if there were a God?

[billy]

i know we have many non believers but let's for an instance put our beliefs/non-beliefs aside should they be something other than a belief in a Christian god.
Works off the hypothetical premise that everyone here believes in god.
what would happen should he return to earth again. a sort of second coming; under similar circumstances.

would people believe it were him/her, would he be able to create a similar ground swell of followers as he did back then., or would Christians denounce him/her as a charlatan?

[srijantje]

He would first have to be recognized by the churches to give him some momentum. if not,he'll end up ripping off some old ladias to make a living,

A few miracles in public would help too

[billy]

i can't see the church saying...this person is the son/daughter of god. as do as they do that they'd have to hand over all vatican's wealth.
they'd probably excommunicate him as persona non gratis.

[addy]

You have a point. People nowadays would be a lot more cynical.

They'd see a miracle and go "Pffft... special effects."

[billy]

which begs the question; is it worthwhile praying
for him/her/it to return if all we're going to do is
crucify him again or worse have him locked up in guantanamo

[billy]

that would be true if people believed the person were god,
and not so true if people didn't, i suspect many staunch catholics and islamics would refuse to believe
the extremists would probably kill him out of hand.

[kath3]

i know we have many non believers but let's for an instance put our beliefs/non-beliefs aside should they be something other than a belief in a Christian god.
Works off the hypothetical premise that everyone here believes in god.
what would happen should he return to earth again. a sort of second coming; under similar circumstances.

would people believe it were him/her, would he be able to create a similar ground swell of followers as he did back then., or would Christians denounce him/her as a charlatan?

If there ever was to be a second coming of Christ, those that truely study and read their bibles would know based on specific scriptures ...
Matthew 24:29-31 "“But immediately after the tribulation of those days THE SUN WILL BE DARKENED, AND THE MOON WILL NOT GIVE ITS LIGHT, AND THE STARS WILL FALL from the sky, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. “And then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the SON OF MAN COMING ON THE CLOUDS OF THE SKY with power and great glory. “And He will send forth His angels with A GREAT TRUMPET and THEY WILL GATHER TOGETHER His elect from the four winds, from one end of the sky to the other."

1 Thessalonians 4:16-18 "For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, AND THE DEAD IN CHRIST WILL RISE FIRST. Then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore comfort one another with these words."

Now, as to whether these are literal occurances or metaphorical is another debate.

If there really was a god, we wouldn't be living on a planet filled with Catholic and Muslim superstitions and fanaticism in the first place.

Ya, but it was God (if you choose to believe) that provided us with an imagination to think all this stuff up in the first place.

[billy]

it more or less been shown the modern bible was written after he died, and that it wasn't really the words of the guy called jesus.
that said, would or could anyone know the mind of god?
what if he decided to come to earth on a flying visit?

[srijantje]

I AM LONO

[addy]

People want god to show up because they want answers.

scratch that, people want a confirmation of everything they believe. I doubt we'd be so eager to meet god if we believed we've been screwing it up all along.

[billy]

lets be honest, every person or almost would be over awed at meeting
their god before they died in person, standing before them and the world.
because as you say it's a confirmation of not only what they believe but
of the gods existence. The stupid thing is, many would; if he appeared call him the devil hehe
something whose trying to buy their eternal soul. they'll scream out "you can't be the god"
and denounce him. (i think)
how could we tell it was god to start with, would he perform a miracle, isn't the devil or gods opposite also capable of magic etc or something similar?

[critical mass]

I've had this conversation with my Mother-In-Law.
My Bad.

[billy]

I've had this conversation with my Mother-In-Law.
My Bad.

yes you are, please add something relevant to the topic next time/admin

[addy]

I'd very much like to hear how that conversation went

Personally I'd be very surprised if god showed up, at least the one many people imagine... giant old man with robes and a white beard, that stuff. The universe is so vast and artful, the idea that humanity and its morals is the pinnacle and the center of creation even though we haven't even gotten much farther than our speck in the universe is a little funny

[billy]

yes but would you believe anyone who said they were god.?

[Rusty]

i know we have many non believers but let's for an instance put our beliefs/non-beliefs aside should they be something other than a belief in a Christian god.
Works off the hypothetical premise that everyone here believes in god.
what would happen should he return to earth again. a sort of second coming; under similar circumstances.

would people believe it were him/her, would he be able to create a similar ground swell of followers as he did back then., or would Christians denounce him/her as a charlatan?

Not if but when he does return I sure would hate to be a noon believer...I have believed and worshipped our God Jehovah and his beloved Son Jesus since I was a boy I am now 62...he will return with his Son Jesus to sweep the earth clean of all badness

[srijantje]

why allow badness in the first place then?and how do i envisage this sweeping clean?with a broom of what?

[addy]

Hi Rusty. Welcome to the forums .

Are you saying then that the reaction of people to the second coming is not important, that God does not need a groundswell of followers as such because, good or bad, we will all just be passive participants to what God plans to do? Not trying to contradict your statement, just genuinely curious.

[billy]

hi rusty, and good to see you posting.

yes, but how would we know. what would be the point of sweeping the badness away if we didn't know it was being swept by him?
most peole would probably say "that was a bad earthquake/meteor hit/tsunami" while a few may say "it's Armageddon and it's god that brought it on.

[Leanne]

I don't suppose it matters to God whether we know it's His intervention or not... he's taken the credit and the blame for so many things in the last couple of thousand years that an Apocalypse must seem like quite a relief.

For myself, until I can find no logical explanation for events based on solid scientific evidence, I'm going to let people believe it's God if they like, but be fairly certain that we'll ride it out for a while yet, without being sucked up in some kind of rapture that only Protestants seem to believe in anyway.