Do we really “trust in God”?

It’s hard to offend me, I really am open minded. 😆. And I find this stuff extremely interesting as well. But, IMO, Satan is a corrupter. It is God that cleans up Satan‘s messes, judging who is worthy and who is unworthy, giving forgiveness to us all. Can the corrupted person be redeemed?, of course, and easily, IMO.

Sincere heart felt prayers for forgiveness, the old “ask and you shall receive” or an act of redemption, or other methods which don’t come to mind. Also, I suppose the forgiveness of someone you wronged would weight heavily in your favor. I believe there is something about there are many paths to heaven in the Bible, just as their are many paths in hell.

There, of course, is no proof of existence, there is faith and belief. Do I trust the sun will rise tomorrow? Nope. But I believe the sun will rise tomorrow. Do I believe everyone goes to heaven? Yes, I do. Because hell, is here, now. We are living in hell.

@Oris Borloff
Alas, often, I have to agree with your last two sentences.
 

I don't know much about quantum physics, but the general laws of physics can be relied upon and apply throughout the universe.
Here is something to go on as we try to understand our universe:

"Seven Essential Elements of Quantum Physics
  • Particles are waves, and vice versa. ...
  • Quantum states are discrete. ...
  • Probability is all we ever know. ...
  • Measurement determines reality. ...
  • Quantum correlations are non-local. ...
  • Everything not forbidden is mandatory. ...
  • Quantum physics is not magic.
Plus this to blow your mind:
"Quantum theory describes the behavior of things — particles or energy — on the smallest scale. ... Also weird: Thanks to quantum theory, scientists have shown how pairs of particles can be linked — even if they're on different sides of the room or opposite sides of the universe."
 
You'll like this taken from a Methodist website:
"A visiting pastor attended a men's breakfast in the middle of a rural farming area of
the country.

The group had asked an older farmer, decked out in bib overalls, to say grace for the
morning breakfast.

"Lord, I hate buttermilk", the farmer began. The visiting pastor opened one eye to

glance at the farmer and wondered where this was going. The farmer loudly

proclaimed, "Lord, I hate lard." Now the pastor was growing concerned. Without

missing a beat, the farmer continued, "And Lord, you know I don't much care for raw

white flour". The pastor once again opened an eye to glance around the room and

saw that he wasn't the only one to feel uncomfortable.

Then the farmer added, "But Lord, when you mix them all together and bake them, I

do love warm fresh biscuits. So Lord, when things come up that we don't like, when

life gets hard, when we don't understand what you're saying to us, help us to just

relax and wait until you are done mixing. It will probably be even better than biscuits.
Amen."

Stay strong, my friends, because our LORD is mixing several things that we don't
really care for, but something even better is around the bend."
An interesting metaphor. As someone with a Methodist background, although the English tradition rather than the US one, I can relate to this story. It reminds us that different people have very different interpretations of religious themes and that all are invited into the Kingdom regardless of education level or intellect. There is a story, that I am unable to find right now, about Charles Wesley and an uneducated lay preacher who kept referring to Jesus as the 'oyster man'. If anyone can find it it is worth thinking about.
 

Here is something to go on as we try to understand our universe:

"Seven Essential Elements of Quantum Physics
  • Particles are waves, and vice versa. ...
  • Quantum states are discrete. ...
  • Probability is all we ever know. ...
  • Measurement determines reality. ...
  • Quantum correlations are non-local. ...
  • Everything not forbidden is mandatory. ...
  • Quantum physics is not magic.
Plus this to blow your mind:
"Quantum theory describes the behavior of things — particles or energy — on the smallest scale. ... Also weird: Thanks to quantum theory, scientists have shown how pairs of particles can be linked — even if they're on different sides of the room or opposite sides of the universe."
Quantum mechanics is essential to understanding chemical reactions and the calculations we use to calculate yields and reaction rates. It is not very useful when we want to understand human nature and important existential questions.
 
If there were a Satan, why wouldn't God just destroy him?
Because Satan is an angel kicked out of heaven by God. He was already judged. What could be worst then having obtained heaven and losing it. Being destroyed would be a relief. God the father is one mean entity.
 
Quantum mechanics is essential to understanding chemical reactions and the calculations we use to calculate yields and reaction rates. It is not very useful when we want to understand human nature and important existential questions.
I can barely remember even the basic maths soooo quantum science could be a candy bar as far as I know. Oh, gosh. I also want a candy bar, but, then, I want my A1C lower as well. 😢. See what all this talk about quantum has done. Now I am sad.
 
The belief in God as an all-powerful being who is really interested and controlling every event in our tiny lives, while (in the meantime) running the rest of the unimaginably huge universe... this God being at all threatened by Satan, is an attempt to explain the evil and tragedy in the world. There is no way we can believe we are protected by a loving Father up there, while enduring the level of human tragedies that people live with every day. So Satan had to be invented.

I've never understood why, after a natural disaster, when people manage to survive and their families are OK, they thank God and call it a miracle. But what about the family next door, perfectly innocent people, who were wiped out by the same disaster? Where does God fit in there?

So then we get back to the book of Job, as usual.

The fact is, we don't know anything, really, we don't understand why good and bad things happen, if there even is a "why." All the religious explanations are attempts to make sense of the unexplainable.

And the fairy tales in the Bible, while some of them are whopping good tales, make no sense at all. God wanted to free the Jews in Egypt from slavery, so he inflicted 10 horrible plagues on Egypt and produced miracles like the parting of the Red Sea to allow the Jews to run across, but then He put the water back so the Egyptian soldiers drowned? Why didn't he just stop allowing the Egyptians to make other human beings slaves to begin with?
 
The belief in God as an all-powerful being who is really interested and controlling every event in our tiny lives, while (in the meantime) running the rest of the unimaginably huge universe... this God being at all threatened by Satan, is an attempt to explain the evil and tragedy in the world. There is no way we can believe we are protected by a loving Father up there, while enduring the level of human tragedies that people live with every day. So Satan had to be invented.

I've never understood why, after a natural disaster, when people manage to survive and their families are OK, they thank God and call it a miracle. But what about the family next door, perfectly innocent people, who were wiped out by the same disaster? Where does God fit in there?

So then we get back to the book of Job, as usual.

The fact is, we don't know anything, really, we don't understand why good and bad things happen, if there even is a "why." All the religious explanations are attempts to make sense of the unexplainable.

And the fairy tales in the Bible, while some of them are whopping good tales, make no sense at all. God wanted to free the Jews in Egypt from slavery, so he inflicted 10 horrible plagues on Egypt and produced miracles like the parting of the Red Sea to allow the Jews to run across, but then He put the water back so the Egyptian soldiers drowned? Why didn't he just stop allowing the Egyptians to make other human beings slaves to begin with?
Man invented 'God' because he needed someone to hold responsible for everything that happens. He needed to believe that there is someone in charge, someone with a masterplan, who has a reason for allowing all unpleasant things to happen.
 
The belief in God as an all-powerful being who is really interested and controlling every event in our tiny lives, while (in the meantime) running the rest of the unimaginably huge universe... this God being at all threatened by Satan, is an attempt to explain the evil and tragedy in the world. There is no way we can believe we are protected by a loving Father up there, while enduring the level of human tragedies that people live with every day. So Satan had to be invented.

I've never understood why, after a natural disaster, when people manage to survive and their families are OK, they thank God and call it a miracle. But what about the family next door, perfectly innocent people, who were wiped out by the same disaster? Where does God fit in there?

So then we get back to the book of Job, as usual.

The fact is, we don't know anything, really, we don't understand why good and bad things happen, if there even is a "why." All the religious explanations are attempts to make sense of the unexplainable.

And the fairy tales in the Bible, while some of them are whopping good tales, make no sense at all. God wanted to free the Jews in Egypt from slavery, so he inflicted 10 horrible plagues on Egypt and produced miracles like the parting of the Red Sea to allow the Jews to run across, but then He put the water back so the Egyptian soldiers drowned? Why didn't he just stop allowing the Egyptians to make other human beings slaves to begin with?
You might be, IMO, confusing the God of the Old Testament-God the Father, with Jesus Christ. God, as I said, very mean, unforgiving, interested only in the Jewish people. I am no Bible expert or religious expert. Jesus Christ, son of God, rejected by the Jewish people. Believed in by the Romans and others. Still rejected by the Jewish people as the son of God.

Old Testament vs New. There is and continues to be the issue of free will. God is not controlling, we are. You can not judge that the survivors are innocent. You can not judge that those that don’t survive are innocent. (Well, you can judge what you want, but I am saying from a belief stand point, only God can judge.)

I have no ideal why my three baby boys died and I did not. 😭. I have no ideal why I continue to live when death would be a personal relief from so much daily pain and suffering. I am far from innocent. Perhaps when I have suffered enough I will be allowed to die. I, too, have no understanding. I have blind faith. I have hope.

I would never try and convert anyone to my way of thinking. Not even my children, never have.
 
Man invented 'God' because he needed someone to hold responsible for everything that happens. He needed to believe that there is someone in charge, someone with a masterplan, who has a reason for allowing all unpleasant things to happen.
I disagree.
 
You might be, IMO, confusing the God of the Old Testament-God the Father, with Jesus Christ. God, as I said, very mean, unforgiving, interested only in the Jewish people. I am no Bible expert or religious expert. Jesus Christ, son of God, rejected by the Jewish people. Believed in by the Romans and others. Still rejected by the Jewish people as the son of God.
You sure ain't.
 
You sure ain't.
Do you remember kindergarten rules or forum rules even? Just saying, cause I have not felt well all week and I find my patience is a bit thin. I consider your comment rude, offensive, and unnecessary.
 
Isn’t trusting in God, trusting in ourselves since God is within us? I view God as the divine laws that govern our universe and everything in it.
An energy greater than us alone yet part of us.
 
Quantum mechanics is essential to understanding chemical reactions and the calculations we use to calculate yields and reaction rates. It is not very useful when we want to understand human nature and important existential questions.
Reality is actually fluid in its energy form so quantum mechanics has a lot to do with not only human nature but everything in the world and the universe. A solid rock magnified down to its basic molecular structure is moving energy just like we are and just like water is actually two gases mixed together.
Isnt it our human perception that makes it appear otherwise?
 
Quantum mechanics is essential to understanding chemical reactions and the calculations we use to calculate yields and reaction rates. It is not very useful when we want to understand human nature and important existential questions.
I'm sure you're right, or I was until doing my search earlier, and now discover there are arguments about that, and of course the "Higgs bosun", known as the "God particle",(but only as an exaggeration, or for some other strange reason?).
 
Here is something to go on as we try to understand our universe:

"Seven Essential Elements of Quantum Physics
  • Particles are waves, and vice versa. ...
  • Quantum states are discrete. ...
  • Probability is all we ever know. ...
  • Measurement determines reality. ...
  • Quantum correlations are non-local. ...
  • Everything not forbidden is mandatory. ...
  • Quantum physics is not magic.
Plus this to blow your mind:
"Quantum theory describes the behavior of things — particles or energy — on the smallest scale. ... Also weird: Thanks to quantum theory, scientists have shown how pairs of particles can be linked — even if they're on different sides of the room or opposite sides of the universe."

I'm not really interested in trying to understand the universe. If I did understand it, I'm not sure what good it would do me. I'm still going to die one day... probably within the next twenty or so years, so I'd rather spend the time I have left making music and other things just for fun.

Eventually, quantum physics will be useful; perhaps it is right now to some people or some kind of technological developments. A lot of it is still just theoretical, but that's what nuclear science was 100 years ago, so for those studying it, all the more power to them.
 
At my age I have given up trying to understand all of the mysteries of this universe. I am content to wonder at it all and to appreciate its beauty and splendour.

I am reminded of a quotation from Star Trek, the Undiscovered Country that has always resonated with me

Spock: "History is replete with turning points, Lieutenant. You must have faith."
Valeris: "Faith?"
Spock: "That the universe will unfold as it should."
Valeris: "But is that logical? Surely we must....."
Spock: "Logic, logic, and logic..... Logic is the beginning of wisdom, Valeris, not the end."

I leave the unfolding of the universe to others to worry about.
Am I being logical or am I exercising faith in the future?
Perhaps I am just switching off as I grow older.
 
Life is life as we know it, but life is probably bigger and greater than we realize. On that note, is it safe to say God is a mystery?

Do I trust in God? I trust in God as he is to me. I do not view God as a distant deity, God is me as I am Him, The more I open myself to God’s guidance and will, God is more relevant to everyday life to me.

My philosophy about people’s beliefs are it’s all part of the process to getting where you want go.
 
You might be, IMO, confusing the God of the Old Testament-God the Father, with Jesus Christ. God, as I said, very mean, unforgiving, interested only in the Jewish people. I am no Bible expert or religious expert. Jesus Christ, son of God, rejected by the Jewish people. Believed in by the Romans and others. Still rejected by the Jewish people as the son of God.
You might be interested, and maybe enlightened, by this, Aneeda. Here is what happened:

The Crucifixion of Jesus and the Jews by Mark Allan Powell


Jesus was crucified as a Jewish victim of Roman violence. On this, all written authorities agree. A Gentile Roman governor, Pontius Pilate, condemned him to death and had him tortured and executed by Gentile Roman soldiers. Jesus was indeed one of thousands of Jews crucified by the Romans.
The New Testament testifies to this basic fact but also allows for Jewish involvement in two ways. First, a few high-ranking Jewish authorities who owed their position and power to the Romans conspired with the Gentile leaders to have Jesus put to death; they are said to have been jealous of Jesus and to have viewed him as a threat to the status quo. Second, an unruly mob of people in Jerusalem called out for Jesus to be crucified—the number of persons in this crowd is not given, nor is any motive supplied for their action (except to say that they had been “stirred up,” Mark 15:11).
Whatever the historical circumstances might have been, early Christian tradition clearly and increasingly placed blame for the death of Jesus on the Jews, decreasing the Romans’ culpability. In Matthew, the Roman governor washes his hands of Jesus’ blood while the Jews proclaim, “His blood be on us and on our children!” (Matt 27:25). John’s Gospel portrays Jews as wanting to kill Jesus throughout his ministry (John 5:18, John 7:1, John 8:37). Similar sentiments are found elsewhere, including writings by Paul, who, himself a Jew, had once persecuted Christians (1Thess 2:14-15, Phil 3:5-6).
The reasons for this shift in emphasis are unclear, but one obvious possibility is that, as the church spread out into the world, Romans rather than Jews became the primary targets of evangelism; thus there could have been some motivation to let Romans “off the hook” and blame the Jews for Jesus’ death. This tendency seems to have increased dramatically after the Roman war with the Jews in the late 60s.
In any case, by the middle of the second century, the apocryphal Gospel of Peter portrays the Romans as friends of Jesus, and the Jews as the ones who crucify him. Thus, a Jewish victim of Roman violence was transformed into a Christian victim of Jewish violence. For centuries, such notions fueled anti-Semitism, leading to a crass denunciation of Jews as “Christ-killers.”
Contrary to such projections, Christian theology has always maintained that the human agents responsible for Jesus’ death are irrelevant: he gave his life willingly as a sacrifice for sin (Mark 10:45; John 18:11). Christians regularly confess that it was their sins (not the misdeeds of either Romans or Jews) that brought Jesus to the cross (Rom 5:8-9; 1Tim 1:15). In most liturgical churches, when Matthew’s Passion Narrative is read in a worship service, all members of the congregation are invited to echo Matt 27:25 aloud, crying, “Let his blood be upon us and upon our children!”

Mark Allan Powell, "Crucifixion of Jesus and the Jews", n.p. [cited 11 Jan 2021]. Online: https://www.bibleodyssey.org:443/en/passages/related-articles/crucifixion-of-jesus-and-the-jews
 


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