Killing a guy’s son to punish the guy isn’t nice.

brilliant logic. very sound. Wonderful. your arguments are tothe point and accurate. I have no belief in anything but a knowledge of its possibility?? confusing..sure as hell i am. I would though like to make one point here… from a pure sense of moral obligation to a higher lifeform, isn’t christianity harmless?? sad its a human system..might work if it was run by apes, or dogs or salamanders.

“Isn’t christianity harmless?” I wish. It has been so harmless that the good christians tortured and burned people at the stake in order to get their land. It is so harmless that the good christians would steal other humans and pack them as sardines and brutlized them. Has it ever been harmless? Hitler was a christian? The KKK is a christian organization. Bushies are using christianity so others

others will follow without thinking because they say they are bible followers. So did Bill. I could spit with the contempt for others that give away their freedom that God gave us and use God as a shill to do as they want.

Your interpretation is flawed. Sure, if David was a perfectly logical guy devoid of any feelings, he would see the situation as you interpret it. But just because he knows his newborn son is going to ‘a better place’ doesn’t mean that he doesn’t feel grief at his son’s loss, guilt that his actions led to it, etc. Thus it IS a punishment to David, though not to his son.

Above noter seems to have totally not gotten the point… And as I understand it, there wasn’t a Jewish conception of an afterlife until fairly late. The closest they come is Sheol, which I don’t think is even as afterlifey as Greek Hades. The point of early Judaism was reward for your community and your line, not you.

So what is it about that passage that “simply doesn’t allow” for not assuming an afterlife? Weird.

Isn’t it incredibly illogical to spend vast amounts of time disproving a God whom you feel is a fantasy. If He’s not real, then lay off of it. Talking about Him to such extremes tells me that HE is still a mystery to you, and therefore, you actually are not sure if He is real or not. Why spend so much time disproving something you feel does not exist? later

The above note is actually a rough analysis after reading several of your entries. I must admit, you’re quite intriguing. As a matter of fact,I was pretty captivated by your writings. Who’d think a bum could be so interesting. As an afterthought, I’m adding you to my favorite’s list. I know I said,’lay off of it,’ but the world would suck if people weren’t opinionated. rightfully so, rightfully so

*lol* i don’t think you’re really a bum. if you were, i highly doubt you’d own a digi cam.

I definately agree with Oblivor84 about you. But you should know, a child is a blessing;& in the Bible, a product of God’s blessing upon the union of a man & woman. Now, David killed to enjoy another man’s woman, & by the natural bodily process of intercourse, a child resulted. But look at it from God’s point of view: why should he bless what David did when it was nothing but sin?…cont…

Noone in their right mind would reward a murderer for murdering someone. And besides, wouldn’t staying in heaven with God be even better than coming to earth and going through all the things we have to go through? Definately! And another thing- that woman came to David when he sent for her: she didn’t put up ANY fight! (the bible does state David was very handsome)It was her sin as well…

….and God clearly states in the Bible that sin PRODUCES death (of one form or another- spiritually/physically). So, this is in fact the natural result.

In this case, I don’t know that David’s belief in an afterlife really makes a difference so much as whether there actually is one or not. As a feeling human being, David suffers emotionally from his son’s loss, regardless of whether he believes in heaven or not, thus David IS being punished. If there is an afterlife, then the son isn’t sharing the punishment, because he’s in heaven. If there isn’t

an afterlife, then the son is sharing the punishment, but not taking it solely in David’s stead. So I don’t think it’s fair to contend that God is simply punishing another in David’s place. Nor should the people’s belief in an afterlife really make a large difference.

and, ofcourse, everyone knows that “Holy” is absolutly equivalent to “nice”. -liZardQueen

If you realize that as long a child is with a parent they are content and the only way to punish them is to take their child from them. If the child went to Heaven then the child however was not punished. Common sense my dear tis all it takes.

man’s justice and God’s justice are not the same…because we have sinned and encourage it all the more…we make exceptions, we bend the rules…God is unchanging in His ways and His laws (the 10 commandments)…because i have lied, stolen, look with lust, haven’t honored my mother and father i rebelled against them when i was younger…i’ve broken his commandments and deserve to be punished…

i have committed a crime (i know what my sin is because i have been told the law)…i deserve to go to prison for such…our prison after God’s judgement is Hell. but Christ suffered on the cross, taking my punishment and dying for me so that i would no longer be in debt. Jesus paid my fine. it’s as simple as that. i am told to repent (turn my back on sin once and for all)and put my life in Christ

God has never failed me, i have failed Him so many times. i don’t trust my own judgement…but after reading scripture and being rebuked by CHrist (my own conscience bears witness to Christ)…i see where i stand…the world’s thinking of good…c’mon. God’s justice, fairness and goodness is altogether right. would you consider yourself to be a good person?

there’s a quick test…no score keeping for anyone else to see…just put aside any prejudices, pre-judgments about it and just see where you stand, for yourself. it’s not like i get some commission from it or anything, there’s no gimmicks, just real questions that need real answers. take care, keep writing. – AltrntvChic