Oct
21
Some Pros And Cons of Christianity
Filed Under Motivation & Purpose, The Bigger Perspective | 27 Comments
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Keeping An Open Mind To Religion
It is very important to consider different perspectives when we’re trying to develop ourselves so that we can see the same thing from multiple angles and get a larger understanding of what that object is. To that end, I have spent the past year or two learning about the one thing that appear to be the antithesis of logical thinking – religion.
Interestingly enough, after a year of asking Christians their viewpoints on various topics, it actually appears to be a very good way of living. There are many constructs built into the religion itself that are very synergetic and promotes healthy relationships. Ultimately though, there is one major stumbling block that I haven’t heard a convincing explanation for yet.
First, let’s take a look at some of the synergetic constructs:
Good Parts About Christianity
Church
Allows people to gather together on a regular basis and talk with each other. It’s a life long activity that people will always have in common. From The Key To A Healthy Relationship, we know that such activities can be a strong binding force when people have problems or disagreements. It allows people to commit to a cause and overcome the minute differences.
Praying
If there’s any one thing you should know, it’s that we become what we think about. This is the major theme of books like Think And Growth Rich and is prevelant in almost all literature (and it’s absolutely true!!). Praying allows people to focus their thoughts on the desired results on a regular basis. That way, they never lose sight of their goals or what they want most.
Small Groups
On a regular basis, people meet to share inner parts of themselves with each other. If there’s one thing that I greatly admire about Christianity, it’s that people are extremely open to sharing parts of themselves. In my experience, people at church are quite open-minded and tend to be very accepting. It allows people to deeply connect, allowing people to have a sense of companionship.
The Bible
People are given a purpose to fulfill. This can become a pillar of strength in a lot of people’s lives. From How To Stop Hurt Feelings From Dating, we can see that it’s very important to have an identity apart from your relationships with other people. It helps you cope with situations where you are alone (which there always will be). You can often hear devout Christians reciting, “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil, for You are with me”.
Questionable Parts About Christianity
The one part that just doesn’t make sense to me though, is the whole concept of heaven and not heaven. For some reason, there is a positive association with being closer to God, as there is love and all that. However, why should there be a negative connotation associated with separation from God? There seems to be the implication that being apart from God is somehow a bad thing, which just doesn’t make sense. I get a distinct sense of, “If you don’t do what I tell you to do, you’ll end up in this really bad place!” Would a person who unconditionally loves you force you to be with them? No! They should let you do what you want to do, and be there for you when you want them.
Of course, all that is theoretical. Why should we care what people think about heaven and hell? Well, I’ve found that this attitude seems to trickle down into the actual attitudes of people. I have heard (and personally experienced) many cases where Christians seem to feel they are superior in some way because they are walking the “path of God”. In fact, throughout history, there have been times when this opposition has been so strong that there were crusades against non-Christians.
That is pretty dark for a religion that values unconditional love.
Of course, this doesn’t mean all the Christians I’ve met are like this. In fact, some of the most interesting people I’ve met are Ivy League engineers who are Christians. They have found their own interpretations which I find fascinating to listen to.
Ultimately though, I simply cannot accept that separation from God is a bad thing. Isn’t that basically kind of how Earth is right now?
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Hello, I’m from the INTJ Anon group on Facebook, and I’ve been subscribed to your blog for many months.
This topic is somewhat close to home for me. I was raised Christian but I became non-religious in high school. Because of this I often feel like a stranger in a foreign land (or perhaps that’s because I’m an INTJ, haha).
My problem with Christianity is not with the way of life – as you have pointed out, it can be very positive – but with the underlying assumptions. It doesn’t just prescribe ways of living, it also makes specific claims about reality, few of which I think are firmly grounded. Faith is said to be enough of a justification for the beliefs, and it is often touted as a virtue. This baffles me, as faith is not a reliable way to gain objective knowledge (this is could be a whole other topic to itself).
Ultimately, I’m not sure how pratical it is to weigh pros and cons when the truth claims made are unverified (and perhaps unverifiable).
C.S. Lewis was also an INTJ, I’ve heard. Have you read any of his stuff?
Josh: I’ve thought about that for quite a bit too. Ultimately though, I came to the conclusion that it doesn’t make a whole lot of difference what people say they believe in but rather what they do as a result of those beliefs that matter.
Someone can claim that pebbles are alive and holy, but as long as they create value for society, hey, great, pebbles are alive. Perhaps, the underlying assumptions aren’t nearly as important as the effect of adopting that set of beliefs. After all, no matter what frame of refernce you take, there will always be underlying assumptions (just keep asking why, and eventually you’ll need to assume something).
While those things are, as you said, unverifiable, the results of those beliefs are quite verifiable, and I think that’s what’s more important here.
Andrea: Hmmm, yeah I’m quite well aware of that, although I haven’t read much beyond the Chronicles of Narnia. Thanks for reminding me though, I’ll put some of his stuff on my list
Hello! As a Christian, and former atheist and agnostic, and I want to answer your questionable parts of the Christianity. I’m not going to criticise the people who label themselves “Christians” (who often it seems, does not act very “Christ-like”, unbiblicallly even), but I’ll go straight to the source.
To really understand the origins of the heaven/hell/God concept, one has to read the book of Genesis. This is where the story of Adam and Eve comes in.
Before anyone asks – I absolutely do not believe in the literal Adam and Eve account, but I do believe it in a metaphorical sense.
Genesis describes what we Christians believe is truth – that the state of the world is corrupt and evil, etc. and that, even though God saves us, we turn away from him.
Now, get this: The reason why I didn’t become a Christian any earlier is because I simply did not understand these concepts.
For the Christian belief is that we people, even Christians themselves, are generally wicked people, not able to uphold the law perfectly, or that people have the tendancy to get away whatever they can. And I agree – around the world, there are murderers, thieves, and even crimes like poverty, corruption of Government, etc. A quote from the bible: “No one is good. Not even one.” (Romans 3:10)
And so, given that, the idea of “sin” comes in: And you know what? The very definition of “sin” means, the “separation of God”!
Through a guy named Jesus, he has shown people what God is really like: that God is perfect in goodness. And thus, for those people who want to be like God, so that they could get rid of that state of sin are those who we now call “Christians”.
Now, there are a lot of questions, but let me reassure you, there are plenty of answers on the net, but it’s not my prerogative to give you those answers: It’s something that one must search for themselves.
I’ll also talk about things that have left you puzzled:
No, Christians, by their very definition, according to the bible, should NEVER EVER feel superior than anyone else. That’s an absolute No-No. Unfortunately, this is an attitude I find commonly in America. But, gratefully no where else.
I can’t support the crusades, but biblical Christians were always about peace. That means, no war.
And yes, I can guess you’re right about the separation of God right now, if you have read all of the above. Hopefully that makes things clearer
i loved what you said about the heavan and hell part. you really got it there. great work
Very well reasoned, if the love is unconditional, why should there be any kind of forcing?
To be able to understand the issues you have raised,you need to have travlled quite abit in christianity and its values. Ultimately,its all about valuea and guidance for a simple and fruitful life which is accessed through connection with God and your inner self. For me what I understand and have come to expereince is that when I pray and follow the spiritual lwas of christianity automatically my life is balanced.Iam able to focus on my life’s purpose and those of the people in my life ina calm and positive way and connect with my inner compas. Conversely,when i disconnect from the essence of christianity and God I automatically focus on my own needs and lose direction sooner or later and my life stops having anymeaning. So its a lifestyle and achoice and guidelines given by a loving Father and the wanrings are that if you do not connect with youralef and me as your father and maker,you run the ever present risk of losing direction and this is as good as death while still alive and brings personl sufferings and loss and deprives you of your inner peace and if you do not have this you cannot affect yourself let alone anyone else.
In regards to the Heaven and Hell part.
I agree that the world is separated from God. As to whether that is a bad thing would depend on your point of view. Most people who are suffering and dying on the world today would probably tell you that it is bad or that there is bad in it. Now I don’t think that the entire world is bad, just that it is corrupted, and is thus a tarnished version of its former glory.
Now when you die you are supposed to go to one of two places for all eternity. I’ve had it explained to me that God is love (1John 4:8). His love is unconditional and he will always love earth and the people on it unconditionally, but his love is different from having a relationship with him. To have a relationship with God comes with certain preconditions; one of them being that you have to believe that Jesus died on the cross for your sins and ect. To go to Heaven is for those who repent and believe in Jesus (I’ll admit off the bat I’m not an expert here). For those who decided that they would rather not have a relationship with God, they are supposed to go to Hell. Now how do you reconcile that with an all-loving God? I think that Hell is just a seperation from God. But God is love, so how wonderful do you think existence would be without love? Maybe Hell is jsut a place where there is absolutely no relationship with God and no form of love whatsoever. Its horrible enough to feel unloved and insecure about yourself here on earth, maybe it would be absolutely terrifying to feel that way for all eternity?
Anyways, just my thoughts (how did I find my self on this blog anyways? O_o?? lol)
This religion seems like a form of brainwashing.
Everyones greatest fears are death. So being a christian you give your self a chance to live after death. Anyone that beleives that you dont fallow the ways of god your going to hell your insaine. If god loves everyone unconditonally, why would he send someone to hell that could of grown up on a island or somewhere that dosent even no of religion? I dont know much on this topic considering the fact ive been to church twice. But i do have some opinions that can poke holes in religion. Yes christianity does seem great i mean if your mind believes it knows that god is real, when u do prey you will feal something, before you die you know your going to heaven. But what if christianty is the wrong religion and someother religion was the right one to fallow.
Most of friends are christians and i love them all. However i get so pissed when i think of what christianity has done to civilization.
For 600 to 1,000 years christianity held back science. This is known as the dark ages. No inventions, no progress. Nothing. To even speak of a new idea is blaspheme a fate that befell Galileo Galilei, and so many others. Two thousand years ago it was commonly believed that the universe was teaming with life but christianity took that away from us. How arrogant. We should be living among the stars by now.
And then there are all those other religions that have been terribly victimized by christianity. Such is the case with voodoo and witchcraft. NEVER, NEVER has there been a devil, a satan are any evil what so ever in these religions. They both do nothing more than utilize the elements and forces of nature in harmony with goodwill for all life. Two thousand years later the christians would still have you believe that you will burn in hell forever if you do not give up your wicked ways or wicker and do as “The Good Book” says. It seems christianity will tolerate nothing but christianity.
Then there’s the Bible a book that’s been rerereedited and it seems to blame all of mans short comings on women. Sounds like a book that was written by MEN from a couture that enjoys belittling women. Such as the middle-east. The truth never changes yet the Bible has. For example a few years back the Pope took it upon himself to change Mary Magdalene’s profession. She’s no longer a prostitute.
But don’t get me wrong i Believe in Christ and in the Christ consciousness. i believe Christ is a fully self-realized person and through self-realization he new God personally. This is the Christ consciousness.
How can there be a heaven and hell ?
If i go to heaven because i believe in Christ but the people that i love go to hell because they believe in Buddha then that would make the christian heaven my personal hell. The hole concept just doe’s not work.
The Ten Commandments written in stone. Has anybody ever seen them? No. Stone writing has been going on for i don’t know say 100,000 years. And yet the ones God wrote only 2,000 years ago are gone. A massage directly from God himself to Moses for all of mankind to live by as law. Never made it to the first city, it never made it out of the desert, never seen by a human eyes. Story has it after receiving the tablets from God Moses came down form the mountain where he found his followers already worshipping a bronzes bull are some deity and in a fit of rage right there on the spot he smashes Gods laws.
Come on now! Really.
After that God is going to for the next forty years let Moses lead his people to the promise land when he can’t be trusted with a rock.
And one more thing…
Is Christ Gods only begotten son or are we all Gods children?
What did Christ come from the divine semen while the rest of us is something God more or less pissed out?
As far as heaven and hell, we don’t go to heaven because we’re good or hell because we’re bad. And a person doesn’t go to hell simply because they lived on some island somewhere and never heard of Jesus. They go to hell because they violated God’s law. God gave us a conscience. We know right from wrong. Have you ever lied? Have you ever stolen? Have you ever used God’s name in vain? If you’ve done these things, even just once, you’ve broken three of the 10 Commandments (God’s law). The Bible says that sin is breaking God’s law. It even says that if you’ve only broken on of His commands it’s as if you’ve broken them all. If you break civic (human) law, what happens? You get punished. The higher you go with the authorities the greater the punishment. If I lie to the kid down the street he won’t like me. If I lie to my wife I sleep on the couch for a few days. If I lie to a policeman I could get a ticket. If I lie to a supreme court judge I could go to jail for a very long time. The punishment gets bigger as the authority gets greater. God is the greatest authority. The Bible tells us that He loves us, but He also loves goodness and justice. He will judge all of us someday. If a judge is good he will make sure justice is served. God is good so He must punish us for breaking His law. And since He’s the greatest Judge and Authority we should expect the punishment to fit the crime. Hell is not mere separation from God, but it’s described as a place of fire, weeping and darkness. If it were only separation from God then it would be no different from my experience before I became a Christian. I’m not one of those people who can say I was unhappy before I became a Christian. If hell is only separation from God, most people would say, “so what? It will be no different from Earth.” I was very happy in my sins, but it was because I didn’t realize the effect they were going to have on my soul. Now I see the truth and I regret so many things I’ve done. But we’re truly blessed because God loves us so much that He sent His Son to pay the price for our sins and if we repent (that is ask for forgiveness and turn from the sin we were once doing) and trust in Jesus, God’s Son, rather than ourselves for our salvation we will be saved and spend eternity with Him in heaven. Awesome!
Im thinking of moving back to Christianity but what worries me is things like the law has made it illegal to chastise a child pysically which is right. However my past experiences with fellow Christains is that they preach love and kindness at church, then they invite me say for a meal at their home, and then wallop their children for being naughty and sinfull.When I questioned this they threw “spare the rod and spoil the child” at me. Even Jesus is supposed to have said ” if anyone so much as harms a child then he will be doomed for eternity” (or words to that effect) You can email me at triffiks@googlemail.com if you wish to comment directly too me. I had 2 daughters they are very well behaved and my ex and I never smacked them apart from One occaiosion when the youngest for some reason was hysterical and tried to attack someone.We used to reason with them and even from a young age, it worked. Or we made a small game showing them why something was wrong.
Ok. I just have one problem. You all say that if it’s unconditional love it shoudnt be forced. I agree 100%. But, were I dissagree is God is not forcing you to love him. It’s like your father telling you to go mow the grass. Do you have to mow the grass? You could choose not to and run away. You don’t HAVE to mow the grass. No one makes you do anything, you do. God is saying love me. Now you make the decision to love him or you make the dicision not to. So if you said you wernt going to mow the grass your father will most likley punish you , just like God with heaven/hell. He is not forcing you
Would a person who unconditionally loves you force you to be with them? We ultimately have to understand that Jesus Christ the son is God made in man’s likeness, but God the father is an invinsible supreme being. He is the Lord of Lord and King of Kings. He is sovereign over everything that ever existed or will exist. He does not force us to be with him, but longs to have a relationship with every person. He will never force himself upon us, but there is a penalty for living life for our own selfish desires. Hell! And what Scott said…
I believe there is no such thing as hell, because if god love us unconditionally then we wouldnt be going to the hell. god is a spirit he does not have a emotional as his son jesus thats why he made his son. you can have all the good in this world without having the bad too so it could balance itself out. I think God just wants us to know that wheither you are in a church or not that he will always be with you at all time through your life. I am a christian and i think god is in everybody. I dont think people could to go hell have for sins that they have made if you say we are breaking god law then in that case everybody in this world you go to hell because everyone isnt perfect al all and in the bible it said that jesus died on the cross for our sins so that we could be saved. So i think god just wants us to know that why we are here on this place called earth enjoy that times thats you have,enjoy beauty that this world brings, be happy, and even though you make go through some rough times in your life remember that god is always with helping you through people, and that even though things are rough right now that god always have a good thing for you in the near future wheather you see it or not, he just wants you to preach the truth to the people. that is just my opinion.
God is not Forcing anybody to love him.. In order to go to heaven all he asks is for you to say Jeses I believe you died on the cross for me and I will try my hardest to live for you.. Christians do NOT live by the law we live under Gods grace.. In the old testiment the law said those who kill shall be killed etc. But when he sent his son down to wash our sins we no longer loved under the law.. When we sin God does not cast harsh judgment on us, he forgives us INSTANTLY as if it never happened.. The bible says NOBODY is perfect so God doesn’t require you to be sinless to go to Heaven but he does require that you Believe in him and believe that his son Jesus died for us.. You don’t need to carry around a bible or cut your hair or change how you dress you don’t even need to stop smokin cigarettes.. All you need to do is day Jesus I believe in you an that you died for me and I will try my hardest to live my life for you..
To 6,
There is no forcing, there is Free Will. The very fact (yes, fact) that you can stand upon your opinion that God is forceful is a testament of Him granting you Free Will.
To continue – My point is God grants humans free will because he doesn’t want robots bowing to him at his beckon call. He wants YOU TO CHOOSE to love him.
Isn’t that a bit narcissistic ? If I were an all powerful god then I would be beyond creating smaller creatures just to love me. I already have more self-esteem than that.
Approaching it from the point of view of a parent, then surely any good parent would want their children to grow and develop and learn and mature, etc. He/she would want their happiness above their own and to watch said children grow into good, intelligent, kind and wise beings in their own right. Whether or not these children choose to love you should surely come at most second.
To do the right thing is to do the right thing regardless of the personal cost. If god created us all then ‘he’ should be happy to watch and help us grow as any good parent/wise & good superior being would – not punish us for refusing to choose to acknowledge that creation.
It’s true that you can punish your children for the mistakes that they may make, but not loving you isn’t a mistake. If you’ve done your job right it won’t be an issue anyway. If people are questioning even the existence of such a god then clearly he hasn’t.
On the subject of heaven: I wouldn’t want to be close to a god that needed an accompaniment of loving worshippers surrounding them. Personally, I feel that I’M above that – how can an all-powerful, loving and wise superior being not be?
Free will is a human ability that shouldn’t be thrown away. Life is about gaining knowledge not blind faith. We should take responsibility for our own salvation, our own development, our own actions and not expect to toss someone else the burden of our wrong-doings (‘sins’) as an easy way out. Saying that Jesus died on the cross for your sins is using a scapegoat instead of facing up these things yourself. It’s time for the human race to grow up and take responsibility for itself.
Someone who loves, doesn’t judge. Someone who loves, doesn’t punish. When I was sad, or hungry, God wasn’t there to bring me food or make me smile. And all these people suffer from diseases and all those children die but i see no God taking care of them. So let’s suppose God does exist and let’s suppose he loves us all. why doesn’t he do anything? so, to me and to thousands people out there, even if God exists, it makes no difference in their lives. What if someone came to you, tell you they love you and that’s all? or even worse if they told you they love you but if you do sth wrong they will judge you or punish you. And don’t you dare give me the speech of free will, because most of the bad things that happen to us, are not our free will. He could help us. And praying does help sometimes, the way meditation helps, or a psychiatrist or sex.
There are people who have been through shit in their lives, try telling THEM that all they have to do is love evryone and never steal or lie. People with anger, with depression, with all sorts of financial and emotional problems. And if you suggest that he is trying to test us, then i say to him fuck you. Cause if someone loves, they don’t put tests. All in all, your Christian God is a result of mythologies of people with limited emotional and intelligence quotance of the old times. Try Buddhism if you really need religion.
I myself, am what you call an “atheist”. Hell, if I hadn’s heard of God in the first place, i woulnd’t even have imagined of such powerful loving yet sleeping creature. In the sky. Lord of the rings is better than Bible.
Jesus is bsically a scapegoat…he did what we couldn’t. He broke the wall that seperated us from God. I’ve seen a lot of ppl trying to force religion on ppl and that is not the right way to show God to people. He is loving and let’s us decide our own path, and he is always there when we turn around with his arms open. Accepting us no matter what wrong we did or were we failed. People are not perfect and no one will ever be, the Bible says we all fall short of the glory. Its by grace that we continue. And we go through things because its a prt of life..no one ever said its easy. Ad usually when we are at out lowest or troubles we learn many things. First God is always there showing the way out. We also learn who are the people who are real. Success is easy failure builds character
Biblical Christians were always about peace…and yet then there was Joshua…
At Jericho, Joshua6;17-19:
17 And the city shall be accursed, even it, and all that are therein, to the LORD: only Rahab the harlot shall live, she and all that are with her in the house, because she hid the messengers that we sent. 18 And ye, in any wise keep yourselves from the accursed thing, lest ye make yourselves accursed, when ye take of the accursed thing, and make the camp of Israel a curse, and trouble it. 19 But all the silver, and gold, and vessels of brass and iron, are consecrated unto the LORD: they shall come into the treasury of the LORD.
No call me a dumb stupid uneducated heathen, but it SOUNDS like it to me that Joshua is conquering in in the name of his God and KILLING PEOPLE WHO DO NOT FOLLOW HIS RELIGION. Brilliant, oh course, to suggest that it is GOD’S way for him to do so!
Now then we continue to after the battle, Joshua 6;22 and indeed:
22 And they utterly destroyed all that was in the city, both man and woman, young and old, and ox, and sheep, and ass, with the edge of the sword.
Holy mother of God, these MUST be a people of peace – for they kill not just man and woman, but the livestock too!!! Shall we continue?
So we get to another city later on…
It should be funny to note, of course, that every time Joshua suffered defeat, it was not due to a bad strategy or a poor decision, but rather, due to the Israelites sinning and thus God punishing them, because the Christian God has anger:
Joshua 7;1:
1 But the children of Israel committed a trespass in the accursed thing: for Achan, the son of Carmi, the son of Zabdi, the son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, took of the accursed thing: and the anger of the LORD was kindled against the children of Israel.
Wait a second, I thought this was an unconditionally loving god…he gets emotionally angry??? DO YOU CHRISITIANS EVEN KNOW THE DEFINITION OF “UNCONDITIONAL LOVE????”
But the israelites find the “source” of their sin, and here’s how they root him out:
Joshua 7;24-26:
24 And Joshua, and all Israel with him, took Achan the son of Zerah, and the silver, and the garment, and the wedge of gold, and his sons, and his daughters, and his oxen, and his asses, and his sheep, and his tent, and all that he had: and they brought them unto the valley of Achor. 25 And Joshua said, Why hast thou troubled us? the LORD shall trouble thee this day. And all Israel stoned him with stones, and burned them with fire, after they had stoned them with stones. 26 And they raised over him a great heap of stones unto this day. So the LORD turned from the fierceness of his anger. Wherefore the name of that place was called, The valley of Achor, unto this day.
Later on, the israelites find another opponent, Ai. And what do they do?
Joshua 8;24-29
24 And it came to pass, when Israel had made an end of slaying all the inhabitants of Ai in the field, in the wilderness wherein they chased them, and when they were all fallen on the edge of the sword, until they were consumed, that all the Israelites returned unto Ai, and smote it with the edge of the sword. 25 And so it was, that all that fell that day, both of men and women, were twelve thousand, even all the men of Ai. 26 For Joshua drew not his hand back, wherewith he stretched out the spear, until he had utterly destroyed all the inhabitants of Ai. 27 Only the cattle and the spoil of that city Israel took for a prey unto themselves, according unto the word of the LORD which he commanded Joshua. 28 And Joshua burnt Ai, and made it an heap for ever, even a desolation unto this day. 29 And the king of Ai he hanged on a tree until eventide: and as soon as the sun was down, Joshua commanded that they should take his carcase down from the tree, and cast it at the entering of the gate of the city, and raise thereon a great heap of stones, that remaineth unto this day.
We continue on to Gibeon, where Joshua and the Gibeoniites fight five armies, Joshua 10;10-11:
10 And the LORD discomfited them before Israel, and slew them with a great slaughter at Gibeon, and chased them along the way that goeth up to Beth-horon, and smote them to Azekah, and unto Makkedah. 11 And it came to pass, as they fled from before Israel, and were in the going down to Beth-horon, that the LORD cast down great stones from heaven upon them unto Azekah, and they died: they were more which died with hailstones than they whom the children of Israel slew with the sword.
And what became of those Kings lives, cities, and life between it? They died too. An all, 31 Kings [their cities] and all their inhabitants where killed by these peace loving people, the ancestors of the Christians.
Very peaceful, indeed…
So if I were a head coach of a football team, I could thus claim all my victories as “God’s Divine Will,” and blame all my defeats upon my players “sinning,” and then single out players and punish them by ending their careers to make amends fo rmy defeats. That is the metaphor placed before me in this book of Joshua. Ball-der-dashes.
Yes, most peaceful indeed.
Does it end there with Joshua? Becasue we all know how Christains like to hide behind the New testament, that which washed the blood of the old testament from their Christian hands. Fine, New Testament it is…
Matthew 10:34-39, Luke 12:49-53, Luke 14:26, Luke 22:36, and Luke 19:27.
Sorry Charlie, it’s all hogwash…
Religion is a quick intellectial fix for those who are smart but otherwise lazy. The core root itself is unprovable, so the equations, the definitions, the roots, the shrod around it can literally be ANYTHING you want it to be so long as you provide ample core support to your thesis.
It’s even easier if you regurgitate someone else’s Idea – take a couple “common sense” ideas, like “Todays churches need to go back to “The Old Way” and you have the meat necessary to grip those people who have witnessed too much change in their lifetime. And they don’t have to think too hard about it, either, because it’s simple stuff. The arguements against any reasonable dssection fal into either ‘but it’s a parable’ defense or ‘but it all a metaphor, here’s what he really meant’ defense. Absolutely brilliant. Sadly, people actually believe this stuff.
kat- I just wanted to tell you that just because you dont believe the same way some Christians do doesn’t give you the right to pt others down no offense
Okay. I’m not sure if anyone is reading this anymore, but I really wanted to clarify a lot of things on the Christian faith. Especially to Kerry James. And this is coming from someone who has been raised Christian, went to both a Christian middle and high school, and is currently looking at a public university. So I know what I’m talking about when it comes to Christianity.
I’m technically Roman Catholic, but I differ slightly in my views. Let me start of by addressing the point someone made on here on whether or not someone could potentially get to heaven even if he or she does not have contact with the Christian faith (or religion in general). The Church teaches that if that person was a righteous and just human being, then he or she would go to heaven after death. Also, someone who was, say, a Buddhist, would still be able to reach heaven as long as he or she lived a just, fulfilling, and holy life. A person doesn’t necessarily need to be Christian to get to heaven.
The whole concept of heaven and hell has to do with man’s separation from God. No, I do not believe in the literal interpretation of Genesis, or most of the Old Testament for that matter (I’m not quite certain if there was a historical Moses). As someone stated before, sin is basically just separation from God. If I were to feed the poor or donate money to charity, I would be becoming closer to God by helping people who need help most. By sinning, I am consciously choosing to do something that goes against good will. That is, for example, murder, stealing, cheating, etc. The purpose of the Church, then, is to help get society to love each other and help the less fortunate.
Some of my more conservative Catholic friends believe that if one does not accept the divinity of Jesus, he or she would be damned for all of eternity. The Church IS NOT specific on this. I personally believe that by Christ’s death and resurrection, He has saved us from sin and damnation, meaning that as long as we seek to be united with God (whether through charity, worship, etc.), then you will reach heaven. Generally, it is believed that those who are in Hell openly and willingly refuse to strive towards righteousness. I DO believe an atheist can get to heaven. As long as he or she desires to help society and strives to give back to the world.
Jesus Himself condemned the Pharisees and the Sadducees for committing themselves to a strict interpretation of tradition, and forgetting about what really mattered: life on this Earth and helping others. According to the Gospels, when Christ healed a man on the Sabbath, the Pharisees condemned him for doing work on the Holy Day. This is somewhat what we see today in conservative Christians. They are worried more about offending God and attending Church services than they are about helping their fellow man.
What I ask all those who condemn religion is to be open-minded. Do not listen to individuals necessarily (I don’t particularly like the current Pope), but to understand the core message of ALL religions: Treat others how you would wish to be treated, love your enemies, and turn the other cheek.
If anyone has any questions, please respond to this, and I will respond back as quickly as possible.
I am a Christian, and i would like to clarify several things in coments and in the original artical.
First of you need to reallize that each “Christian” is an individual and therefor you can not blame Jesus for all the judgementle attitudes of his followers.
Second I think you need to look at the bible as it is writen, not as your paster/friends or anyone else tells you it is writen.
Third the God i serve has forgiven me so much. If you read the bible, hell was created, not for any man(or woman) but for the devil and his followers. Because God is Holy His nature cannot be in the presence of sin. dispite the face that mankind has rebeled Jesus willingly took the price of your sin onto his shoulders. do you know that fealling when you’ve done something wrong and you know it, you feal guilty? Jesus took all that guilt from every sin ever commited onto his shoulders to save you.