Does God Exist?

@fmf said
If you'd been born into a Muslim family in the street where I live now, you'd almost certainly be a Muslim today.

Yes, but only until I heard the gospel of Jesus Christ, then I would most certainly have converted.

@secondson said
You are mistaken. The percentage of people that are Christians in any particular geographic area is directly related to the spread of the gospel in that area.

The gospel is available to everyone in the city where I live and has been for many centuries. It spread here long ago There are more than a hundred churches in my city alone. Christianity is even mentioned and protected by the constitution. But more than 85% of the inhabitans of the city are Muslims regardless.

@secondson said
Yes, but only until I heard the gospel of Jesus Christ, then I would most certainly have converted.

That's unlikely. The main reason you are a Christian and not a Muslim is because you were raised in the U.S. and not in Indonesia.

@fmf said
But more than 85% of the inhabitans of the city are Muslims regardless.

Because they haven't responded to the gospel message and converted.

It's not a question of geography.

@fmf said
That's unlikely. The main reason you are a Christian and not a Muslim is because you were raised in the U.S. and not in Indonesia.

False. The reason I'm a Christian is because I heard the message of God's grace and recognized my need of a savior.

It wouldn't have mattered where I was born geographically.

@secondson said
False. The reason I'm a Christian is because I heard the message of God's grace and recognized my need of a savior.

It wouldn't have mattered where I was born geographically.

If you had been born in Indonesia to a Muslim family you would most likely reject the Christian version of the Jesus story. It's matter of tradition, culture and geography.

@secondson said
Because they haven't responded to the gospel message and converted.

It's not a question of geography.

They don't have any problem with being Muslims and have no need to convert. That's how it is in places that are geographically Islam. Same goes for Catholics in Italy.

@fmf said
If you had been born in Indonesia to a Muslim family you would most likely reject the Christian version of the Jesus story. It's matter of tradition, culture and geography.

Try to understand what I'm saying. What you may believe or think about whether or not I would believe, regardless of where I had been born, God knew, before creation, my name, and that I would believe in His Son for salvation and eternal life.

You're just going to have to accept that, or not. If it's not true, then nothing else matters.

@secondson said
Try to understand what I'm saying. What you may believe or think about whether or not I would believe, regardless of where I had been born, God knew, before creation, my name, and that I would believe in His Son for salvation and eternal life.

If you had been born and raised in Indonesia to a Muslim family you would not be the same person as the American Christian "SecondSon". You would be someone different. In the end, it boils down to differences in geography.

@ghost-of-a-duke said
So, to clarify, you want to dodge mine and have me answer yours?

Of course we have a say, but again, if you are immersed in a particular religion do you not think it is more likely you will adopt that religion? If not, why are there more Hindus in India than Christians?

Go on sir, give answering that a try.

I told you that I acknowledge we grow up, and we accept what we are taught to get along. You don't think that is agreeing with what you said?

Where we are parting ways, isn’t that.

If we have choices and they matter, then where we start is not as important as where we end up.

@kellyjay said
If we have choices and they matter, then where we start is not as important as where we end up.

Most religious people end up with the religion that their geography and culture gave them. For most Christians, for example, where they start determines where they end up.

@fmf said
Most religious people end up with the religion that their geography and culture gave them. For most Christians, for example, where they start determines where they end up.

And that's a fact.

@ghost-of-a-duke said
And that's a fact.

The fact is truth, not where we are born is the only thing that matters. Numbers don't necessarily mean what is true or real, people can be wrong.

@kellyjay said
The fact is truth, not where we are born is the only thing that matters. Numbers don't necessarily mean what is true or real, people can be wrong.

The overwhelming majority of people in Japan are Buddhists (or Shintoists). The overwhelming majority of people in Iran are Muslim. The overwhelming majority of people in India are Hindu. This is not a coincidence. This is geography. Truth 'is' where you are born or are immersed. Truth is what is familiar to us.

Of course it is possible to live in such countries and become a Christian. But this is not the norm. Religion is very much dictated by the country you live in and had you or Secondson been born in Afganistan, you would almost certainly be Muslim. (The pair of you).

@ghost-of-a-duke said
The overwhelming majority of people in Japan are Buddhists (or Shintoists). The overwhelming majority of people in Iran are Muslim. The overwhelming majority of people in India are Hindu. This is not a coincidence. This is geography. Truth 'is' where you are born or are immersed. Truth is what is familiar to us.

Of course it is possible to live in such countries a ...[text shortened]... d you or Secondson been born in Afganistan, you would almost certainly be Muslim. (The pair of you).

The whole world has fallen, and you are focusing on how divided we are. Jesus is the Word of God, is calling us to God so that we are one in Him. This call is worldwide, and He is calling us out of every religion, including Christianity. Claiming the name Christian is meaningless without Jesus Christ in our lives, not everyone who calls Him Lord knows Him.

This is a personal choice for all, not one made by the luck of the draw on where one was born.