Having been raised a christian my whole life, I have always had a few major questions that were never quite answered by the numerous Sunday services I've attended.
Don't look for answers at Sunday services. Think for yourself. I regard individuality and personal autonomy as very important in one's spiritual journey. Sunday services cannot always speak for God because they are led by human beings.
In thinking for yourself you may be wrong and you may be right. Sunday service leaders are no better than you in discovering the divine will, so don't put more trust or faith in them than you would put in yourself. There is nothing special about Sunday services. It is just a gathering of a community and the leaders who preach about the Gospel there are simply repeating old news.
I myself have been Christian for my whole life and I got sick of the "textbook answers" that people gave. I dislike the idea that the answers have already been written down. That have not. You must think for yourself. That is why there is a place for intellectual and rational minded people in a religious community.
There are many who say, "Don't think for yourself, the thinking has already been done." This is the problem with evangelical and fundamentalist Christianity. Their Christians believe the answers are already known, that you don't have to do any more thinking.
I say their "answers" don't make sense and this is why you are confused and worried. Their belief system was made for simple-minded people and obviously you are not one of these simple-minded people.
My pastors have always explained to me that God granted us free will because he wanted us to consciously choose Him over the ways of the world.
We are individuals. Our life is our own. First and foremost, we belong to ourselves and have a right to sacrifice part of our individuality in the interests of another. It may be a member of the opposite sex, the government, society or God. God respects that right.
Ok, fine. But how meaningful is the choice to be with God when the alternative is an eternity in hell? Really, who in their right mind weighs the two options and thinks, "Gee, this is a tough one." (This is, of course, assumming that one believes these two choices actually exist)
I think you have to get away from that kind of theology. Jesus never actually defined hell and nor did he define heaven. He only gave descriptions. This leaves questions like, where is hell? Where is heaven?
I think your idea of heaven and hell is what I call the evangelical and fundamentalist notion of hell. Not all Christians think of hell in those terms. You could ask Thomas, for example (I think he is a Catholic) for his alternative notion of hell.
But in the meantime, I could describe mine.
There is so much evil, injustice and suffering in the world that I have to assume that hell, to some extent, is already here. God doesn't have to create hell or bring it here. Part of it is already here. God doesn't have to send us anywhere. We are creating hell right here. There are nuclear weapons. There is pollution. We are currently in the process of draining the planet of its natural resources.
Rather than God throwing us in some trash-bin, He simply leaves us here.
This is where we get to the question as to why God would give us a choice like that. The reason is because modern science and technology has the power and potential to give us lives of comfort. The people in the current generation are so much better off than prior generations. We never had it so good.
But this has come at a cost to many humans. It was possible through the political, military and economic power of the Western world. Many people have died so that we in the Western world could live in comfort. Many people's blood were spilled so that we could live "the good life." We have built nuclear weapons, polluted our planet, sent CO2, sulphur and toxic gases into the atmosphere and drained our natural resources in the name of relentless economic growth and the pursuit of profits.
Jesus gave a number of descriptions about the "kingdom of heaven." It should be obvious that those in the kingdom of heaven would not live like the energy- and resource-hungry Westerners of today. Basically, you have the choice of the "good life" of the planet-destroying consumer or you can be one of the "meek" who will inherit the earth. That is the choice Jesus was talking about. This is the "heaven" and "hell" I believe Jesus was talking about.
My main questions are: What is the point of giving us life on earth only to live out this elaborate charade of making choices that aren't really choices?
They are choices if we experience the process of making a choice. If we "believe" we have made a choice, that is a choice. Our experience of "reality" is real to us. If we believe we have done something, then according to us, we have done it.
How meaningful is a choice to be with God when it is made out of fear from going to hell? Why would an omnipotent God want/need the validation of his creations worshipping him to the point of threatening punishment if they don't?
It depends on your concept of "heaven" and "hell." You're also making it sound like the choice God requires us to make is part of a magnetic tape that follows a single linear path. Surely there is a lot more going on in life and in this world than this linear path you are describing. This is the problem I have with evangelical and fundamentalist Christianity. It oversimplifies theology and eschatology. You either accept this oversimplified theology or you don't but if you do, it means you're manipulating yourself into thinking this is all there is to life. The worst part of this theology is that it doesn't really describe what we are doing wrong in real life, like for example polluting the planet or oppressing ethnic and religious minorities like Asians, Africans and Muslims.
What you do in this life matters!!! Don't let anyone tell you otherwise. Jesus said to love your neighbour, judge not and you will not be judged, the first will be last, last will be first, the arrogant will be humbled. The meek will inherit the earth. If what you do in this life matters then the choice you make is no longer part of a linear path. It becomes non-linear.
So rather than a choice to either go to heaven or hell, it becomes a choice to love your neighbour, to not be judgmental, to be humble, to be meek. You do it because you want the world to be a better place. You want to spread the love around, to spread the good will. A lot of the people who want to live "the good life" don't care much about anyone else. They just want to get rich and wealthy, to live in a big house, drive a fast car, marry a sexy, gorgeous woman, have lots of sex and lots of kids.
When you choose to live like people in the kingdom of heaven, you choose not to be like that person. This is the choice you were supposed to make.
It is the whole question of, do I follow the rules because I am a morally "good" person or do I follow the rules because I don't want to get punished for it?
If the reason most Christians are Christians is the latter, then I don't see the point.
Of course, doing good is more important than the possibility of punishment for not doing it. If you need to be punished for doing evil to stop you from doing evil, that shows that you are an evil person, does it not? It means you haven't really changed as a person. I think instead of what God
will do (punish), it's a question of what He
won't do (rescue).
Jesus' name means "God rescues," and Jesus said he came to "save" not to "condemn." It may seem like there isn't a difference but there is. It's the difference between picking up food and throwing it in the bin or leaving it to go bad. The former involves external intervention. The latter is a natural process.
I feel that if God wanted our choice to follow him to be at all meaningful, then He should at least make it between two appealing choices instead of an absurdly one-sided one.
Ok, two appealing choices. You can either be (1) one of the meek who will inherit the earth or (2) you can enjoy your life right here by being a citizen in a Western country. Learn the language, get the right qualifications, find a good-paying job, settle down, get married and have kids.
Just don't go and live in the USA. Their gun laws are too relaxed. You might get shot by someone. If not, you might be robbed by someone with a gun. If you want to live a good earthly life that's what you would do.
Not that I have anything to add to the above but am just being friendly and chiming in:
