An Answer to the Hope I Lost...in Christians

Rhamiel

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God loves everyone

but the idea of Hell is
He does not force people to be with him if they choose not to be with Him

if you reject God, should He force you to be in Heaven with Him?

as for people who are horrible people but are Christians...... it is kind of like going to University, you get out what you put in
there are people in University who study hard and learn a lot
there are people in University who drink and party and skip class
same with Christianity, many people do not really commit themselves to the faith, so the results are to be expected
 
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redblue22

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The unchanged life holds evidential weight.

1. There is either something wrong with the message,
2. the interpretation of the message,
3. the person not doing what the message calls for,
4. or the sender.

How does one live the changed life and not fail so much that we obviously are not changed?

How are you doing at this?

.
 
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MehGuy

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You find a lot of this with atheistic liberals too. Usually anyone who talks about loving others a lot is terribly corrupt themselves. It's by no means just a Christian thing. I mean take a look at those vomit inducing tumblr SJWs.
 
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AztecSDSU

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You find a lot of this with atheistic liberals too. Usually anyone who talks about loving others a lot is terribly corrupt themselves. It's by no means just a Christian thing. I mean take a look at those vomit inducing tumblr SJWs.

I tend to think it's just a matter of imperfect people in an imperfect world will do imperfect things regardless of what religion, or lack of same, they follow.
 
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scraparcs

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I tend to think it's just a matter of imperfect people in an imperfect world will do imperfect things regardless of what religion, or lack of same, they follow.

I'm pretty much agreeing with this.

As perhaps a thought experiment, say we consider Christianity to have a neutral effect on its followers. It doesn't make people better or worse as a whole. Now, what do you think of the merits of Jesus Christ if you ignore the followers?
 
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Jupiter Drops

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Christianity means "way of Christ."
It doesn't mean "ways of other people who follow Christ."
Everyone has a different view on Christianity, but if you really want to be saved and know who Jesus is, then believe.
That's all I got to say because that's all there is to it.
 
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Isambard

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You find a lot of this with atheistic liberals too. Usually anyone who talks about loving others a lot is terribly corrupt themselves. It's by no means just a Christian thing. I mean take a look at those vomit inducing tumblr SJWs.
What's wrong with SJWs?

OP: The behaviour of Christians shouldn't affect your believe in a deity. It should only make you question their morality.

What should make you question the belief in the Biblical God should be his incredible lack of evidence and contradictory nature.
 
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MehGuy

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What's wrong with SJWs?

Nothing really, if they're consistent.

The ones who try to act like white cis males don't have problems and defend double standards.. are another story.
 
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JackofSpades

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If those who embody God are failing to present any change in life, then something is wrong.


What you think, would it qualify as "change" if person with average morale didn't change their ways at all but came to accept themselves way they are and became happy with themselves?

I'm asking because I think there are many levels of change, and I feel often christians talk about "change" in sense of stopping habits that are considered sin.

Is positive "fruit of spirit" only moral change? Or can it be general, psychological change too?
 
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Stravinsk

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Thanks for sharing, Keine.

Btw, if you want to finish that private discussion we were having, feel free to pm me. There's no pressure to do so, and I've a mind to leave once certain things are taken care of anyway, but I think it may give you a little perspective on the violent emotional reaction that enforcement of such measures can bring about with individuals, no matter how carefully worded - should you ever choose to be staff again.
 
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Texas101

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Using Human definitions, especially when limited to Western (i.e. Greek) and post modern thinking, it's easy to conclude that God is contradictory. God is a God of grace and love as well as just and intolerant of behavior that is unrepentantly sinful. As believers Ananias and Sapphira knew of God's grace and love but chose to lie to both the disciples and the Holy Spirit. It was the hand of God that dealt justice for their sinful behavior.

There is often the limited logical argument that if a Christian doesn't embrace a particular social group then they must hate that group. This is why we have so many (fill in the blank)phobes with regard to Christians. Let's remember that phobias are fears not a dislike thereof. It's relatively easy to label someone with a made up phobia when they disagree or dislike something. This labeling and name calling is a form of bullying those into shame for their beliefs and is also hypocritical of their own message.

An example of this ideology is found in the statement "Okay, I get that you don't want a gay man or woman in your home because of your preconceived notion they are borderline child molesters, but unless you have had some traumatic, personal experience, your prejudice is unfounded." If this were the true then those who dislike Christians are only justified if they were traumatized by Christ.

Specifically this has been a tactic of the LGBT community for decades. While members of the LGBT believe that Christians hate them and are out to cause them harm. True Christ followers believe that members of the LGBT community are just like everyone else, sinners in desperate need of salvation. What's not easy to see is lack of endorsement is not hate, lack of acceptance is not intolerance. The world seems to delight in offending Christians, then whine about being offended by anything a Christian does, all while accusing Christians of being intolerant. And yet that same world will preach it's sermon that Christians are both intolerant and hypocritical and not see the self-defeating argument presented.

It is my opinion that being a Christian is more than salvation. It is also the continuous "renewing of our minds" (Romans 12), improvement of the human condition, for each individual person. Christians are called to avoid hypocrisy by both Christ (Matthew 7) and Paul (Romans 12). Unfortunately Christians are too often hypocritical which leaves the world wondering why they should become a Christ follower. Keep in mind that there isn't one individual or social group that also isn't hypocritical in their own message (ideology) as well. If we were to judge (discern), base our opinion of the ideology, any particular person or social group on their hypocrisy none would be a shining example. The difference is Christians are challenged with the goal of improving themselves and the Christian community as "representatives of Christ" (2 Corinthians 5:20) while the world is not so challenged.

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Hey, All Christians have doubts. Those who say they haven't are lying or haven't known the Lord long :(. Listen, your perspective is fairly common and you are completely entitled to it. At the same time, I'd like to encourage you to investigate Christianity and the history behind it more thouroughly so you can make a decision yourself. Once you honestly investigate, I believe you will find The Bible to be true if not more logical. The Bible is not inconsistent, nor incorrect in it's claims. I can say this confidently because I see that outside sources confirm the truths within the Bible (History, archeology, sociology, morality etc). I am certainly not telling you to believe blindly :). I know it may be hard to believe, but agnostic or not, I'm on your side. If you ever want to talk, just message me. I care because God first cared about me. P.S. Good call on the "circular reasoning." Very important :thumbsup:
 
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