Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:God has shown himself, in the person of Jesus Christ, and continues to do so, through the Holy Spirit. Are you really looking?

I think we all would appreciate it if God would show himself in a way that we can actually see for ourselves, as opposed to accepting what a book written thousands of years ago says happened. Yes, like Thomas, I want to touch the wounds.

Yes, it is very human to be like this, to want to see with our own eyes, to what to touch with our own fingers. But what the Doubting Thomas story tells us is that we have to strive to rise above this, to "walk by faith alone." That is what faith is. John 20:29 "Then Jesus told him, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”"

Yeah, it's right there in the Bible - don't wait around to actually see god -- that is never going to happen (some would say because there is no god, but whatever) and those who quell their natural curiosity are "blessed" - the good guys, blessed by god (or by earthly manipulators) for doing him the favor of not requiring him to do something he can't do -- show himself.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:God has shown himself, in the person of Jesus Christ, and continues to do so, through the Holy Spirit. Are you really looking?

I think we all would appreciate it if God would show himself in a way that we can actually see for ourselves, as opposed to accepting what a book written thousands of years ago says happened. Yes, like Thomas, I want to touch the wounds.

Yes, it is very human to be like this, to want to see with our own eyes, to what to touch with our own fingers. But what the Doubting Thomas story tells us is that we have to strive to rise above this, to "walk by faith alone." That is what faith is. John 20:29 "Then Jesus told him, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”"

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:God has shown himself, in the person of Jesus Christ, and continues to do so, through the Holy Spirit. Are you really looking?

I think we all would appreciate it if God would show himself in a way that we can actually see for ourselves, as opposed to accepting what a book written thousands of years ago says happened. Yes, like Thomas, I want to touch the wounds.

So your god is the Christian God in the Bible, with wounds from being nailed to the cross. You would be surprised if another god turned up, I take it. Do you think that god is the god of all the people, whether they believe in him or not?

Yes, I do

Looks like that wildly atheist is back, portraying a Christian, trying to make them look dumb.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:God has shown himself, in the person of Jesus Christ, and continues to do so, through the Holy Spirit. Are you really looking?

I think we all would appreciate it if God would show himself in a way that we can actually see for ourselves, as opposed to accepting what a book written thousands of years ago says happened. Yes, like Thomas, I want to touch the wounds.

So your god is the Christian God in the Bible, with wounds from being nailed to the cross. You would be surprised if another god turned up, I take it. Do you think that god is the god of all the people, whether they believe in him or not?

Yes, I do

So, do you believe that all the people of other religions are doomed unless they accept the Christian god before they die?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:God has shown himself, in the person of Jesus Christ, and continues to do so, through the Holy Spirit. Are you really looking?

I think we all would appreciate it if God would show himself in a way that we can actually see for ourselves, as opposed to accepting what a book written thousands of years ago says happened. Yes, like Thomas, I want to touch the wounds.

So your god is the Christian God in the Bible, with wounds from being nailed to the cross. You would be surprised if another god turned up, I take it. Do you think that god is the god of all the people, whether they believe in him or not?

Yes, I do

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:God has shown himself, in the person of Jesus Christ, and continues to do so, through the Holy Spirit. Are you really looking?

I think we all would appreciate it if God would show himself in a way that we can actually see for ourselves, as opposed to accepting what a book written thousands of years ago says happened. Yes, like Thomas, I want to touch the wounds.

So your god is the Christian God in the Bible, with wounds from being nailed to the cross. You would be surprised if another god turned up, I take it. Do you think that god is the god of all the people, whether they believe in him or not?

Jesus is Black, have you seen him?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:and he will roast us in hell, if we don't believe in him. It that how a loving parent treats a child who doesn't please him?

We have free will. A loving parent does all they can to teach their child the right way, but ultimately, it is the child's life and the child grows up to make his own choices. Would you rather He control us all our lives and make our decisions for us?

but a loving parent doesn't punish his child horribly if the child doesn't turn out as hoped.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:New to this forum and haven't rad others' posts.

I am convinced that God *does* show Himself in *many* ways but people just aren't seeing Him. Probably makes him very sad. :*(

Pray, get closer to God, read a lot, and you will start seeing Him in so many ways.

I don't think it makes Him sad, but I do think people are missing an opportunity to be closer to HIm.

Interesting. I do think it makes Him sad. He is our Father and He loves us just as much as we love we love our own children, and wouldn't it make you sad if you were loving your child so much and doing so much for him/her, and the kid just kind of blew you off and didn't really pay any attention to you? That is why I think it makes Him sad. He has done so much for us; He has MADE us; He DIED for us, etc.

See the way I see it is that we as humans cannot add to or take away from God in any context. Our actions do not make God "sad" but rather being closer to Him and having hearts searching for Him is a fulfillment of a deep purpose, but no, we cannot make God "less than" He is by our actions.

Hmm, don't see how this would "take away" for God in any way, but, at any rate, this is not a huge sticking point for me so I'll go with it and I think we both agree that if others would just pray, get closer to God, read more about Him, apply themselves, etc., then they will indeed see that God is all around us, in many ways!

Do you really think that if everyone just prayed, etc, they would see god the way you do? IOW, inability to see God is the result of a human lack of effort?

Fine, call it your understanding -- it still comes from you, without the kind of input you get from flesh and blood people. And you're correct, not all human relationships are the same but they are all based on a real life model. Someone can seem larger than life, but when all is said and done, they have a height and weight that can only be expressed in human terms. Not so with God -- he can be completely different things to people.

Anonymous wrote:God has shown himself, in the person of Jesus Christ, and continues to do so, through the Holy Spirit. Are you really looking?

I think we all would appreciate it if God would show himself in a way that we can actually see for ourselves, as opposed to accepting what a book written thousands of years ago says happened. Yes, like Thomas, I want to touch the wounds.