saturnflair2009
(?)Community Member
- Posted: Mon, 06 Jul 2015 15:03:52 +0000
Hey ED, it's me again with another question for you as part of my larger study into Christianity. My question for you this time is hypothetical.
What is better, to follow God out of fear of his punishment (hell) or to do what you believe is the real good despite the possibility of going to hell over it.
Let me elaborate on this. The question was asked "What is morality? Are things moral because God said them, or did God say them because they were moral". I believe that God said them because they were moral, as there are certain things that god can say that most of us would never consider moral, mass murder and etc. However, that raises the question of literal interpretations in the Bible. The Bible states clearly that many things are good which we would consider immoral, and vice versa. (Product of the time? Who knows).
Anyways, throughout time there have been people who fought against certain interpretations of the bible for what they believed was the real good. Women got the ability to dress how they want, be active in their churches, and consider themselves equals with men. Slavery became declared an immoral practice that should never be allowed. Mixing of the races is now accepted. Recently, Gay marriage is slowly becoming a thing.
In all these cases, those who did what they believed was right get threatened with death and hell fire for deviating from our current understanding of god and the scriptures. If you don't think a specific way, you are a heretic. However, if they never did this, the Christian world would look significantly different then what we have today. A little more like the Muslims we fight over seas.
So back to my question, what is better? Should you follow god strictly out of the fear of hell, or follow god in what we believe is righteous?
What is better, to follow God out of fear of his punishment (hell) or to do what you believe is the real good despite the possibility of going to hell over it.
Let me elaborate on this. The question was asked "What is morality? Are things moral because God said them, or did God say them because they were moral". I believe that God said them because they were moral, as there are certain things that god can say that most of us would never consider moral, mass murder and etc. However, that raises the question of literal interpretations in the Bible. The Bible states clearly that many things are good which we would consider immoral, and vice versa. (Product of the time? Who knows).
Anyways, throughout time there have been people who fought against certain interpretations of the bible for what they believed was the real good. Women got the ability to dress how they want, be active in their churches, and consider themselves equals with men. Slavery became declared an immoral practice that should never be allowed. Mixing of the races is now accepted. Recently, Gay marriage is slowly becoming a thing.
In all these cases, those who did what they believed was right get threatened with death and hell fire for deviating from our current understanding of god and the scriptures. If you don't think a specific way, you are a heretic. However, if they never did this, the Christian world would look significantly different then what we have today. A little more like the Muslims we fight over seas.
So back to my question, what is better? Should you follow god strictly out of the fear of hell, or follow god in what we believe is righteous?