My question to people who call themselves christians but dont fit the mold.

ok
iv been reading around this part of the forums and see alot "christians" who say
well i belive some parts of the bible and not others
or yeah i agree that dosnt make sense so i dont believe it
or no i believe abortion is ok blah blah blah

i am in NO way a christian
i was raised in a christian family, in a christian school, and went to church right up until i got kicked out of my house
so i know about it, quite alot about in infact
i have read the entire bible over the corse of a year
and have done many studies on the old testament, the gospels, and the revelations of john

the bible clearly states many times
that FAITH is a large factor in being a christian

i guess my question is

How can you call yourselves christians when you have so little faith in your religion that you go so far as to say you dont belive certain parts of the bible, or that certain errors in the bible cant be explained away?

 

because each person has their own path to follow.
just because paul is against gay people, and it is in the bible, doesn't mean i have to hate gay people.
i dont have a problem with gay people, so does that make me not a christian?

As you know, there are hundreds of denominations of Christianity. There is no one definitive interpretation of the Bible. So what is christian and what is not christian? I have immense faith in my religion. But you have to realize, that it has been around for 2000 years. The guy that it is centered around is not here to tell me what i need to know. I have to rely on a book, that has probably been translated many different times, and compiled with all kinds of things, that who is to say what is right and what is wrong, and what is the truth.
everyone has to figure it out for themselves.
that doesn't mean im not a christian.

 

Yeah. Neodude covered that one pretty well. I'm not a Christian but I do believe and I'm not anti-Christ.

 

I consider myself a Christian because I think that Jesus was a good hippie and that some of the core beliefs and principles that I associate with him are cool and ones I want to live my life by: peace, love, understanding, compassion, forgiveness, humility, recognition of all humans as brothers and sisters and active concern and help for the poor, outcasts and dregs of society. I know Christians who somehow have views on this that are 180 degrees different from mine, and who certainly have more media attention--e.g., Pat Robertson or the Rev. Phelps of the Westboro Baptists who pickets funerals because "God hates fags." I can only follow my conscience and the Bible as I understand it. The New Testament is a selection of some of the many documents about Jesus that were in circulation by the second century. A lot of the stuff that's recited in the Apostles' and Nicene creeds I'm not sure I believe, at least in a literal sense: the resurrection, virgin birth, the Trinity, etc. Those were doctrines that developed during the first few centuries after Jesus' death and were adopted by Church councils to reconcile conflicting ideas of what Christianity is about. Just because they defined Christianity a certain way doesn't mean I have to go along with it. My faith is in the basic principles, guided by the underlying principle of unconditional love.

 

I wish I could give a sermon at westboro baptist church.

then again, they would probably hang me.

 

The correct term is lynch

Yeah, I agree with those who said above that you do not need to take a 100% literal (word for word, no symbolism) meaning to the Bible. I am being baptised Catholic this Easter. I don't agree that homosexual acts are mortal sins, I don't agree with a lot of things the Church teaches, but to me, it still makes the most sense.

That being said, I think it is odd when people don't even understand what their own faith/religion/denomination professes to be true. There was a woman at a lecture last week who said she had nothing but contempt for people who believe in evolution. Which would mean contempt for John Paul II. The lady also identified herself as a Roman Cathoic. Odd, no?

 

Oh, dude. Yeah. Yeah. Sheep go to heaven and goats go to hell. :^) I have my view and beliefs and sometimes enjoy sharing them. For the most part though I choose neither to lead nor to follow but simply to get the hell out of the way... or maybe I'll have tall platinum hair and become a nondenominational televangelist.

 

To take something from Paul (and to spite the troll who just came on to "laugh at the rules"). In 1 Corinthians (14-19 For in fact the body is not one member but many. If the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I am not of the body,” is it therefore not of the body? And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I am not of the body,” is it therefore not of the body? If the whole body were an eye, where would be the hearing? If the whole were hearing, where would be the smelling? But now God has set the members, each one of them, in the body just as He pleased. And if they were all one member, where would the body be?)

Paul talks about different gifts of the Spirit and how they all work together. Although he is talking about squabbling members of one church body, I think the metaphor can be applied to this situation. We are not all called to be martyrs, we are not all called to be clergy, hell the Catholic churches that not all are even called to marriage or Holy Orders (it teaches that homosexual people aren't supposed to try and be straight, but to lead celibate lives--but that is another thread). I am called to be me, just as the great saints were called to be who they were.

 

I have read the bible and formed my own opinion and interpretation of what it says and try to live by those principals. People need to disassociate what people have done to any religion and look at the teachings of the religion. There are people in every group who make everyone else look bad, i look past them in everything.

If i was not a Christian and saw some of the things on TV and read some things preachers and Christians are doing, i would also be turned off to the religion.

I grew up in church and was away from Christianity for about 10 yrs before coming back on my own free will. i spent those years studying different beliefs and based on that i have formed my personal belief and faith in God.

 

Amen, bro.

 

I think lumping all Christians in a group, stereotyping them and says things like "what do you Christians have to say about yadda yadda" Is no different than stereotyping liberals, hippies or any race.

Sure there are reasons for stereotypes and some people do in fact fit that mold but look at the individual and the reason for their beliefs. Religion, Race, and Politics seem to be very polarizing topics and people generally have a very steadfast opinion of 1 side or the other, not much middle group.

I have sensed some people here literally hate Christians for the actions of a few or some groups who call themselves Christians. I ask you please do not let these people speak for an entire religion just as i wouldn't let some loud mouth speak for any group.

I promise you i dislike their actions just as much as most of you.

 

i bet i would get lynched at fedup's church too.

 

ERRORS? Try Deleted. We all know there is a major debate on about this right now in particualr where is the account of the teenage jesus. what happened to this guy between 12 and 31 !?

The lost years in tibet? did he work for his dad? did just go out on the water and fish? whut happened? whut did he do?

From my research we should all try to figure out whut happened at the council of nicea. figure out that out for sure. and we'll all know once an for all. Are we all really ONE Christ? or Was Jesus the one and only begotten son of god to have the "Mystic Christ" Consciousness?

Personally i have no problem accepting jesus's teachings and practices either way. Cause one thing i know for sure. He was a Chirst, whether or not he is the only one aaaahhh that is one question that remains unawnsered in my spiritual path and i would LOVE to KNOW the awnser to.

 

That is why it is called faith my friend. I am not here to tell anyone they are right or wrong, only what i personally believe through life experiences and my interpretations of the Bible.

 

No, crucified!

 

haha yeah.

w/e happened to fedup anyways.

 

Well I could think of a million one responses that would start a flame war. I just don't feel like it anymore.

I choose LOVE not WAR.

 

http://youtube.com/watch?v=vEXGKzH0F9c


^^ That is a very well explanation of PROVING GODS EXISTENCE.

 

Interesting. The kid presents himself well, and is on the way to a becoming an effective preacher. Youtube is a natural for this kind of evangelism, and using a teenager to deliver the message in conversational tones may go over better with a youth audience than a hellfire and damnation preacher popping a blood vessel. I found the message convincing, but I'm already a Christian, so it's preaching to the choir. I do have some reservations about presenting religious apologetics in the form of an argument that is supposedly irrefutable logic, because it also takes faith. The basic arguments he uses are variations on ones that are probably familiar to all of us: the argument from first cause (matter,time, and energy must have been caused by something) and the argument from design (the universe is too complex, orderly and finely tuned for life to be the product of blind forces). I find them intuitively, if not logically, persuasive, but I ultimately come down to faith (intuitive risk taking) to make the final call. The standard comebacks to the logical approach are: if matter, time, and energy need a cause, what caused God?; if the order of the universe needs a Designer, who designed God? Particle physics offers in His place such concepts as Superstring (God without a mind). So if the boy evangelist is planning to take this act on the road, he'd better be ready for those arguments.

 

Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?

Who will guard the guards?

*chuckles*