Love you, blessings! :-)

As a side note, my case about the little 4 1/2 year old is a true story.

If a parent takes his/her child to the store, it isn't long before they realize that things have to be paid for. Stand in any checkout line and sooner or later you'll see a parent asking for the child to give them the "whatever" so that they can pay for it and telling them they can have it back as soon as it's been paid for.

The boy in my example told his mother that he put the candy in his pocket and it wasn't paid for. So he understood the concept, things have to be paid for.

Your example doesn't work. You said put 100 4 1/2 year old's in a store without any instructions other than they get to leave in a half hour.

Is this the first time they've ever been in a store?

There are stores that do special things like allow a group of children to go through the store and pick out something they get to keep.

According to your rules, they would have nothing to feel guilty about, but this was not the case in my example.

Experience itself proves the "experts" wrong, as does my example. The boy wasn't even 5 years old yet and yet he stated that he "felt bad," and he "thought he had done a bad thing."

Children learn much from observing the adults in their world, without a word being spoken. As in the case I stated.

This kid's conscience was silenced at a very early age (through no fault of his own) through the joy of pleasing his mother.

Good example Bangee.

Exactly. Did the boy have to tell his Mom? No. It was how he felt that caused him to tell on himself.

Just like the other poster brought up, some kids steal and steal again and again. Why? Because they have learned to silence their own conscience. If a kid knew his mother would not let him have the candy because they didn't have the money, he would steal it and keep it hidden because the desire for the candy would override or silence his conscience. It doesn't mean his conscience wasn't pricked (guilty feelings) but just that having the candy was more important than how the stealing made him feel. Within himself he justified his actions for stealing. Each and every time thereafter, it just becomes easier, because each time he silences his conscience, it becomes harder or a bit more seared. After years of this, his conscience isn't even pricked any more, at least not when it comes to stealing.

For some reason...I think it was the years of going to the store with Mom/Dad and understanding that all the stuff you want, goes on the counter to the cashier to be paid for. He understood that concept.

When he told his Mom he felt bad and thought he had done something wrong, he did not say, I stole. What he said was he put it in his pocket and it wasn't paid for. So he understood the concept of stealing, though could not plainly state that.

I don't think a 4 year old has the manipulative abilities to think about maybe he could be "caught." His mother did not know he stole something, the boy offered up the information because of how he felt. So it was how he felt, (he felt bad, or in other words, guilty) that was his motivation for telling. He did not like how it made him feel. Which was guilty. Which was his conscience speaking to him.

His parents are not Christians, so no influence from that angle.

He has been learning how to silence his conscience.

Was that little 4 1/2 year old assuming that God existed when he felt bad and thought he'd done something wrong?

His God given conscience told him it was wrong. His choice was to trust his conscience or silence (sear/harden) it through self-justification or rationalization.

I'm not Bangee :-) but I'd like to answer your question Jack.

The option/choice is available or open to me to make that choice.

I would choose not to because my personal experience/relationship with God has grown to the point that I trust Him above all else.

I choose to believe God because He has proved Himself to me and that His Word, the Holy Bible is to be trusted for guidance.

The religion of Islam is in contradiction of God's Word.

Not really.

Our God given conscience is being left out of all equations here.

A 4 1/2 year old boy goes shopping with his mother and as she is in the checkout lane, the little boy slips a candy bar into his pocket. By the time they get to their car, the little boy informs his mother that he doesn't feel very good and that he thinks he has done something "bad." So his story gets told and Mom takes him back into the store to return the stolen item. The little boys conscience has led him to do what is right.

As we grow, that conscience can become seared/hardened through rationalization or self-justification of wrong doing or sins. The older we become, the harder it becomes, so that we reach a point where our consciences no longer work as they were originally created to work.

Now, taking the example of two people reading the Bible and one will believe and another will not....is because one person possess a still working conscience and the other does not. The one who does not, will most likely dismiss it altogether without much thought, because his hardened/seared conscience will not be convicted by the message.

As for the illustration of the cheating wife, that doesn't even make sense. Of course he made a conscious decision to no longer trust his wife because the facts prove that she is not to be trusted, regardless of what he previously believed.

On the other hand, how many spouses that have found themselves in the same circumstances have chosen to make excuses for the cheating spouse through a multitude of excuses on their behalf. They choose to rationalize or justify the infidelity, regardless of their previous belief. The facts haven't changed, but they choose a different path. (Ex.) It didn't mean anything, he really loves me. It was just a moment of weakness, it was the other women's fault. He won't do it again...the list goes on and on. In all cases, it was a choice, regardless of the fact that they believed their spouse was not a cheater. We can also look at the one who chooses to forgive and live with it.

Belief of anything at all is a choice. Many times predicated without much or any thought at all because of a seared or hardened conscience; or in other words, the subconscious at work. Which is only the manifestation of a clear and working conscience or a seared and hardened one.

I've never heard that first song before and I loved everything about it. It was bold and clear in the lyrics and the music was very beautiful to my ears.

Thanks for sharing.

Blessings :-)

In my opinion, no.

Good or evil can be manifested through most everything in life.

Did you view the video?

One, Jesus volunteered Himself, He sacrificed Himself. Why? Because He had been with God since the beginning and knew the love God (and He) had for all people.

Jesus knew/understood the Holiness/righteousness of God. Sin (darkness/the absence of light or God) is the opposite of God's holiness. He also understood the infectious nature of sin. Sin entered the world through one man, Adam.

Through Jesus, the only man without sin, righteousness entered the world. Jesus never sinned. He did and said only those things He heard from His Father, who was leading and guiding him in all things.

When Jesus was on that cross, God poured out the consequences/punishment for all sin upon him. The wages of sin is death. The only one who did not justly or rightly deserve it.

Jesus died in our place, for those who believe and accept His sacrifice of Himself for ourselves.

Now, just as Jesus was led by His Father in all He did and said, that same opportunity is given us, through the indwelling Holy Spirit that is given to born again believers.

Jhn 3:7
Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again.

Rom 8:14
For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.

The righteousness that Jesus possessed, is now imputed to born again believers.

There are no "works" that we can do to gain entrance to eternal life. There is only the work of Jesus on the cross, on our individual behalf and the acceptance of that work that grants us access to eternal life.

It is the righteousness of Christ, imputed to us and through obedience to the indwelling Holy Spirit that gets anyone to heaven.

Our love for our children can not even begin to equal the love God has for all people. Our love is marred, imperfect through our sin, but God's love is absolutely pure.

Through the death of Jesus on the cross, God Himself made a way, through the sin, (the wages of sin is death) to take us unto Himself for a holy family that will one day dwell with Him for all eternity.

Abundant blessings Croce. :-)