I have many questions that no one could answer... I used to be a sincerely genuine churchgoer growing up. Then in my early 20s, the nagging doubts in the back of my head fully manifested and I left my faith. It wasn't an angry or emotional decision. It was purely a 'logical' process.
I purposely did church hopping to talk to different pastors... I genuinely asked them for 1:1 talk after the service. Then I shared my faith in distress and the questions I had. They were all very amazing people whether you think religion is real or not. They truly try to do good and help his/her congregation.
That being said, no one could answer my Qs. After about an year of active re-evaluation, I became an agnostic atheist.
PM me, let's take it to gmail chat if you got it.
Well, I'll share the Qs:
- Why do the concepts of sin & atonement even exist? You're God, just make everything whole
- Why does God let hell exist.. to be suffering for eternity? That's a little hard no?
- Why does God even care about your deeds in this world? I mean, I'm a crappy guy and even I would graciously let EVERYONE go to heaven. Why the fack not?
- etc...
I'll answer 'em short and simple.
Why do the concepts of sin & atonement even exist? You're God, just make everything whole
Because God
is love, there can't ever be true love in a relationship without a personal choice involved. Some scholars erroneously think that sin was planned all along, but it wasn't. Sin originated from heaven, short and simple, because Satan saw that he was beautiful and powerful, and wanted to be worshiped himself. There once was a time that Satan existed without sin, but instead he chose to rebel, and the rest is history. So now we live in a world where sin is possible, but the ultimate will of God is still for you to choose to have a rich, loving relationship with him. The very act of asking for forgiveness and turning from your sins and all that shinbang is you simply choosing to value having a relationship with God more than sinning.
You're married, so I'll use an metaphor. Let's say your wife cheats on you, which is a pretty big deal. She's clearly wronged you, and you're very hurt by it. She, too, is also very self aware of her dreadful actions and seeking forgiveness. But because you value your relationship with her, you're willing to forgive her and move forward. When you view sin/atonement/forgiveness through the lens of valuing a relationship, it begins to make a lot more sense. If you view it through a lens of servitude and "slavehood", it's very confusing.
Why does God let hell exist.. to be suffering for eternity? That's a little hard no?
Oh gosh, you had to ask this brutal question, haha. Hell was originally made for the angels who rebelled from him, and humans will suffer the same fate for those who follow in their footsteps. I know, it's brutal. Where I see people get lost in this question is with personal ownership, and so I say this; worry about yourself and your own choices. It's easy to ask, "Well what about the guy who was a hermit living in the mountains with no human contact blah blah blah?" Or, "What about the people deep within the Amazon who have never heard of Jesus? And the answer to that is that you don't know what God was doing to speak to him or them throughout his or their lifetime. Perhaps they had a close relationship all along, but we just never knew. Let God be the judge of that. Whether you were a human living long before Sunday school and the Bible, or a modern day dude running around in your skibbies in the Amazon rain forest, God makes his presence known to everyone. It's our own personal responsibility to listen.
Why does God even care about your deeds in this world? I mean, I'm a crappy guy and even I would graciously let EVERYONE go to heaven. Why the fack not?
If you financed your kids entire super expensive ivy league education, wouldn't you care what they were doing? If you bought your kids a car, wouldn't you be interested in how they were maintaining it, using it, and ensuring they were driving properly? Look at it this way. God created the physical realm, and gave us the spare keys and the authority to operate it. That's a big deal. We've got the keys to this place, and he expects us to use what we've been given wisely.
Let's use another metaphor. You're king; rich and powerful. Your kingdom is vast, wealthy, healthy, and awesomesauce. You'd think you'd want the heir to your throne to continue on with what you've accomplished, wouldn't you? But God isn't going anywhere. He just wants us to co-labor with him in his kingdom and share in that. Those are big shoes to fill, so you're going to need a lot of character, integrity, and wisdom to be able to do that. And where do we learn all that? Right here on planet Earth.
In closure, I'll end with this. You have a lot of good questions. If there is one thing I know in my faith, it's that these types of questions get answered when you seek a relationship with God. You know that whole saying about how God will make foolish the wisdom of the world? That's because relationship precedes answers and facts in God's kingdom, whereas we seek answers to gain answers. Sounds crazy, but it's true, and it works.