In article <May.2.09.50.29.1993.11787@geneva.rutgers.edu>, trajan@cwis.unomaha.edu (Stephen McIntyre) writes: > > In article <Apr.20.03.01.40.1993.3769@geneva.rutgers.edu> trajan@cwis. > > unomaha.edu (Stephen McIntyre) writes: >  > > >     ... Besides, I would > > >     rather spend an eternity in Hell than be beside God in Heaven > > >     knowing even one man would spend his "eternal life" being > > >     scorched for his wrongdoings... > This "display of bravado" is no bluff.  I've no fear any God or >      His punishment. ...  That was my point. If I play poker with Monopoly money I can bet  anything I want.  > > ... > But I shan't go to heaven-- it would be against my sense of >      humanity and compassion for my fellow man.  This is exactly why Christianity is missionary in nature, not just out of a need to irritate. 8-)   > > ... > The God of both Testaments are one and the same, and in >      neither is there evidence God is strictly love.    To the people who wrote the Bible and to whom the Bible is written, there is evidence of love, but that is a cultural bias. This is a poor answer which you needn't rebut.  I will now pull the old bait and switch.  I think you should use the Bible to judge man, not God. By that I mean, if your moral intuition doesn't like what is described in the Bible, realize that such things are going on now. I will avoid the semantic arguments about the cause of evil and ask what are you doing to fight it? Not you specifically, but everyone, including myself. If I don't like the genocide in the Bible, what about the genocide that goes on right now? To move beyond the question of a hell, realize that many people right now are suffering. If you think hell isn't fair and are willing to sacrifice everything just to deny its existence, what about how life isn't fair? Right now there is a young mother with three little kids who doesn't know how she will get through the day. Right now there is a sixth grader who is a junkie. Right now there is an old man with no friends and no money to fix his TV. Instead of why doesn't God help them ask why don't we help them. I think you are correct to challenge any Christian who doesn't live his life with the compassion you seem to possess.  You want evidence of God. Find someone who is making a difference, someone you admire, someone who has been through some tough times and has come out with his head up. Ask the person how he does it. Ask  the Vietnam vet who was battle medic how he kept his mind. Ask the  woman who was pregnant at 15, kept the baby and now is a successful business woman. Ask the doctor who has operated on a 1-1/2 pound baby. They won't all be Christians, or even what you might call religious, but there will be something in common.  God is not defined in the Bible, God is defined by what is in those people's hearts. It doesn't matter if you can't give intellectual assent to any description you've heard, they're all wrong anyway. The compassion you already feel in your heart  is a step in the right direction. Follow that instead. Then come back and read the Bible and you'll see that same thing described there.  > > If nothing else makes sense, hang on to that idea, that God is love. >  > I would say something similar, but in reverse order: love >      is god.  Good, I guess we only have to work on your grammar. 8-)