JR2, There's that, and there's also the story in Acts where the couple states that they sold their property and gave everything over to God, when in fact they kept a fairly large quantity to themselves, thus they lied to the Holy Spirit about it.
Trashman: I guess this is one place where we somehat drastically differ. I don't believe in any kind of tiered Heaven or Hell, and I have barely any inklings of understanding or belief in Purgatory, as I haven't read any Scripture on such a place. Although I haven't exactly read the whole Bible yet.
The Bible does say that a person will get thier reward, what they give up will be given to them 100 fold, what they take will be taken from them 100 fold, but read what Revelation has to say:
After this I looked and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and in front of the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands. And they cried out in a loud voice:
"Salvation belongs to our God,
who sits on the throne,
and to the Lamb." All the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures. They fell down on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, 12saying:
"Amen!
Praise and glory
and wisdom and thanks and honor
and power and strength
be to our God for ever and ever.
Amen!"
Then one of the elders asked me, "These in white robes—who are they, and where did they come from?"
I answered, "Sir, you know."
And he said, "These are they who have come out of the great tribulation; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. Therefore,
"they are before the throne of God
and serve him day and night in his temple;
and he who sits on the throne will spread his tent over them.
Never again will they hunger;
never again will they thirst.
The sun will not beat upon them,
nor any scorching heat.
For the Lamb at the center of the throne will be their shepherd;
he will lead them to springs of living water.
And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes." -Revelation 7:9-17
This is what the Bible says about Christians, those who have washed their robes in the blood of the Lamb and made them white.
Now here's what the Bible says about those who are not Christians, and their judgement:
Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. Earth and sky fled from his presence, and there was no place for them. And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Another book was opened, which is the book of life. The dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books. The sea gave up the dead that were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them, and each person was judged according to what he had done. Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. The lake of fire is the second death. If anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.
-Revelation 20:11-15
Now you might say, "Well, who's name is in the book of life?" Read:
Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away."
He who was seated on the throne said, "I am making everything new!" Then he said, "Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true."
He said to me: "It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To him who is thirsty I will give to drink without cost from the spring of the water of life. He who overcomes will inherit all this, and I will be his God and he will be my son. But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars—their place will be in the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death."
One of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues came and said to me, "Come, I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb." And he carried me away in the Spirit to a mountain great and high, and showed me the Holy City, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God. It shone with the glory of God, and its brilliance was like that of a very precious jewel, like a jasper, clear as crystal. It had a great, high wall with twelve gates, and with twelve angels at the gates. On the gates were written the names of the twelve tribes of Israel. There were three gates on the east, three on the north, three on the south and three on the west. The wall of the city had twelve foundations, and on them were the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.
The angel who talked with me had a measuring rod of gold to measure the city, its gates and its walls. The city was laid out like a square, as long as it was wide. He measured the city with the rod and found it to be 12,000 stadia in length, and as wide and high as it is long. He measured its wall and it was 144 cubit thick, by man's measurement, which the angel was using. The wall was made of jasper, and the city of pure gold, as pure as glass. The foundations of the city walls were decorated with every kind of precious stone. The first foundation was jasper, the second sapphire, the third chalcedony, the fourth emerald, 20the fifth sardonyx, the sixth carnelian, the seventh chrysolite, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth chrysoprase, the eleventh jacinth, and the twelfth amethyst. The twelve gates were twelve pearls, each gate made of a single pearl. The great street of the city was of pure gold, like transparent glass.
I did not see a temple in the city, because the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and the Lamb is its lamp. The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their splendor into it. On no day will its gates ever be shut, for there will be no night there. 26The glory and honor of the nations will be brought into it. Nothing impure will ever enter it, nor will anyone who does what is shameful or deceitful, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb's book of life.
-Revelation 21:1-27
Bla bla bla bla bla...
tl;dr.
It's kinda funny how the devout agnostics are the only ones who are right. Placing all of their beliefs in that no idea can EVER be proven, positive or negative, sounds the most reasonable to me. Science and religion are both invalid ways to base your life around. After all, who is man to say God had a son? Who is man to say God did not? Who is man to say "I am the son of God"? Who is man to say "I am not the son of God"?
Face it people, you both fail.
I agree. Any normal man saying "I am God" or "I am the son of God" would be chalked up as crazy in my book. However, when one dies, and is indeed most certainly dead, for several days, and then gets up and walks around a bit more, He tends to get a
little bit more credibility to me.
Thaat said, I myself do look at the universe, it's laws and it's beauty and I simply cannot belive all of it is just there by purce chance.
So you just throw in the towel, say 'God did it', and sit back with a satisfied grin on your face?
How disappointing.
So you just throw in the towel, say "It's by pure chance," and sit back with a satisfied grin on your face, then mock those who attribute it to a being who is indeed fully capable of doing all that and more?
How very disappointing indeed.
Do you have any idea how many things in the Universe that scientists know full and well about that just plain simply don’t make sense? There are more to come. Even if we did figure out every single law and every single method by which the Universe is run, what then? The sheer awesomeness of it all will be an even greater testament to the existence of God! Saying "God made it" is not a copout, but simply a very logical conclusion one can draw based upon what we know to be true as of right now. I am of the school of thought that science does not attempt to disprove or deny a creator, but rather support His existence.
