Lies We Believe About God

In considering the lies we believe about God, we must also consider the lies we believe about ourselves, and our perception of God. Truth is shadow in the philosophical world of theology. How does one measure truth? Christians use the Bible.

The eloquent members online at WonderCafe.ca have been deliberating upon this subject for two weeks... Lies we believe about God is a discussion that was started on the 15^th of July, and has already become one of the most popular threads of all time. There are a great many thought provoking posts from all types of members, and according to their collective wisdom and logic , the five most popular lies that Christians believe about God are as follows,

You must earn God's love.

This is the first and biggest lie that almost everyone believes about our heavenly Father. God's love is the same throughout the ages, from the beginning of time to the end of time. It's evidenced in the life and teachings of Jesus. And it's the testimony of millions and millions of worshippers who believe and accept God's love everyday. God's love is always prior to our love. No where in the Bible does it say that parishioners must work to earn God's love.

God will punish evil doers

Secular society has always propagated the line 'Vengeance is mine saieth the lord' as a defense against the notion of revenge. Here in Canada, our justice system is an injured party's only acceptable reprisal, and as it's often imperfect, unsatisfied people take comfort in the lie that God will punish evil doers as they dwell on Earth, and bar their entrance to Heaven.

Some people really want to believe that God is absolute justice, and that He will dispense punishment as merits the crime. But think about it, how can such an all knowing, all seeing, and all powerful deity do anything but love ALL his children? Experience has taught us that the sociopaths are products of their childhood environment - the pain they cause, and all the vengeful prayers from their victims (for the lord's divine retribution) will never warrant punishment from an all knowing God who can see and understand their formative circumstances.

The Greek word 'ekdikeo' appears six times in the New Testament, and means "to execute retributive justice; a determination to execute judgment for; to avenge or punish a wrong." (Note the following Scriptures --- Luke 18:7-8; Acts 7:24; I Thess. 4:6; II Thess. 1:8; Heb. 10:30; Rev. 6:10; 19:2).

The Greek word 'orge' when translated is "wrath" which appears 36 times in the NT. This should not be confused with the Greek word 'thumos'. These two words are to be distinguished in this respect: "Thumos indicates a more agitated condition of the feelings, an outburst of wrath from inward indignation, while orge suggests a more determined, or abiding condition of mind, frequently with a view to taking revenge. Orge is less sudden in its rise than thumos, but more lasting in nature. Thumos expresses more the inward feeling, that quickly blazes up and quickly subsides; orge the more active, enduring emotion" (Vine's Expos. Dict., p. 55-56). --- See: John 3:36; Rom. 2:5, 8; Col. 3:6; James 1:20; Rev. 6:16-17; 11:18; 14:10; 16:19; 19:15.

Pre Tribulation Rapture

Or the belief that God will transform all people who believe in Him, but have not yet died, into the same type of immortal body he has just given the dead who rise to be with Him.

As you can imagine the source text, the only record we have in our search for truth remember, is often misinterpreted,

I Corinthians 15

V16 For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:

V52 In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.

V53 For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality

Download a digital copy of the Catholic Bible here, and search for the word 'rapture'. You won't find it - that's because the word doesn't exist in ANY of the Holy Roman scriptures, and the popular notion today that God will return before tribulation for the purest souls is in fact the invention of a fifteen year old Scottish-Irish girl named Margaret MacDonald (a follower of Edward Irving), who in 1830 had a vision that was later published in 1861.

Margaret interpreted the line and this mortal must put on immortality to mean that the most faithful of the flock would be instantly transformed into immortality, while the rest of us are 'left behind'. It's a lie - there is no easy way out.

Our Savior's Name is Jesus

Our Savior's name is not Jesus. The name "Jesus" which is commonly used in Christianity today did not even exist in 0AD, and would certainly not be spelled with the letter "J" until about 500 years ago, or fifteen hundred years after Christ.

Most scholars will however agree on the name 'Yahshua'.

Modern biblical scholars are also obsessed with the many grammatical errors involved in the early transliteration of the name 'Yahshua' into Greek and Latin, which radically changed the form of Yahshua's name.

The Jews Killed Jesus

This is a lie that's an absolute corruption of the truth. Most scholars agree that the Gospels were written some 40 to 70 years after the crucifixion (which occurred around 30 C.E.). At that time, the nascent Christian sect was trying to distinguish itself from its Jewish roots for two reasons. First, the Christians wanted to attract gentile converts. Second, because the Jews were rebelling against the Romans, a repudiation of Christian kinship with the Jews could be politically advantageous.

The Gospels assign primary blame to the Jews, not the Romans; and sympathetically portray Pilate, who is described in other ancient texts as a cruel despot. Additionally, many scholars have stressed Jesus' identity as a political subversive, which would explain why the Romans chose a means of execution, crucifixion, usually reserved for insurrectionists.

Yes it seems a small clique of Jewish authorities, who were in league with the Romans, does indeed share responsibility for killing Jesus. But unlike modern democracy, these authorities did not represent the majority of the Jewish people, who had in fact for the most part rallied around Christ's charismatic figure.

This fascinating discussion on WonderCafé continues on this subject today...