The Tension of Faith

Hell is separation from God. No one is separated from God now, although many barely feel his presence. Remember the intense joys you had as a child? That was Gods presence.

Percy said " Well, that's made up. "It's my understanding of the Bible. Do you have a better interpretation?

Percy said "Aside from God's fictionality". Do you have proof of his fictionality?

Percy said "What is the value of a made up interpretation".There is no such thing as a made up interpretation unless a person makes no reference to any verse or any ideal that can be reasonably be said to be found in the Bible as a whole.

Percy asks why his interpretation would be better than mine. It would only be better depending on what assumptions people bring to the Bible. If you claim that the Bible reflects reality as much as green eggs and ham by dr Seuss, then there is no such thing as an interpretation on your part as you believe there is nothing in the Bible that has anything at all to say to humanity.A relevant interpretation would take at least a few references to the afterlife concept in the Bible or references to hell or the lake of fire or of God's judgement in general. If you refuse to even contemplate any of these references in the Bible or to use them to make a better argument, all you have said is that the Bible is complete rubbish and not worth talking about. If that is your argument, you have revealed nothing new to me as I already pretty much know that's were you stand.You charge me with making up something out of whole cloth. This simply is not true. I believe the Bible to be inspired by God and there is nothing in it that he did not intend to be there. From that belief, I build an argument to establish the claim I made that you say is made up.You can claim that the beliefs outlined in the above paragraph cannot be established but to them say that makes my conclusion made up is really saying that you refuse to even use the Bible as a point of reference in a religious discussion.You simply could have said that although you believe the Bible to be complete rubbish, I believe you are in error making that conclusion based on what the Bible says. I would then respond by giving you the reference points in the Bible that make my case and it would then be your turn to either say I misunderstand said references or that they fail to support my case.

Percy responds to my request that he prove Gods functionality by saying this:"You tell me how to prove the Flying Spaghetti Monster fictional and I'll prove God fictional. Deal?".What do we know about the FSM? Is there source material about him? Has anyone claimed to have seen the FSM? What did they say about their encounter with him?
How many people have claimed to have had encounters with the FSM?What do we know about the God of the Bible? Is there any source material about him?
Has anyone claimed to have seen the God of the Bible? What did they say about their encounter with him? How many people have claimed to have had encounters with the God of the Bible?There is a wealth of material related to the God of the Bible and the only material related to the FSM is from atheists who merely conjured him as a debating point and as a way to say the possibility of the God of the Bible being real is just as likely as the reality of the FSM.That is quite an astonishing claim to make as there is virtually nothing anyone has ever said about the FSM by way of definition.The FSM monster is real as defined by the following:It is merely a debating device and doesn't exist in anyone's mind as deity and has only come into existence in the last decade or possibly two.

Percy has acknowledged that he cannot prove the God of the Bible doesn't exist but defends himself with this philosophical statement:"We don't assume something exists until it is proven that it doesn't. Rather, we only assume something exists when overt evidence for it is uncovered."You made a declarative statement that God is a fictionality. I asked you to prove it. You respond by saying we don't assume something exists until overt evidence for it is uncovered.More to come as time permits. I have very little time as you can see by how little I post here and so this may be the last post in a long time.
First, I didn't ask you to assume anything. I was making statements about God to make my point about hell. People were attacking poster faith for believing God tortures people in eternity for simply being born to the wrong parents and being exposed to the wrong belief system.I thought this line of attack was unfair in that some Christians like me hold a different interpretation of the Bible regarding Gods judgement and the afterlife. In order to comment on such things, you must reference the God of the Bible. Saying that God is not proven to exist, does not engage the topic at hand in any way. If we cannot reference the God of the Bible in our religious arguments, then there should be a forum rule that states all references to the God of the Bible are strictly forbidden unless you can prove his existence. You might as well have a forum that is for any belief system outside of the God of the Bible. Demanding proof for God's existence when offering an interpretation of the Bible regarding judgement and the afterlife is ridiculous.As for not assuming something exists until overt evidence is uncovered, that is a reasonable demand to make in most instances. Edited by foreveryoung, : No reason given.Edited by foreveryoung, : No reason given.