Any Christians Here (White Giant)

I just had two questions that can go to any Christians on the board.

1. Why would God damn a individual to hell for giving them the ability to think/free will.

2. Alot of people say that abortions/Cloning is a method of playing god, does that mean that God isn't all almighty and power as hes thought to be... And with enough patience a single human being can become a God?

I do like the teachings of the bible but I believe god is unjust.

@Serpent
Just to make things clear, when I said intent I meant to include a reasonable effort which I automatically associated with intent.

A moral gray area means situations that are complex enough that doing either action will result in some wrong and some right. The question is which decision is most moral, and which decision does the most good come out of things? Nobody knows exactly which path God would have them choose, there is no divine revelation. As for the rationalization part, the intent of that statement is to show that people generally do what they think is right, whether or not it can reasonably be justified. Also, that is why I said there is a reason for the moral compass that is in the bible even if it can only offer a general direction.

Trust me, read one book on Moral Theology and you will see that much deliberation would be needed to make every decision in life. There are very few decisions made in everyday life by

A "righteous" man is not necessarily what we might consider a "good" man. Grasp the nature of the differences betweens God's expectations(as espoused in the Hebrew and Greek Scriptures) and man's, and you will understand Christianity.

Loki of Azure made a good point about God damning ppl for using their free will. But what ya gotta realize is that free will, just like any other privilege, comes with responsibility. Technically 'free will' allows a person to do anything, but they still may have to pay the consequences for using it. LOL I guess its like horsepower...you may have it, but you dont always wanna use it, and if you do, you might have to pay the consequences.

And Sun Tzu made the statement "Trust me, read one book on Moral Theology and you will see that much deliberation would be needed to make every decision in life. There are very few decisions made in everyday life by the average person that can be described as anything but morally vague." I agree with you about reading a book on moral theology you prolly would have to spend much time and energy trying to figure out what is the best decision in everyday life. But I don't think so with th

Here's a grey area, Serpent. A pre-teen kid approaches a military checkpoint carrying a medium sized bag that she is clutching oddly. When challenged by one of the two sentries to stop, she looks scared and starts fiddling with something inside the bag. You are watching this through the optics of your sniper rifle because you are in overwatch of this checkpoint. She is now within 20 meters of the soldiers you are covering. What do you do?

Well use the bible, are there any principles that you can go by to make that decision? First thing to figure out is this: Is war a moral thing? Now I understand that in the world in which we live, and the governments that rule the majority of the population, there are things that happen that make them feel they are justified in going to war. So which one of the ten commandments would apply?

When a person gets involved in an immoral thing, then immoral things will happen. For example according to the bible sex out of marriage is immoral. So what if you spend alot of time in bars and clubs where the people there are generally promiscuous individuals? Going to the bar or club in itself is not immoral. But what can happen by going there is. Because after a while as things progress and you get more comfortable with your surroundings immoral things may happen. Eventually you may end up doing something immoral. You may have not even intended to do anyth

Tao, the subtle reality of the universe cannot be described, That which can be described in words is mearly a conception of the mind. Although names and descriptions have been applied to it, the subtle reality is beyond the description.
Tao Teh Ching - beginning of chapter 1

The subtle essense of the universe is elusive and evasive.
...
It is the subtle origin of the whole of creation and non-creation. It existed prior to the beginning of time as the deep and subtle reality of the universe. It brings all into being.
Tao Teh Ching - portions of chapter 21

"There is, O monks,
an unborn, unoriginated, uncreated, unformed.


Were there not, O monks,
this unborn, unoriginated, uncreated, unformed,
there would be no escape from the world
of the born, originated, created, formed.


"Since, O monks, there is an
unborn, unoriginated, uncreated, and unformed,
therefo

I have enjoyed following this thread over the last few months. I think Loki's issue of free will goes right to the heart of the matter.

God created Adam and placed him in the garden to make a great choice - to exercise his free will. His choice was to obey God in the one prohibition - not to eat of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil on the penalty of death.

Adam was freshly created from the hand of God and inclined to obedience, Satan came to Adam and told him that he could be like God. Adam listened to Satan and allowed his wife to eat the fruit first to test whether the word of the Lord was true (I will develop that argument, if anyone wants).

When he saw the Eve did not die, he ate AND accepted the worship of Satan (a complex argument that I can develop, if anyone wants.

In essence, the whole of sin and forgiveness comes down to the exercise of free will. People who hate God chose to do so, and

I am catholic, but what is the interest?

The modern idea of hell did not exist until after Dante Alighieri created it. Essentially, a work of fiction was so popular that the Catholic church adopted parts of it as official dogma. Crazy as it sounds, it's the truth.

I'm also a so-called "Christian". But my belief system does not exactly match any denomination. The Mennonites are the closest approximation to my own beliefs. But even they are only an 80% match.

1. Why would God damn a individual to hell for giving them the ability to think/free will.
It's not for the free will itself, but rather for what is done with it. I can give you a hammer; you can build a house or crush someone's skull with it. My reaction would be appropriate for each - praise or condemnation. God must feel that He already gave us all the guidance we should need.

2. Alot of people say that abortions/Cloning is a method of playing god, does that mean that God isn