purgatory {Which BTW is Biblical}, God HAD to Create man with a mind, intellect and freewill {which He did}, thus man chooses heavenor Hell and GOD only affirms our life choices. Amen
Heb.6: 10 “For
God is not so unjust as to overlook your work and the love which you showed for his sake in serving the saints, as you still do.”
Rev.2: 23 “and I will strike her children dead. And all the churches shall know that I am he who searches mind and heart, and I will give to each of you as your works deserve.”
1 Peter 1: 17 “Now if you invoke as Father him who judges impartially according to each one's works, conduct yourselves with reverence during the time of your sojourning, “
“ Matt.19: 17 “And he said to him, "Why do you ask me about what is good? One there is who is good.
If you would enter life, keep the commandments."
Rom.2: 13 “For it is not the hearers of the law who are righteous before God, but the doers of the law who will be justified.”
John 3:5 “Jesus answered, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit
, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.”
John 3:36 “He who believes in the Son has eternal life
; he who does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God rests upon him.
CONTINUED:
Wouldn't God's perfect justice demand a punishment proportional to the number and gravity of sins?
- Throughout the human history of hundreds of thousands of years man had believed in thousands of
different Gods,from gods of wind, trees and animals, to polytheistic gods of the vikings: Odin,
Loki,Thor or of the romans and greeks: Jupiter,Mars,Venus/Zeus,Ares,Aphrodite or of the egyptians:
Ra,Osiris,Horus or of the hindi:Shiva,Vishnu,Brahma to monotheistic gods like Allah,Ahura Mazda,
Buddha,Zalmoxis. Some of these gods are still worshiped today and they will be in the future.This
leads to a rather unsettling conclusion that all the people that never heard of the bible but
failed to figure it out that the right god is Yahweh or just failed to figure it out that there
is a god at all or be born in a different religion and consequently believed,worshiped and prayed
to their god or gods, are doomed to an eternity of torture in hell.This apply also to both to those
who heard of Yahweh but chose to remain faithful to their religion or belief and also to atheists
and agnostic who can’t believe because of insufficient evidence. Wouldn't an all powerful, all
loving God in his infinite wisdom would have thought of a better kind of revelation of himself then
that of the bible , like for example reveal himself and his wishes clearly, personally to every
human like he did with Noah or Moses or Paul, and by doing which give everyone a equal chance at
salvation and redemption? Why choose to remain hidden,idle while seeing all the billions of people
going on with their lives believing in,worshiping,praying and sacrificing them and others to false
god or gods and in the same time punish them for not obeying his rules when they haven’t even heard
them?
MY REPLY:
God can be defined correctly and briefly as:
"ALL GOOD THINGS PERFECTED"
Hence we can KNOW that God can ONLY do good things.
Are being "fair", being "Just" good things. OF COURSE THEY ARE, so we CAN know that what God does {causes} HAS TO BE both fair and just.
The author of this post seems to thank that God can simply overlook mans freely chosen sins. God CANNOT and still be a just God. WHAT GOD can and DOES do though is consider what He GOD has made possible for reach of us to know. THUS Judgment is based not on our life's choices alone, BUT ON WHAT GOD HAS MADE POSSIBLE FOE EACH OF US TO KNOW.
God's judgement is based on that FACT. Amen
God Bless
Patrick
working4christ2
. For example if I want to buy a car. my parents will say to pick a type of car, my brothers will say to pick another type of car, but even if I am influenced I will choose between those choices or other, I am capable of discerning . If somebody says to jump from a building you don't obey because you know it's dangerous, even if you have external motivations. So you are able to choose, you have free will. Sometimes you don't listen to your consciouns and do bad things even though you feel guilt and a moment in your head questioned wether to act or not. Even I felt this, everyone has, we found out after the consequences appeared, but we knew from the start that is wrong. The consequences only strenghtened our pre-act thoughts!