If you found out today with 100% certainty there was no afterlife or......

I get a sense that most religious people believe that morality can only come from religion. Is this your belief?

 

Sorry about the non spacing.

I do acknowledge the principals in other cultures.I believe that since we are made in God's image all nations/cultures have a degree of Christian principals/morality.I stated that at the beginning.For example,most nations have laws against theft and murder even if they have never seen a bible.Why is that?

Human beings have a need to have a relationship with their creator.People worship.Wherever you go in the world,even in the darkest jungles of South America,people worship.It isn't the way God commands us to worship but they do worship.Why?Where does that come from?Animals don't worship.We have self reflection.We can plan,love,create,etc...That is what it means to be made in God's image.We also have a sense of morality.

Yes,this could easily turn into a very long religious debate.The truth is I base all of my beliefs on the written word of God and if the person I am discussing an issue with doesn't believe the bible is authoritative then we will just go round and round.We have to agree to disagree at some point.

The original post is just very unrealistic because it could never be true,even to think hypothetically about that particular issue is useless in my opinion because it could never be true.I guess it does give me the opportunity to state my beliefs and by God's grace,raise questions in the minds of unbelievers.


In my opinion,the arguments in favor of the Bible being God's word, the truth that God created all things,and the truth that we are made in his image are irrefutable.All men know God and all men know right and wrong,whether they outwardly admit it or not.People rage against God.They hate Christianity in particular and the reason is that Christianity is exclusive.We believe that there is only one way to be right with God,faith in Jesus Christ.That view really seems to make people mad.God is a discriminating God.Not all people are saved .Not all people even hear the gospel.God has chosen a people for Himself and He sent Jesus Christ to redeem them.Jesus came to "save His people from their sins".He accomplished that on the cross.

It all comes down to a matter of faith.The evidence is there.Actually it is staring all non-believers in the face.They are unable to believe unless God first opens their eyes.I guess I have said enough.I have turned this into my own soapbox and that probably isn't what this forum is about.I don't know because this is the first time that I have ever posted on this particular forum.Have a nice day.

 

OK since you can't imagine a world without God. Since we all have laws doing the same thing like against murder and theft (which is basically in pack animals too) why does this God have to be your Christian God? Couldn't it have been been a non Christian god?

 

Yes. The teaching of the Jesus are fantastic for living life.

If your talking about business, you may not like Donald Trump (and I don't) but you can learn a lot about running a successful business by reading his books.

 

That is where faith comes in.Sure it could be a non Christian god.It is reasonable to have a belief in a power higher than ourselves.The view that there is nothing out there and all this came from nothing is absurd.As I stated earlier,all people worship in some form and degree.

By faith I believe that the Bible is the infallible Word of God and has everything in it necessary for salvation and godly living.It actually has all the answers people have been asking for centuries.Who am I?Where did I come from?Where am I going?Why am I here?How did the universe get here,etc...Faith in the Bible as God's written word and a belief in a sovereign God that created and controls all things, is the key to understanding and answering these questions.

True,there are many beliefs and religions in the world and they all claim to be the truth.All of them aren't the truth.It does come down to a matter of faith in the end.There is only one truth.There is no gray area.I believe that there are many convincing arguments for the truth of the Bible but I may just be a poor communicator of those arguments.There are men much smarter and better learned than me who can better argue this.I hope I have done my best to proclaim the truth as I understand it.

 

This is an awesome question...but a tough one to truly answer. In my opinion my answer would mimic that of which "could love exist without a God"

May seem odd to you but Christians hold to the truth as stated in His word (which we hold as undeniable) that we love only because He first loved. Similarly we breath only because He breathed into us. I would hold morality in the same light. To be moral or act moral one does not have to claim to be a Christian, however I am a believer in that the construct or idea of morality only exists because of God, just as does love, just as does breath. In a world with no God, there would be none of the above...and outside this hypothetical parameters there would be no us in my opinion based upon my belief structure in God.

 

No sir. I believe we are created in the image of God and that His goodness throughout the ages has set the moral code even most non-believers are moved by.

 

I only take slight offense to that something came from nothing comment, I don't find God absurd, I just find it implausible at the moment. I don't entirely discount it, I do discount parts of the bible though.

Does the fact that the creation story from the bible mirroring older civilizations creation story shake your faith? how do you justify it?

 

Would a better hypothetical question been, "what if we were all created from nothing and you knew for 100% there was no God?" Seems to me that many of you think God created all this which is fine, but it's also causing many of you to not answer the question because God created everything. Lets try to get to the base of it, and say God didn't, it randomly occurred through whatever process.

 

I've already answered the hypothetical question in my first post as best as I can or in my opinion anyone can...as it is a hypothetical and in my life a "not possible" scenario. The post you quoted was in response to another question which was raised about morality (which I quoted in my post). The original question is fine of the OP....the post you quoted though has nothing to do with the OP.

 

Sorry, I have a terrible habit of quoting people and not explaining why I did it. I wasn't asking you to answer the hypothetical question, I was saying if it were worded differently as I described, would it be answered by the others not currently answering. That question wasn't to you either = )

Also I read your thing on murder. To put it frankly, if you steal something you pay it back with interest, if you murder someone you need grace. In the aspect of human life for those who don't believe in an afterlife of heaven or hell, it doesn't seem to do much justice does it?

 

The meaning of life or the threat of death would be greatly diminished without the belief in an afterlife of heaven or hell...at least to me that is common sense but as with everything that is not all encompassing I am sure.

As for if the original question would have been answered more by others if change slightly....no way of knowing. Start another thread

 

Wait. To me I would think the meaning of life and death would be greatly emphasized. If I knew I only had one life to live, I would live it as best as I could and do less risky things to make myself live as long as possible. The threat of death would be, for lack of better words, a death sentence. Knowing that I only have one life to live I wouldn't want to die. I know that Christians aren't suicidal and eager to die, but if I knew there was something out there after this, I wouldn't welcome death as easily if it knew I'd have another life.

Totally different ways of thinking coming from two different people. Kind of crazy how different we view life with the same question.

 

I would live by and teach the same moral values and standards I live by today.

Creation was created by design....it has been proven mathematically impossible to be random or by chance.

The majority of the simple just accept the thought of a supreme creator....those who think there smart are clouded by logic and how random the tangible is....the true intellects through out history have set out to disprove the existence of a supreme creator but only succeeded in proving it.

 

YOLO was born out of the minds of those that believe we only live once....don't see any believe in protecting, cherishing or taking care of it

 

au contraire, according to wikipedia, YOLO came from canadian rapper Drake who was born to a Jewish mother. His wiki biography does not state he is religious but in one interview he did state "I've seen a lot, man. I've seen a lot of life, put it that way. I've been with the most blessed kids in the world. I've been with people whose life is right at the bottom of the barrel. I was on a TV show, I went to art school, I went to hood schools. I've lived. I've lived a full 24 years, man"

One could argue that he is a religious man who believes in an afterlife ; )

YOLO can have bad connotations or good connotations like Carpe Diem. Just depends on how you interpret it. I don't think I knew what it meant until I watched an episode of Justified last year.

 

Please stop.

 

There is just no way that some random matter created the beginnings of the world we share. Or, the perfect simplicity of a birds feather. Or, the feeling I get when I watch a sunrise or hold a child for the first time. It took a larger power, no argument.

 

True statement bud...people who claim to need proof just don't observe the world in my opinion