I checked, I cant find any verse you quoting stating something that would answer my question. Not trying to be difficult or tricky, but I honestly cant find your post if you did post it.
Sorry, the ones I thought I posted were actually about being children of God in the womb, not necessarily accountibility of salvation. I would refer back to the story of David and his son that I previously mentioned (don't know the specific verses but you will find them). His son died at a young age and God told him that he would see him again, meaning since David had salvation that he would see him in heaven again. Another story is the babies being sacrificed in the fire of Moloch. The Bible says these babies were innocent, and the translation of innocent literally meant "not guilty" specifically (not innocent as in just being young or not of sin). So it says that although the babies were not free of sin, God had mercy on them as he does for those who have salvation. A few cross references led me to Matthew 18 and the parable of the wandering sheep. Another took me to John the Baptist being given the gift of salvation even while still in the womb of his mother! Some amazing stories about it. EDIT: just found more in Revelations about heaven being filled with babies and children but I try to refrain from using Revelations too much though because it's a hard read to understand even for Christians.
I just talked with a guy that is a FOCUS missionary and very intelligent in the Catholic Church. He informed me that the only morally acceptable circumstance for terminating a pregnancy in the eyes of the church would be in the case the both the life of the mother and the life of the child were in immediate life threatening danger.
There are two answers to this. A religious answer and a legal answer. As far a religion is concerned, "thou shalt not kill" is a commandment to be followed, not interpreted. Abortion for any reason would go against this commandment, therefore this would be considered a sin. Could the person repent, possibly, but only god can be the judge of that. Legally, it has been decided that the mother can choose to abort the child without any legal repercussions, but the two are not mutually exclusive. Just because it is legal, does not mean it's not a sin in the eyes of God.
Technically, the verb used in this most famous of commandments is rsh, usually pronounced something like "ratsak" meaning murder, generally bad. I've always wondered at the difference between rsh and the use of hrg as used by Cain 'hrg'-ing Able, or to slay; or nkh as what Moses did to the dude beating the slave. They must have had some nuance we are not aware of. Is abortion rsh, imo yes, but as you say God is the lawmaker...
What if someone is killing for God? Perhaps this girl was killing her child for God or someone murders another under Gods direction.. does that excuse this commandment and the person committing the act? If not, then how do you justify the crusades, and many other intolerable acts placed on non-christians globally through history. These fighters for God were spreading gods word... were they not? Were they not being the ultimate Christian by spreading the word? T
Then you should So clarify... The impression garnered by your response was used to facilitate mine. I would love to hear you clarification. T T
Age old question/dilemma. The bible has been used to justify so many wars during our civilization, not just the crusades, even today's current wars.
you mean kinda like abraham and isaac? I seriously doubt if she killed (aborted) her baby under the direction of god.
So true.. how can you follow/adopt/preach something that is used so incorrectly? I would want to distance myself from "it" and practice on my own in privacy for fear of being misinterpreted or targeted. T
I seriously doubt it too but that "excuse/ direction" is often given by criminals... does that excuse them? Could you forgive someone who raped or murdered your mother, sister or daughter because they claimed that God told them too... would it simply be Gods word as a test for these women in your lives (as well as you for that matter)? T
Ive asked this question many times too. The answer ive most often received is, "they are not real christians" or "God will decide when they die". To me, with no malevolence toward the Christian faith, I feel is a cop out comment and a way to shun responsibility with those comments. I mean bad people in the name of God hurt many good people in this world, but it is stated that they will eventually be judged when they meet God. To me that does no justice nor provide comfort.
Yes, maybe im just looking for reasons not to believe, but what you stated is a key factor in me not being turned toward the faith. Then you also meet others like that other guy on here who does absolutely nothing but negative things for the Christian faith.
Interesting.. I reiterate, I have no evidence to support belief. I am not looking for reasons to "not believe" I am looking for evidence to support a decision to believe. This on top of my observations of religious fanaticism, division and hatred towards others... we are all the same and the perpetuation for identifying difference is objectionable. T
To me, all these statements of a similar nature. There are several ways of looking at it... People are people and will find any way to rationalize their behavior. My family come from the Alsace-Lorraine area of France, fled the religious wars of the period. Both Catholics and Protestants used the same set of scripture to rationalize doing horrible things to each other. While there may have been some who actually believed they were in the right, the majority just went along with mob rule and killed for killings sake. I mean really, how many virgins in eternity is a terrorist act worth? Just because people can find a rational for doing the nasty things they do to each other, doesn't mean the faith is wrong. There is a God. And it is up to us to find his will. Is it possible we can rationalize the weakness' of man to justify ourselves not having to at least look into it with an open mind? Let us make an assumption, there is a God, and the conventional idea of an adversary (da Devil) is also real. Under these circumstances what better tool can be used to keep folks from the faith than to point out all the evil done (unjustly) in the name of that faith? I will never deny my Faith in the Lord, though I am certainly about as far away as you can get...(wait wait, not a challenge, I can get further!), by the same token, it doesn't stop me from realizing there are more options than those listed above. As the old sayin' goes, careful not to toss the baby out with the bath water.
I agree, people corrupting the religion does not corrupt the religion as contradictory is that sounds. People tell me to study the bible and interpret it for myself, but ive once again gone in a circle as i see many people who interpret the bible in vastly different ways. Many of which I dont agree with, I just don't know how I can follow an idea when I see others following the same idea in different ways. What if im interpreting it wrong? That means my whole life has been a waste and now im going to hell. It would seem to me, the chances of going to heaven are slim to none with the amount of interpretations that can be pulled from the bible. I find it amazing how Christians deny Catholics, they are of the same faith and they adamantly deny it. One of the bloodiest wars in european history is the 30 years war.
gotcha. I guess trying to be more like Christ is going against the flow but I don't care for which direction the flow is going so I speak up.
Stick to your beliefs! no matter how wrong, that's America! Im not too old, but ive kind of learned to try and not get angered over things I cant make a difference in and seek to make my life the best with the circumstances given. Don't get me wrong, I go after what I want, I just try and not get agitated over the big ole government since I know I can't change that.
