How would a religious person respond to God telling them not to believe (or obey) him?

Sorry, but that’s not a sensible hypothesis to even consider.

@CyanoticWasp humor me

I’m sorry. What?
Are you saying that a person who just saw someone was told by that someone not to believe in him? That makes no sense.

@Trillian since when does faith have to make sense

O.k. I edited the question

Well, seeing the person standing there transcends the need for faith. Are you just looking for an excuse to bash people of faith?
The other problem is your assumption that a “religious person” would respond to your narrowly framed parameters in an either/or fashion.

o.k. how would you respond… and no I’m not looking to bash anyone

@trillian, Well said.

what about the opposite then? How would someone react to someone claiming that they are God and asking them to obey them?

@talljasperman

Well, that’s a different proposition. In that case you found a new religion around that person, obtain converts, acolytes and a Holy Book, and persecute the non-believers.

@CyanoticWasp will do… : ) any tips?

I, for one, cnnot even begin to speculate about how I would react. I hate hypotheticval questions. One never knows what one would do in a situation so far out of the ordinary that one has no reference points, much less how someone else would react.
What are you really looking for here? I don’t understand the intent behind the question.

@Trillian I’m trying to have a conversation on free will and divine authority, maybe because I don’t know what religion I am… and the fact that I have 9 hours to kill every night until I un mess-up my life… and that I received a miracle… that none believe really happened…. that is causing me to struggle with everything…and have panic attacks around now if I don’t talk about it…to someone… and my roommate is asleep.

Well you don’t need to go too far for that. Jesus only claimed to be the Son of God and that wasn’t recieved very well. Of course if God himself came down and proved he wasn’t just some crack pot out of some overcrowed loony bin, than I would think everyone would suddenly be poised to listen.

@Pandora thank-you GA

thanks

@talljasperman So, rather than try to pigeon-hole yourself into a rigid set of doctrinal laws and strictures, why don’t you allow yourself to just integrate your experience into your persona without reference to anyone else? You owe no one an explanation about your beliefs and are better served being true to yourself.
The Christian god desires free will submission and obedience to the will of god. That does not mean,as some choose to interpret, an abdication of responsibility. It means determining god’s will and carrying it out even if it means facing unpleasantness. If you have access, read some of the works by Cornelia TenBoom.
I’m not clear about what you’re struggling with here and if you’ve had a head injury, ABI or epilepsy I don’t want to encourage anything that would lead to possible delusional fantasy. If you are taking psych medications, I would also hesitate to advise you as I wouldn’t want you to come to harm.
I hope you find an answer to your needs.

I don’t believe this question has any bashing agenda, just a fun curiosity chatty type question, so I will answer…
If I didn’t believe in God then god came down and told me that I was correct not to believe then I would be helluva confused and would probably start to believe.
The opposite, If I was a believer and the big Guy came down and told me that its all nonsense then I would be equally confused and would probably become a scientologist. :) (ok that was a bash:)

If it was my first encounter with Her, I’d say, “Whether I believe you depends on what you say. However, if you’re going to be telling me nothing but lies, then I won’t believe you. Regarding the latter part of your request: you told me not to obey you, which means that I don’t have to obey the former part of your request, which means that I can choose for myself whether to believe you”.

Many believers don’t believe in God talking to them directly, like He was calling them on their cell phone. Answering prayers can have an allegorical meaning as well.

I’m confused. Isn’t this a contradiction? Lack of obedience would be false faith, wouldn’t it? and wouldn’t responding to something is signifying that you in fact are not talking to yourself and believing in it?

or am I just high? lol

If god told me not to obey?

“Yes sir. I will refuse all instructions from this point on.”

If god told me not to believe?

“Belief is not a switch. If you were really god, you’d figure out how to make me stop believing. If you can’t…then I don’t believe in you.”

If someone told me that they were god and I should obey them?

“It would be blasphemy for me to follow a false god. I’ll go and pray on this in private. If you really want me to do your will…you’ll send me the message that way.”

There is no way to answer an impossible question like this. What if God told me he was an atheist?

All hypothetical, of course. but I believe it would go something like this:

-Assuming the religious person knew for a fact that it really is God, somehow or some way, then his beliefs require him to obey instantly, which would instantly free him from obeying the command in the first place, which would be following the apparent true intention behind the instruction according to the religious persons personal desires. Ultimately the religious person would begin disobeying the order to not obey God as soon as the words left Gods lips. (this scenario works with the belief question format, too.) And so be completely in compliance with Gods commands the entire time, while still believing in God and following His orders to the letter in the future.