For the christians ... since we're on this subject ... can you provide some insight?
The story goes that God was there before everything and knew all in the beginning, knows what is going on how and knows what will happen in the future. He "wrote" this story of mankind knowing all ... all the failures, from the initial fall of man to the daily struggle all of us have now ... the chasm this would create between he and us. He knew one of his angels would try to become a god ... as he created them. He knew that one day this fallen angel would have an eternal resting place known as hell.
All-knowing God created mankind with the foreknowledge that from the beginning we are going to make choices that without faith in him would lead us to eternal damnation ... that a very large percentage of the population (currently) will not choose to follow him, but rather some other religion or nothing altogether ... knowing that these choices that we make will lead to the worst possible fate one could imagine.
So, in terms of logic, A + B = C. Here A=All knowing God, B=God created man knowing they would sin, and C=God creating mankind knowing they would suffer his wrath for eternity.
God has given this fallen angel dominion over this world and with granted permission the ability to try and drag as many people/souls with him as possible. I think it's fair to conclude that with this granted dominion, we see evidence of the fallen angels attempts via a plethora of what seem to be logical religious choices outside of christianity, the ability to simply say no to religion period, and an opportunity to sin even in what would seem the most trivial ways (which ultimately separate us from god).
So ... all that said, christianity boasts of a god of love, justice, etc. However, right now there are roughly four billion non-christians on this planet. That's four billion people that will perish eternally ... how is it love when those "unfortunate" souls, born in another culture, to suffer wrath when they have been raised to believe that their religion is just as much "the way" as you believe christianity is yours?
To piggyback that, here is a generic example. The destiny of person A was already established before person A ever took a breath on this planet. Person A was born in India in a village practicing predominantly buddhism. Person A grows and is taught by his family, those God has entrusted him to, that buddhism is the correct path. Person A is exposed to christianity via a short-term missions group that passes through. Person A grows old and dies never choosing to defect from the faith of his youth ... God knew Person A would never choose to leave because he created him knowing every choice he would ever make. According to the christian faith, Person A shares the same eternity with the fallen angel.
One more thought .... Mahatma Ghandi and Adolf Hitler, according to many christians I've had the unfortunate privilege of meeting, share the same eternal fate according to the doctrine.
Because I cant reconcile the above issues within myself, nor can anyone really provide answers that I think only a creator could give, I walked away from the faith .... anyone want to share their thoughts
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