Why Christianity? discussion

If you could ask God one question: what would it be?

Me? Now? Right now? Me, right now? Really?

I would ask: "how does salvation work for the mentally handicapped?"

I want the long detailed answer that would prove or disprove Calvinism on this.

Rod wrote: "I would ask: "how does salvation work for the mentally handicapped?"

I want the long detailed answer that would prove or disprove Calvinism on this."

God is Spirit, supernatural, metaphysical, "abnormal".
Adam (man) is material, natural, physical, "normal".
God created physical energy from intelligent energy.
God composed adam from His mass energy enjoined to His supernatural energy in His space time continuum.
God breathed (infused) His essence into adam giving him access to the Spiritual domain.
Adam broke the supernatural bond and was doomed.
Every Man needs to be saved (from doom) and that requires a saver.
If a mentally handicapped individual exerts his freewill in defiance of God's sovereignty, he too breaks the cord and needs a saver.
God straddles the time, space, and mass from which He composed His material world.
God can lay out a book and read it all at once, like you and I read a simple word.
God wrote the book of human existence in a material world in the same "immediate" manner, unaffected by time.
God knows what He wrote, beginning to end, alpha to omega, a to z.
I was, I became, I will become. God just is. That would be I AM from His perspective.
He reads our world like we look at a football field from the sky box.
God can see every inch of the playing field at the same time and can engage at the west twenty yard line, midfield, and the east endzone at will.
We call those markers, Noah in Turkey in 5000 BC; Jesus on a cross in Jerusalem in 30ish AD; and Rod in Canada near the end of the game.
God can extend the field, extend the clock, or send in replacements.
God sees the brilliant agnostic on the field. He sees the mentally challenged on the field. He sees the anxious evangelical theologian on the field. And he sees a Calvinist, like you. He knows every player on every spot in every quarter, minute by minute. He wrote the script. He put them there. Better, He put us here.
I would just leave off the first two words of your question and make it a statement. "Salvation works for the mentally handicapped."
Even if he is totally depraved, unconditionally chosen, among those who are limitedly atoned for, resistant to His grace, and don't know if He can hold on to secure them.

As far as God is concerned, aren't we all mentally handicapped? What indisputable facts are we playing with. Eric goes through an impressive laundry list of God's attributes, but how many of them has he actually witnessed? I'll wager he just plagiarized them from Scripture without much firsthand knowledge. So, in essence, we are giving God credit for marvelous undertakings we're in large part not sure even transpired. OK, I'm a believer, count me guilty as charged. Still, without much that is visible, much less provable, Faith is like being a one-legged man in an arse kicking contest. Our knowledge of God, then, has much in common with the mentally disabled - nothing's quite solid.

Robert wrote: "As far as God is concerned, aren't we all mentally handicapped? What indisputable facts are we playing with. Eric goes through an impressive laundry list of God's attributes, but how many of them h..."

Point taken. We are all mentally handicapped. His ways are above our ways and beyond our understanding. Nonetheless, plagiarizing Scriptures to derive a Biblical plan of salvation is probably prudent.
I see it more like a one legged man sitting in the dugout rooting for the fellow who invented baseball and built the stadium to take his place at the plate and hit a home-run for him. I've wagered everything I've got on Him winning so I will get a ring.

The point of this thread was to hear each other's ONE question. Not to necessarily answer them. But sure...

We do not know what goes on in the mind of another. Have you ever read Ghost Boy by Martin Pistorius - A 15-minute Summary & Analysis: The Miraculous Escape of a Misdiagnosed Boy Trapped Inside his own Body? A mental handicap is a disconnect between mind and body, and the inability to express oneself in the world, or act ideally within it. That does not mean there may not well be awareness and/or conviction of sin, and the ability to understand salvation in the mind of one who is mentally handicapped.

Another view would be the same as the salvation of children. Do you think all babies who die go to heaven, Rod? Or does God pick only some?

My one question (which implies a multitude of other questions) is, "How does prayer work?" Does prayer cause God to act in ways other than He would have had I not prayed? Does God see that one who I pray for is saved that would not otherwise be? Jesus' model prayer says only "Thy kingdom come, thy will be done." We are told that our prayers must be in accordance with God's will if they are to be effective. Most of us pray for things we ourselves desire to happen, even if those desires are on behalf of others. After all, what else can we have but our own thoughts? Where does "my will" meet "Thy will?" Isn't God's will always done by definition? Why does it seem that the efficacy of prayer is unseen?

I know what James says about not receiving what you ask for because you pray with selfish motives. But it seems that this explanation falls short of explaining the apparent inefficacy of prayer as a general rule. I pray because God has commanded it, and I absolutely know that God can do anything He pleases. But that does not change the fact that the efficacy of prayer is largely invisible, and cannot be demonstrated to the unbeliever. I take it as an article of faith.

Thanks Ned. Awesome

What?! Nobody else has serious (or fun) questions for God or Jesus or the Holy Spirit? Or even Satan perhaps?