Has religion served its purpose?

@fmf said
So you are proposing that "sins" that have repercussions that last "from generation to generation", morally speaking, deserve punishment that lasts for eternity, even after those [finite] repercussions are no longer felt.

If that were true how would we know? If our lives were like mixing ingredients to make something what we add would always be apart regardless if we are aware. Some ingredients are beneficial others can be deadly dangerous.

@fmf said
And what is the "infinite crime" resulting from what you see as my "sins"?

I don’t know your sins (nor do I want to,) but your sins affect more people and have a longer shelf life than I think you realize

@fmf said
And how Joe being supposedly forgiven deal with the following:

"And Joe’s crimes don’t die with him. They live on in the children Joe abuses who may become abusers themselves."

Don’t understand the question. Try rewording it so what you’re asking is clearer.

@divegeester said
So people burn alive for eternity for maybe crimes?

What maybe crimes have occurred due to your actions?

First of all, I never said people “burn alive for eternity.” But someone’s sins affect more than the people they directly sin against and their sins can (and often do) have far-ranging consequences. No maybes about it.

Second, if you think I’m sharing personal information with you, you’re out of your mind.

@pb1022 said
Don’t understand the question. Try rewording it so what you’re asking is clearer.

And how does Joe being supposedly forgiven deal with the following: "And Joe’s crimes don’t die with him. They live on in the children Joe abuses who may become abusers themselves" ?

@fmf said
This is merely an assertion.

A "sin" is an eternal crime because a "sin" is an eternal crime.

Simply making assertions of this kind does not tackle the moral incoherence of what you are claiming.

You are basically saying '...a crime against an eternal God is eternal because a crime against an eternal God is eternal.

Why not pile up more "evidence" of this kind by declaring that ...what I am saying is morally true because it is morally true?

A sin against God (and all sins are ultimately against Him) is eternal because God is eternal.

The impact of a sin on a specific man ends when that man dies.

@fmf said
And how does Joe being supposedly forgiven deal with the following: "And Joe’s crimes don’t die with him. They live on in the children Joe abuses who may become abusers themselves" ?

Joe’s been forgiven. While his abuse may have caused his victims to become abusers themselves, they’re responsible for their own actions.

No abuser in court is found not guilty because he himself had been abused.

@kellyjay said
It is God’s grace through faith we are saved, in Christ without Him we can do nothing, He is the Way, Truth, and the Life no one comes to the Father but through Him. You don’t have the Son, you don’t have the Father.

So if salvation is all of god and god gets all the credit, then why should non Christian’s be punished for god not saving them?

@divegeester said
So if salvation is all of god and god gets all the credit, then why should non Christian’s be punished for god not saving them?

Matthew 7:13–14
13 “Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. 14 Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.

If we are not going to the Father through Jesus Christ, no matter what path or reasoning we choose, we will not end up with the Father; instead, all paths lead to destruction outside of Christ.

Using one of your favorite words, metaphorically speaking, Jesus also said He was a door which is something one must pass through to enter; simply acknowledging there is a door there will not get you into where you want to go.

John 10:7
English Standard Version
7 So Jesus again said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep.

@kellyjay said
You commit a crime against an eternal God; that crime is eternal, not temporary.

You keep dodging me picking you up on this.

Please provide scriptural evidence for this because I think you have just made it up.

@kellyjay said
If that were true how would we know?

We don't. We can but speculate about supernatural things. If I thought the things you believe about divine punishment were credible and true and made moral sense [without resorting to circular logic], maybe I would end up subscribing to those beliefs too.

@kellyjay said
Matthew 7:13–14
13 “Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. 14 Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.

If we are not going to the Father through Jesus Christ, no matter what path or reasoning we choose, we will not end ...[text shortened]... ard Version
7 So Jesus again said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep.

Why not just answer my question instead of posting a block of text which doesn’t answer my question?

@divegeester said
You keep dodging me picking you up on this.

Please provide scriptural evidence for this because I think you have just made it up.

You insult an eternal God, and you think the insult is temporary, you commit a crime against an eternal God, and you think the crime is only temporary? Jesus said that we are condemned already in this life, being the only way to God anyone not going to God through Him is lost. It is a matter of not us reaching up to God to get right; it is a matter of God reaching down to us to get us right, what is acceptable to God, not what is acceptable to us that matters.

Why do you ask for scripture? You pick and choose what scripture you find acceptable and deny the rest?

@kellyjay said
You insult an eternal God, and you think the insult is temporary, you commit a crime against an eternal God, and you think the crime is only temporary?

Isn't the "insult" of non-belief gone once the non-believer dies?