TWSS is right there with his comment. Keep in mind that God gave us all a free-will with the hope that we would worship Him and follow his teachings/commandments. For those that do, He has provided a reward. For those that choose not to, the reward may not be so desirous.
He knows my heart, and He knows that I sin every day, but as long as I repent and ask forgiveness, His grace is still there for me as long as I am faithful to Him. There is absolutely nothing that I can do in the way of good things that can promise me His reward. Only His grace does that, and for that reason, He sent His Son to this earth to teach and be sacrificed for us. I quite literally could be ETERNALLY grateful for that grace.
While the Ten Commandments start out with the commandments to put no other gods before God, I'll address your question without really quoting the Bible. What other gods do you refer to, and do they have prophets (not priests) and holy books for themselves? Can the actions of those gods answer the age old questions of creation and adaptation/evolving?
Without knowing specifically which gods you refer to, I can't be more specific with an answer.
ALL other gods, religions. By the ten commandment quote, you say there are other gods?
I am only assuming you are a Christian.
Terrymiller, I love your replies! I wish I was better at explaining God and Christianity, and I have been a Christian since 1983 and it is still very difficult for me to explain all the things I know about God and the Bible to other people. Even after all these years I still have many of my own questions on the subject and my best advice is for someone to research it on their own and attend a Bible based church. After you find a church you like, get involved in a Bible study group of some kind. I have been attending a Mens Bible study group for about 6 years that meets at 6:30 AM every Tuesday at North Church in Edmond. I would rather miss my own birthday party than miss my Mens Group meeting, its a great group of guys and I have made many friends there and some times we even bring our new gun purchases to show the other guys. Every man is WELCOME to attend.
Yes, I am definitely a Christian. As a young man, I had my questions about religion in general, and I'm still one that loves learning more about so many of them. Oddly enough, I'm not interested so much in what I call the "Eastern religions" such as practiced in the far east and India, and thus I don't know if any or all of them have "holy books" or just traditions.
When I was in the Army, I had the good fortune(?) to be stationed in West Pakistan. (In fact, near a city that is about 115 miles from where Bin Laden was killed.) While there, I was involved with religious discussions with Christians with beliefs other than my own, a short discussion with one man that was Jewish, and with a Pakistani that had converted from Islam to Christianity. It was that last gentleman that schooled me on the issues we all pretty much know about Islam. He took me aside one day and told of his conversion and that he feared daily for his life.
As for other gods, while they are there, they are more of a god created by mankind. Shoot, even the children of Israel when confronted with a long wait, while Moses was on the mountain with God, had Aaron create them a golden calf to worship. That in spite of all the miracles they had seen God do for their benefit. How many tribal people have come up with a "great spirit" of some kind? Those are all over the world. God knew of all the gods that man created. I don't remember whether it was the Peter or Paul that met with prominent men in one of the cities and commented on their proliferation of "monuments" to various gods, including one that the city had dedicated to the "unknown" god. They evidently wanted to cover all the bases.
Thank you. I consider that high praise. And yes, if one is going to be a Christian, one needs to focus on the Bible and not on any of the various creeds that some religions have created for themselves. I don't think it matters what name is on the building or what people call themselves, but being Bible based is important, otherwise, one could be teaching false doctrines. We were warned of false prophets and teachers.
Now, take this next comment in jest because that is how it is meant. Be careful with taking new firearms purchases to church functions as one might be accused of "worshiping" a false god.
I've found that Christians avoid answering these kinda questions.
How does one learn from the bible and not question its teachings? I am too curious and ask too many questions and would probably be kicked out on my bum.
All that old testament stuff killings and stonings, and belittling women, rape. I just dont get it. I could not go by any of this. I love and respect my wife too much to make her think she is below me. Almost animal or slave like.
