The Answerer

Because the most well known name in history, Jesus, said there was such a place. He spoke of it often and said that he came from there. The Egyptians, 3,000 years ago, spent much money ensuring that the Pharoahs went there in style and were remembered with rather large memorials (pyramids). The ordinary folk in Egypt did didn’t seem to matter. Their god was ‘Ra’ the sun god. Even the atheist government of China speaks of ‘Heavenly peace’. Everyone thinks of it, or speaks of it, but only Jesus died; and came back from death to prove it as a fact of His existence – and our future if we choose it.

No, you do, simple as that. God has given us guideline – the greatest being ‘what Jesus did’. This was our example. Some years ago a man wrote a book entitled In His Steps, by Charles Shelton (I think). The book sold in the millions, yes indeed it did. The author decided to put into practice “What would Jesus do.” in all his daily decision making. Well he never went to jail, robbed banks, ‘mugged’ innocent people, insulted anyone and always told the truth. AND,I guess he memorised ‘The Ten Commandments’. Our modern ‘liberated’ world slowly ceased thinking about the idea and it sort of hangs around in the initials WWJD on pencils and rubbers – sold only in Christian shops. Too inconvenient for most, but others often pause to think it through when in a quandary. Others do much of it automatically and others are selfish and do bad things and wonder why they are not satisfied and are unhappy. We are given a choice to do as we want-and in doing that we choose our consequences too, the good, or the not-so-good.

No, not God himself, His ‘Only begot-ton Son’ (Jesus) came to represent Him for three years. ‘Only begotton’ means very special and Jesus was it. Jesus said: “I and the Father are one.” And, “I only speak what my Father tells me to say.” And, “If you have seen me you have seen the Father.”

This is hard to comprehend that God, Jesus and The Holy Spirit are one. A bit like water can be in three forms: solid, liquid or gas... or ice, water and vapour (steam or mist)are all the same stuff.

The Christian religion has no images, statues or things one can touch and see. Some ‘Icons’ are made because, I think, some people need something they can actually see and even touch – it helps some folk. The Bible does not mention them as necessary.

No, he did not as far as I know. Abraham was chosen to begin the Hebrew (Jewish) religion, and Jesus Christ, a Jew himself, began Christianity. Ishmail, Abraham’s son by his servant girl Hagar, went off to Egypt and married a girl there.

God said to Hagar (after a fight with her mistress Sarah) and Hagar had run away: “Return to your mistress and act as you should, for I will make you into a great nation. Yes you are pregnant and your baby will be a son,and you are to name him Ishmael (God hears), because God has heard your woes. This son of yours will be a wild one – free and untamed as a wild ass (donkey)! He will be against everyone, and everyone will feel the same towards him. But he will live near the rest of his kin.” (Genesis Chapter 16;verses 9 to 12).

So through Ishmael's descendants many years later, began the Islamic or Arab religion. The Bible does not say that God directed him to do so. Islam is the second biggest religion in the world. Hinduism, Buddism, Sikhism, and many others, I believe, were not created by God, but by men.

“So God could have a family.” That answer was given to me by an Aboriginal girl in year seven and is 100% correct! Some of that family would choose to follow him, and some would not. We had to have somewhere to live so he made the world and I guess for us to live on and ponder HOW He did it!