The Christian Religion

Christianity

Understanding of Christianity is based first on the leap of faith that there is a God. The condition and nature of God varies considerably from one denomination to the other, however, God exists. Some other generally accepted views are;
God created the Heavens and the Earth. God is the fount and basis of all goodness. God knows everything.
God dwells in Heaven. This is a not easily described. Various denominations attempt to say what living there will be like but agreed specifics are hard to come by. Two principles, however, are generally agreed upon by all denominations.
a) It is the most desirable place to be.
b) God will not allow sin to enter Heaven.
c) We are all sinners, every one of us and we are born that way.

This raises an important question: “What is sin?” The answer generally is, “To disobey the will of God.” The question that logically follows then is, “What is the will of God?” With slight variations, the answer is given that: “The will of God is that you Love Him with all your heart and soul and that you accept Jesus Christ, his son, as your savior believing that he died for your sins at Calvary then rose again to conquer death and lead those without sin into the presence of God. Then strive to live the commandments of God that you may demonstrate outwardly that you are a new person inwardly.”

This is Christianity as I understand it. Various denominations within Christianity have variations on what all of the above actually means but this seems to be a common thread.

Christian beliefs and their difficulties
I have a number of difficulties with the above philosophy. Not least is the idea of worshipping a God who was tortured to death. That seems way too freaky. The belief among Christians is that this was done at the will of his father. That is disturbing.
I also find it strange that otherwise rational and sensible people will insist that the reason we are all “Born in Sin” is because a talking snake convinced a woman she should eat some fruit.
Another bothersome point is that love is shown to God and absolute devotion must be given in total faith and total love. These are the prerequisites of entrance into Heaven. “Love me or I won’t have anything to do with you and I will banish you from my home forever.” This sounds like blasphemy. It appears to take the creator of heaven and Earth, a being with the ultimate in intelligence, inspiration and creativity and give him the petulance of a small child. Moreover, this love extends to kneeling on the floor, clasping hands together with head bowed. The God who created iron, who made the wind and the storms, how can it be believed that He made slaves? How can anyone believe that He would want slaves?

Most troublesome of all is the doctrine of Hell. This is the place reserved for those who do not love God in the manner described and who reject the notion that someone could take on themselves the karma of the world. Those who refuse to believe are damned forever. If the Bible is to be believed, and Christians insist it is the word of God without lies, then hell is a place of eternal torment. A lake of fire and brimstone where the pain never ends. So somewhere out in the cosmos is a massive concentration camp. It’s not like the Reich, built for a thousand years, but for eternity. The Kommandant is God and the guards are his angels. If you ask a Christian why would God do such a thing? The answer is “Because he loves you.”

This is my understanding of Christianity along with some of the questions I have. If anyone has serious answers I’d be glad to hear them.