Thread: If There Are Actually Any Born-again Christians Or Any Christian Here...

While originally motivated by fear of hell, after three years of searching for God's purpose for me and seeing how cool it actually is and how much the quality of my life has improved, even if God appeared in front of me right now and told me that I was condemned to hell by default I would still live according to his principles.

while this is my opinion, to me his way is perfect.

Originally Posted by Conforming

I had a small question for the Christian population here and how they see their God:

If there was no promise of Eternal Life and a continuing relationship with God in Heaven after you die
and God still told you that for your whole life here on earth you could have a special and growing
relationship with him, but again no eternal life...

Would you still be a Christian?
[/b]

I think the more important question here is... if there was no threat of hell, would you still have morals? As Dostoevsky (through Ivan Karamazov) said... there is no virtue if there is no immortality.

edit: I guess bentrider got to it before me...

Originally Posted by bentrider08

While originally motivated by fear of hell, after three years of searching for God's purpose for me and seeing how cool it actually is and how much the quality of my life has improved, even if God appeared in front of me right now and told me that I was condemned to hell by default I would still live according to his principles.

while this is my opinion, to me his way is perfect.
[/b]

That is quite a strong statement to make considering the final results.
There is one thing that i can agree with in your statement though, it is that the Bible and some of the life guiding (not controlling) principles can increase your quality of life. Many have found solitude and a clear path through the Bible, it is a shame that many have distorted it for their own gain and ideology and now use it to support/justify their decisions as opposed to using it to guide their decisions.

Personally i would have to question what kind of god it is that i am serving if i am still condemned to hell.

Hmmm, yes. And don't get me wrong, hell is well...scary as. I believe it is a real place and that I was going. I believe I could still go if I wander from the faith. If God did that to me, I'd feel really bad, I'd feel hopeless, but even though that wouldn't lessen any more the fact that what he told me to do is what I was made for. I can't be happy doing anything else. I know because I used to want to do everything else, and it caused nothing but trouble for everyone. I would definitely question, I'd be hurt, but I love what I do, what he told me to do. So I would continue on.

First, I feel it is important to have a relationship with the one who Created you, wiether or not you will spend etternity with Him. Esspecially if I wouldn't have Etternity with Him

As for morals: I cant live with myself right now if I did things against my Code, so the "after-life" doesn't really have any baring on my current moral values. I would have them even if I were not a Christian.

After all, I have my doubts about the validity of Hell

Hold on!

You have doubts about the validity of the Bible?!?

This is an irrelevant question.

If you are a christian, do yourself a favour and avoid this devil's advocate type question.

If you've devoted yourself to Jesus, stay on that path. Just remember, that it IS a possibility that the chruch itselves views are skewed. Hold true to YOUR beliefs, not the ones dictated to you.

the point is more directed toward the conditions of humanity
(and christians)
We do not do something of utmost importance to our well-being that takes more of our energy then we get back for doing that thing in the first place.

Believing in god takes quite a bit of energy and devotion to containing ourselves in an otherwise near limitless existence.
But...its all MORE than worthwhile because we GET something back in the end, eternal life and peace. And no one can put a price on that!

---edit---
As for the churches' views being skewed, i do agree with that. But the bible is pretty specific about devotion or lack of devotion to god and that has nothing to do with the skewed perceptions of the church.

I would that God because he gave me a life to live , friends and family and just a sec would match up to all that.

Personally i would have to question what kind of god it is that i am serving if i am still condemned to hell.[/b]

I understand your point, but if God exists, and he is all powerful, does it really matter if you agree with his idea of justice?

On topic: I think that it's common to follow Christianity in order to get into heaven, or in order to avoid hell, but I'm not sure if that's the best motive. For me, the most compelling reason I have for believing the way I do is that I believe God is real, he is sovereign, and he is good. By following his commands, I believe I'm doing the right thing, and thereby following the healthiest, most rewarding path I possibly can, regardless of future rewards.

I would do whatever i wanted

That question is impossible to answer correctly.

Because God loves you with an infinite amount of love. So if he allowed you to just "die" then he didn't love you enough. But he loves with an infinite amount, therefore he won't let you just "die". Therefore you live on.

I feel the purpose of Christianity is not to get into heaven, but to develop an intimate relationship with God. So yes, I would still be a Christian. In this case my belief of the afterlife would be transformed into something like FinalFantasy. Since I would still think some essence of God is required to animate me, I would simply believe that when I die I go back to being apart of God.

Im not really alive or aware, but my memories would live on forever.

As for the no threat of hell. Sure, that worked as a kid. But I no longer feel God is sending anyone to hell. There is no threat, and yet I still have morals!