Doubting Christianity

[Prayerful Flower]

I will Pray the Lord opens Your Eyes To The Truth of His Word.

[Omegaman 3.0]

On 3/16/2016 at 1:16 PM, PharoahJay said:

But When we die We are just soul beings, so if there is a heaven or hell, i wont feel pain

and how exactly, would you find out what soul beings experience. Without certain knowledge of that you rationale is void, and you "if" becomes a huge risk. I would want certainty!

[gdemoss]

On 3/16/2016 at 2:32 PM, PharoahJay said:

I have serious doubts about not only Christianity but Religion in general...Anyone care Explain why I should Listen to "Gods Word"

Welcome to Worthy! 

I was once as you are.  I not only doubted Christianity and all Religion in general, I doubted the existence of God, especially a God who was love but something betrayed all of that and I came to beleive in God, then I came to beleive in Christ, the Son of God and the bible.

If you truly want to know God then the truth is available to you.  Not everyone has to have every question but everyone has to have their questions answered.  And everyone has honest questions.  But if your doubting that God is then your not ready to have any biblical questions answered.  You will first need to answer the God question.  Either God is or God isn't, what is your answer to be?

Thank you for coming here and giving me an opportunity to minister to your questions.

 

[appy]

As someone else has already said, we can't make you believe, nor can we make the decision for you. That is something you have to do for yourself. The bible is in short about how mankind had lost fellowship with God through sin. And God being our loving creator restoring the fellowship of all men back to him. God has provided a way back to him through believing what he has said about his son. That you must come to him by faith (believing). Faith is the confident assurance (hope) that God will do for you what he said he would do. And what is it he has said he would do ?

That if you ( PharoahJay )will believe in your heart and confess with your mouth that, Jesus came and died on the cross for your sins. You will indeed have eternal life. We can never gain eternal life by our own strength or power. No matter how brilliant of a way we think it is. Jesus paid the penalty by dying on the cross, because we are not able to save ourselves from the penalty of death. Sin is the willful action of doing what we know is wrong. Doesn't matter if the wrong is stealing, lying or driving over the speed limit, it is still sin. Sin is what keeps us from having that perfect relationship with God. Jesus came to restore the relationship between us and God.

The bible was written to show us, that all people no matter where they are, what walk of life they are from or how sinful they are. All are in need of a savior. Jesus came to fulfill that need. There is not one person on this earth who has never sinned. All are alike in this. We all have fallen short of the glory of God. I encourage you to read the gospel of John, and then when you are done, read it a second and third time.

 

.

[enoob57]

On ‎3‎/‎16‎/‎2016 at 1:32 PM, PharoahJay said:

I have serious doubts about not only Christianity but Religion in general...Anyone care Explain why I should Listen to "Gods Word"

 

On ‎3‎/‎16‎/‎2016 at 3:16 PM, PharoahJay said:

But When we die We are just soul beings, so if there is a heaven or hell, i wont feel pain

 

On ‎3‎/‎16‎/‎2016 at 3:47 PM, PharoahJay said:

I did at one point, now there is very little evidence for "its" existence

 

On ‎3‎/‎16‎/‎2016 at 4:04 PM, PharoahJay said:

Reality, study, common sense, lack of historical accuracy or evidence.... If my instinct is telling me to question something, I will. And there are so many questions left unanswered by the book

 

On ‎3‎/‎17‎/‎2016 at 2:37 PM, PharoahJay said:

Im reading all these responses and there is just nothing convincing to me. You are quoting the bible but the bible is not all true. It is written by unknowns and a re-written by unknowns. the only evidence from ancient times of actual writings are in Egypt, the Land that God "cursed". My questions are, Why is Egypt so forbidden in the bible yet moses was raised there, Joseph and Mary were sent there to hide out and Moses first learned of God there. What about the ancient Egyptian writings from before the time of Jesus that tell of Horus, who coincidentally lives the same life Jesus did before Jesus was around? What about a snake Talking? What About a bush burning and talking? What about the Earth being billions of years old but Humans only being 6,000 years old? What happened to the humans before Adam and Eve? They just went to hell because they didn't know of God? A Lot of the bible I believe was plagiarized.  and if God was never HUMAN then why is "IT" referred to as "HE" ? The very first writings that were ever discovered mentioning a "God" said that "IT" wanted to be called "YAHWEH" and by no other name or its Blasphemy...but here we are disobeying because the bible was re-written in English to appeal to the masses. If God knew everything in advance, then why would he tell you how to beat a slave in the bible and then have The entire world abolish slavery ("He" doesnt make mistakes)? My thing is not whether I believe there is a creator or not but why would he let us doubt him? We already have so little to go on, we were not around in biblical times and neither was the bible, whos to say that these are not just random writings of someone with nothing better to do? Or a crazy person who thought they heard voices? i was raised as a Christian and my whole life I wondered how could we live by the word and see no benefit, and struggling when these evil people are walking around with billions or millions or even thousands of dollars in their pocket living well. Why are my family members and friends dying while these drug dealers, sex offenders, and scam artist out here running the streets and my family is heavily devoted to the word, actively study the bible, and attend church at least twice a week and all we got out of it was someone reading a book and "please give me some money". So you wonder why I question, not just CHRISTIANITY but religion as a whole, Thats Why. Give me a concrete hard reason to believe, better yet show me proof, give me evidence because its not like i dont want to believe, but God surely hasnt given me anything to believe in.

You learn a lot by the response of people ... Until you remove yourself from the seat that belongs to God within you
you will not be able to see the reality of Him! All that you are and all that your in is influenced by sin and the only
light we have is in God's Word ... you have been begun outside of anything you have done to make it so~ yet you
control yourself as though you did!  Love, Steven

[kwikphilly]

Blessings Friend,,,,

     I do love my Brother Ezra,he is not one to mince words

Quote

 This is not "religion" but literally a matter of life and death.

No one here is going to "convince" you of anything,that is not our intention or our job but we can & will point you in the direction where you need to look to find the answers you seek,only the Holy Spirit can convict your heart,,,,we can only hope that :through us" He will speak to your heart & you will Find that Christianity is unlike any other religion in that it is a "relationship " with God in Christ,,,,,,,,so I do pray we can plant some seeds in your heart & mind and you will thirst for them to be watered ,flourish & grow,,,,,

 Firstly &I mean no disrespect but I do not believe you have done your due diligence that has lead to your conclusions,,,,,,,,Personally(a lifetime ago) I studied the Word of God & tried desperately to refute even one thing because if I could find contradiction or lack of support then I could be my own god & do as I please,,,,,,,I was a science major & began a diligent search with years of study(historically,archeology,science,physics,theology,ancient languages etc)it always resulted in confirmation,validation & support of what God said from the very beginning,,,,,,,,,,,,take for example "the Shroud of Turin" ,,,,,,,how was the imprint made?World renowned nuclear physicists proclaim it is beyond any technology known to man today!!!!! Please,I do not want to change the subject & I am not saying the shroud is or is not the authentic cloth that was used to wrap Jesus Body,all I am saying is by reading a couple of books,hearing people's opinions or interpretations ,googling information &/or being raised in a church going family & environment is not by any means research & study,,,,,,,,,,,,you have made a few comments about your interpretation of Scripture and personal family experiences & I don't see any "proof" to support your beliefs or unbeliefs,,,,see what I am saying?

   My friend,if you truly & sincerely have the desire ,hunger & thirst to seek the truth then this is something that is between you & God,I can safely say that you most likely believe there is something more than the life we lead here on earth ,in these bodies or you would not be here asking for "proof' or for someone to convince you other wise,,,,,can you prove to me that we are born,die & that is that? Of course you cannot but we have eye witness accounts that Jesus rose from the dead (not just in the Bible),evidence documented that shows more than not that Jesus did exist,the historical person,,,,,,,,,the question is,was He a liar ,a lunatic or truly Who He said He is?Lets forget about the Old Testament for right now,forget about how old the earth is & whether or not it was a "big bang" or created,,,,,,,,,,how about starting your research with Jesus,,,,,why? Well ,because He said that NNO One comes to the Father except through Him,,,,,,,that is what Christianity is all about,being Saved by our Faith in the knowlegde of our Living Redeemer by which we are reconciled to Almighty God and receive His Grace(we are pardoned,unmerited ,undeserved Grace )

I do hope what I have said only encourages you to consider that you just may be an eternal spirit & that if that is true then I have nothing to lose if I were wrong but you have much more at stake if you are wrong...........The Book of John(as previously suggested) is a great place to begin but only with an open & earnest heart & mind,see how much this Jesus loves you & what He did to make it possible for you to have eternal life with Him,,,,,,,,,,later,see the confusion & dismay of His followers when all their King of kings hung on the cross & died,,,,,,,,,,,even they were not yet fully committed to Christ until nearly 2 months later(find out why?),,,,,,,,,so my friend,the Apostles that walked,lived ,slept & ate with Jesus for over 3 years were no less confused than you are until they realized OUR REDEEMER LIVES,,,,,,& He lives & Loves for me and for you,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,Go in Peace & God Bless you,I hope this helped         With love-in Christ,Kwik

[jackhmf]

Jay.
I'm a "noob", in fact, this is my first post. But I read your post and wanted to point you to just a few things. First, understand, I have no vested interest in you accepting "my God" or not. That's between you and the Lord. I hope to see you in Heaven, but if not, we're taught not to "weep" for you.

Also, Rom. 8:29, you may not ever know God. Sorry, many are called, but few are chosen.. and "He who has ears to hear, let him hear.. " Everyone Jesus was talking to that day had ears on their head..
So, I'm not going to knock you over with my genius or persuasive arguments, it's a waste of both of our time. I'll be glad to tell you what I believe and why, but that's it. IF you have a specific question, I'll answer it, as best I can. But I won't fall into the "God's not real.. prove He is.." trap.
In recent years atheists have taken a more "proactive" position, now "Christians" are considered uneducated, stupid, not well read.. We are simple folk, holding onto "old fashion myths.".

Quite the contrary, Job is full of scientific "facts", but you have to read it, with the Holy Spirit as your only guide to actually understand what's written.
Also, IF you truly want "scientific facts" to support God, I highly recommend "reasons.org".

The problem is that today's atheists are holding unto outdated information and just aren't well read.
Get caught up on the science and you'll be as smart as us.

But beyond all that, IF you chose Life, you'll do so in your own way, in your own time, and it won't be because some "guy" on a chat board came up with the perfect argument, but rather, some still voice, inside you, spoke to you and you heard it. (1 Kings 19:12). IF you're sincere, you'll find your answers.

Bests-
J.
 

[john14:6]

On 3/17/2016 at 2:37 PM, PharoahJay said:

Im reading all these responses and there is just nothing convincing to me. You are quoting the bible but the bible is not all true. It is written by unknowns and a re-written by unknowns. the only evidence from ancient times of actual writings are in Egypt, the Land that God "cursed". My questions are, Why is Egypt so forbidden in the bible yet moses was raised there, Joseph and Mary were sent there to hide out and Moses first learned of God there. What about the ancient Egyptian writings from before the time of Jesus that tell of Horus, who coincidentally lives the same life Jesus did before Jesus was around? What about a snake Talking? What About a bush burning and talking? What about the Earth being billions of years old but Humans only being 6,000 years old? What happened to the humans before Adam and Eve? They just went to hell because they didn't know of God? A Lot of the bible I believe was plagiarized.  and if God was never HUMAN then why is "IT" referred to as "HE" ? The very first writings that were ever discovered mentioning a "God" said that "IT" wanted to be called "YAHWEH" and by no other name or its Blasphemy...but here we are disobeying because the bible was re-written in English to appeal to the masses. If God knew everything in advance, then why would he tell you how to beat a slave in the bible and then have The entire world abolish slavery ("He" doesnt make mistakes)? My thing is not whether I believe there is a creator or not but why would he let us doubt him? We already have so little to go on, we were not around in biblical times and neither was the bible, whos to say that these are not just random writings of someone with nothing better to do? Or a crazy person who thought they heard voices? i was raised as a Christian and my whole life I wondered how could we live by the word and see no benefit, and struggling when these evil people are walking around with billions or millions or even thousands of dollars in their pocket living well. Why are my family members and friends dying while these drug dealers, sex offenders, and scam artist out here running the streets and my family is heavily devoted to the word, actively study the bible, and attend church at least twice a week and all we got out of it was someone reading a book and "please give me some money". So you wonder why I question, not just CHRISTIANITY but religion as a whole, Thats Why. Give me a concrete hard reason to believe, better yet show me proof, give me evidence because its not like i dont want to believe, but God surely hasnt given me anything to believe in.

Pharoahjay,

I will begin by saying that I have been a Christian for almost 40 years. Before I became a Christian, and although I grew up attending a Baptist church as a young adult I did not understand the Bible. I had heard about God, sin, hell, & Jesus “saves” all of my childhood years. When I was 13 years old I went to the church alter during a revival and repeated a prayer my Sunday school teacher told me to say. He told me I was “saved” and I was baptized shortly after that night.

Later, as a young adult, I wasn't sure that any of the stuff I heard it church was true. I did not know if I was really “saved” or not. I did not understand the creation story, I did not understand how if there was a God who created everything then why was the world full of crime, hate, suffering, etc. After several years of talking to other Christians, reading books & salvation tracts in my attempt to find answers I discovered that no person could convince me that any of the bible was true. No one could explain to me what “believing” in Jesus really means. No one could explain to me how to believe in Jesus. I could not see Jesus or God, so I wasn't sure if they really existed. I was confused and unsure about Christianity, but I decided that just in case it was all true then I needed to find the truth somewhere. One night as I lay down in my bed to try to get some sleep I looked up at the ceiling of my bedroom and out of a sense of desperation I said a prayer to the God I wasn't sure was there to hear me. I said, “God, will you show me the truth about the Bible and believing in Jesus?” I went to sleep & slept well that night.

As I mentioned earlier I wasn't even sure if the Bible was true or if God was real, but the next night I started reading in the Book of John, Gospel of John. As I read there God opened my eyes so I could understand the truth about Jesus & His Gospel. I found the truth before I finished the 21 chapters of John. I found what it meant to “believe” the Gospel, the message of the cross, and became a real “believer” that night as I searched for answers mainly about what it meant to “believe” in Jesus and how to become a Christian. Now, as a Christian, I understand much more about the Bible & I know that God is real. You see, when an unbeliever becomes a genuine born-again believer in the Gospel he/she is given a new nature. The bible says that a born-again believer is a new creature in Christ. IOW, the new Christian is changed into a different person from that old person. The new Christian has been forgiven of all sin and now has God the Holy Spirit living inside of him/her. The Holy Spirit gives the Christian the ability to understand spiritual matters, but the Christian must study/read the bible daily in order for the Holy Spirit to show the Christian the truth. Saying that I will admit that Christians don't understand everything about the teaching found there. There is much more that I do not understand than that which I do understand about God's Word, but when the Holy Spirit convinced me to believe the Gospel He also convinced that the bible is the truth even if I don't understand it. So, when I find something in the bible that I don't understand I don't fret over it, I don't worry about it, and I don't allow it to cause me to doubt God. The point I'm trying to make is that the Holy Spirit gives us the ability to understand spiritual matters and gives us the ability to accept that which we cannot grasp. Sometimes I have encountered something in the bible that I did not understand, but years later because of life experiences and/or because of more bible study, I have found that the matter becomes clear to me. Once the Holy Spirit opens your spiritual eyes so that you see the truth about God & the Bible you will have a new perspective of yourself and of the world in which you live.

The point is that you can ask other people questions about the existence of God & about Christianity, but the only person who can completely convince you that the Bible is true & that God is real is God Himself. Yes, I understand that atheists call that “circular reasoning” and it is, because the Holy Spirit is the One who gives you the ability to see the truth about God.

You said “.. but God surely hasn't given me anything to believe in.” Yes He has, and it is called the Gospel. I'll try to explain it to you, but only God & His Word can convince you that it is true.

God hates all sin. Sin separates us from God. God is a righteous God and we are unrighteous sinners who cannot come into His presence. God's perfect judgment requires that sin be punished by death. I am speaking bible truth here without references to scripture, but it is all in the bible. Did you notice that I said God hates all sin, but I did not say that God hates sinners? You see, God hates sin, but God loves sinners. God loves all sinners so much that He doesn't want anyone to have to experience the death penalty that He, God, requires for the payment of sin. Actually, not even our death is sufficient to pay that “death penalty” that God requires, therefore we all would be destined to die in our sin and spend eternity in hell, but God made a way for our penalty to be paid for us so He could forgive our sin and give us eternal life with Him. Everyone has eternal life, but some will spend their eternity in heaven with God and some will spend their eternity in hell, separated from God. I don't know about you, but the thought of spending eternity in hell is a good reason to find the truth about God.

The Bible tells us that God loves all sinners so much that He stepped out of heaven, became a Man, and died on a cross to pay the penalty for the sin of every person who has ever lived. That is love; not hate. Jesus is God who became a man, and since He is God He cannot sin. That is the reason Jesus was the only person who ever lived who could pay the “death penalty” for the sins of everyone. That is God's way of redeeming mankind back to Himself.

When Jesus died on the cross He paid our death penalty for ALL of our sins for us “in full.” Do you get it? Sin was dealt with at the cross. So, you may ask, “Does that mean that everyone is already forgiven of their sins?” The answer to that question is that although our sin penalty has been “paid in full” there is still one sin that will keep us separated from God, and that is the sin of “unbelief.” Jesus said that unless we believe in Him we will die in our sin and spend eternity in hell. So, “unbelief” is the only sin that sends us to hell, and yes, we do die in our sins, but only because of “unbelief.”

By the way, there is more to “believing in Jesus” than just saying “I believe in Jesus.” If you will earnestly search for God you can find Him. God is not hiding from anyone. He can be found in His Word, the Bible. Read it with the attitude that finding the truth about God is more important to you than anything else in life and you will find your answers. God says that anyone who searches for Him with all their heart will find Him, and God cannot lie. The Book of John, the Gospel of John, is the best place to learn about Jesus.

 

John

Edited March 31, 2016 by john14:6

[Marcus O'Reillius]

On 3/16/2016 at 2:32 PM, PharoahJay said:

I have serious doubts about not only Christianity but Religion in general...Anyone care Explain why I should Listen to "Gods Word"

God's Word conveys deeper truths.

By itself, it is not a religion, which is associated with the practice of a belief, any belief.

For instance, the Law in the Old Testament is pretty dry.  It's harsh.  But a spiritual man (David) read it and studied it and found God's Love in it.

In reading God's Word, you will find a recipe for faith which works.  Not only will you be in tune with the Spirit in the Gospel, but you may develop a sense of others through the practical advice in the Epistles.

In doing so, you will be set upon a path of discovery.

And one thing I have found, is that God welcomes seekers, and if you seek Him, you will find Him, and it has been my experience that you will find Him through reading the Bible.

[existential mabel]

you ask a very good question

Quote

I have serious doubts about not only Christianity but Religion in general...Anyone care Explain why I should Listen to "Gods Word"

i t00 have difficulty and my m0tivati0n is t0 say to G0d , "l00k matey b0y are y0u the real deal" i cant help thinking that a l0t of my urgency of being sure is through my feelings. my emotions are just a shipwreck and i am trying to put them together (if indeed they were ever together in the first place) and that is n0t g00d as feelings and em0tions drive me into some very dark places. s0 where is G0d in all this?

whilst i am in a storm with my emotions then i am unlikely to be clear headed. s0 that is where i am stuck at. not really the same thing i know as your p0st.