Pascal's Wager: What Have I Lost?

[seer]

along with everything that entails: trees, houses, animals, birds, dolphins, schnauzers, horses, monkeys, chimps, etc.

And Brandy, don't forget the Brandy!

[Sparko]

And Brandy, don't forget the Brandy!

Right. She's a fine girl. What a good wife she would be.

[seer]

Right. She's a fine girl. What a good wife she would be.

"But my life, my lover, my lady is the sea"

[Sparko]

"But my life, my lover, my lady is the sea"

Arr, matey. That it be.

[Jedidiah]

Ah. I didn't quite grasp the connection there. Thanks.

Sorry.

ETA: See my response to Tassman, the very next post.

[Jedidiah]

He commands it. "Teacher, which commandment is the greatest in the Law?” Jesus declared, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’

Mere mortal fathers don't "command" their children to love, it has to be earned.

My "Mere mortal father" did command me to do things like avoiding running out in the street without looking. God's command is of that exact sort.

[Sparko]

He commands it. "Teacher, which commandment is the greatest in the Law?” Jesus declared, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’

Mere mortal fathers don't "command" their children to love, it has to be earned.

God has earned our love and our respect and honor. He created the universe. He is good. He loves US.

Pslam 146

1 Praise the Lord.

Praise the Lord, my soul.

2 I will praise the Lord all my life;
I will sing praise to my God as long as I live.
3 Do not put your trust in princes,
in human beings, who cannot save.
4 When their spirit departs, they return to the ground;
on that very day their plans come to nothing.
5 Blessed are those whose help is the God of Jacob,
whose hope is in the Lord their God.

6 He is the Maker of heaven and earth,
the sea, and everything in them—
he remains faithful forever.
7 He upholds the cause of the oppressed
and gives food to the hungry.
The Lord sets prisoners free,
8 the Lord gives sight to the blind,
the Lord lifts up those who are bowed down,
the Lord loves the righteous.
9 The Lord watches over the foreigner
and sustains the fatherless and the widow,
but he frustrates the ways of the wicked.

10 The Lord reigns forever,
your God, O Zion, for all generations.

Praise the Lord.

[stfoskey15]

Why does God say that, in your minds?

Anyone have an answer to why God says we're already condemned? Why does he set standards he knows people can't reach?

[Tassman]

My "Mere mortal father" did command me to do things like avoiding running out in the street without looking. God's command is of that exact sort.

Certainly! But the greatest commandment in the Law is “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ So again, we don’t command our children to love us, it has to be earned.

[Tassman]

Anyone have an answer to why God says we're already condemned? Why does he set standards he knows people can't reach?

So he can come and "save us". If he didn't have to Atone for our sins, 'god the son' would be out of a job

[Jedidiah]

Certainly! But the greatest commandment in the Law is “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ So again, we don’t command our children to love us, it has to be earned.

You need a remedial reading course, Tass.

[Starlight]

Why does he set standards he knows people can't reach?

I think such doctrine is a misreading of the bible. But yeah, I think there are quite a lot of conceptual problems with standard evangelical protestant teaching and that your question is a decent one.

[Roy]

Heaven is not going to be us flying around on clouds in the sky playing harps. The bible says that God is going to renew the Earth and make it into a paradise and then the heavenly city will come down to Earth and God will dwell with us. That means we will be living on Earth, along with everything that entails: trees, houses, animals, birds, dolphins, schnauzers, horses, monkeys, chimps, etc.

Ta.

[seer]

Anyone have an answer to why God says we're already condemned? Why does he set standards he knows people can't reach?

Look at it this way. We are hybrids, animal and spiritual beings. Some where along the line the animal began dominating the spiritual. Hence sin. But God is not asking you to be morally perfect in your present condition, He is asking you to put your trust in him. To the best of your ability, to seek and love Him. He is the cure - any man can avail himself of that saving grace if he so chooses.

[Sparko]

Anyone have an answer to why God says we're already condemned? Why does he set standards he knows people can't reach?

Read Genesis. Adam and Eve. they could have met the standard but chose not to. We are their "crack babies" - God felt sorry for us and gave us a way to get clean.