Quote Originally Posted by mperry View Post
I wont go as far as to say I am not a believer but I just don't understand why if there is a God he does not show himself? Why are we here only to die then go to heaven? Why is there a hell if God is all forgiving? I don't go to church regularly at all and like I said I don't want to say that I am a non beleiver but there are a lot of things that just don't add up.
Mike
Some big questions there.


It all starts with one thing: we were created to glorify Him. That's why we are on Earth. We do that most when we believe.

The scenario you describe - with a visible, present God, and no hell - is exactly what God's initial creation was. But Adam and Eve fell victim to pride and put an end to all that. That is what brought pain and death into the world. God could have created mind-numbed humans with no free will that would have obeyed him perfectly, but there's no glory in that for Him and no joy in that for us.

As to things "not adding up", you have to ask, "by what standard?" Proverbs says "there is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end is the way of death." If you come from the place, which I do, which says that the human race has gotten exactly what we deserve, then what becomes obvious to you is not that God would send anyone to hell, but that He would allow anyone in heaven.