Posting this here because anything to do with religion usually turns into a debate.

Dear God,

It feels weird not to start a letter with, "Hi, how are you?" It's the thing I start most of my conversations with and so why not letters as well? But I don't want to start that way. I'm writing you because I have some questions. There are things I don't understand and who better to go to than the source, right?

I guess first I'll go with the question that sticks out most in my mind, Why does Hell exist? I know the stock answer. That doesn't satisfy me. I'm a parent. I've been taught two versions of God that just don't fit well together for me. I've been taught that you are a jealous God, which then I understand why Hell exists. And I've been taught that you are a loving God, which confuses me. I've read, studied, and tried to understand this. Most people say that we should think of God as this loving being. That you love us like our parents do, only better. (And I guess for those who had terrible parents, way better) But if you love us like that, then why does Hell exist? I have three children who are my whole world. I would die for any one of them. But nothing they could do would make me turn away from them. No 'sin' that they could commit would be so great that I would want to condemn them to an eternity in Hell. Murder? No Child Abuse? No Stealing, Lieing, Adultery? No, no, no I would not condone their actions, but neither would I turn them away. They are my children. I will love them for all time no matter what they do.

I can tell you the Hell spiel as good as any preacher. It exists because there is sin in the world. Because God is holy and pure and sin can not enter into His domain. OK, fine. So be it, but then doesn't that negate the whole, God loves everyone and wants everyone to go to heaven concept that they then tell us? For God so loved the WORLD that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever believed in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life. So then all I have to do to get to heaven is believe in Jesus, right? No worries about those pesky 10 commandments. You see my conundrum? Can you understand why I have troubles with this concept?

The next thing I have problems with is this, why don't we see things happening today like those that are in the Bible? I don't believe in evolution. 1) It's an unproven theory the same as creation.. people forget that. 2) If evolution happens on the major scale, why isn't it still happening today? Yes people spout more theory about this... unproven theories abound in science. But when did we start taking them as fact again. When did people forget that the world used to be flat according to science? That the earth was the center of the universe. These were things that science KNEW. And yet we know they aren't true today. By the same token there are many stories in the bible that I just am not sure about. If a 'big fish' actually swallowed a man, and he lived in his belly for 3 days, and then was spit out on a beach somewhere, why do we not hear about these things today? If a man was biten by a poisonous snake, shook it off, and carried on as usual, wouldn't it be all over the news? People say God shouldn't have to prove himself, others say he does every day. I have seen things happen that I would consider a miracle. But at the same time, how come you "proved" yourself then, and not now? What's different?

So yeah, those are some questions I have. I won't hold my breath while waiting for the answers.

Confused

By Jujubee on Friday, August 21, 2009 - 02:45 pm:

Forgot to add that this isn't mine, but it touched me because I have 3 kids too. I found it here: http://fireprooflove.livejournal.com/

By Northcountrymom on Wednesday, September 23, 2009 - 11:12 am:

Thanks for posting. Link was interesting also.

Thought of Frances Schaeffer when I was reading it. He and his wife Edith founded L'Abri in Switzerland. Anyone could go there and stay as long as they wanted to struggle with issues in the Bible. Eventually there were others established in othere areas of the world.