Between the dusts: A conversation between a Christian and an atheist
Ican’t believe in a God that instructs to kill.
Why Jerome, I think you just admitted there is a God. I thought you were an atheist. Besides, it sounds like an excuse to me.
No, I don’t admit it. A God who is good would not have asked Abraham to kill Issac.
But you used the word believe. Maybe you meant you couldn’t trust God. Your tone leads me to believe you only trust yourself. You trust only what you see.
Well, isn’t the Bible true? Don’t all you Christians think this?
Do you mean is it factual or historical? Sometimes it is. Sometimes it is not. But it always conveys the truth. One must seek the truth of scripture, not its facts or history. Reading scripture is not about information or knowledge as if one were studying for a test or filling one’s head with facts like the formula for relativity. Knowledge means knowing God, His character, who He is. The only way to know this is to have a relationship with Him, to experience Him, and then live a life reflecting this experience. Belief, then, takes on meaning other than fact. It takes on trust, the trust a person can only possess because they know someone so well. He knows what this someone will do, his heart. You can’t trust someone standing apart from them and judging them without first having knowledge of their life. It is the old saying about how you can never really understand someone else’s situation until you have stood in their shoes? Have you ever tried to stand in God’s shoes?
You mean, be like God? I thought that was what you Christians called blasphemy.
No, I mean have you ever tried to see as God sees? God would like for all His children to see this way. But this is a matter for the heart, not the head. Too many want to read scripture for what it says, not what it means. Are you accusing me of stupidity?
No, I’m accusing you of laziness. I prefer my friend not end up in hell because he was lazy.
Well, your argument doesn’t sound Christian to me. And there is no hell, either. Or heaven for that matter. When we die, the water in our body evaporates and the carbon molecules are absorbed into the earth and the atmosphere. You know, dust to dust.
I bet you wish it to be true. If you knew God, or even tried to know Him, you might gain insight between the dusts. And what of the soul?
Oh, all those near-death experiences are bunk.
And what of the near-hell experiences? No one likes to talk about those. Fire or not, hell is a lonely place, dark and cold, void of God and joy, people aplenty with excuses. I hope you don’t believe in those fantasies. Jerome, the only real written word is what God writes on your heart. And what of yours? Remember, alone is a long time.