Alpha episode 3: Is there more to life than this? Join the Alpha Course for a share of the SBD from this series of posts
Thanks for joining me for episode 3 of the Alpha Course. If you missed the previous posts, you can view episode 1 here, and episode 2 here.
In this series, I hope to explore with you some of the most important questions we'll ever ask. No matter what beliefs or lack of beliefs you currently hold, I invite you to join me in these series of posts for a share of all SBD earned to be split between all active participants throughout the series.
Is there more to life than this?
This series is designed for anyone who have wondered about any of the following:
- Is there a God?
- What is the purpose of life?
- Why is there so much suffering in the world?
- Is there more to life than this?
If you've ever wanted to ask these deeper questions of life in a non-judgemental environment, and receive intellectual, evidence-based answers to life's tough questions, then I invite you to follow me in this series of posts.
How to participate and receive a share of all SBDs earned from this series of posts
To receive a share of all the liquid rewards from this series of posts, you will need to watch the video each week, and comment with the following:
- Something that stood out for you from the video (such as a question or observation), and
- respond to the discussion question
- Engage with other group participants.
Please watch the video from Week 3 below
This week we will be touching on many of the topics that have been raised by participants in the first two posts, such as suffering, love, and forgiveness. It also addresses a great question @progressivechef asked yesterday "I'll mention a simple logic : Being so powerful with all types of miracles performed, do you think someone like Jesus can be killed just like that by simple human being? And as many are claiming that he was the son of god, how come a son of god got such treatment on earth that has been created by his father!?"
So hope everyone could watch to the end of the video and share any points that stood out for you in the video.
This week's question is: Why did Jesus go to the cross and what does it have to do with us? Alternatively, you can choose to comment on any other theme from the video.
Rewards from the posts will be shared at the end of the Course among those who participate each week. Its not too late to join the course. You can check out the first post here.
If you are already a Christian, I ask that you kindly leave this opportunity to those who are still seeking. But you are welcome to respectfully engage in the conversations, and share your stories and experiences.
This is meant to be a respectful and open group, where all questions and views are welcome, and where we intend to explore these deeper questions of life without any fear of being judged. So please try your best to be respectful. Otherwise, you will be flagged and asked to leave.
The Alpha Course is held all over the world. If you enjoyed this video and would like to attend an Alpha Course in person, you can go here to find out more.
Alpha Course是一个我在英文区开始的系列。希望中文区的朋友们也能够来参加。
在这个系列中，我们将会一起探讨一些关于人生的大问题； 比如生命的意义是什么？
这系列收到的所有SBD将会与每个参与者一起分享。
Follow me @nextgen622 for the next installment in the Alpha Course series
Good post I really like this post, I will wait for the next post
So glad to hear you enjoyed the post @nandafarahyuna.
If one may add to what was said here.....
The reason we are here on this earth is to answer the query....What do you think of Christ....Do you accept or reject Him?
For you see, God loved the world (mankind) so much that He gave His uniquely born Son that anyone who believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.
John 3.16 translated from the original Greek language.
Religion is man seeking the approbation of God through his works.
Christianity is a relationship with God through His Son Christ Jesus.
Wishing you all the best....God's best.
Hello again.
The first thing that kind of popped out at me in the video was when they said Jesus died for us, as if it were some great sacrifice. Yet just the other day we were talking about his resurrection and how he cannot be killed. He is one and the same as God, so is immortal.
Then the couple in the video leave a coffee shop table they were sitting at and don't even put their (what look like) single-use cups in the garbage! They just leave them on the table and walk away. Maybe I'm just too picky about these things, but I could not do something like that. What if the empty cups blow away in the wind?
Then there was the story of the priest in the concentration camp that offered to take the place of another so that the other person wouldn't have to die. This was used as an example of how Jesus took our place and died for us. Up until I heard that comparison, I never gave it much thought, but now that I was shown an example to consider, I feel less inclined to accept that Jesus died for me because I wasn't even born then! How can Jesus have taken my place? And besides, am I to suppose that I am already pre-judged that Jesus is taking my place in advance of my sins?
Then the fellow giving the speech in what appears to be a church says that there is no need for guilt or shame because Jesus removed those sins from us when he was crucified. Is that the reason so many people who call themselves Christians can commit so many sins and not feel guilt or shame? They simply go to confession and get a clean slate so they can start over again? WE are responsible for what we do and should feel guilty and shameful if we harm others with our shady practices. It is up to the people who have been harmed to do the forgiving. Nobody can do that for them.
Hello my friend! With my cooking contest going on, I've been really busy mate, but i'll always find time to check the series and here I am!
I am really very honored to see that this part addressed my question I asked before! Thanks so much for the mention on your post!
I really appreciated the quote : The resurrection was not the reversal of a defeat that taken place on the cross...It was a manifest of a victory !
The bad stuff will surely not have the last words in this world, in the end something good will happen!
Watching the video I also got to understand that Evil was defeated on the cross, this really make sense to me!
I'm again with my questions as usual hoping to get some clear replies;
God forgives us, from what I understand, but why should we care about our actions...in the end we will be forgiven! Just do whatever we want and ask for forgiveness!
Everything has been created by god, be it the simple grain of sand to the huge mountains...he is the creator of everything. As he is the one who makes us, he must surely know what type of human being we will be...he knows everything beforehand, but why all this complications?
For example, like me I am a chef, if I know a dish I am cooking will not be good in the end, if it can be a danger if consumed, I'll throw it away and not give this dish for people to eat.
I hope you understand what I want to say!
And a suggestion is that it would be great to have the subtitles like in the first part in the video, it really helps a lot!
Thank you!
@progressivechef
Hello, again @nextgen622. Well, those of you who have been in conversation with me over the last two videos may be pleased to know that I actually found something in this one that I agree with!
There is one section in which the presenter talks about forgiving others and not allowing them to 'live rent free in your mind'. This is something I can agree with wholeheartedly. Letting go of hate, envy and other negative emotions is both a physically and mentally healthy way to live. I also believe the same applies to forgiving ourselves. However (you knew this was coming didn't you?) I and millions of other non-Christians did not require a blood sacrifice to enable us to do live this way.
What a totally immoral being the god of the Bible must be. This god supposedly sends his son to earth in human form, capable of all human thought and feeling. This is done in full knowledge that this human being will then suffer torture and an agonising death so that the rest of us will be forgiven. Forgiven for what? Forgiven for being the humans that he created in the first place? If this god is so omnipresent, omniscient and omnipotent as he is made out to be then he obviously created us so that we would be capable of doing all the things Jesus was killed to forgive. Ergo he must have been willing for his creations to have the capacity to do wrong.
If we are talking original sin then the same argument applies. This god has been fully compliant in all we humans get up to since he created us and has planned everything out in advance. Otherwise, he is just making things up as he goes along.
In your reply to @happyme you said:-
Why would you want to believe in such a vengeful and petty god like this? Why live your life in fear of offending something that made it that way in the first place. If a person abuses a child and I had the capacity to prevent it then I would. Your god seems quite happy to sit back and allow a child to be harmed when he has the capability to stop the abuse. Forgiveness and love? No. The god of the Bible is playing a very cruel and cynical game.
Till next time. Take care.
Hi @maninayton,
Thank you for once again sharing your thoughts and feelings. Before I jump into responding to your comments, I just want to firstly say, I don’t know what you’ve been through and what you’ve suffered, but I can sense a lot of bitterness and hurt in you when you engage in these discussions. Suffering and pain can trigger powerful emotions in us which can cloud our view of the world and God, and I’m sincerely apologetic and sympathetic if you’ve at all gone through any kind of suffering in your past, especially anything that might be caused by or related to the church.
Like you, I too am saddened and angered when I see and hear about all the abuses and injustices in the world. The fact is, when God doesn’t intervene, you say “If a person abuses a child and I had the capacity to prevent it then I would.” And when God does intervene, like he did when he destroyed many nations/tribes throughout history who were doing things that were so evil like sacrificing their own children in the flames, people say “why is he so cruel?” The fact of the matter is that our perspectives are limitted and we can’t fully comprehend the whole picture from God’s perspective.
The key here lies in free will. To love and be loved, that’s at the core who who we are. But unfortunately without free will, there cannot be love. God gave us the ability to choose to love him or reject him, love others or hurt them, he didn’t create us like robots, and for that I’m thankful.
You said “Why would you want to believe in such a vengeful and petty god like this? Why live your life in fear of offending something that made it that way in the first place.”
You say these things because you can’t fully appreciate the concepts of holiness and justice. Many people in the world cannot receive justice for the things done to them in this life time, some because they don’t have the opportunity and other because they don’t have the power. Our judicial systems in the world are flawed because we as people are limitted. But God hates all these evils in the world, and only he can bring about true justice for the wrongs people have chosen to commit. But what kinds of evil deserves punishment and demands justice? As people, we tend to think we are better than others and we are not that bad, but that’s because we can’t fully grasp the holiness or standards/purity of God, in that we have all done wrongs in hurting others.
The fact that God chose to voluntarily take the punishment we deserve for us and suffer in our place, if this isn’t the most amazing act of love, I don’t know what is. He is merciful and patient, patient in waiting for us to come to our senses and turn back to him.
Again, my friend, like what I’ve said, don’t let your past hurts cloud your judgement of the world and of God. God will ultimately bring about total justice one day, but for now he is offering you love, mercy and grace.
Jimmy
Hello, once more @nextgen622.
I thank you for your thoughts but I must tell you I have suffered nothing at the hands of the church (unlike many thousands of others). There is no bitterness or hurt in any of my comments. What you are seeing is utter bewilderment in the belief of a supernatural being for which there is no evidence whatsoever.
There is no getting around the fact that the God of your beliefs is a cruel, mean and vengeful being. You say yourself that he destroyed many nations/tribes throughout history that were doing evil things. If he was such a powerful being then surely there would be some better way of preventing wrong doing other than mass murder and genocide.
This is one of the things I find totally wrong with the Christian religion. Why do we deserve punishment? What have we done wrong? If your God is omniscient then he knows everything that is going to happen. He gave us free will and he knew that we would do wrong with that free will. We have no choice in the matter. If we didn't do wrong your God would, therefore, cease to be omniscient. The whole thing is a trap and your God is playing a cruel game.
A question for you. Do you believe that I and millions of others who do not believe in the Christian God are eternally damned?
Hi again @maninayton,
You said There is no getting around the fact that the God of your beliefs is a cruel, mean and vengeful being. You say yourself that he destroyed many nations/tribes throughout history that were doing evil things. If he was such a powerful being then surely there would be some better way of preventing wrong doing other than mass murder and genocide.
You say there is a better way. By your statement here, it seems like you think you are so much more morally superior. If so, tell me, if you were God, how would you govern this universe differently and what would you do differently in these situations without intervening on people's free will, and at the same time bringing about justice for all the evil done in the world?
You said This is one of the things I find totally wrong with the Christian religion. Why do we deserve punishment? What have we done wrong? If your God is omniscient then he knows everything that is going to happen. He gave us free will and he knew that we would do wrong with that free will. We have no choice in the matter. If we didn't do wrong your God would, therefore, cease to be omniscient. The whole thing is a trap and your God is playing a cruel game.
What have we done wrong... well, how about the abuse of children, murder, rape, hate, unforgiveness... and how about rejection, slander and hate towards the Creator himself who gave us life and everything we enjoy in all of creation in the first place? And yes, that's why we deserve punishment.
And you said He gave us free will and he knew that we would do wrong with that free will. We have no choice in the matter.
Yes he knew we would do wrong, but he ultimately gave us the free will to choose what happens next. If he left us in the place of condemnation without a way to be redeemed and restored back to himself, then we might have more reason to be upset. But the fact is that he provided the way for us to be restored back to himself and enjoy the fullness he intended for all his creation, and he did that at a great sacrifice to himself, and demonstrated the extent of his love towards us in the process. The choice is up to us to accept his grace or reject it.
You said A question for you. Do you believe that I and millions of others who do not believe in the Christian God are eternally damned?
If you're asking whether I believe the following; When you or anyone who have heard the Gospel but yet chooses to reject God's free gift of redemption through Jesus, then yes I believe you choose eternal separation from God, and consequences of hell as clearly describe by Jesus. We all have free will to live with the consequences of our sin and reject God's gift, or to accept his offer of love through Jesus. The choice is yours. Through this series, I'm telling you God loves you and wants a relationship with you, but if you choose to reject him, then that's your own choice and no one can help you.
Until next time
Jimmy
Hello Jimmy and thank you for your reply.
I will just answer a few of your points before moving on to the next video which I see you have posted.
Am I morally superior to God? Yes. If I had the power you allocate to God I certainly wouldn't go around destroying nations/tribes just because they did what I had preordained (by the very fact of my omnipotence). I certainly wouldn't condemn all the humans in the world for the supposed sin of two individuals (who did what I knew they were going to do in the first place). Also, if I wanted people to exercise free will in acknowledging me then I would do a much better job of presenting the evidence of my existence than simply relying on a batch of ancient manuscripts of dubious origin and nothing else.
I say again. Given what your doctrine says about your god being omnipotent, omnipresent and omniscient, he is ultimately responsible for everything we do otherwise he isn't as great as you make him out to be. And why indulge in this unhealthy mental flagellation of thinking you deserve punishment for things you haven't done?
The arguments against this concept of free will are many. In the mean time, I will go back to the fact that he supposedly knows all and hence is ultimately responsible.
And how about the billions around the world who worship other gods and follow other doctrines? Or maybe are not even aware of your God (the 24 million or so in N. Korea spring to mind). Are they condemned without even having the chance for access to the Gospel? I must say it looks as if God isn't doing a very good job with giving people the right to free will when they haven't had any knowledge about what to exercise that free will about, is he?
I can see that neither of us is going to change the others world view but thanks for engaging in the conversation.
I look forward to watching the next video.
Hi again @maninayton,
Just wanted to quickly address a couple of your points.
You haven’t said what you would do differently when evil becomes rampant, when child sacrifices, murders, rape becomes pervasive throughout the society. Previously, you talk about why God doesn’t intervene in situations when evil is wide-spread, and here you talk about when God does intervene. So regardless of whether God intervenes or doesn’t intervene, you find a reason to complain because you have an internal bias.
Another point is that in fact, although God intervened with natural disasters and plagues in some unique situations, most of the situations when a nation/tribe is destroyed is through another nation/tribe attacking them.
Again, the fact is that God gives us free will, and you haven’t talked about what you would do to remove all the evil without impeding on people’s free will.
Yes, and God doesn’t do that either. Each person is responsible for the consequences of their own sins, and if there were any person in the world who is completely without sin, they wouldn’t be condemned, but I would like to hear your views on who qualifies, besides babies which I would agree with you.
The fact is that there are numerous people throughout the world (many whom I know personally), who have come to faith in Jesus through God personally appearing to them in dreams/visions and miracles. My wife, god-daughter’s mum, and pastor are just three of these cases. Many of these people have never heard about Jesus previously, and it was certainly a miracle in each of these situations. But again, when you don’t want to believe, of course you’re going to find some other explanation for all the multitude of people who have experienced these miracles and direct intervention from God.
I’ll stop here for now. Didn’t want to turn this into another essay. J
Until next time.
Jimmy
Hello, Jimmy. Hope you're well.
I cannot let go of this section without replying to your comment.
Firstly I don't believe society would descend into the chaos you describe. Humans have a built-in moral code that enables societies to function that doesn't require a supreme being.
Secondly. There is absolutely no moral difference between a god allowing a young child to be raped, (effectively just shutting the door and allowing it to happen) when that god has the unlimited power to stop it (just by changing the perpetrators mind maybe?) and the whole scale mass murder of whole nations (by whatever means either directly or indirectly) because they didn't act the way that God wanted. Both a lack of intervention and a direct intervention by this god are immoral. This highlights a basic hypocrisy in your doctrine. A double standard if you will. An all-powerful god would be able to alter things without resorting to turning a blind eye or murder.
It seems to me this free will notion is just a convenient 'get out clause' to excuse the double standards talked about above. Where was free will for the child rape victim? If your god allows the act to take place so the perpetrator can later ask for forgiveness and be forgiven then it is no god I would want to worship.
Surely everybody qualifies if your god is a merciful one like you claim. According to your doctrine, he created everyone and everything, knows what is going to happen and pre-ordained everything. He plays a game by giving us the means to commit sin (knowing we would and what we would do) and then takes great delight in condemning those that do that very same thing he had planned in the very beginning. If he was merciful he would forgive every one for having no choice but to take part in his cruel game.
I'm sorry but how can you equate the existence of a supreme being to what people see in dreams and visions? I am sure that the people experiencing these things may actually believe them but this cannot be taken for evidence of god. It is also not a very effective way for a god to announce themselves, is it?
See you in the next section.
I’ll let you have the last word in this discussion, because we’re just going around in circles, and I don’t see us getting anywhere in these discussions. Many of the points you raise, I have already responded to, and you’re just repeating the same opinions. When you’re not open to anything other than what you already believe, then we’re just wasting our time. I wish you all the best. :)
Man thanks sharing with us these episodes :))
Big thumbs up!
Interesting. So what exactly would be the use of one joining this course?
Just interested :) Talk soon!
It's basically, the meaning of life, to discuss it all..
Well, that's pretty deep. Interesting! Talk soon :)
Hi @enazwahsdarb, thanks for your comment. If you would like to participate in the course, its not too late. Feel free to watch the video and comment at any stage.
thank for share