Long Standing Questions of Mine

[bullmoose88]

I may have asked some of these in prior threads or the answers to similar questions posed by someone else may have been given.  I apologize I find some of the answers unsatisfying.  I also have some questions related Christianity (or its Jewish roots) and religion in general.  Some of you (I'm certain there is at least one poster like this) may go the route of citing Bible verses.  That is fine but please give your own interpretation as the black letter rule of the Bible sometimes doesn't answer my question.  I admit that I am a Christian (LCMS membership, methodist upbringing with a non parochial catholic high school education) who doesn't read his Bible frequently but has some familiarity with general principles and stories.  Atheists/Agnostics/members of other faiths are welcome to give their input so long as we don't get into a flame war (that goes for cross bearers too) etc.

I'll start off with a few questions of mine.  These may be lame/childish, but I--perhaps because I am a simpleton--don't have answers, or comforting ones.  The others, just curiosity.

1.  What is the purpose of the book of Job?  Am I to understand that God is willing to allow Satan to inflict torture as a test of faith?  Does God consider Job's family to be acceptable collateral damage in Job's test?

2.  Is it possible that God revealed Himself (using the traditional form of Him) to other cultures around the world alongside his revelation to the members of the tribe?  In otherwords, can there be other paths to Heaven/salvation/glorious afterlife (supposing, as I do, one exists) aside from Christ?  I still can't fathom a loving God only revealing himself to one backwards province of the Roman empire to the unfortunate exclusion to other contemporaneous civilizations.

3.  Are the moral prohibitions of the Bible absolute?  I mean, can some of the prohibitions merely be a set social/dietary etc regulations for the time--created for reasons other than they displease God--that don't apply today?  If some prohibitions are no longer in effect or applicable, what are they?  Can you give some sort of brightline rule as to what still applies and what does not, and why?

4.  Assuming an afterlife exists, and one has done what you think they need to go to go to Heaven, what happens when he or she dies?  Is there an indeterminable period of sleep/unconsciousness until the final judgment (if one could perceive that at all)?  Straight ticket to the pearly gates after instant judgment?  Purgatory?

5. Describe God...is He (the traditional pronoun here) omniscient, omnipotent, omnipresent?  Some of these things?  None?  Is He solely a force for good?  Does He have a beard?  Does He play Skeeball down the Jersey shore?


That's it for now.  Appreciate the responses.

[Citizen James]

Being highly subjective, I can only toss out my own opinions (from the perspective of an agnostic with a non-traditional religious upbringing)

1. From a non-literalistic interpretation, it seems to be a contemplation of the problem of evil - that is, why do bad things happen to good people.    It seems to reinforce the idea that just because someone suffers does not mean that they are wicked (then it turns around and gives him a reward for being just and holding faith throughout the hard times).  The message seems to be "don't blame God when things go badly, it is all part of the divine plan.  Instead stay faithful through difficult times and you will be rewarded.

In a literal sense, it seems awful cruel for a benevolent deity to act that way, but we cannot know the mind of God.  However, I suppose it could be assumed that the children who died would then be with God, which would ultimately be a good thing.

2. I don't see why not.   Many faiths have certain common ground (in particular, the golden rule).

Alternately, some medieval philosophers considered the concept of limbo - that the unsaved would be kept in a place which was not unpleasant, but not divine, in order to await final judgment.

3.  I think a person's answer to that depends on whether or not they believe in a doctrine of biblical inerrancy.    If you believe that all parts were divinely guided, and that the retelling of the stories over the years, the recording of those stories in writing, and the reproduction of those writings over the centuries, and the major modern (or semi-modern) translations are all flawless due to divine intervention - then the answer is no.

If you're working from the idea that the stories and instructions are the literal word of God, with some possible errors in reproduction and translation - then you probably want to look more at overall themes, what ideas come up over and over again throughout different books.

If you think some doctrines come out of habits of the times, rather than divine origin, consider the usefulness of them today.  Were certain foods ruled out because they sometimes spread disease (pigs tended to carry parasites) - if so, then modern medicine makes it about as safe as any other food.   Then again, the scripture usually cited ending the kosher rules (Matt 15) involves eating with unwashed hands not eating non-kosher foods; and washing your hands before you eat is considered a healthy practice today.

4. I tend toward universalism myself.  Perhaps moving on to another spiritual plain to learn and grow anew.  If there is anything, I would think it would be rather immediate, and I don't consider time (in a universal sense) to be a limited quantity.  Eternity is longer than a very long time - it goes on forever.

5. Like I said, I have a rather non-traditional background, so I tend to imagine God as an essence, rather than a physical being.  Perhaps (as in the sense of omnipresence), as a part (or the whole) of all that exists.   

[jokerman]

Job wasn't a book meant for us Westerners.  Other books could be reinterpreted, but the ethos of Job simply jumps out of the text, and can't be ignored.  It is nothing other than the rejection of the will of the man and the complete affirmation of the will of God.

[Swing low, sweet chariot. Comin' for to carry me home.]

1.  What is the purpose of the book of Job?  Am I to understand that God is willing to allow Satan to inflict torture as a test of faith?  Does God consider Job's family to be acceptable collateral damage in Job's test?

The book of Job is interesting in that Job starts off blaming Satan for all his troubles, but the book ends with Job’s friends “comforted and consoled him over all the trouble the LORD had brought upon him.”  Also, it is interesting to note, reading between the lines, that Job’s wife wanted him to die so that she could move on.  But, there are many purposes: God hasn’t abandoned you just because trouble comes into your life, so don’t abandon God...Satan has no power over you and thus we shouldn’t glorify Satan by blaming him for our troubles, etc, etc, etc.  And God is more than willing to take the lives of people, who are going to die someday anyway, in order to provide examples that will encourage us to seek eternal life.

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2.  Is it possible that God revealed Himself (using the traditional form of Him) to other cultures around the world alongside his revelation to the members of the tribe?

Yes, he did so to the “wise men” who came to worship the baby Jesus...but whatever wisdom God gave them led to them finding Christ.  

In otherwords, can there be other paths to Heaven/salvation/glorious afterlife (supposing, as I do, one exists) aside from Christ?

The bible is extremely and repetitively clear on this – since the beginning of the church age, Christ is the only path to salvation, and the Old Testament is in agreement with this.  

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3.  Are the moral prohibitions of the Bible absolute?  I mean, can some of the prohibitions merely be a set social/dietary etc regulations for the time--created for reasons other than they displease God--that don't apply today?  If some prohibitions are no longer in effect or applicable, what are they?  Can you give some sort of brightline rule as to what still applies and what does not, and why?

There are many laws that have changed, been added, and/or removed.  Some of the law changes had to do with the initial state of things, but there were major law changes put in place when Noah left the Ark, another major law change when the Jews left Egypt, another change when Christ died, and there will be another change when Christ returns...but, basically, if you go by the New Testament and use the Old Testament as a contextual backdrop (which the New Testament quotes from 100’s of times as a contextual foundation), then you’ll be on solid ground.

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4.  Assuming an afterlife exists, and one has done what you think they need to go to go to Heaven

You have to believe in Christ, repent of your sins, receive the Holy Spirit, and live a life by faith..

, what happens when he or she dies?  Is there an indeterminable period of sleep/unconsciousness until the final judgment (if one could perceive that at all)?  Straight ticket to the pearly gates after instant judgment?  Purgatory?

I think it is a state of sleep for the saved, until the return of Christ...though I have no problem with those who believe you immediately are conscious in Heaven.

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5. Describe God...is He (the traditional pronoun here) omniscient, omnipotent, omnipresent?  Some of these things?  None?  Is He solely a force for good?  Does He have a beard?  Does He play Skeeball down the Jersey shore?

He is spiritual being who has always existed, and who fills the universe and is outside of time.... omniscient, omnipotent, omnipresent all apply.