Danno's Religious Questions

[Death from Above]

Hell is the Germanic word for the afterlife. All the dead go to Hell. Good or bad, Hell is not a bad place, just where the dead reside until they are ready to be born again.

God is also a germanic term for the Allfather. Woden/Odin/Godan (shortened to Wod or God). The Goths were the first Germanics to produce a bible and do so in a Germanic language (English is a Germanic Language). the Bible at that time was Latin and other languages before then. Deus is the name given to "god" in the Bible before the Allfathers name was given as the Christians just swapped out their main deity for ours and also absorbed all of our holidays. Christianity came to our people a thousand years after Jesus. Jesus was born sometime in the summer months according to the Bible but our people celebrated the Winter Solstice as the Haligaz (Holy) Holiest day of the year so Christmas was moved to then, the end of December at the solstice aka the Yule. That is why children still sing of Yuletide greetings.

There is a Germanic God (forget the name) that was the creator of all man. He upset the other gods and was banished to the North Pole. Once a year he was allowed to visit all his children and did so on the Yule bringing them gifts and riding in a chariot pulled by Reindeer from Northern Europe of course.

Add Easter to that list also.

To each their own, I just never understood the disdain towards others that don't believe what you do or the belief that you are going somewhere good and they will burn in hell. Or that children that are too young to know god will also burn in hell. Sounds lovely. Judge not is the lesson yet I hardly ever see this lesson learned.

Not being disrespectful, this is my ancestors religion, not Christianity. For those that don't like it, trust me that IDGAF.

So much…but in your not caring you chose so much inaccurate teachings.

The lesson isn’t judge not….but that you will be judged

[c3products20]

just curious what bible that came from?

Obviously not kjv.

niv

[GarGuy]

I was with my Grandfather as he died. Over 20 hours or so he quit breathing and heart stopped for up to 3 minutes at a time. Suddenly he would gasped a breath. Heart restart and be crisply conscious again. He saw and talked to his mother that had been dead 45 years . He saw a very narrow passage and struggled to get through it. Eventually, even though he was talking about to me he said he had made it through.

My Pop was not and emotional fellow tho a Christian. Suddenly he started yelling, "There he is!". He was shouting. I asked who he saw and he said "its Jesus!" . Soon after, he pushed my hand off his arm and asked me to turn him loose. He died shortly after.

I left out many other things far to personal for the forum but I can tell you one thing. Noone could have spent those hours there and ever doubted if heaven and Jesus are real.

[eastover53]

I was with my Grandfather as he died. Over 20 hours or so he quit breathing and heart stopped for up to 3 minutes at a time. Suddenly he would gasped a breath. Heart restart and be crisply conscious again. He saw and talked to his mother that had been dead 45 years . He saw a very narrow passage and struggled to get through it. Eventually, even though he was talking about to me he said he had made it through.

My Pop was not and emotional fellow tho a Christian. Suddenly he started yelling, "There he is!". He was shouting. I asked who he saw and he said "its Jesus!" . Soon after, he pushed my hand off his arm and asked me to turn him loose. He died shortly after.

I left out many other things far to personal for the forum but I can tell you one thing. Noone could have spent those hours there and ever doubted if heaven and Jesus are real.

I work in the medical field, and have witnessed HUNDREDS of people die and dozens that have been brought back to life. One thing I can assure you is that when people have out of body experiences, they ALWAYS see either family or whoever they pray to. If they are Muslim, they see Mohammad, if they are buddist they see buddha. So if you witnessed that, would you have faith in that religion too? Why or why not? Same rationale as I see it.

[Death from Above]

I work in the medical field, and have witnessed HUNDREDS of people die and dozens that have been brought back to life. One thing I can assure you is that when people have out of body experiences, they ALWAYS see either family or whoever they pray to. If they are Muslim, they see Mohammad, if they are buddist they see buddha. So if you witnessed that, would you have faith in that religion too? Why or why not? Same rationale as I see it.

You assure what a person saw before they died?

How

[huntingfanatic]

Great thread and questions Danno. A good book to read might be the “Case for Christ” Lee Strobel was an atheist and investigative journalist who also questioned the claim of Jesus as to who he was. He asks almost all of the same questions you asked

[Ætheling]

I work in the medical field, and have witnessed HUNDREDS of people die and dozens that have been brought back to life. One thing I can assure you is that when people have out of body experiences, they ALWAYS see either family or whoever they pray to. If they are Muslim, they see Mohammad, if they are buddist they see buddha. So if you witnessed that, would you have faith in that religion too? Why or why not? Same rationale as I see it.

DMT. You can see “them” right now.

[SaltwaterSlick]

Here's one passage that may shed a little light on your question.

1 Peter 4:5-6
But they will have to give account to him who is ready to judge the living and the dead.6 For this is the reason the gospel was preached even to those who are now dead, so that they might be judged according to human standards in regard to the body, but live according to God in regard to the spirit.

The more that you read and study the Bible, the more you will develop your OWN interpretation of what you think God's intent is and what He's saying to YOU. It's no different than if you dad tells you something and you know exactly what he means because you know how he thinks or how he feels about a given subject... The more you KNOW GOD, the more you can understand His Word and what He's teaching you.


There are passages in the Bible that give folks cause to stop and think... That is partly why Jesus taught in parables... He taught this way because the folks he was talking to would understand him while many in the ruling class such as many of the religious leaders would not understand...


This is one of those passages. We are not clear on what this means (for sure I am not), but there are commentaries that can help understand or give you a thought process to help you analyze it yourself... That's why it's important to become as familiar with Scripture as you can and to study and let God reveal Himself to you...


Here's one interpretation of these verses that make sense to me...


1 Peter 4:5-6
Many people in the early church had concerns about life after death. In Thessalonica, Christians worried that loved ones who died before Christ's return might never see Christ (1Th_4:13-18). Peter's readers needed to be reminded that the dead (both the faithful and their oppressors) would be judged. The judgment will be perfectly fair, he pointed out, because even the dead have heard the Good News (see also 1Pe_3:18-19). The Good News was first announced when Jesus Christ preached on the earth, but it has been operating since before the creation of the world (Eph_1:4), and it affects all people, the dead as well as the living.


...and another...


to those who are dead. The preaching of the gospel not only offers a rich life (1Pe_3:10), a ceasing from sin (1Pe_4:1), and a good conscience (1Pe_3:21), but also an escape from final judgment. Peter had in mind believers who had heard and accepted the gospel of Christ when they were still alive, but who had died by the time Peter wrote this letter. Some of them, perhaps, had been martyred for their faith. Though these were dead physically, they were triumphantly alive in their spirits (cf. Heb_12:23). All their judgment had been fully accomplished while they were alive in this world ("in the flesh"), so they will live forever in God's presence.



...and yet another...


For this… reason, because everybody must give an account to God, the gospel was preached even to those… now dead. This has been interpreted as referring to (a) those who are spiritually “dead in sin,” (b) those who heard and believed the gospel but have since died, (c) those who died without hearing or believing the gospel. Barclay preferred the third interpretation, assuming that 1Pe_3:19 refers to Christ’s preaching to the dead. Consequently he believed that here “was a breathtaking glimpse of a gospel of a second chance.” This interpretation has no scriptural support and is contrary to orthodox Christian doctrine (cf. 1Pe_4:5).
In 1Pe_4:6 Peter, in contrast with 1Pe_4:5, encouraged his readers with the fact that rather than facing judgment for their sins, those who had heard and believed the gospel of Jesus Christ faced an altogether different future. The penalty for their sin has been paid by Christ on the cross. The last earthly effect of sin is physical death. Believers still die physically; they are judged… in regard to the body (cf. suffering in this life “in his body,” 1Pe_4:1). But for Christians physical death does not lead to judgment but to eternal life. They live… in regard to the Spirit. Those armed with a Christlike attitude will live forever in God’s presence.



When I come across something like this that "stumps" me, I like to read the input from other men of God that I am familiar with and have similar beliefs... read as many reputable sources as is possible and try to prove/disprove what they have to say with scripture...


Part of the discussion in this thread was the subject of a book that taught something that I felt was contrary to Scripture... several asked for references where this principle was address or taught in the Bible... None could be given, or at least none to this point have been given... Therefore it cannot be proven to be true based on what I believe is God's Word, therefore is false...


We don't have to all agree and in fact we won't, but that's how this works... This is how you build your own beliefs... study and base your beliefs in what you know to be true based on a standard... My standard is the Bible...

[jaime1982]

Surprised so many replies.

Sent from my SM-G991U using Tapatalk

[eastover53]

You assure what a person saw before they died?

How

I asked them after they were resuscitated. They were dead and were brought back to life.

[eastover53]

DMT. You can see “them” right now.

I would love to try it. I've got lots of questions.

[Shane]

A little back ground on my religious experience. I'm 46. I was raised Baptist and my family attended church every Sunday morning, Sunday evening and Wednesday evening. I was baptized and saved around 10 yrs old. I went to church camps, Sunday school, etc... Around 12 yrs old my parents divorced and church no longer was a thing for us. It pretty much stopped altogether.

Through my life as I've seen things, experienced things, read about things, I realized that I believed what I believed because that's what I was told to believe. I had no reason to doubt my parents or their teachings, so I believed whole heartedly. When in boot camp I would attend Sunday worship. Not sure if it was to learn more about God or to just get away from the drill instructors.

My father has always tried to get me to see things his way concerning his religious beliefs. He asked me to read the Book of Job once back in 1998. Funny how I remember that date. Anyway, after reading it I started leaning toward how I believe today. That book almost single handedly pushed me away from God more than any other thing. To believe that a man had that much faith in God that after losing his family and everything because of God that he would still love God is something I have a hard time understanding. And maybe that's the very definition of faith. You either have it or you don't. Right now I don't believe I do. I one day would like to know what that would feel like, but I'm still struggling with things that happen every day.

I feel like God showed himself or his powers to the people then by the many accounts in the bible. Parting the Red Sea, turning blood in to wine, turning a stick into a snake, healing the leper, etc... Why can't he show his powers now, in an age where there is a camera on every corner? Why does he allow child rape and murder, or his nuns to be burned to death in Mexico, or other great suffering to the innocent. He showed mercy before, do these victims not deserve his mercy now?

I thank each and every one of you for your time and answers. I know I'm hated by most here because of my views and my distasteful posts. So if I've ever offended any of you here I truly apologize. I'm a single parent that in my opinion is a good man and am doing the best to raise my children right and in most ways I guess they are in the ways of the Lord. I feel I'm missing something in my life. Not something a mate or companion can give me. I just would like to know more. Maybe I never will be satisfied with what I learn or find, but maybe that's God's way of keeping someone interested? So I'm going to find my Bible and begin to just read and try to look at things in not so much as a disbeliever, but just as someone wanting to read what is in the Bible.

A couple buddies and I do regular Bible studies together, and we just finished Job recently. It's definitely a tough read in a lot of ways. It also gives us a great window into God's nature. But it certainly doesn't give us all of the answers to the questions that you and the rest of us have about God. I doubt we're capable of fully grasping the fullness of God enough to ever completely understand Him and how/why He does what He does anyway. And while I believe that is true, it's still uncomfortable to think that I/we can't understand something fully. We'd all prefer to have full knowledge and understanding, right?

Heck, that innate human desire is what caused Eve and Adam to fall in the first place. Satan told Eve that she would be like God, knowing good and evil, if she would eat the forbidden fruit. He told her it wouldn't kill her. He lied with a partial truth. She didn't drop dead as soon as she ate the fruit. But she ruined the perfect setup that God gave her and Adam, and they lived out the rest of their lives in a broken and fallen world before they eventually died after that. All because she wanted to be like God and have full knowledge of everything. She wasn't like God after that. She just was able to see the difference between good and evil. She didn't know evil existed before that. All she knew was good before, but that wasn't good enough for her. She had it made if she just trusted God. Sounds just like the rest of us, huh?

Anyway, back to Job.... Job didn't lose everything because of God. Satan is who took it all from Job. Sure, God allowed Satan to do it, and I don't begin to pretend to understand why. But it's still an important distinction to make. God allowed Job to be angry and to question everything. But God also made it clear to Job that he was just a man and not God himself. Only God is God. And then God blessed Job and gave him twice as much of everything as he had before he lost it all. The end. No more explanation.

What I take from the book of Job is that God loves us and wants/likes to/can/does bless us. But we also live in a fallen world (thanks to Adam and Eve), and Satan is always trying to trip us up in every way he can think of. Sometimes God doesn't prevent bad things from happening, even though He can and He does sometimes. We'll never understand why, and it's not our place to question God - whether we like it or not. HE is God. WE are not. We can either accept that or not, but we can't change it.

We all have an need for something that is often hard to describe or explain. I believe that's our innate desire for a connection with God, because only a meaningful faith in and relationship with God ever fills that hole and satisfies that need. Most of us try to satisfy it with all kinds of other things from time to time, but nothing else ever works.

So keep on with your journey. It sounds like you're on the right track when you say you're going to read the Bible with an open and inquisitive and questioning mind. That's never a bad idea. You'll learn and grow in all kinds of ways. After a lifetime of that, you still won't be able to fully understand or explain God. But the unfathomable mystery makes the required faith even more beautiful. I pray God's blessings on you and your journey!

[Johnny44]

There are folk on ever end of the spectrum, many of us here though sinners, have always known there is a God. Others, come to the vineyard late but the pay is still the same.

The biggest hurdle for many Christians is accepting the ones that come late will get the same pay.

[SaltwaterSlick]

Very well stated Shane!
We too just finished a study of Job and this whole discussion in this thread is much like what happened in Job... Well at least with respect to how Job handled it and the relationship Job had with God and the totality of the Power of God...


This has been a great discussion to this point!



Danno, in Job, God still set limits on Satan and what he could and could not do... Satan had to obey God in that... Just think about that for a moment... We don't understand why God did what he did here in this Book, but we can appreciate that He did it... Satan was arguing with God about his power and God told him that his real disciples loved Him and would not abandon Him or turn against Him. Satan told God that Job only was faithful because God protected him and gave him all the best... God knew Job well enough even though Job had the free will to abandon God, God wanted to show us that He is faithful... He allowed all this mess to happen to Job... Job's friends even tried to help, but they were misguided in thinking that Job needed to repent from some unknown sin so that God could restore him. Job's friends, though they meant well just like Job's wife, meant well... Job would not waiver from his Faith in God. He KNEW GOD and he knew God would take care of him even in such trying and painful times... What a lesson God taught us here... Keep the faith, no matter what and He will pour out His Blessings on us... That same thing is true to each and every one of us today! Are we not in terrible times right now? I know that if I can keep my focus on God, though I stumble, He will catch me if I fall... The very purpose that God had in allowing this to happen to Job very well could be to leave a record of it for the generations to come after Job... Here we are thousands of years later, still reading, studying the account of Job and his relationship with an unchanging eternal God... A whole other study can be done on what happened to those who tried to misguide Job... What God did to those...



The Book of Job is 42 chapters long! By the 6th verse of the first chapter, the testing of Job is already under way... The restoration does not occur until the last 7 verses of Chapter 42... The whole rest of the time is spent discussing the testing of Job... Based on that, and all the detail God goes into with respect to the testing and how Job responds, what do you think is more important to God? He wants our faithfulness above all else and for that blessings are a given... In the Book, Job was very angry with God and even wished he'd never even been born, but what Job did not do was sin against God... The Bible teaches us to be angry and sin not... There is a time for anger, but there is NEVER a right time for sin...


Lots of things to study and learn from Job, but I'd agree with one of the comments above, that Job is probably not a Book for a young/new believer to be studying... nor is Revelation...

[Pstraw]

[QUOTE=Danno;

I thank each and every one of you for your time and answers. I know I'm hated by most here because of my views and my distasteful posts. So if I've ever offended any of you here I truly apologize. I'm a single parent that in my opinion is a good man and am doing the best to raise my children right and in most ways I guess they are in the ways of the Lord. I feel I'm missing something in my life. Not something a mate or companion can give me. I just would like to know more. Maybe I never will be satisfied with what I learn or find, but maybe that's God's way of keeping someone interested? So I'm going to find my Bible and begin to just read and try to look at things in not so much as a disbeliever, but just as someone wanting to read what is in the Bible.[/QUOTE]

Danno--

You have my admiration and respect for being transparent and willing to open up and share your feelings and struggles here. I am excited for you in seeing where you are today instead of 3-4 days ago. I cannot begin to know what it would be like raising, providing, and caring for children as a single parent, but I can understand that your wagon is loaded down. I do believe that if you will begin to read your Bible with a open mind and heart, that words will become clear and meaningful. You mentioned something missing in your life. I remember an older teacher saying that our lives were like a jigsaw puzzle with a missing piece, and that the only thing that would fill that empty spot was the love of Jesus. I can also tell you with certainty that He changed me and He's right there with His hand out wanting to help you too.

Praying for you man.

LOVE GOD--LOVE PEOPLE