Life-Long Test or Trial

[LegendarySandwich]

You are wrong. Dead wrong. If something isn't in the Bible, it isn't there. If it isn't there, it...isn't there. I can't blame an atheist of being ignorant of the Bible for that goes with the territory; but your apparent inability to reason surprises me!

But, then,  you seem smart enough. I'll give you the benefit of the doubt and just assume you want to win what you perceive is a debate.

This isn't an issue of whether the Bible says that life is a trial, once again. This is about interpretation. Your interpretation is probably "correct"; however, that does not change the fact that it is not a fact.

Unless you take everything in the Bible completely, 100% literally, ignoring all context and other verses, then you have to have at least some interpretation of what it's saying. This means that there's a possibility you could be wrong, and that other people have other interpretations -- thus, it is opinion.

[xSilverPhinx]

What happens if there are contradictory things in the bible. Things that are actually in the bible, like, you know, written in the bible. Then what?

Some messed up mind god has.

One thing that's missing from the bible, however is whether god prefers cheddar or swiss cheese.  

[Stevil]

"Thou shalt haveth holes in thine cheese and it will be good"

[xSilverPhinx]

"Thou shalt haveth holes in thine cheese and it will be good"

And god saw that it was good.

Amen

[The Magic Pudding]

One thing that's missing from the bible, however is whether god prefers cheddar or swiss cheese.  

He'd go for Swiss wouldn't he, 'cause it's holy.
I'll go hide now.

[xSilverPhinx]

One thing that's missing from the bible, however is whether god prefers cheddar or swiss cheese.  lol

I guess it's settled then.

[AreEl]

This isn't an issue of whether the Bible says that life is a trial, once again. This is about interpretation. Your interpretation is probably "correct"; however, that does not change the fact that it is not a fact.

Unless you take everything in the Bible completely, 100% literally, ignoring all context and other verses, then you have to have at least some interpretation of what it's saying. This means that there's a possibility you could be wrong, and that other people have other interpretations -- thus, it is opinion.

I'm not interpreting anything about the Bible in our conversation. I just pointed out that ''Life is a trial'' isn't biblical; actually, what would be biblical is ''Life is a blessing''...but that's another subject. From what I can tell, you seem to give equal credibility to any point of view about what is or is not ''Christian'' wisdom. Using the standard ''That's just your opinion'' anything is equally valid and non-valid.  In case you didn't know, this is one of the defining characteristics of Postmodernism. ''I'm OK, you're OK,''  ''Whatever works for you,'' ''Everything is relative'' ...all spring from the same well:  mysticism. You see things that aren't there and assume things that are not real.

An atheist can't afford to stand on anything but solid ground. You need to work on yourself.

[DirtyLeo]

Actually, "life is a trial" is a simple deduction: God created us and put us here. We are given rules to follow to be good Christians/Muslims/whatever. We are promised an afterlife. If this is not a trial, then why the rules? If a believer is not going to be judged by his/her actions, then what is the meaning of living like a believer? Are you saying that I'm not accountable of my actions and God (or your creator of your choice) is not going to judge us against the criteria set in scripture and our eternal life (a its quality) is not going to depend on it? Life may be a "blessing" but it is a blessing if it is lived only according to Christian/Muslim/Jewish values otherwise there would be tolerance in religion (for instance the blessing of being homosexual is not seen as a blessing at all).

Regardless, the question was about God's knowledge of our lives' paths and outcomes. He/she knows about our future decisions so we don't need to be here to prove him/her that we are good or bad because he/she created us in the first place and he/she is all-knowing (I am assuming that he/she is all-knowing).

It's just like the concepts of fate and destiny (or the clash of fate/destiny or freewill). Muslims, for instance, believe in fate and destiny. Qu'ran states:

57:22 - "No calamity befalls on the earth or in yourselves but is inscribed in the Book of Decrees (Al-Lauh Al-Mahfûz), before We bring it into existence. Verily, that is easy for Allâh."

... and according to Sunnah:

“Allah wrote down the decrees of creation fifty thousand years before He created the heavens and the earth.”

[xSilverPhinx]

An atheist can't afford to stand on anything but solid ground. You need to work on yourself.

Better stand on solid ground than have your head in the clouds.  

[Being_Brave]

This is the problem with debating religion.  You don't get the same answer or point of view from two different people.  If God is in a state of timelessness, then he is atemporal.  Didn't another theist tell us that God and heaven are not atemporal on another thread?  You can't ask a question of theists if you want one concensus answer, but it is entertaining to see all the different ideas on what they think the Bible or Qur'an or other religious texts mean.

Can you point me to that thread? (if you remember which one it was). I'd like to read what they said exactly, because I've never actually met a Christian of any denomination who believed that God or anyone in heaven aged, or who didn't believe that God is free from the limitations of time.

[fester30]

This is the problem with debating religion.  You don't get the same answer or point of view from two different people.  If God is in a state of timelessness, then he is atemporal.  Didn't another theist tell us that God and heaven are not atemporal on another thread?  You can't ask a question of theists if you want one concensus answer, but it is entertaining to see all the different ideas on what they think the Bible or Qur'an or other religious texts mean.

Can you point me to that thread? (if you remember which one it was). I'd like to read what they said exactly, because I've never actually met a Christian of any denomination who believed that God or anyone in heaven aged, or who didn't believe that God is free from the limitations of time.

Here is the link http://www.happyatheistforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=7164&p=107840&hilit=atemporal#p107840

Here is what AreEl said

The Bible doesn't say that heaven and hell are atemporal (without time). If you - theist or atheist - think this is what the Bible says, you are in error. The Bible says that Heaven is eternal, that hell is a created place and will be eternal. Your opinion as to the Bible's truth or falsehood are irrelevant here: my goal has always been to tell you what the Bible really says about these two places, period.

Fester,

heaven isn't atemporal. This can be deduced from what the Bible says, period. That ''some Christians'' may believe in atemporality - or other bizarre notions - just tells me that their biblical literacy lacking.

As for talking ''to a thousand different preachers and get a thousand different [explanations about what the Bible says]'' this is an exaggeration but contains a kernel of truth. The best way around this foolishness is to read the book yourself and see what it says. No one will serve you better than yourself.

He said it twice.