Exactly Why Don't You Believe In the God of the Bible?

Pauligirl wrote:

Would Satan really want to torture you for doing his evil work? Surely he would give you a pat on the back and a pint of cold beer, not tie you to a rock and attack you with a cheesegrater. What's he going to say? "Aha! Right, you gave in to temptation and lived a life of Sin, just like I wanted you to. As punishment for disobeying God, and doing my work instead, I'm... erm... going to torture you... er... Hang on a minute.... Have I got that right?"
We are always told "If you are Good, you will be rewarded in Heaven, if you are Bad you will be punished in Hell.". Well, unless Hell is full of Angels doing the torturing, it seems like the saying should be "If you are Good, you will be rewarded in Heaven, if you are Bad you will be rewarded in Hell.". You can understand why priests never tell you this when they are ranting on about Hellfire And Damnation.
Could it be that Lucifer is working under the direct orders of God - "Now then, Luci old pal. I want you to get some big red horns and go tempt some mortals. If you succeed, you can inflict pain on them until they repent, when they can come here with me. Oh, and be careful not to let them know I put you up to it."
It should also be remembered that the Creator is supposedly omniscient. When he created the Angel Lucifer, he knew exactly what was going to happen (how could he not, if he is omniscient?). God created Evil, and created Satan as an instrument of Evil, and us mere mortals are the ones who are on the receiving end and get all the eternal torment. Might it not have been easier to simply not create Evil in the first place?
I don't believe in Heaven or Hell, demons or angels. There is no devil trying to tempt you to eat one more doughnut, drive a little faster, murder your neighbour, burn down a church or cheat on your partner. If you do something bad, it is your own fault and no-one else's.
Should we teach our children that they are under constant attack from evil, invisible demons, trying to get them to be naughty, and that if they do then they will horribly tortured forever? Or should we try to teach them respect for others and a sense of responsibility and accountability?
Accept responsibilty for your own actions.
Don't seek forgiveness from your deity - seek it from those you hurt.
The Devil didn't make you do it. You did.

Bits and pieces taken from :http://www.abarnett.demon.co.uk/atheism/hell.html

P (sorry for the sloppy format job)

You seem a bit miffed (?) about my post about homosexuality? I am sorry if you are. But again, just because I think the act of homosexuality is wrong it does not mean that I treat homosexuals any differently than anyone else. I don't like lies either, but I don't treat people that lie any differently either. Everyone sins, pauligirl. I don't think it's right to treat anyone any differently because of it.

Everyone sins, pauligirl. I don't think it's right to treat anyone any differently because of it.

Pauligirl,

Like I said, perhaps you should do some research into slavery in the New Testament. Slaves were treated like family and often were adopted into families. I probably didn't make that distinction clear enough. But slavery in the states was nothing like slavery in the New Testament. I can look up some stuff for you if you'd like.

1. Slavery in the first century was quite different from slavery in early American history. For one thing, Roman slaves were either taken as the spoils of war or were such because they sold themselves into slavery (known as "bond-servant"). They were often well-educated (cf. Gal 3:24 in which the "tutor" or better "disciplinarian" or "guide" of the children was usually a slave). The normal word for "slave" in the New Testament is the term dou'lo", a term that in earlier centuries usually referred to one who sold himself into slavery; later on, it was used especially of those who became slaves as the spoils of war.

2. Although the masters had absolute rights over their slaves, they generally showed them respect, very unlike the South in the days of Lincoln. They often treated them with human dignity and, although they could beat them, such does not seem to be as regular a practice as it was in America. Slaves could marry, accumulate wealth, purchase their own freedom, run a business, etc. Cicero noted that a slave could usually be set free within seven years; in any case, under Roman law a slave would normally be set free by age 30. All this can be overstated, however. The revolt led by Spartacus in 73 BC caused Rome to treat slaves from the western regions more harshly (very similar to how black slaves were treated). Eastern slaves, however, enjoyed much greater freedom.

3. As much as two thirds of the Roman empire were slaves (before the first century it was as high as 90%). By the first century AD an increasingly large number of slaves were being freed?so much so that Caesar had to write up laws that governed the procedure! Quite different from the Old South where only South Carolina had more slaves than freemen (so far as I know).

http://www.bible.org/page.asp?page_id=1499

Who are you to determine who has sinned and who has not? Who are you to assert that this person lies and this person does not? Are you not enjoined by your imaginary friend to judge not lest ye be judged?

This is the kind of disgusting self-righteousness which alienates those who are not self-deluded in regard to their spirituality.

So, slavery in the US was "bad" slavery, but slavery in the New Testament was "good" slavery?

Do you think there's any chance that the people who approved what was written in the New Testament were the masters and not the slaves. Or do you assume that the whole Bible is divinely magical in some way and incapable of error (which some people do)?

...I would not categorize it as good slavery or bad slavery, Rosborne.

...I believe the Bible is God-breathed and God-inspired. I also believe the Bible is divinely protected by God....

By the first century AD an increasingly large number of slaves were being freed?so much so that Caesar had to write up laws that governed the procedure!

Brandon,

I do not agree with slavery at all. So, I wouldn't categorize one as good and one as bad. I feel all people should be free.

It's called faith, Brandon. I have faith that the Bible is God-breathed and God-inspired and divinely protected by God. I need to work on using the phrase I have faith instead of I believe more often. I'm working on it.

Brandon,

If it makes you feel any better, I DO NOT think I am Napoleon. :wink: