Where did Jesus go?

[Chad32]

Personally I don't think I'd ever have him leave. I'd have a bunch of guys like him, all over the world, performing miracles that can't be explained through natural means.

Funny up to this point God thought the same thing. If you read what Jesus said was his reason for leaving, it was so a bunch a guys could be empowered to do what you said.

But they weren't. If they were, the existence of Yahweh wouldn't be in dispute. We'd be able to see someone regrow their legs after an amputation. We'd see someone brought back to life after their brain stops functioning for days. No one has gotten a nobel prize for this stuff because these great miracles always seem to happen away from the educated.

Have these people be immortal, so they don't die.

This would be a terrible prison sentence. Who wants to live and work forever when the goal is to prove yourself and move on to Heaven?[/quote]
If they were created by me, the hypothetical deity, then they'd probably visit heaven from time to time too.

Make my presence indisputable, especially if for some reason I decided the penalty for not believing is torture. Not that I would, because I'm not a psychopath.

If your presence is indisputable, then the one choice we were sent in this life to make is now gone.
For who would choose Hell if it was absolutely known God was watching over them? The people who choose Hell now would still go to Hell, but have gone through the motions of choosing God. all the while not knowing any better. Think of the dark ages where belief in God was absolute and mandatory. This is what 'absolute certainty' about the reality of God looks like when man and his religions have their way.[/quote]
The choice wouldn't be gone. I know my parents exist, and I'm not bound to obey them without question. I just wouldn't make the options either worship me or get tortured.

Well really, I'd probably do it a lot differently than what is claimed to be done. Something like, those who worship me will always be better off than those who don't, and not because I'm actively making other people's lives worse for not worshiping me.

I'm not a rich man by most western standards, (no where close) but i do deal with very large sums of money. As a result I know that your 'way of doing things' would only breed greedy ass kissers who would focus their worship on the deeds they did so they could continue to level up and get more of the 'things' you were offering.
You may want to surround yourself with gold diggers, but The God of the bible does not.
[/quote]

I do believe that deeds should be more important than belief. Works show what a person is. People should be rewarded for doing good. Grace through faith is more like ass kissing. Just believe in the right god, and you get rewarded. Works come at a distant second, if they mean anything at all. Yahweh wants to be worshiped. He doesn't really care about you, since he plainly says that you are evil, your works are like dirty rags, and the only good thing you can possibly do is to give up everything about you and obey his every command.

I'm a much nicer and fair person than he ever was.