Questions On Religion.

[Cliftone_Santiago_909]

I'm not a very religious person. I was never babtised, my parents were never married, I haven't been to church in atleast 7 or 8 years. My grandma is the only person in my family who's deep into religion. She's catholic. I like to believe I have my own bond with God but usually find myself confused about where I am and where I want to be Religiously. I dont know what I believe.. dont know what to believe.

First off... I don't really Believe the Bible. Not that I think it's completely false.. alot of things just don't add up to me. I don't think we're supposed to take The Bible word for word, There's just too many contradictions. I think we're supposed to read between the lines.. like symbolism I guess...  I'm rambling but I do have a point as well as a couple questions.. if anyone can help me clear these things up please do so...

First off, In the Bible it talks about how Adam and Eve were the first two people alive. They bore two children... Cain and Abel. Cain killed Abel. God Punished Cain. He made Cain an outcast, made him a "Fugutive" and a "Vagabond".... I get all that, the part I dont understand is.. if Adam, Eve and Cain were supposed to be the only people alive... why was Cain so terrified of being found and killed by other people?

Jesus Christ was Crucified and then burried right? Back in the day they would Crucify people but it would be a slow and torturess death. People would be left up there for days and it would take days for them to die. How is it that Jesus' Crucifiction and Burial both took place on the same day?

Ok, and now this is what really fucks me up. God gave us Self Determination right? We chose our path, we chose our lives. But according to the Bible, we're supposed to try to live our lives in the manner Jesus' would have. We're supposed to try to be as pure and innocent as we can. Then why give us Self Determination? It's like saying "Here, take this and do what you please with it.. but if you don't do what I want you to do with it.. I'm gonna take it back".

Aslo, God is supposed to be All Knowing right? He knows the Past, he knows the Future, He knows what will become of our lives. How many of you believe this? I do.. it just kinda messes me up though because you start to think, "Why are we here"? If God knows all.. why did he Create man? Shouldn't he have known that Adam and Eve were going to betray him? Shouldn't he have known how things were gonna turn out.. all the evil, all the pain, all the sinners in the world today?

If God DIDNT know how things were gonna turn out.. then what kind of God is that? God is supposed to be Flawless, he's supposed to be perfect... no mistakes. Then this isn't even a possibilty.. he HAD TO have known how things were gonna turn out... was making us a mistake? Did we not come out as planned? If we didnt come out as planned... what does that about God?





I dont know...  I can trip out on this stuff for hours. I even feel guilty for starting this thread.. I feel like I'm speaking against God.. I'm not though. I got nothin but love and like I said, I believe I have a strong bong with God. I hope all this makes sense.. if it doesn't, sorry for wasting your time. Anyone with  any sort of insight would be appreciated.. cuz I know alot of people in here are deep into their religions and might be able to help me out... Trauma and Infinite... get at me.  

[Cliftone_Santiago_909]

Aslo, God is supposed to be All Knowing right? He knows the Past, he knows the Future, He knows what will become of our lives. How many of you believe this? I do.. it just kinda messes me up though because you start to think, "Why are we here"? If God knows all.. why did he Create man? Shouldn't he have known that Adam and Eve were going to betray him? Shouldn't he have known how things were gonna turn out.. all the evil, all the pain, all the sinners in the world today?

That's the main thing...  I don't get it. Let me try to break it down though...

It's like we're all here... we didn't chose to be here. We know about The Revalation. At least for those who believe.. and from what I understand (Correct Me If I'm Wrong)... God will resurrect to the Earth. The "Good" people will be saved.. The Sinners will be punished for their sins. Now I don't know if that means they go to hell.. all I know, is it means they dont get saved.  We all know about Noah's Ark.. . Everybody on Earth got wiped out except for Noah and a couple of his people.

That's what I don't get. Why would God create us to destroy us? You might say, "well God doesn't Destroy US.. We destroy ourselves... WE are the ones who chose to sin".. but shouldn't have God.. all knowing.. known that most of us were gonna come out be sinners in the first place? You get what I'm saying? It's hard to live Sin Free... it's impossible actually.. it's hard to follow in Jesus' footsteps.. IF I'm saying IF there's any people on Earth today who can do that. It's probably not too many of them. Probably like 1 in a 1,000,000 people.

You get what I'm sayin? It's like if you build 100 lil wooden pieces. You know that only 1 out of those 100 pieces is gonna be useful... WHY BUILD THE REMAINING 99 PIECES??? Just to be thrown away? I don't it. If that's the way it is.. that's cold. Why?

[Trauma-san]

First off, In the Bible it talks about how Adam and Eve were the first two people alive. They bore two children... Cain and Abel. Cain killed Abel. God Punished Cain. He made Cain an outcast, made him a "Fugutive" and a "Vagabond".... I get all that, the part I dont understand is.. if Adam, Eve and Cain were supposed to be the only people alive... why was Cain so terrified of being found and killed by other people?

Ha, I used to have the same problem.  I'm a latter day saint, and the reason that that whole passage is messed up, is because the book of genesis was basically chopped to pieces over the years.  There's a 'reworked' version of it, done by divine inspiration by our prophet Joseph Smith, that includes the missing passages... basically, the book most people read (genesis) has had the parts about adam's other children.  Cane and Abel weren't his first two children, he had several others, and they all lived to old ages.  For instance, if you'll notice in genesis, it doesn't mention women, then says that Abel moved away with his wife.  Now... I think that's obvious proof that the book's been tampered with.  It doesn't make sense the way it is, and they wouldn't have just 'made up' the story half-way like that; It must have originally had other verses, even if you're not a latter day saint you gotta believe that.  

Jesus Christ was Crucified and then burried right? Back in the day they would Crucify people but it would be a slow and torturess death. People would be left up there for days and it would take days for them to die. How is it that Jesus' Crucifiction and Burial both took place on the same day?

Couple reasons.  Back then saturday was the holy day.  Jews wouldn't leave bodies up on the holy day, because a dead body was unholy; so he had to be killed and buried before saturday, or it wouldn't be 'Kosher'.  The real miracle is, by the time they stabbed him with the spear, water, then blood flowed out; signifying that he was already dead.  He died after 6 or so hours on the cross; that's unheard of... the miracle is, he was immortal, half god, couldn't be killed; so the only way he 'died' was he gave up his soul.  So basically, he wsan't 'killed' for the worlds sins, he let himself die for the world's sins.  That's why the centurion present said "Surely, this was the son of God" because he knew (as did everybody there) that a normal man couldn't just let himself die, if he had the ability to let his spirit leave his body, he must have been the son of god.  Remember, he died right after they gave him water, so he was still fine on the cross.

Ok, and now this is what really fucks me up. God gave us Self Determination right? We chose our path, we chose our lives. But according to the Bible, we're supposed to try to live our lives in the manner Jesus' would have. We're supposed to try to be as pure and innocent as we can. Then why give us Self Determination? It's like saying "Here, take this and do what you please with it.. but if you don't do what I want you to do with it.. I'm gonna take it back".

Because we have to have the choice. The whole reason we're here is choice, in Heaven before we came to earth, we had no choice to be good or bad, because everyting is good in heaven... So for us to grow, we had to have the opportunity to actively CHOOSE good, instead of being forced to be good.  Jesus is an example, yes, because his father himself said in the bible "Behold, my only begotten son, in whom I am well pleased".  In other words, Jesus was a man who God was proud of.  It's like the old "if you love something, let it go; if it returns, it's yours to keep, if it stays away, it was never yours anyways" that's why we're on earth, to return to god.  If we don't return, he doesn't want us there anyways, because we never were true.  

Aslo, God is supposed to be All Knowing right? He knows the Past, he knows the Future, He knows what will become of our lives. How many of you believe this? I do.. it just kinda messes me up though because you start to think, "Why are we here"? If God knows all.. why did he Create man? Shouldn't he have known that Adam and Eve were going to betray him? Shouldn't he have known how things were gonna turn out.. all the evil, all the pain, all the sinners in the world today?

God knew all about what would happen, and he knew Adam and Eve were going to betray him.  We all existed as spirits before Adam and Eve ever walked the earth, in order for us to come to earth, there had to be birth, and rebirth, and death, for the plan to be complete.  Again, this is another mormon thing that we know, and believe, and other christians don't see quite so clearly (in my opinion).  The reason we are here, again, is to grow more like god, and to have the choice to do what we want, instead of what he wants.  It's like you let your kids decide if they want to do drugs, instead of forbidding them.  Of course they shouldn't do them, but it's their decision, not yours.  That's our relationship with god, he's our father, literally.

If God DIDNT know how things were gonna turn out.. then what kind of God is that? God is supposed to be Flawless, he's supposed to be perfect... no mistakes. Then this isn't even a possibilty.. he HAD TO have known how things were gonna turn out... was making us a mistake? Did we not come out as planned? If we didnt come out as planned... what does that about God?

By definition, god is perfect, and cannot make a mistake.  If you're thinking of a being that made a mistake, that ain't god, LOL.  We came out exactly as planned, we are simply god's children, and are growing to be like him.  Adam And Eve god knew would trip before they ever did it.  He knew Satan was evil from the beggining, all this is in the book of mormon, check it out.  You have to know though, even God has 'rules' he follows, just like we give our lives order, God has given his life order, that's why the universe follows unbreakable rules (Time, Space, Physics, Etc.)

I dont know...  I can trip out on this stuff for hours. I even feel guilty for starting this thread.. I feel like I'm speaking against God.. I'm not though. I got nothin but love and like I said, I believe I have a strong bong with God. I hope all this makes sense.. if it doesn't, sorry for wasting your time. Anyone with  any sort of insight would be appreciated.. cuz I know alot of people in here are deep into their religions and might be able to help me out... Trauma and Infinite... get at me.  

I had the same questions, and honestly, once I looked into it, Everyone of them were answered, I'm serious, the church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints might not be for everybody, but it perfectly wrapped up every question I ever had about god and the bible, and it all makes 100% perfect sense (to me).  And don't feel guilty, it's much better to doubt and think then to not even try.  

[Trauma-san]

That's the main thing...  I don't get it. Let me try to break it down though...

It's like we're all here... we didn't chose to be here. We know about The Revalation. At least for those who believe.. and from what I understand (Correct Me If I'm Wrong)... God will resurrect to the Earth. The "Good" people will be saved.. The Sinners will be punished for their sins. Now I don't know if that means they go to hell.. all I know, is it means they dont get saved.  We all know about Noah's Ark.. . Everybody on Earth got wiped out except for Noah and a couple of his people.

That's what I don't get. Why would God create us to destroy us? You might say, "well God doesn't Destroy US.. We destroy ourselves... WE are the ones who chose to sin".. but shouldn't have God.. all knowing.. known that most of us were gonna come out be sinners in the first place? You get what I'm saying? It's hard to live Sin Free... it's impossible actually.. it's hard to follow in Jesus' footsteps.. IF I'm saying IF there's any people on Earth today who can do that. It's probably not too many of them. Probably like 1 in a 1,000,000 people.

You get what I'm sayin? It's like if you build 100 lil wooden pieces. You know that only 1 out of those 100 pieces is gonna be useful... WHY BUILD THE REMAINING 99 PIECES??? Just to be thrown away? I don't it. If that's the way it is.. that's cold. Why?

We are all god's spiritual children.  He wants each one of us to be just like him, but , he doesn't want to MAKE us be that way.  He'd rather us do it on our own, just like any good father.  You gotta agree with that point.  Before we ever came to earth, we existed as spirits in god's company, and he sent us to earth to "forget" the truth of his gospel, and that he's 'the man'.  Basically, we're down here wondering in the dark, and the holy ghost, and Jesus are the guides back to him.  The holy ghost is basically the feeling you have inside of you, that makes you want to do good, it's god inside you.  It's the companion he sent us so that we would know him in our heart, it kind of reinforces good, and rejects evil, it's like our conscience.  While we're on earth, we make our own choices.  Before, we made no choices, because we 100% knew the consequences (God would banish us forever, etc.) if we tripped, LOL.  On earth, we don't know that, so all we have, is a choice between good, and bad, and our heart is the only witness.  So, if we are good people, at heart, if we really, truly, truly are good, then we'll do good, and be righteous, just because we like the way it feels.  If we're truly evil at heart, then we will do evil, horrible things, and not give a care, because we can live with it.  This is how God shows us, and others, how we truly are.  In heaven, there were evil ones among us, who were putting on a show, to be good... it's a very, very, very, very,very,very,very,very to the 100000000000 th power deep subject, LOL.  I could talk to you about it for the rest of our lives, and we wouldn't scratch the surface.  Why?

Because it's God's plan, and by definition, it's infinitely perfect.  We're humans, and can't understand infinity.  BUT! Eventually, we will, after we grow another couple million years.  All we can do on earth is grasp at straws, and do what feels right, and what the holy ghost tells us in our heart.  

[Trauma-san]

Oh, and Jesus.  Jesus lived perfect, so, he's basically the right hand man in heaven.  Nobody else is gonna live up to Jesus's standards, just won't happen.  There are varying degrees of glory, it talks about it in 1st Corinthians; there's gonna be a ton of people in heaven, man, it's actually pretty hard to get into hell, lol.  There are three kingdoms in heaven, each with varying levels;

The Celestial: This is where god lives, Jesus (no doubt) is there with him, they both have families (1 wife each, lol) and children, and if we live righteous, we can live there with him, and have children (while in heaven!), etc.  Forever.  Basically, living as God's family, with our own familys, and kingdoms in heaven.  I'm not 100% positive, but I'm sure you'll find people like Moses, Budda, Confucious, Muhammad, Adam, Simon Peter, John The Baptist, Abraham, Pope John Paul, Etc. living here, all the men who dedicated their lives to god, and were just amazing.  Notice some didn't know Jesus, but they still were good men, at heart, and after they died, they had the gospel of Christ presented to them, naturally, in a enlightened state, they all would have readily accepted him as their savior, and went on to glory forever for the good deeds they accomplished on earth.

The Telestial: Next step down, this is for righteous people, who were good at heart, but weren't the mack daddies that moses, and etc. were, so don't deserve the same glory.  It's like having a cherry pie without extra cherries, or something, LOL.  They're still glorified, still in heaven, just not in extra-special heaven, LOL.  They don't have the ability to have children after death, etc. but can still live with their familes, etc. etc. You might find people like John Lennon here, dig me?  Tupac mighta made it here, I dunno, he was kinda half and half, haha.

The Terrestial: this is the 'lower' part of heaven, I guess you could say.  This is for your peeps that are good at heart, and good people, but maybe didn't believe in christ, or didn't ever go to church, or fell into a lot of sin, even though they regretted it.  Even though they screwed up, or weren't very religious, or whateve,r they were still good people at heart, so of course they don't deserve to go to hell.  Maybe (and this is just me guessing, I'm not the judge, Jesus is) Jim Baker, people like that are here? I dunno.  

Hell has several levels, and the worst is outer darkness; basically being cut off from Christ's light forever.  People in hell never die, they are immortal, like the people in heaven, so they can suffer forever.  The guy rulin' the house out here is probably Cain, not Satan; Satan never came to earth, so he never received a body; Cain will have a resurrected body, that feels pain, in hell, so he'll be 1 step over Satan (Possibly).  Since Cain is the father of all evil on earth, and the first murderer, he's probably the most deserving candidate, LOL.  The pearl of Great price in the book of mormon has a verse in which God tells Cain that he knew Cain was behind Satan's fall; pretty strong stuff.  


Anyways, I could go on forever.  These are all Latter Day Saint views, so give it about 3-4 hours, and somebody will come along and crap all over everythign I believe in, and love, but I'm just trying to give you my religious viewpoint on your questions, it's the only one I believe out of the dozens of wack explanations I've heard.  I can tell you all this ^^ is true, because I feel it... but that's the best I've got, I can't give you evidence.  IF we had evidence, it wouldn't be 'free choice' to choose to believe, would it? LOL - Peace~