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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]“Is God willing to prevent evil, but not able? Then he is not omnipotent.
Is he able, but not willing? Then he is malevolent.
Is he both able and willing? Then whence cometh evil?
Is he neither able nor willing? Then why call him God?”
― Epicurus

The root of all human neuroses is death denial and the tendency for human beings to assume that death will be horrific and painful, which he claimed causes unnecessary anxiety, selfish self-protective behaviors, and hypocrisy.- Epicurus

Why can’t people just not fear death like Epicurus tells them not to? (People who aren’t Christian ofc)
[/quote]

I am deeply religious and yer I love these philosophical questions and challenges.

for the 2nd quote, my take is that Epicurus misunderstands or misrepresents the fear NON-Christians have as fearing that a bad or painful result will occur once you die.
But I think most people (Christian and non) fear the separation from loved ones that is brought on by the death of their physical body, MORE than a hellish afterlife existence. It’s valid to fear the unknown and to fear separation from the ones we love.

For Christians, we believe that God is LOVE. And to be separated from God (love) is death. Let me restate that—sin is literally us willfully separating ourselves from God.
When we sin, we are choosing separation from God. The natural consequence of sin IS death, whether it’s here on earth OR in an afterlife. That’s the deal.

But Christians also believe that Christ took upon that punishment as a stand-in—a savior—for the world …
We believe in the gift of eternal life that triumphs over sin and death, that is God saying “I sent my only son to suffer the punishment for YOUR sins so you do not have to live apart from love. You can be forgiven for your sins and cleansed of that simply by accepting the sacrifice I made to save you from this consequence…and this acceptance allows you to LIVE in love even after the death of your body”
But the choice is ours because benevolent, NOT malevolent.

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