OP’er:
Seeing as God is omnipotent, why does He create people whom He knows, in advance, will not believe in Him?
The thing that bugs me about Christianity is the provision that only those who have faith in Christ will make it to heaven. Which means, everyone who died prior to 29 A.D. (or thereabouts) are essentially fucked.
Nope.
I thought I made plain that that is exactly what I don’t think. It has nothing to do with invisible beings. It has to do with respect for visible ones.
Jeremy’s Evil Twin,
Not to be critical of the sentiment (though I don’t share it), the whole notion of heaven and what Jesus said of it came to mind when I saw it. I thought you might appreciate my sharing some of them with you. In no particular order…
“In my Father’s house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you.”
His Father’s house, of course, is a metaphorical reference to heaven. He speaks of going there to prepare a place for us. He scoffs at the notion that it is a small and limited place.
“I have spoken to you of earthly things and you do not believe; how then will you believe if I speak of heavenly things?”
A man who can’t be trusted for little things certainly can’t be trusted for big things. Jesus is saying that there isn’t much point in speaking to those who won’t listen anyway because they’ve already determined that, on some level, what He says is bunk.
“For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”
He refers to Himself as God’s own nourishment. He refers to heaven as His home. He calls Himself the Giver of Life.
“I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit.”
He’s not talking about baptism here, as I hear Him. He’s talking about the water birth, i.e., the natural birth — when a woman’s water breaks. He has just told Nicodemus that, to enter the kingdom of heaven, a man must be born again. And Nicodemus then asked whether a man can crawl back into his mother’s womb and be born a second time.
“The kingdom of God does not come with your careful observation, nor will people say, ‘Here it is,’ or ‘There it is,’ because the kingdom of God is within you.”
Another metaphorical reference to heaven, this time as the kingdom of God. He’s saying that it is a spiritual “place”, located right in your deepest essence.
I have nothing to add other than my longtime sig…
