Truly Good

This may turn out to be poorly phrased, but oh well, I'll give it a shot:

Only God truly knows what lies in a man's heart, so only he can judge what the man is thinking/believes/etc. Some men take the word of God and intrepret it and act in a peaceful/accepting manner. Others, however, may intrepret it and try to remove/kill the "wicked."
While there is the commandment "Thou shalt not kill," they may simply ignore/disregard it in order to fulfill what THEY believe is necessary.

Here is my question. Both of these individuals believe in their heart of hearts that what they are doing is right. The world might look upon the actions differently, but does God? If you truly and honestly believe that what you are doing is right, does it matter if in fact it is?

Originally posted by Kn1ghtly
This may turn out to be poorly phrased, but oh well, I'll give it a shot:

Only God truly knows what lies in a man's heart, so only he can judge what the man is thinking/believes/etc. Some men take the word of God and intrepret it and act in a peaceful/accepting manner. Others, however, may intrepret it and try to remove/kill the "wicked."
While ther ...[text shortened]... ou truly and honestly believe that what you are doing is right, does it matter if in fact it is?

Absolutely. What difference does it make if one is sincere, but practises error?...Contrary to some opinions...."ignorance is not bliss".
When you run through a stop sign, and think it is for everyone else, except you...could you get hurt?😲

Originally posted by Kn1ghtly
This may turn out to be poorly phrased, but oh well, I'll give it a shot:

Only God truly knows what lies in a man's heart, so only he can judge what the man is thinking/believes/etc. Some men take the word of God and intrepret it and act in a peaceful/accepting manner. Others, however, may intrepret it and try to remove/kill the "wicked."
While ther ...[text shortened]... ou truly and honestly believe that what you are doing is right, does it matter if in fact it is?

i think i see what you are asking.

suppose that hitler had truly and honestly believed that what he was doing was right. how many people do you think would absolve him of his crimes in light of this fact? not too many. neither would any right-thinking god, if he exists.

Only God truly knows what lies in a man's heart, so only he can judge what the man is thinking/believes/etc.

at best, i would say this is speculation.

Some men take the word of God...

it is clear to me from your wording that you believe that god exists and that the bible is his word. if you believe that, then i don't see why you are asking such questions. it's clear from the bible that if the christian god exists, he would clearly see a distinction between the two cases you are describing -- indeed, he would deem one worthy of eternal punishment, and the other worthy of eternal reward; that's a big difference indeed.

I do believe in God and the Bible, but I also believe that you should never accept something blindly and without asking questions when they arrise.

Originally posted by Kn1ghtly
This may turn out to be poorly phrased, but oh well, I'll give it a shot:

Only God truly knows what lies in a man's heart, so only he can judge what the man is thinking/believes/etc. Some men take the word of God and intrepret it and act in a peaceful/accepting manner. Others, however, may intrepret it and try to remove/kill the "wicked."
While ther ...[text shortened]... ou truly and honestly believe that what you are doing is right, does it matter if in fact it is?

Well, from the Christian perspective, we are all bad, no matter how good we think we are, and God doesn't care if you're Hitler or Mother Theresa. The only thing that matters is if you accept Jesus as the Messiah.

From my perspective, there probably is no God and no "true" goodness, so the question is meaningless.

Originally posted by AThousandYoung
Well, from the Christian perspective, we are all bad, no matter how good we think we are, and God doesn't care if you're Hitler or Mother Theresa. The only thing that matters is if you accept Jesus as the Messiah.

From my perspective, there probably is no God and no "true" goodness, so the question is meaningless.

Awwww cmon ATY ...you have it right about the Christian perspective...you are so close!!!!
God is Holy, hates sin, and that is why He wants you to accept Jesus....He paid the ransom for our sins!..He is our substitute!...

I once heard a fictional story about a man being chased by an angry mob, for whatever reason. He knocked on some doors, pleading to be let in, before they killed him. They were closing in on him, but all these people refused him, not wanting trouble....finally an old man answers the next door and lets him in!...Of course the mob saw where he went and knocked on the door, ready to break it down!...the man begged the old man not to open the door...the old man calmly said "go down in the basement and hide"....so he did...after hearing some commotion from upstairs, it got quiet....he went upsatairs and saw the old man sitting somberly..."what happened, how did you get rid of them?"he asked....
The old man replied..."I gave them my son in your place and that satisfied them"
That is what God did for us...that is why we are to accept the Messiah...God accepted His sacrafice for our sins...Instead of judgement, He gave mercy and Grace...Jesus payment satisfied God, and to prove He accepted this offering, He raised Him from the dead...That is Christianity in a nutshell.🙂

Originally posted by Kn1ghtly
This may turn out to be poorly phrased, but oh well, I'll give it a shot:

Only God truly knows what lies in a man's heart, so only he can judge what the man is thinking/believes/etc. Some men take the word of God and intrepret it and act in a peaceful/accepting manner. Others, however, may intrepret it and try to remove/kill the "wicked."
While ther ...[text shortened]... ou truly and honestly believe that what you are doing is right, does it matter if in fact it is?

i think another way of putting it would be "are those who interpret the bible as killing gay etc. people really Christains?" and my answer? no. they may think they love God and they may have asked him to enter their hearts, but how can one love love itself (i beleive that God is the truest form of Love) when one is so full of hate? because i beleive that that is what they do-they hate those they percieve as evil, and they beleive that God hate's them. however, can love itself hate?

there is a chapter in the New Testament about "Christian behavior". i beleive hate is mentioned as a no-no...i think it's in John, but i'm not overly sure...