- Apr 21, 2011
- 5
- 0
- 0
Hello everyone
I'm new to this forum and this is my first post. I was raised as a Roman Catholic but I simply consider myself a Judeo Christian. But I'm not a good Catholic or a good Christian. Let me first say I have no problem whatsoever with Jesus. I consider him my Lord and Savior and I like to think that I would die for him without hesitation. My problem lies with The Father. I harbor and anger towards him that I just can't seem to free myself from. I'm angry because I feel like a pawn in some sort of metaphysical battle between good and evil that was raging long before I ever came into existence. I never asked for this. I never asked to be born. And yet here I am, thrust into the middle of some great conflict in which the very fate of humanity is at stake. I want to see The Father as a God of love and forgiveness yet he seems more like one of anger and vengeance. When I seek solace in scripture I find only more anger and frustration. It goes all the way back to the story of the creation and Adam and Eve. They were innocent. They knew nothing of good an evil. We all know the story - God place them in a paradise that was the Garden of Eden where they were told not to eat the fruit of a particular tree, the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. We all know how it turned out. Satan, appearing in the form of a serpent tempted Eve with that fruit and she in turn tempted Adam and for that offense they were thrown from paradise and forced to live a life of hardship and pain. And we Christians are told that because of this we are all stained with that original sin from birth. I'm angry because it was NEVER a fair fight! Neither of them ever stood chance against this extremely powerful being who was once the most powerful angel in heaven before his fall from grace. They knew NOTHING of this until they had consumed that fruit and their eyes were opened. Why weren't that at least warned? Why was God so harsh in his punishment?
We're told that we have two basic choices: eternal salvation or eternal damnation. We're told we must worship God and love him... or else! What terrible choice to be confronted with. We must bow down and worship some all powerful and all knowing force or else burn for all eternity. What if I choose neither? What if I want what's behind door number three? As a child I can remember a nun once telling us that God thinks of us always and if he ever stopped doing so, even for a fraction of a second, we would cease to exist. What would be so bad about that? What if instead of spending eternity in heaven or hell we could just simply cease to exist once we die? Suddenly atheism doesn't look all that bad. What if we all had that third choice? And what if all of humanity opted for it? It seems to me that both heaven and hell would be quite empty and suddenly God and Satan who be forced to find some other way to resolve their conflict. One that doesn't use human beings as mere pawns in that other worldly struggle. What would God say if I found myself standing before him and told him that I wanted that third option? How would he respond?
The Wanderer
I'm new to this forum and this is my first post. I was raised as a Roman Catholic but I simply consider myself a Judeo Christian. But I'm not a good Catholic or a good Christian. Let me first say I have no problem whatsoever with Jesus. I consider him my Lord and Savior and I like to think that I would die for him without hesitation. My problem lies with The Father. I harbor and anger towards him that I just can't seem to free myself from. I'm angry because I feel like a pawn in some sort of metaphysical battle between good and evil that was raging long before I ever came into existence. I never asked for this. I never asked to be born. And yet here I am, thrust into the middle of some great conflict in which the very fate of humanity is at stake. I want to see The Father as a God of love and forgiveness yet he seems more like one of anger and vengeance. When I seek solace in scripture I find only more anger and frustration. It goes all the way back to the story of the creation and Adam and Eve. They were innocent. They knew nothing of good an evil. We all know the story - God place them in a paradise that was the Garden of Eden where they were told not to eat the fruit of a particular tree, the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. We all know how it turned out. Satan, appearing in the form of a serpent tempted Eve with that fruit and she in turn tempted Adam and for that offense they were thrown from paradise and forced to live a life of hardship and pain. And we Christians are told that because of this we are all stained with that original sin from birth. I'm angry because it was NEVER a fair fight! Neither of them ever stood chance against this extremely powerful being who was once the most powerful angel in heaven before his fall from grace. They knew NOTHING of this until they had consumed that fruit and their eyes were opened. Why weren't that at least warned? Why was God so harsh in his punishment?
We're told that we have two basic choices: eternal salvation or eternal damnation. We're told we must worship God and love him... or else! What terrible choice to be confronted with. We must bow down and worship some all powerful and all knowing force or else burn for all eternity. What if I choose neither? What if I want what's behind door number three? As a child I can remember a nun once telling us that God thinks of us always and if he ever stopped doing so, even for a fraction of a second, we would cease to exist. What would be so bad about that? What if instead of spending eternity in heaven or hell we could just simply cease to exist once we die? Suddenly atheism doesn't look all that bad. What if we all had that third choice? And what if all of humanity opted for it? It seems to me that both heaven and hell would be quite empty and suddenly God and Satan who be forced to find some other way to resolve their conflict. One that doesn't use human beings as mere pawns in that other worldly struggle. What would God say if I found myself standing before him and told him that I wanted that third option? How would he respond?
The Wanderer