I would rather live my life as if there is a god , and die to find out there isn't, than live my life as if there isn't, and die to find out there is.

Think about this:
would you rither live for him and find out there is a heaven with rewards, then not and find out there is a hell with eternal seperation from him, eterlal burning, no one to talk to and begging for water and not able to get any rewards

OK, i offer these thoughts as a bridge between what i see MD writing and some of the responses sent back.

you who know me know i'm not a christian, but that i'm drawn to the gospels. that said, i need to know what is true, and cannot believe as a backup plan. for me, it would be morally wrong to try to believe just in case the christian message is true, and if it IS true, that attitude won't win me any points with god anyhow.

the struggle lies in finding faith when you don't have it. i know that to people who have found it, it can seem silly that others can't "just believe," but some of us are in fact searching for that conviction that will allow us to say that we believe.

as i read these posts, i think MD's struggle lies in having inadequate evidence that can overcome the difficulties of life, which seem so at odds with the concept of god's love. i know the arguments for and against that statement, as i'm sure MD does also.

the bottom line is that much of what we experience leaves wounds that do not heal very well, and that wounding interferes with accepting what the christians would say is the source of the healing needed. it's sort of a chicken and the egg dilemma - if the wounding makes you angry at god, how can you release that and open yourself to god's healing? and until you do, the wounds continue to fester.....

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Im sure you wouldnt want to live in a world where God controls every move we make or corrects every mistake. You light up a cigarette and God snatches it from your mouth. You open up that new Mustang you just bought on a quiet street and God disables your engine. Thats not the world God has given us. Instead He gave us free choice to decide the path we want. We reap what we sow. bad things happen to good people. And Life sucks sometimes, but what we do with what we have is what makes a person. 1 person is born into royalty and another into misery. You take the cards you are dealt. Its not always fair but unless you want absolute authority and restraints over your actions by God during this lifetime, be glad that mankind has the liberty to decide what he is going to do. For those that cant there will be the world tomorrow coming. sj

That cute, but would you want to live in a world where loved ones are sent to burn in infinite fires for finite crimes? Where those that cause unnecessary suffering and pain to other humans are rewarded in accordance to the bible? To know that good Christian will have to watch as a deity set family members ablaze and they will have to pray to him?

Why have free will if you are going to be punished for using it. Its like telling a child to draw anything he wants on a blank sheet and punishing him if he doesn't draw exactly the right picture you have in you mind that he would draw. Punishing him for it over and over again for his entire life.

he gave us a direction along with the free will, like a child that you tell to go do the dishes and they don 't there is coniquences for what we do. He gave us the Bible to use as a guide for our lives. What was done in the garden of eden is why we have such contrivercy in what we do. Free will is a choices to use for right and wrong, but what we do will have conenquencs like a spanking for that chioce. I will take haven, over hell. You have the choice , you have been told what the end resolts can be. There in lies free will.

A spanking is a correctional tool, Hell is torture in its rawest form, A child learn a lesson but if a child didn't wash the dishes and you stuff him in the oven and cook him he doesn't learn anything but how cruel of a parent you are.

Can we have freedom of choice and still have freedom from suffering. Freedom of choice allows for both good and bad outcomes. Others, like our leaders, can make decisions for us that can affect our lives. Many of the results fall on the innocents. those who had nothing to do with bad choices, suffer most from them somtimes lasting for generations.we wouldnt learn the terrible consequences of sinful behavior or develop righteous character if God intervened in every aspect of our lives.
Would God torture us eternally in a hell fire-no. Why would anybody think that the God we worship would inflict such punishment-how do we square this belief with the bibles description of a God who is merciful and all loving.
The traditional view of hell has been taught for centuries-the idea of a God sentencing people to eternal punishment has turned many from belief in Christianity.that belief is not consistent with what God teaches-Matt10;28-And fear not them which kill the body but are not able to kill the soul but rather fear Him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell-no suffering eternally but destroyed-annihilated-both the body and the soul
the incorrigibly will not be given the gift of eternal life even if it was in hell-Eternal life is reserved for those who repent and follow Gods laws-everybody will be given that opportunity in the ressurection
for those who dont they will experience the ~ second death ~
The soul that sinneth shall die- EZ18;4
this is not referring to our physical life but rather our spiritual side. Believe me nobody is suffering right now -they are asleep and will have an opportunity for eternal life at the time of Jesus Christs return- those who refuse and reject Gods laws will ultimately be eradicated-no longer existing. God shows mercy to even the worst ones by destroying them rather than having them lingering forever in a hell fire. sj