Originally Posted by John Voorpostel

If when I die, and I ultimately wake up on Judgement Day, I will face the consequences of my actions, knowing full well today I am far from a passionate believer such as a Mr Theresa, or any figure in history whose life reflects their faith and who we've come to know about because of the exemplary lives they led when alive. I also believe our\my God will forgive human fallibility and as His love is unconditional, I cannot see Him abandoning those who struggled to believe or were agnostic or somehow unable to believe due to reasons beyond their control.

Lol... The Bible is a culmination of books spanning thousands of years, and prophecy has always been the proof of its validity. Any similarity between God's word and other philosophies is just God given common sense and plagiarism. Prophecy IS God's merciful guide for those seeking Him. For God to abandon "would be believers", He would also have to abandon His own prophetic promise; Which would make God a liar. Why do you think there will be 144,000 witnesses DURING the seven years of tribulation?

Gambling... To me, that has always been a pastime for those with more money than sense, and I could never be counted among them. Bingo doesn't even interest me. However, I've drank plenty of free beer around pool tables wink

FD, perhaps you can answer a question. I've often wondered about the Catholic tradition of celibacy myself, how do they justify it?