Re: The Library in Heaven

Dear fsnaturelady,
Thank you for your reply and your understanding and intelligent tone is welcomed and appreciated.
Well, you are hardly alone in saying that you're not well versed in the Bible as even those who claim to read it often remain in the dark as to what it really means! By the same token, I'm not well versed in astrological signs (although I understand we're currently in Aquarius?) as such learnings are not encouraged by our Creator.
What you say about "passing a sentence around a group of people will result in its not being the original" is quite right but consider the following and see if it applies to the Bible:- It was written over a period of about 1,500 years by over 40 authors of vastly different backgrounds in vastly different places; it was written on three different continents and in three different languages but throughout, it's in complete unity and harmony.
Yes, there are some passages that might seem to be at variance but, still, they never depart from the entire progression of the aim of the Book, which is - leading people to accept Christ as their personal and only Saviour. Sometimes I think that such a Book could have been written in no more than a hundred pages instead of the thousand, or so, it usually contains but it's also a law book and, in keeping with most law books, 't's are crossed and 'i's are dotted, thus adding to the extensive wording.
Needless to say, you're absolutely right that religion and war (Crusades, etc) have been pandemic but 'religion' is not necessarily 'faith'. ALL religions, as I see them, are corrupt but that has no bearing on what one believes as to who God really is and what His word really says. In fact, 'religion' has put many people off their faith, completely - and I know some of them.
Again, I agree with you that all religions share a similar story, and not surprisingly - they all stem from the one Creation! As is the usual process, mankind began to add his own 'improvements' until the corruption has reached the stage at which it is, today - a total mess!
The so-called 'angry God' of the Old Testament is one of the errors perpetrated by ignorant people. Basically, the Old Testament tells us two vital things: (i) when God's people obeyed His laws, they prospered and when they didn't, they suffered; (ii) it was a forecast that Jesus, the Christ, was going to return.
Why would God be 'angry' over these matters? Here's why:- the world had already become a wicked place by the time of Abram (later, called Abraham) so God called him out for the purpose of being the origin of a race whose progeny would ultimately lead to the birth of Christ. Abraham's descendants did exceedingly well for generations because they followed God's laws and guidelines but once those descendants started leading the people away from those laws and guidelines, they suffered. This was not God's doing but man's own doing - after all, they knew what to do but failed to do it (just as is being done, today). What people see as God's 'anger' is simply the fact that He withdraws His blessings from them when they withdraw from Him. If people saw such 'anger' as 'discipline', their thinking would change dramatically. If you've had children and they've misbehaved and become defiant of you, did you never deprive them of something they liked until they behaved themselves? It doesn't seem appropriate that God would go around smacking millions of backsides, therefore He simply denies them their benefits until they return to their senses.
Your third paragraph is worded beautifully and absolutely correct in all points. All I will add is that, ultimately, we must CHOOSE one path and one path only.
Your next paragraph highlights an obvious problem - ALL beliefs CANNOT be correct and, yet, one is. (The Torah, by the way, is merely the Old Testament with the Lawsw of God.) Bearing in mind that the 'real' God of this Universe will, by definition, ensure that His faith will never die, we need to determine what the big difference is between all these books. As mentioned above, all religions stem from the one source so, whilst there are many differences, there is one, above all, that declares the Bible as God's only word. It's called 'prophecy'! The Bible is the ONLY Book containing prophecies that have all been completed in precise detail, most of which have been confirmed by historical or archeological records. Nostradamus, Mother Shipton and others have made alleged prophecies but the rule of prophecy is that it must be completely accurate and timely - matters totally lacking by such 'prophets'. Biblically, they're called 'false prophets' because the odd 'correct' prophecy causes people to follow even their incorrect ones and, thus, be led away from God's truth.
There's absolutely no need to know about NDEs, etc, to know 'what lies beyond' - the Bible clearly explains everything about it!
Obviously, I have to disagree with you about "having the opportunity to be in the same place on the Other Side". If such is the case, why bother dying as we'll only meet the same corrupt people (murderers, rapists, G. Bush, et al) in that 'Other Side'. It should be plain to all that there is a constant battle going on between 'good' and 'evil' and one must yield to the other before harmony (either pure goodness or pure wickedness) can ever exist. Again, the Bible is clear - only those who accept and follow Jesus will want to wake up "on the Other Side".
I hope you'll ponder these things but there's so much one could add that you might be amazed.
Take care,
Gee.








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