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Edited by Auver: 11/5/2015 6:52:26 PM
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What I don't understand about christianity

This will probably be a long post. 1.) [b][u]Predestination[/u][/b] "Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will,…” ‭‭Ephesians‬ ‭1:5‬ ‭(KJV‬‬). So is this verse saying that you don't have a choice about becoming a christian? God just decides for you just because he thinks it's good? There are also verses that state that God predestinates people to hell (I can't find them now), so what is the purpose of trying to be a Christian if you are predestined to hell? I just don't understand how a God that loves everyone could predestine people to hell, not to mention, “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God..." ‭‭Romans‬ ‭8:28‬ ‭(KJV‬‬) 2.) [b][u]God's Wrath[/u][/b] “And the angel thrust in his sickle into the earth, and gathered the vine of the earth, and cast it into the great winepress of the wrath of God. And the winepress was trodden without the city, and blood came out of the winepress, even unto the horse bridles, by the space of a thousand and six hundred furlongs.” Revelation‬ ‭14:19-20‬ ‭(KJV‬‬) Six hundred furlongs = roughly 800 miles. Yep sounds like a merciful and loving God to me! I'm sorry if I sound like I'm cherry picking verses, I'm not trying to. These are the two main things I don't understand about christianity.

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  • As a theology major studying to be a pastor, let me try to help you here. The version of predestination you are discussing was a misunderstanding of the teachings of Calvin. While I can only give you my understanding of predestination, I hope this helps. In simple terms (as a short post does not do this justice) God knows everything, including whether we will accept or reject His offer. He extends grace to everyone, but He knows if you will refuse. He offers the grace anyways. As for the wrath section, the wrath is not directed at people, but rather at sin. Sin is the very opposite of God, and it cannot exist in His presence. His very nature demands that He eradicates sin, but He grants us a long time to accept His mercy. After this time is up, however, God must, as the just judge, punish sin. Since sin cannot exist in His presence, someone who sins is separated from Him, and sin leads others to do the same, doubting God or turning from Him, leading to others being separated from God. Because of this, it is a very serious crime, as the one who commits it is affecting the eternal destiny of another. On the flip side, the only people who are punished are those who refuse His grace. Everyone has the opportunity to accept Him, and so no one is forced into Hell. It is always a choice. God even gives a choice to those who have never heard of Him (the theology behind this last statement is a rather lengthy discussion, so I will spare you the details).

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